Chapter 181 — The Device
Chapter 181 — The Device
Yuki
I arrived in front of Asia as Diodora began to laugh.
I looked over and saw a large, dark aura surrounding his body.
“Wonderful! So this is the power of the Sekiryuutei! You may have the power of one of the legendary Dragons, but I’ve gotten a power-up as well! With the power I obtained after receiving a snake from Ophis! My power is far beyond yours, and I will be able to kill you and your friends in an insta—“
His monologue was cut short as
The boosters on Issei’s back screamed to life, and he moved.
Issei became a red blur that reached Diodora in a moment.
Issei’s fist dove into Diodora’s stomach, and his body folded over from the impact.
He let out a pained grunt before puking from the impact to his stomach.
I couldn’t help but grin at the scene.
It seems that the power he received from Ophis wasn’t nearly enough to stand up to the Sekiryuutei.
I turned back to Asia as Yuuto arrived next to me, carrying Koneko in a princess carry.
Koneko hopped out of her arms, and we all moved to Asia.
Issei would be fine.
It seemed that Rias’s call to let him fight alone hadn’t been wrong, even if it was a stupid choice to fight an enemy alone.
Asia looked away from Issei and towards us.
Her eyes were wet with tears.
She looked relieved to see us.
“Yuuto-san, Koneko-chan, Yuki…” she murmured.
“It’s alright, we are here now,” I said to her softly.
“…We’ll get you out of here, Asia-senpai,” Koneko added.
Yuuto, Koneko, and I started to inspect the restraints attached to Asia’s arms and legs.
I couldn’t find any latch or keyhole that would allow me to release Asia from them.
Suddenly Yuuto turned and rushed forward, towards Issei’s and Diodora’s fight.
She began deflecting some of the stray demonic bullets that Diodora was firing.
Diodora had gained some distance and was firing a countless number of demonic energy bullets at Issei.
“I will not lose to a lowly, vulgar, filthy thing like you! I am a high-class Devil!” Diodora shouted as he fired his attacks. “I have pure, noble blood of one of the pillar families flowing through me! I am a relative of one of the current Maou! I can’t lose you to a reincarnated Devil!”
“But you can’t seem to do anything to me? I thought that you were going to kill me in an instant?”
Issei walked forward through the barrage of demonic power bullets.
He didn’t bother shielding himself or avoiding the attacks.
They were all blocked by or ricocheted off of his armor.
Yuuto was currently defending us from the stray attacks that had been sent our way.
“I was Tourette’s by a Dragon King for a month as training for our last game. Your attacks are nothing,” Issei said as he approached Diodora.
He stopped firing demonic power bullets and kept backwards, summoning his wings to gain space from Issei.
Issei ignored his boosters and chased after him.
Now that we were under fire from stray attacks.
Yuuto quickly returned, and I turned back to the device.
“Yuki-senpai, I can’t find any way to remove these restraints. I even tried injecting my Ki into them, but nothing happened,” Koneko said worriedly.
I used my Veil Sight and looked at the chains holding Asia.
They were filled with a foreign energy that was flowing to and from the device the chains were attached to.
As I followed the chains to the device itself, my stomach dropped.
I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but I could see that it was complex and created by something incredibly powerful.
And the chains were a part of the device.
There were protection wards and barrier runes across the device that were far too large and complex for me to fully decipher.
And looking back at the restraints, they were each one solid piece.
They wouldn’t open because they couldn’t.
It was like the restraints were made around Asia.
I shut my eyes and rubbed at my forehead to stave off the headache that was building from looking at this massive magical construct.
“So what is it? Could you tell anything?” Yuuto asked from my side.
“Whatever this thing is, it’s very complicated. I was searching for how to release Asia, so I don’t know what it does, and I couldn’t find a way to release the restraints,” I said as I opened my eyes again.
I looked at Asia.
She was watching Issei’s fight with Diodora with worry plainly on her face.
I squeezed her hand to get her attention.
“Asia. Do you know how to release your restraints? Did you see how Diodora activated the machine when he attached you to it?”
She shook her head.
“N-No. When we arrived here a-after he took me away from all of you, I was already like this. H-He complained about being told to keep me chained to this thing, but didn’t say a-anything else about it besides that.”
I paused.
Aisa had been directly teleported into her restraints, but more importantly, Diodora had been told to attach her to this device.
That meant Diodora capturing Asia hadn’t just been for his obsession.
The Khaos Brigade had a reason to capture Asia.
“…What is it, Yuki-senpai?” Koneko asked, noticing me connecting something in my head.
“I don’t know exactly, but we need to get Asia away from this thing as fast as we can.”
“Alright, step back then,” Yuuto said as she brandished her sword.
“Don’t worry, Asia-san. I won’t hurt you. But look to your left and close your eyes.”
Asia quickly turned her head and shut her eyes firmly.
Yuuto reared back her blade and brought it down on the chain holding Asia’s arm.
There was a shower of sparks and a loud clang, but the chain looked completely unharmed.
“It withstood my holy demonic blade? Without a single scratch?” Yuuto murmured.
“M-Maybe Ise-san would be able to break it?” Asia asked as she looked back at us.
I turned back to the fight and saw Issei’s fist crash through multiple layers of defensive barriers before hitting Diodora in the face and knocking him to the ground.
“Why is my demonic power not enough?! I was given power by the Dragon god Ophis! How can you break through my barriers?!” Diodora shouted
Issei replied to his complaints by lifting him from the ground with one hand and striking him in the stomach with the other.
Diodora let out a pained grunt.
Issei then reared back his fist as he gathered a large amount of demonic power around it and tried to swing it at Diodora’s head.
“I won’t be defeated by the likes of you!” Diodora shouted as he thrust a hand forward and created a much thicker barrier than his previously.
Issei’s fist was stopped by the barrier.
“Aha! That’s it! I have far more demonic power than you! I just need to use my strength more effectively to counter the power of the Sekiryuutei! Those hits were due to me misusing my power. Now that I understand wha—“
Diodora was cut off by the Ddraig's voice coming from the Boosted Gear.
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
The boosters on his back flared.
The barrier began to crack.
Then his fist broke through the barrier and hit Diodora, launching him backwards.
I turned back to Asia.
“Issei-San might be able to break your restraints, but in the meantime, we will keep trying. We are getting you out of here.”
“A-alright. Thank you, Yuki,” Asia replied with a small nod.
“Koneko-chan, Yuuto-san, keep looking to see if you can remove the chains from her. I’m going to try using my magic on them,” I said as I moved closer to one of the chains.
“…Got it.”
“I’ll try making another kind of sword.”
I nodded at Koneko’s and Yuuto’s reply.
I formed a spell and moved my hand to hover right next to the chain.
I fired my cursed bolt into the metal, but besides smoking for a moment, it did nothing.
I frowned and formed a Still Mark near the chain and fired a second bolt through it onto the restraint.
The result was the same.
I glanced at Koneko and Yuuto.
They weren’t having much luck either.
Koneko had formed Touki around her hands and was gripping the chain with both hands, like she was trying to pull it apart.
Yuuto had summoned two new swords and was slashing at the restraints.
One of them was a jagged blade with a bluish-white hue, and the other sword was a deep green with a long, thin blade.
I turned back to the chain, and I used my Veil sight again.
I studied the chain and the runes along it.
I started looking for a weak point, something that could be targeted to release Asia.
But there wasn’t anything.
I couldn’t see anything that I could exploit or try to break apart.
I raised my hand and fired another bolt into the chain despite knowing it wouldn’t do anything.
Then I paused.
I fired another baleful bolt into the chain.
It wasn’t that my spell was doing nothing.
It was that the device corrected the small amount of damage and interference I caused almost instantaneously.
I glanced to the side, still using my vision ability, and watched Koneko try to inject her Ki into the chains.
It was the same with her.
As her energy penetrated the chain, it was immediately pushed back, and any damage was restored.
Then Asia let out a panicked shout.
“No! Ise-san!”
I quickly turned.
There was a spear of demonic energy that had pierced Issei’s armor.
“He must have concentrated all of the power of his attack into a single point to punch through a thin spot in Ise-kun’s armor…” Yuuto murmured.
Issei reached down and pulled out the spear before crushing it in his hands.
Blood spilled onto the floor, and I heard Asia gasp behind me.
Diodora began to form another spear, but Issei launched himself at him with his boosters flaring.
He delivered a brutal kick to Diodora’s leg.
There was a satisfying crack as his leg bent to the side wrongly, and he began to scream.
Diodora gathered a massive amount of demonic power in his hand as Issei began to form his Dragon Shot.
Both Yuuto and I got ready to move to intervene.
But before we could, they each fired.
The two attacks collided and pushed against each other as both of them continued to supply power to the attack.
“I will rise as the greatest Devil of my generation! I am the next heir of House Astaroth! I will not lose here!” Diodora shouted.
Issei shouted as Ddriag’s voice called out from the jewels on his armor again.
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
The power in his Dragon Shot surged, and it pushed back Diodora’s attack.
It then blew apart Diodora's attack and continued, grazing Diodora and leaving a bloody wound on his side.
The attack continued and blew a large hole in the wall at the end of the shrine.
Diodora fell to the ground but still tried to gather demonic power to attack again.
Issei swung his fist and struck the ground next to his head.
The impact left a crater in the ground around his fist and shook the whole room.
Diodora flinched from the impact, and the demonic energy he had gathered dissipated.
Issei lifted Siodora by his collar as the mask of his helmet snapped back, revealing the wrathful expression on his face.
“If you ever come near Asia again, then I won’t hold myself back from caving in your head!”
Diodora trembled in fear before Issei nodded to himself and dropped him back to the ground.
“Issei, aren’t you going to finish him off? Why would you let him live after hearing what he did and wanted to do to Asia?” Xenovia asked while glaring at Diodora with a murderous look.
I cut in before Issei could answer.
“We need him to release Asia, so he’ll need to live for at least that much longer. Bring him over here.”
Issei looked at Asia before nodding and grabbing Diodora by his collar and dragging him over to the device.
“Were you not able to figure out how to release Asia?” Rias asked as everyone moved to join us at Asia’s side.
I shook my head.
“We couldn’t find any sort of mechanism to release her, and all of our attempts to break her free failed. My curses, Koenko-chan’s Ki, and Yuuto-san’s holy demonic swords did nothing. That's why I want to have Diodora release her for us.”
Issei dragged him forward to the device before dropping to the floor in a heap.
“You heard Yuki-san, let Asia go.”
“I can’t,” Diodora said in a small voice.
“What do you mean you can’t?!” Issei shouted at him.
“Xenovia. You still have Ascalon, right?” I asked.
Xenovia nodded in response.
“Maybe we could convince Diodora to release Asia with it.”
I continued staring down at Diodora.
“I-I can’t release her! No one can!” Diodora shouted. “That device was created by a Longinus possessor! It's a type of barrier that was created so that it won’t be deactivated until it is used once. It won’t release her until Asia’s Sacred Gear is activated once.”
“Explain,” Rias ordered with a scowl.
He flinched before answering.
“That device and the barrier over the Rating Game field were both made by the possessor of the Longinus [Dimension Lost]. It’s the ultimate Sacred Gear for creating and controlling barriers. It works by spreading a mist to create a zone the possessor can control. It can seal anything in its zone and even create alternate dimensions. And when it reaches Balance Breaker, it grants the ability to create any type of barrier device the possessor wishes.”
“So what will activate this device, and what does it do?” Rias asked.
“Either I or someone from the Khaos Brigade gives it the signal to activate, or if I am killed. The effect of the barrier is to increase the power of the one connected to it and reverse the traits of their abilities.”
My eyes widened.
That’s why they wanted Asia.
“The Sitri match,” I murmured.
“What is the range of the device?” Rias quickly asked.
“…The entire game field outside of this shrine. Both the area outside and the VIP viewing area.”
There was a stunned silence after Diodora spoke.
Everyone looked shocked or began to pale as they understood the severity of the attack.
This was why the Khaos Brigade didn’t care if their plan was discovered.
They probably wanted it to be so that more members of the alliance would be present.
“The leaders of our factions and the allied factions that arrived would be killed!” Rias said in shock. Then her face turned worried. “Onii-sama…”
This attack wasn’t just to take out the relatives of the Maou.
It was to cripple our factions.
If the device activated and reversed Asia’s healing to the scale suggested, then the Three Great Powers would be leaderless.
“They saw our match against Kaichou and realized they could use Asia as a weapon! Those bastards!” Issei said angrily.
“No, the plan to utilize Asia’s power was thought of before then,” Diodora said, shaking his head. “But when the [Bishop] of the Sitri peerage used the reversing ability on Asia, the plan was proven to work.”
Rias’s face twisted in anger.
There must be traitors in the Grigori. The traitor Fallen Angels let Sona borrow the Reversal spell so that they could use her peerage to gather data.”
The device suddenly lit up with a low whining sound.
“Shit! Dammit! What should we do?!” Issei shouted.
Rias and the others moved to attack the device, while Issei and I stayed by Asia.
Rias fired her power of Destruction.
Akeno summoned holy lightning.
Koneko coated her fists with Touki.
Yuuto slashed with her holy demonic blade.
Xenovia swung Durandal.
Gasper fired demonic power bullets.
But none of it worked.
Not a single scratch was left on the machine as its lights began to glow brighter.
I stared at the chains on Asia’s limbs and raked my brain for an answer.
“Ise-San. I can’t let my power be used like this. I need you to—“
“No!Don't say something like that!” Issei shouted, tears forming in his eyes. “You’re leaving here with us, Asia! I won’t accept anything else!”
Asia gave him a wry smile.
“But the others out there. Azazel-\senses and Michael-sama… I would be able to live with myself if they died because of me.”
Issei put his hand on her shoulder.
I thought of something that might get Asia free.
“I swore an oath to myself after you joined Buvhou’s peerage. I swore that I wouldn’t let you go through this kind of sadness again. That I would protect you so that you!”
“Ise-san…”
I spoke up then.
“Issei-san, Asia, I have an idea. I think I can get Asia free, but I need you to use your [Transfer] ability on me.”
Both of them turned, seemingly having forgotten that I was there.
I ignored them and shouted to the others.
“Buchou, everyone, I have a plan!”