ตอน 21: Chapter 21: Ryu Vs Serafall & Grayfia: Frozen Flames & Ice Inferno
I was expecting this. But I didn't think it'd actually be today.
What's with this rapid-fire training regiment?
I get it, I need it and damn right I'm excited but still!
"Sera-tan, you meant today?! And with Grayfia-nee too?" I asked barely containing the shrill of excitement in my voice that I tried to mask with astonishment.
They didn't buy it.
"Well, are you surprised, Ryu-tan?!★ Ahahaha, Grayfia-chan told me you'd react that way though! She proposed something interesting so I couldn't help myself, hope you don't mind Miyu-chan, Mamako-tan!"
"Certainly not, even I am interested in how little Ryu-kun does against you two. Grayfia-san did tell me the gist of your bout yesterday," Miyu said in reply to Serfall's excitable question. She appears to be used to her energy huh? As expected of her. However, she is also always taking care of younger kids, so Serafall acting like one is not too surprising for her.
"Mou, I'm looking forward to my gallant little one beating you two up, but I'm troubled! I don't want to see Ryu-chan getting bullied! Hmmmmm, I don't know how to feel! But! Fight-o! Mommy believes in you, Ryu-chan!" She holds her two fists in front of her and pouts her lips in apparent assertiveness. Shit, what the hell she's adorable and somehow radiates sensuality with her erotic body, more so with her breast pushed up against her arms like that!
"Ahahaha, it's okay it's okay Mamako-tan, Grayfia-chan, and I will hold back. It's true, I'm interested to see how he fares, but there's no way I'm going to injure him so badly as a consequence! We'll see if he has a proper defense against the cold, hehe ★"
"Serafall-sama, while I agree with you, the fight might not turn out the way you expect," Grayfia interjected. She appeared far more stoic than usual, and taking a closer look revealed a bit of trembling on her part. Interesting, is she excited too? Is she a comrade?!
Damn, this blew up though. Now everyone wants to see this huge battle. It's gonna get so confusing. I suppose it was only a matter of time before Grayfia mentioned the state she found me in, I'm sure she noticed the massive amount of energy around the training arena before her arrival but decided not to mention it. I also couldn't really hide my fatigue in that small time frame especially since she may have noticed my sluggish response during our fight.
I say this, but I haven't been able to wipe the grin off my face.
(Partner, you're a natural-born fighter, aren't you? Probably runs in the family gahahaah)
(What, Ddraig? Did you finish every novel already?) I ask out of surprise to the dragon talking to me in my mind.
(Nah, I just thought I'd pop in, this looks interesting. As much as I would love to shout advice and engulf myself in the thrill of battle with you, I won't interfere this time too, it's your fight to enjoy. I'm sure there will be no shortage of opponents willing to do battle with you, the White Dragon Emperor is in for a surprise....) A dark chuckle seeps through his voice.
Right, I forgot we're destined to fight. I'm looking forward to it! (Umu, we'll be together for battles for a long time. Can't wait to experience them. And thanks, I'm looking forward to this, to be honest.)
I feel a pull from both sides of my shirt, I turn and see the gathering of Akeno, Rias, Sona, and Tsubaki. Their eyes widen in surprise. Ah, shit, I turned unconsciously with this stupid grin on my face.
"Ryu! You're grinning! You had that same expression when fighting bot- Grayfia-nee-san yesterday," Akeno pointed out with a little giggle. She caught herself and played it off with a giggle, damn, not bad.
I sheepishly rub the back of my head, but I don't turn away and wait for their words.
"Right, you did see me at my peak battle junkie. But what's up you four?" I ask in wonder at their fidgeting.
Three girls turn their attention to Rias as if waiting for the spokesgirl to reply for them. "W-well, ahem, we know from Akeno's story that you like to fight, but you're gonna get hurt right? Is it really okay to fight up to that point?" The other girls nodded along with barely concealed worry. Akeno fares a lot better, but I suppose she can't lie to herself either. A bit of fighting spirit was released from Tsubaki though.
I smiled in understanding. "I see, so that's been bothering you huh? The damage dealt even though we're just training. Pain is definitely scary, but I prefer to ingrain this pain into myself so I know what's at stake. Yes, the thrill of battle runs through my veins, but I also know that letting myself freely fight till I'm hurt is what will hone my instincts. I want to protect you all, even if we've only known each other for a bit, haha..."
Tears were gathering, Akeno more so than the rest because she was a witness to my heroics and to the battles I faced, especially against Jibril. But she still didn't voice out in protest, because she's also working on getting stronger. Sona and Tsubaki were embarrassed but understood where I was coming from. Perhaps a bit more mature than I previously thought, huh? Rias was tightly holding onto my shirt, in defiance, but there was reluctant acceptance in her eyes. I patted their heads in turn, turning them into pools of bliss, a bit devious on my part, but I wanted to ease their tension.
"We understand Ryu-san, my Nee-sama has told me stories and the need to be strong is certainly a powerful tool to defend oneself against those that seek you harm," Sona said with a solemn nod of her head, adjusting her glasses right after. A blush creeps onto her face as she sneaks a peek at me. Adorable as always.
"Sona-sama is right, there is nothing wrong with the pursuit of power. If I may be so bold, would you care for a bout against me Ryu-san?" Tsubaki added with a bit of longing seeping into her voice.
"Thank you Sona-san, Tsubaki. I'll be sure to make time for our fight as well!" Damn, couldn't hide my excitement there.
"Hmph, well, there's nothing wrong with a husband who wishes to be strong, very well. But! Make sure you're careful, Ryu-kun..." she said in a quiet mumble, hanging onto my arm while trembling. I pat her anxiety away once again as I say, "Yes, I'll be sure to heal myself right up, cheer for me okay, Rias?"
Her teary eyes look up at me and with a smile says, "Mhm!"
Akeno glances at me, but without opening her mouth, she hugs me tightly and skips over to her mother who appears to be on her way to the magic target practice area. Well, looks like someone is also pumped up about strength.
The other three peel away from me and make their way over to the setting area. Rias glances around in search of Akeno, but once she sees her practicing, she looks away and instead focuses her attention on me. Well, Rias does seem worried so I suppose it's fine if she doesn't wanna practice when I'm about to fight someone. But it looks like Tsubaki was curious so she ended up wandering over to where they were practicing. She looked to be struggling with a decision though, so I only nodded at her to chase after them.
Both of my moms are already sitting above the two devil princesses, chatting away with them as they take peeks over at me, wondering when we are gonna start.
I take a deep breath and focus my attention on the two women in front of me. One bounces excitedly from one place to another with her signature magical girl outfit, while the other stands impassively and imposingly with not so much as a twitch in her expression. The corners of my mouth start twitching again as I try to suppress the feral grin threatening to cover up my face.
What's with me and this annoying and habitual reaction, am I that much of a battle junkie?! Tch, I'll probably be mentioning this over and over again, but fuck it. I fucken love this.
"Ryu-tan, are you ready!?" Serafall shouts jubilantly, her breasts swaying as she continues to hop. That's a rather skimpy cosplay outfit huh, can't believe it took me this long to notice.
Instead of answering her, however, two sleek gauntlets manifest themselves. Crimson red with inky black scales, and golden gems outlining the pair in different formations. The same dragon carving is present at the top, and because I added Enkidu to the mix distinct golden sparks danced around the pair as I opened and closed the clawed hands, they weren't too sharp since I still needed to make a fist.
[ Boost! ]
The familiar gush of power rushed into me as I leveled myself into a stance. I wasn't limited to just one or two powers, I could go for them all.
The ever-present smile on Serafall only grew wider at the presence of my draconic aura washing over her, while I only saw Grayfia faintly twitch her mouth as she basked in the aura. In that same instance, both of their auras slammed into me like a freight train. I gritted my teeth in defiance and let it wash over me as I reigned in my own aura of infinity to protect myself. The feral grin came on in full force, no longer bothering to suppress it.
A pink and silver blur, and without even hesitating my gauntlets came up, a terrible impact sent me flying, but by extending my wings I slowed myself and used my gravity control to send myself flying back to them. Icicles bombarded me, magic circles surrounding me on all slides as I bashed them apart and righted myself. With such a heavy assault the anger, I let simmer within surged to the surface at my urging, helping me mold the dragon fire as I let out rapid bursts of azure flames onto the oncoming ice blasts.
The steam rose as I sent out a volley of erratic blasts of beams from my star star fruit, pinpointing their location was child's play with the occasional burst of my aura, almost like echolocation. I clicked my tongue, dive-bombing to the ground as I avoided a silver flash zooming past my previous position. Grayfia elegantly stopped mid-flight, reoriented herself, and then followed after me. She chased me down as I avoided the increasing bombardment of ice magic and occasional pink blast-like explosions from Serafall.
"Gah-"
My scream of pain was cut off as they cornered me. Grayfia successfully landed a fist on my torso and a chilling sensation soon followed as it started to freeze. Then the bombardments of ice balls and icicles crashed onto me from the side, almost as if they were punching me. I superheated myself with my flames successfully knocking off the rest of the ice while a wave of healing magic washed over me. Not wanting to be caught unawares again I pinpointed her location and flew toward her.
[ Boost! ]
My strength surged once again as I ignited my fists in flames and promptly used Enkidu to disrupt their magic. Grayfia saw a blue blur as my fists came rocketing forward, undiscouraged at my reckless charge she met me head-on devolving into a slugfest, except this time the concentrated bombardment of magic from Serafall made me take way more damage than I could handle. The golden light spewing forth from my gauntlets was able to erratically disassemble oncoming ice attacks while occasionally removing the ice covering Grayfia's fists.
It wasn't enough.
My dragon scales were shaved off as soon as they appeared, frosting over and becoming brittle even if I imbued them with more magic and covered them with flames.
Abandoning my crazed attack I sent waves of pheromones and pac-mans through my aura of infinity, but a surge of demonic energy purged what little the pheromones could do. They were able to cease their magical attacks since the pheromones distracted them long enough for my Pacman to explode, unfortunately, they weren't able to chew through the supercharged demonic energy. After the initial wave of mist had cleared I saw the flushed faces of my opponents.
The indignant face of Serafall made me pause, but a crisp slap of hands smacking resounded through the area, in that instant I saw Grayfia floating where Serafall once was and now I see her diving her way to me, pink beams of energy sailing with her as they swirled and closed in on me. A tag in huh, bring it on! I slammed my gauntlets together, a [ Boost! ] was followed quickly by swift punches knocking the beams of light off course, exploding behind me or to wherever I smacked them.
With a loud yell, Serafall charged her fists with huge amounts of demonic energy, a sense of foreboding filled me as I let loose flames and star fruit beams, only to bounce uselessly. I jumped back as soon as she made contact with my fist, but even that graze sent waves of pressure straight into my body, making me cough in response. Her blows are far stronger than Grayfia's, I expected this but what a difference! Ah, how delightful.
With a flap of my wings, I steadied my flight and precisely controlled my movements until I slowed down enough. In that moment, another crisp slap was heard, and before I knew it laughter bubbled up as I enjoyed this wild scuffle to my heart's content.
I ceased the laughter as I felt oncoming attacks. Quickly taking a look I saw star-shaped ice spreading out and converging on my position. I zipped away, but what I saw left me with shuddering almost overcoming me with dread. The stars once coming into contact with something erupted into an ice pillar freezing the area around them in an instant. Terrifying.
The precise control Serafall had of them made it difficult for me to avoid, but it did leave me in awe. Soon, I was proven correct as one slammed into me and deathly cold pain followed. My wings no longer functioned, I felt nothing only the penetrating hold of ice.
My body locked up as an ice pillar formed, ceasing my movement but in that instant, the pillar lit up into a pink sparkle of light. Looking closer steam began twisting and turning from the inside. Danger signals warned me too late when a grand explosion caught me point blank, and soon what followed was the cheery laughter floating into my ringing ears. Flames came out as I coughed and sputtered. Blood soaked my ripped clothing, my horns cracked or otherwise missing pieces, and bruises and deep gashes marred my flesh. The ferocity in my eyes did not cease, however, not when I had mana in droves to supercharge my healing. I wasn't healed in an instant but I was able to heal just enough to move, so I did.
A maniacal smirk formed as I leaped to my feet, stumbling as I sent flickering stars to pursue the laughing Serafall. Once they caught up I increased their speed, and with the gesture of closing my palm sparkles of fireworks lit up and made the stars detonate into brilliant beams of energy that hit her point-blank. The shattering of ice reached my ears but before I could launch more, Grayfia came barreling forward with ice-covered fists. I was about to meet her charge but the smirk on her face stopped me.
Turning quickly to my right, a massive ice-carved hand swatted me sending me crashing and bouncing across the ground, smashing into countless pillars of ice and the uprooted earth. The side of my body ached and was frozen over but with a last bit of will and a sweep of my palm, some concealed stars hanging above Grayfia descended upon her and exploded in a brilliant display of shimmering light.
Without wasting a single second, I followed up with more blasts of gravity-powered beams, only to be blocked once again by towering shields of ice. Which promptly exploded but with a wave of her wand, Serafall transformed those unassuming pieces of ice into razor-sharp sickle-like shards that flew in my direction. Now I understand why Grayfia let her in on the training. Her control is far superior.
With no time to waste, I gave up supercharging my body with healing magic and directed it to my wings as I tried to weave and dodge what I could while I fended off the persistent fists of Grayfia who launched herself at me when the shields were destroyed.
Before I could formulate another plan of attack, Grayfia swung and successfully caught me on my right cheek, blasting me onto a humongous ice hammer being brought to life by Serafall after a huge magic circle blinked out. I spun in place, ignoring the searing icy pain of my cheek and the unimaginable pain coursing through my entire body as I engulfed my whole body in flames from my already sore throat. Gravity blasts pounded onto me as I adjusted my speed with my wings and a fake tail I constructed with my magic and shapeshifting.
I heard the distinct sound of gasps as my body impacted the massive and beautifully sculpted ice hammer. But the shrieks of flame hitting the condensed ice were heard as if I was cutting through metal. The hiss of the steam made me perk up as I increased the dizzying speed of my Beyblade maneuver.
A flap of wings caught my attention in the lull of the moment and my spinning was interrupted by two simultaneous blows from above and I was sent crashing down onto the once grassy arena.
A thunderous crash was heard as debris engulfed the area, gravity was a huge help in limiting the damage. And yet my wings were already torn off while the gashes that were healing were now opened and oozing massive pools of blood. I look terrifying, don't I?
No longer being able to rely on them, though I did mostly use them to precisely control my gravity, I shakily stood up and compressed my mana inside of me. As I condensed the flames inside of me, a growl at the back of my throat began reverberating the area around me. The deep low growl rattled the ground beneath me and increased the movement of my flames. Time seemed to slow as the mana compacted into itself, the flames within seemed to spin into a vortex of insane proportions as the azure fire shined like a glittering star.
With a slight nudge, I pushed the flames forward.
They rumbled in response and moved. Yearning for my call.
An all-encompassing roar sprang forth from the depths of my soul.
Flames billowed out of my mouth as I locked onto the still-flying targets up above.
They covered my vision, like a beautiful entrancing dance. The flames spewed out to consume and destroy. The deep swirl of flames coalesced together in an enchanting combination of cobalt, azure, crimson, inky black, and violet. Intense waves of heat melted the ground beneath me, transforming the destroyed earth pit into a pool of azure and crimson-colored lava.
As the flames encompassed the sky above me, a huge magic circle sprung to life up above me. A deathly chill crept up from beneath me even though the pool of lava should've prevented that. I could still feel the warm tender heat from the flames spewing out of me that should've kept me toasty, but as I adjusted my aura, I noticed that it wasn't my imagination. The icy feeling creeping up my legs until my blood ran cold was real. Feeling an odd sense of deja vu, I frantically poured my massive amount of mana onto the flames, rupturing and igniting my throat further. Control was fading away from me, but I refused to back down.
Soon the freezing cold seeped into my bones, flash freezing the pool of lava and in an instant, the magic circle above me began spinning erratically to its conclusion.
"Absolute Zero: Blazing Blizzard of Cocytus," was what I heard from the two female voices above me.
A conjoined spell? Seriously? And that was all I was able to think about as the silver-violet ice storm poured out onto me, flash-freezing my flames, as well as the ground beneath me. They crystalized as I was made to stand stock still as the chilling flame-like ice enveloped my body and froze me. My consciousness remained as I was stuck in a position where the only description could be described as picturesque. I could feel the satisfaction emanating from the two devils even when frozen.
Before I had time to process, my brows were furrowed in annoyance. My otherwise frozen body began trembling. A flash of deep cobalt blue flashed through my eyes as they transitioned into golden draconic slits. Cracks upon my skin began appearing transforming into black dragon scales lined with crisscrossing veins of gold and cobalt blue, lightning up the crystalized ice.
Unconsciously a growl rumbled and shook my immovable self, sending bits and pieces of ice cascading down.
The anger in the pit of my stomach began boiling. An incomprehensible sense of dissatisfaction sprang forth, demanding to be let loose.
I embraced it and set it free.
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