[Boost!]

Issei boosted himself once again as the green gem in his armor flashed a light.

He leaped to Tsuchigumo as his wings boosted his speed. He was faster than before as he had boosted himself with Boosted Gear.

“Oho?” Tsuchigumo let out a low voice, interested in what just happened. “You can still go faster?”

Issei didn’t answer Tsuchigumo. Instead, he yelled with all his strength. He gathered the demonic energy around his hands.

“Haaaa!!”

He aimed at Tsuchigumo’s head. His punch was also deadly, as it severed the wind.

Woosh!

Tsuchigumo met Issei’s punch with his face. He didn’t try to block or parry it, surprising the spectators with his brazenness.

“Woah!! Issei managed to land a punch at Tsuchigumo! He couldn’t react to it at all!” Shouted Azazel.

“No.” I quickly denied Azazel’s claim. “It’s not that he couldn’t react to Issei’s punch, but he purposely let the punch land on his face.”

“Huh? Why did he do that?” Asked Sirzechs.

“Because…” I paused my sentence as Tsuchigumo’s laughter rang from the middle of the arena.

“Hahahahahahaha!” His face that was punched by Issei slowly turned toward Issei.

“Wha? No way!” Issei gasped and tried to run, but Tsuchigumo’s hand caught his left arm before he could run away. “L-Let it go!”

“Hahahahaha!” His laughter continued. “I can feel that one!” His masked lips curled up, and Issei shuddered when he saw that. “Let me give you one punch.”

Tsuchigumo pulled his right fists. They were covered with a black cloud of smoke. It was Tsuchigumo’s Fear that further enhanced his strength.

“That seems bad…” muttered Sirzechs.

“That is indeed bad,” I added while grinning.

Issei was panicked. “Partner! Do something about it!”

[Use your strongest technique, partner! We have enough boost!]

“I see!”

Issei took a step backward with his right leg and prepared Dragon Shot with his right hand.

“Hoh? What is this? You still hide something interesting after all!”

“I won’t lose against you!”

“Hahaha, good! That’s the spirit!”

Both of them gathered their strength while staring at each other.

Issei had a bit of the upper hand due to his armor, but Tsuchigumo’s body was nothing to scoff at too. His regenerative power would be able to fix his wound at a moment's notice, and he won’t die even if he was severed into two.

Now I was intrigued. Would Issei’s Dragon Shot beat Tsuchigumo?

With him being boosted a few times by Boosted Gear, his strength was surely similar to high-ranked devil.

Tsuchigumo was able to beat Ultimate-Class devil with no problem, but he was still able to get injured. Even though Issei’s strength was only similar to High-Ranked Devil, his Dragon Shot was surely at the same level as Ultimate Class devil’s attack.

That was why I was rather curious about the outcome. The exchanges between two punches with the power similar to Ultimate-Class, what would happen was intriguing. Though Issei’s punch was actually shooting a beam, that didn’t really matter.

A few seconds had passed since they accumulated the energy in their fist. A grin plastered on Tsuchigumo’s face as he said, “Are you ready, kid?”

“Hah! I am ready!”

[Boost!][Transfer!]

Both of them threw their punches at the same time. Red versus Black. It was a rather similar color, but the energies used in their punches were different.

Fear versus Demonic Energy combined with Dragon Energy. The Fear around Tsuchigumo’s hand was dancing like smoke from a cigarette, while Issei’s Demonic Energy was compressed in a sphere shape in front of his hand.

He punched the sphere, and a beam of demonic energy was shot toward Tsuchigumo. Tsuchigumo’s fist met with the beam and created a big shockwave.

Winds raged in the arena, toppling a few spectators who couldn’t handle the clash. Tsuchigumo’s hands were burnt by the blast of the beam, but he didn’t even flinch. Instead, he laughed.

“Hahahahaha, what is this?! Is this all your power?!”

“Kuh!” Issei had a hard time pushing Tsuchigumo. His left hand was held by Tsuchigumo’s hand; it was tied.

“It’s honestly disappointing! I am expecting more, at least at a similar level to that white guy!”

“I… I won’t lose!!” Issei shouted, then added more Demonic Energy to his attack.

The beam became larger and stronger. Tsuchigumo was pushed back a little, but he was not over yet.

“This is it! This is what I was talking about!”

He held the beam with one hand and then gathered his energy in the others. He had an excited grin, and Issei tried to shake his hand stronger than before.

“What an exchange! So this is the true strength of Tsuchigumo from the youkai clan!” Azazel exclaimed energetically. “Riku, as the leader of the youkai clan, what do you think about this exchange?”

“It’s just so so. It’s interesting, but I already know that Tsuchigumo will win.” I answered shortly.

“Is that so? What made you that confident.”

“Because… Tsuchigumo is one of the strongest youkai in the world. His title is Hyakki Yakkou destroyer.”

“Hyakki Yakkou destroyer? Sound like bad news.” Said Azazel.

“He is bad news. There is a saying among the youkai…” I paused a little as I wanted to make it dramatic.

“What is it?” Asked Azazel curiously.”

I stared at the exchange of power that happened in the arena and answered, “Don’t even try to fight the hungry Tsuchigumo. He will eat you alive.”

“… That’s ominous.”

“Well, he’s not hungry now, so you can rest easy.”

I stopped talking and focused on the match once again. Ddraig’s concerned voice rang in the arena loudly.

[Partner! Go away now!]

“I know! L-Let it go!”

“Why don’t you take this attack first, kid?”

“I will die! I don’t want to die before touching Rias-senpai’s boobs!”

“You won’t. Clench your teeth.”

Tsuchigumo threw the punch with his free hands, aiming right at the beam instead of Issei’s body.

The beam was pushed back at Issei. At the same time, Tsuchigumo released Issei’s hand, and he was blown away by his punch.

“Gaaaahh!!!”

Issei flew fast, crashed against the wall, and made a big crack behind him. He instantly fell unconscious, and his Balance Breaker was canceled. His body was then covered in light and was teleported away to the medical room.

“I guess I won. This is easy.” Tsuchigumo said calmly.

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