High School DxD: Return of the Crimson Dragon Emperor

Chapter 525: Chapter 515 I hurled the compressed sphere straight up at Asem

I hurled the compressed sphere straight up at Asem. Rising into the magic-filled sky, the orb expanded exponentially—and exploded in a blinding flash!

The blast swept across the heavens, obliterating not just the active spells, but shattering the untriggered magic circles into dust!

”Not done yet!”

I formed two more identical spheres in both hands and launched them in rapid succession. Each projectile detonated in midair, rocking the entire region with massive shockwaves.

Ordinarily, an attack like that would be enough to end anyone.

”Unfortunate for you, I didn’t take a single scratch!”

Asem emerged from the rising smoke, enveloped in a malevolent, suffocating aura. The bastard didn’t have a single mark on him.

Asem pulled back his fist to strike, and I readied myself to intercept. But just inches before impact, he vanished! Movement so fast even my eyes couldn’t track it... Teleportation!

”Your side is wide open!”

A presence flared up on my right. A full-swung kick drove deep into my stomach, sending a brutal shockwave tearing through my internal organs!

”Guh...! You... bastard...!”

I swung back immediately, but my fist met empty air. Teleportation again...! He can use it in rapid-fire succession?!

”Over here! No, over here!”

Next from behind, then from the left, then from above. Asem flashed into existence at every angle and distance, unleashing a relentless barrage of fists, kicks, and energy blasts that tore into me.

It was just like the fight against Cao Cao. He had used one of his Balance Breaker abilities to spatial-leap repeatedly, keeping me on the back foot. Back then, I managed to adapt by reading Cao Cao’s movement patterns. But against Asem, I couldn’t pin down a single habit. He was reading my predictions mid-battle and outmaneuvering them on the fly.

...Come to think of it, Asem had been watching me ever since I was flung into Ast Ade. Which meant he knew everything about how I fought. Meanwhile, I barely knew a thing about him. The information gap was completely stacked against me...!

”Gah!”

Failing to react to Asem appearing directly in front of my face, I took a kick straight to the jaw and went flying.

I bounced hard across the desert sand multiple times before finally skidding to a halt, landing flat on my back. Arms and legs spread wide, I completely relaxed my body. Not because I was giving up. In moments like this, the best thing to do is dump all the tension and clear your head.

”Man... I didn’t think he’d push me back this hard...” I muttered.

”What’s the plan, partner? At this rate, he’s going to keep steamrolling you.”

I know... If I don’t turn the tides soon, things are going to get ugly fast. In pure martial arts, we’re evenly matched, and I can handle his magic. The real problem is that teleportation. If I can’t crack that technique, I’m done for.

”Guess I’ll just have to give it a shot.”

Muttering to myself, I pushed myself back up. A short distance away, Asem was waiting patiently.

”Not going to press the attack while I was down?”

”I could have. But it looked like you were cooking up a plan, so I decided to observe.”

”Arrogant, aren’t we?”

Asem gave a dry laugh and shook his head.

”It’s the opposite—I can’t afford to drop my guard. You always find some absurd way to break through, so...”

Asem vanished again. He reappeared right inside my chest space, driving a devastating blow straight into my solar plexus! The impact echoed deep inside my body, forcing a spray of blood from my mouth.

Wielding spatial shifts alongside martial arts and magic, Asem pressed his assault. I couldn’t react to his movements fast enough to even activate my Quantumization.

Easily dodging my desperate counter, Asem brought his right fist down onto his open left palm. Aura gathered into his hand, and he slowly pulled his right fist away. The aura stretched between his hands, solidifying into shape—

”A scythe...?”

In Asem’s right hand was a massive scythe formed entirely of dense aura. Shaped like something carried by the Grim Reaper, its blade towered past his own height.

Asem gave the weapon a light flick—and split the desert floor clean in two.

”Time to harvest that life of yours.”

The pressure radiating from Asem surged to a suffocating peak! In the next instant, he vanished—only to materialize directly in front of my face once again!

He swung the scythe downward in a brutal arc. I twisted my body to dodge the main blow, but the blade grazed my cheek, leaving a thin cut that dripped blood down my neck.

”Kh...!”

I tried to create distance, but Asem read my movements step for step. Even when his attacks missed a direct hit, the razor-sharp aura grazed my skin, drawing blood bit by bit. The physical damage was minor, but the mounting desperation was chipping away at my focus.

As I barely managed to parry his erratic attacks, a voice suddenly echoed in the back of my mind.

—Calm down.

It was a young man’s voice. The guy I had talked to right before coming here—

”Man... Spouting off all that cool talk just to get pushed around like this is embarrassing...”

I let out a dry laugh—and closed my eyes.

Total darkness. I couldn’t see a thing. But in exchange, every other sense sharpened to a razor’s edge. Deep within the darkness, a single streak of light cut through—

”THERE!”

A sharp, heavy CRACK echoed across the wasteland.

I snapped my eyes open to see my full-power straight right buried deep into Asem’s face, snapping his head back violently.

”W-What...?”

Stunned by the sudden hit, Asem didn’t halt his momentum. He vanished with another spatial leap, flickering randomly around the area. He lunged in to strike—and my fist caught him clean across the jaw, launching his body high into the air.

I flashed a defiant smirk.

”Just so you know, that wasn’t luck. Reading the flow of surrounding ki is the core specialty of the Renkan Keikou-jutsu. Your teleportation is impressive, but every time you vanish and reappear, the ki in the air shifts ever so slightly. That’s the moment I’m aiming for.”

His teleportation relied on manipulating the structure of space itself. Which meant altering the existing environment. And an alteration like that always leaves a trace.

Asem wiped a streak of blood from his lip, his eyes narrowing.

”I see... I knew that, of course. But I assumed a ripple that tiny would be impossible to catch.”

”You’re right. The spatial distortion caused by your teleportation is minuscule. It happens in less than a microsecond. Under normal circumstances, noticing it would be insane.”

I paused, dropping back into a fighting stance.

”But who do you think taught me? My master is the God of Martial Arts himself—the Fist God, Granseis. If I couldn’t pull off something of this level, he’d kick my ass into next week.”

My master, the Fist God Granseis, was one of the oldest gods in existence. For hundreds, thousands of years, he had refined the Renkan Keikou-jutsu—the ultimate hybrid martial art capable of felling even gods.

He had beaten every ounce of that technique and its core essence into me.

”I’ve got too many things I need to protect to lose here, Asem. Let’s pick up where we left off—it’s counterattack time.”

[Afterword Mini-Story]

Ignis: ”Issei, the time has come to unlock the door to your true potential.”

Issei: ”Yeah. ...I’m going further. I’ll break past my limits and reach the next level.”

Ignis: ”Current-you should understand now. Let us shout it together! The desire held deep within your heart!”

Issei: ”I’ll show you my new power—my true potential! Come to me! My—”

Issei & Ignis: ””NEW WORLD SISTER PRINCESS, BROUGHT TO YOU BY ADORABLE LITTLE SISTERS!!””

Ddraig: ”YOUR SISTER COMPLEX JUST GOT WORSE, YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL!”

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