(Flashback, human world)
It was a fine weather with some clouds on the blue sky when Saitama was sitting on a pier facing the ocean, with fishing rod clutched in his hands. The man had been waiting for a fish to take his bait some time now, perhaps for hours. However, the man did not show any sign of discomfort nor impatience as he simply yawned while remained vigil at any movement from under the water.
Hours passed, and Saitama began to suspect that the bait he put on the hook had already dropped and drowned somewhere at the bottom of the sea. His worry was spot on, after he had pulled back his fishing strings, the bait he placed on the hook previously was nowhere to be found. Sighing to himself, Saitama prepared another shot as he took another bait from the cooler box beside him.
Suddenly, the wind blew, and Saitama immediately sensed someone behind him. He turned around, and he saw someone was standing behind him. That someone was a girl; that of a cute young girl with long black hair down to her hips and grey eyes. Her ears differed from a normal human's as they had pointed tips, although her long black hair made this feature difficult to notice. Her attire consisted of black dress Gothic Lolita fashion.
Saitama took in the appearance of the little girl as he noted that he did not sense any presence coming at him until suddenly the girl just appeared out of nowhere. But for most importantly, Saitama could somewhat tell the most defining trait of the stranger before him, as his eyes unusually sharpened into his more serious looks.
"This girl… is strong."
However, Saitama's intuition also told him that whoever or whatever the girl was, had no hostility whatsoever as she only stared until her lips twitched into a smile.
"You, are strong." The girl began to speak. "Strong enough…. That you stand a chance to kill that stupid red…"
Saitama only blinked at the girl's speech and her tone. Despite her looks, Saitama had already half-expected that she would be unlike other girls her age. Then the girl suddenly closed their distance and inched her face closer to Saitama's.
"Yes…. You, are what I need for my goal." The girl said with a grin, as the tip of her nose almost touched with Saitama's own.
Alright, Saitama honestly thought that the girl before him was starting to creep him out with the way she talked, how she measured him with that smile of hers, and the void look in her eyes that was peering into his own.
"You, make an oath to me. Serve me, and I shall grant whatever you wish for."
And there was what she talked about, suddenly asking him to be her lackeys right during the first time they met each other. Saitama only regarded the girl with slightly narrowed eyes for a second before he replied. "….Who are you, anyway?"
The girl's grin only grew even wider.
"I, am Ophis."
(End of Flashback)
When Issei, Rias and co. were on their way to save Asia, another battle was taking place.
A young man with black hair and muscular built launched his fist upwards, causing a massive blast of shockwave that sent a good number of devils from Khaos Brigade up to the air.
The man, Sairaorg Bael, watched the enemy troops fell to the ground and he inspected his surroundings once more, only to confirm that he had pretty much cleared the area out of any hostiles.
Nodding in satisfaction, Sairaorg then heard another booming voice and he turned his head to see a familiar man walking towards him. The man was bald as he walked, leaving a mounting pile of unconscious enemy devils in his wake.
"Saitama-sensei." Sairaorg straightened himself before he gave a respectful bow. "Thank you for the hard work."
"Seriously, Sairaorg. Will you stop….. Uh, never mind." Saitama was about to chide Sairaorg to stop calling him 'teacher' but he quickly knew it would be futile to do so. Instead, Saitama simply looked over Sairaorg's handiwork and he nodded to his self-proclaimed disciple. "Yeah. You too, good work."
"Yes!" Sairaorg replied with his face beaming with pride.
A flash of light was caught from the corner of their eyes, followed with another explosion causing the two men turned to see a woman with silver hair and ornate armour, consisting a white breastplate with gold and pale blue accents and matching, fingerless gauntlets, boots, hip guards, and wing-shaped hair clips. She also wore a black leotard underneath her breastplate, black thigh-high stockings, and a pale blue cloth wrapped underneath her hip guards, all of which were clad with pink lacing along with her hair clips. The said woman was flying on the sky before she descended and landed near Saitama and Sairaorg.
"A Valkyrie from the Norse…" Sairaorg muttered in recognition.
"Sairaorg Bael, am I correct? My name is Rossweisse, from Asgard. I was sent here to see if this area needs reinforcement." The Valkyrie introduced herself and she looked at her surroundings. "Though it seems that you have everything under control."
Sairaorg only nodded in return, then Rossweisse blinked her eyes when she recognised the other man beside the young devil. Her face then flushed as she looked around anywhere but Saitama's direction.
"Rossweisse?" Saitama asked in slightly worried tone at the Valkyrie's awkward manner. "You okay there?"
"Eh?Ah! Err… Y-yes, I'm alright, t-thank you." Rossweisse stuttered in return. "L-long time no see, Saitama-san." Rossweisse said with her head bobbed downwards while her eyes looked up shyly at the man.
Some people might saw the scene as a girl meeting again with her crush, but if one were to take a better look, it was more like a girl meeting again with the man she once offended, and the girl was still feeling somewhat embarrassed and guilty about it.
The three soon fell into an awkward silence. Sairaorg felt that he should have not said any word, while Saitama narrowed his eyes at Rossweisse's odd behaviour. After few seconds that felt longer than it supposed to, Saitama raised his eyebrows as he somehow managed to catch on what this was about.
Letting out a small sigh, Saitama then spoke. "Look, Rossweisse… About-"
"Rossweisse, are you there?"
"Sairaorg-sama, please respond!"
Rossweisse and Sairaorg was about to listen to what Saitama wanted to say when their communication link suddenly came up and the former two had to stop the conversation in order to hear of what their other end had to say.
Few moments later, Rossweisse then turned to Saitama and Sairaorg. "I'm sorry that I have to cut this short, but the angels are in need for reinforcements." The Valkyrie said, putting on her resolved expression once again despite her curiosity of what Saitama was about to say.
"I also have to go. My peerage needs me." Sairaorg also voiced his news.
Saitama then rubbed his head as he decided to let go of his intended talk for another time. "Well, then I guess I'll go meet up with Azazel."
The three then said their farewells and good-lucks to each other before they split up on their own ways.
Somewhere at the Rating Game field that had turned into a battlefield, Azazel was soaring on the sky with his twelve jet-black wings after he had taken care of good numbers of devils from Old Satan Faction.
"Hm… Okay, I've sent you the coordinate of my position. I'll see you later, Saitama." Azazel turned off the communication function that was equipped on his artificial left arm. As the Governor of Grigori and fallen angels continued on his way to his next destination, he stopped when a young girl appeared before him.
Azazel immediately recognised the petite figure before him through the sheer power radiating from her being, as well as the reaction he got from the Gigantis Dragon Fafnir that was residing within Azazel's artificial sacred gear.
"…I never expected you to come here personally." Azazel spoke first, his eyes hardened and glared at the little girl.
The girl only smiled as she calmly regarded the Scapegoat. "Azazel, it has been a while."
"You sure have changed a lot. Last time I heard, you're an old geezer." Azazel mused as he took a good look at the girl's appearance. "…Now that your appearance have become that of a beautiful girl, you definitely have my respect. What are you planning, Ophis?"
The girl, the Infinite Dragon God, the Ouroboros Dragon Ophis; only looked at the distance in return. "I, am here only to observe."
"Well, this place is sure the best spot for sightseeing…" Azazel replied with a light sarcasm. "But for the big boss to appear here… Will the world be peaceful if I defeat you here?" Azazel said while pointing his Downfall Dragon Spear at the Dragon God.
"Impossible. Azazel can not defeat me." Ophis replied as she regarded the fallen angel with uninterested look. Her reply was not a mere confidence. It was an undeniable fact that Azazel could never match someone on Ophis' level even with the power of a dragon king.
"Then how about with the two of us?" A new voice made itself known and the two turned their attention to see a massive purple dragon flying towards them.
"Tannin..." Azazel regarded the former dragon king as the said dragon addressed the dragon god.
"The young devils are betting their future, standing at this very battlefield. I will not tolerate the fact that you came to interfere!" Tannin glared at Ophis. "You, who had no any interest in the world suddenly became the leader of terrorists?! What is your purpose!?"
Azazel shared an agreement with Tannin's opinion add the question with his two-cents. "And seriously, don't say something boring like 'killing time' or some shit like that. Many people are dying and getting hurt thanks to your actions."
Ophis only stared at Azazel and Tannin before she looked up to the sky. "…The silent world."
"…What?"
"I, wish to return to the dimensional gap and obtain silence. That, is my only reason." Ophis expressed her reason more clearly this time.
Azazel's mind then began to work to analyse Ophis' answer. "Dimensional gap… A world of nothingness, an empty dimension, that exists between other worlds like the human world, underworld and heaven…. Her birthplace…" Then Azazel snorted at Ophis. "What the hell… So your reason is home-sickness. Dimensional gap, huh… If I recall, in the dimensional gap there was…"
Ophis then concluded Azazel's sentence. "Yes, Great Red is there."
Great Red, the Dragon of Apocalypse, The True Dragon of Dragons; an existence whose power was rumoured to be on par with, if not stronger than, the Infinite Dragon God itself. Nobody truly knew its history other than the fact that it suddenly appeared in the dimensional gap, preventing Ophis, who happened to have left the empty world, to return to her home.
With that information, Azazel finally found one possible conclusion. "I see… Now I understand your objective, Vali…!"
Suddenly, a magic circle appeared near Ophis and someone teleported to the scene. That someone was a man wearing noble clothes, along with black with dark red belts and motifs, as well as a cape. The man had black hair tied up to a small ponytail, as well as a pair of pointy ears and pale skin.
"I am the one who carries the blood of the true Asmodeus, Creuserey Asmodeus." The man introduced himself. "I came here to ask you whom are the Governor of fallen angels for a battle as I am the member of the True Satan faction of the Khaos Brigade."
"Looks like the Asmodeus from the old government finally showed himself." Azazel commented, which was replied by a black demonic aura pouring out from Creuserey's body.
"It's not the 'Old'! I am the blood inheritor of the True Devil King! I will avenge Katerea Leviathan right here!"
Playfully assuming that the Asmodeus was sort of Leviathan's lover, Azazel lazily ran his hand through his hair as he prepared himself for a fight. "Alright, alright, I'll take you on. Tannin, what will you do?" Azazel then turned towards the purple dragon.
Tannin replied with a snort. "Hmph, I'm not that rude to interfere in one-on-one. I shall keep an eye on Ophis in the mean time."
Azazel chuckled at Tannin's warrior-personality. "Fine, I'll leave it to you. It has gotten chaotic, but my students should've been confronting Diodora by now."
"I also gave my snake to Diodora Astaroth. If you consume it, your power increases drastically. Defeating him won't be easy." Ophis voiced her mind when she heard Azazel's words.
Azazel then laughed in return, causing Ophis to tilt her head. "Why are you laughing?"
"Your snake, is it? Sure, it's powerful… But unfortunately for you, it won't be nearly enough." Azazel replied.
"Why? My snake, grants enormous power for those who consumed it."
"Still, it won't be enough. You have no idea who Diodora is messing with." Azazel replied to Ophis, before he returned his attention to Creuserey. "Anyway, Fafnir. We have the true descendant of the Asmodeus as our opponent, so let's get at it again, shall we?" Azazel said as he pointed his sacred gear, ready to unleash its power.
However, before anyone could have done anything, a magic circle in crimson colour appeared, intruding the combatants. From the teleportation circle, a man with crimson-red hair appeared.
"Sirzechs, what are you doing here?" Azazel asked as soon as he recognized the man as the Crimson Satan, Sirzechs Lucifer.
"…For this plan I got my little sister involved in the political matters of us adults. So I need to come forward as well. I thought it would be bad if I leave everything to you every time. I also want to persuade Creuserey. If I can't even do that, then I won't be able to face my sister." Sirzechs replied with narrowed eyes.
Azazel sighed good-naturedly at Sirzech's answer. "…Really, you just that nice of a man. But it will be likely pointless, you know?"
"Even so, I wanted to ask them directly as the current King of the devils."
Azazel then retracted his spear back, allowing Sirzechs to handle things. Creuserey, however, was outraged when he laid his eyes on the Lucifer.
"Sirzechs! The hated fake existence! To appear here personally…! Because of you… Because of you people…!" Creuserey lashed out, his black demonic aura intensified.
Sirzechs, however, simply regarded the Asmodeus calmly. "Creuserey, will you lower your arms down? If it is now, I can still prepare for negotiation. For having the descendant of the previous Satan be further away from the spot light, and drove them to the corner of the Underworld…" Sirzechs said with somewhat melancholic look. "…Even now, I wish that there might be another way at times. I want to prepare a negotiation with the descendant of a former Satan. More than that, I would like you to talk to the current Asmodeus, Falbium."
At Sirzechs' polite persuasion, Creuserey's rage only increased even further. "Don't speak nonsense! Not only the fallen angels, but you have allied with the angels! I don't want to hear you, who have become a filth, talk about devils! Not just that, but are you telling me to talk to an impostor!? That is enough with your nonsense!"
Azazel only sighed at Creuserey's argument. "That's rich coming from you guys, who mingled with bunch of rag-tags like Khaos Brigade."
Creuserey then sneered. "We are not cooperating, we are using them. The hated fallen angels and angels are beings who are only tools that we use for us devils. Understanding each other? Peace? No! We, the devil kings, are the ones who have to become the Leaders of the World! By using Ophis's power, we will destroy the world, and create a new world of devils! For that, you Satan impostors are in our way!"
With the thought that the devils were already closing to the brink of extinction, and the clashing, un-reparable beliefs with the old hierarch, Sirzechs attempted to negotiate once again. "Creuserey. I just want to protect the seeds of devils. I need to protect the civilians, or else our kind will not prosper. I don't care whether you call me naïve. I want to lead the children with the future. A war is the last thing we need in the current Underworld."
Creuserey only spat Sirzechs' ideal in return. "Naïve! More than that, it is a foolish reason! Do you think that will be the end of devils!? Devils steal the souls of humans, we lure them to hell, and we exist to eliminate God and angels! There is no need for negotiation anymore! Sirzechs, The fake King with the fake kindness, a Lucifer! A devil king! They are beings which annihilate everything! Even though you have the power of destruction, why don't you use it against the fallen angel beside you!? Like I thought, you don't have the right to call yourself a devil king! I, Creuserey Asmodeus, who am the true devil king shall annihilate you!"
Seeing that his negotiation with the Asmodeus had failed miserably, Sirzechs then turned to Ophis. "Ophis, is it possible to negotiate with you?"
Ophis only stared at Sirzechs before replying. "Only if you consume my snake, and make an oath to me. And one more thing, hand over the ownership of the dimensional gap around the Underworld. I, will take all of it."
Seeing that he could not meet such demand, Sirzechs closed his eyes in resignation at the only possible outcome of the negotiation. When the Crimson Satan re-opened his eyes, Creuserey immediately noticed their shared conclusion as he fired a large block of demonic power with both of his hands.
"Yes! That's it! That is easier to understand, Sirzechs!" Creuserey bellowed.
BOOM!
Only to be easily repelled by Sirzech's Power of Destruction. With an orb of highly condensed power of destruction floating on his palm, Sirzechs addressed Creuserey once again with strong tone. "Creuserey, I shall eliminate anyone who becomes a threat to the Underworld as a Satan."
Seeing that his attack was easily overpowered, as well as hearing the declaration, Creuserey's anger built up even higher as he unleashed even more of his demonic aura to his surroundings. "You…! DON'T YOU DARE TO USE THE NAME OF THE SATAN!"
As the demonic aura started to steadily increased and condensed itself, Creuserey's appearance also started to change as well. His body mass bulged, making him taller and bigger, and extra appendixes were likely to jute out from his body. His skin began to get covered in scales, making it akin to the body of a dragon. As Creuserey let out a roar, a head of a bull came out from his left shoulder, followed by a head of a ram on his right. A pair of horns was also jutting out from his head.
Looking at Creuserey's transformation, Sirzechs remained impassive while Azazel only whistled. "Whew, just how many Snakes did the guy take into him? Now he's trying to imitate the true form of his own ancestor."
Sirzechs then readied himself to fight the monstrous form of the descendant of Asmodeus, until suddenly, Creuserey's body bulged up and exploded like a balloon, leaving the latter screamed in agony for a second before the life finally gone from his eyes.
Sirzechs, Azazel and Tannin only blinked their wide eyes at the unexpected outcome until their eyes caught the sight of familiar face.
"Azazel, and Sirzechs with Tannin, too." Saitama said as he walked amongst of what remained of Creuserey Asmodeus.
The trio only silent at Saitama, resulting the man to stare back, wondering what the three before him was staring at. Then he finally caught on the situation after he looked at his handiwork.
"Oh, err... Sorry…" Saitama blinked in realisation. "Well, I was on my way to meet Azazel there… Then this thing suddenly showed up and roared at you. I thought it was an enemy, so…"
Sirzechs only let out a soft breath as he then smiled warmly at the man. "It's good to see you here, Saitama-kun."
"…I'll never get bored of this." Azazel snickered, still looking at Saitama's handiwork.
Tannin only shook his head in amusement, as he knew that Saitama was just that kind of man.
However, Saitama's attention was brought to the little girl floating on the sky. The man's eyes met with the dragon god's, and silence fell, as Saitama just stared at Ophis impassively as ever while the latter stared back with small smile on her face.
After moments passed, Ophis finally spoke first. "It has been a while, Saitama."
"…Ophis." Saitama replied with even tone.
However, before the conversation could be carried out any longer, it hit everyone.
oXo
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
At the other side of the battlefield, Sairaorg who just finished regrouping with his peerage snapped their heads towards the source of the massive roar and tremendous surge of power that suddenly came out of the blue.
Standing along with Sairaorg's group, there was a large lion with golden fur. When the roar was heard, the lion suddenly growled and went to a fit, surprising everyone else, as it glared daggers towards the direction where it came from. It wanted to do its duty to protect its master by running towards the source and confronting whatever that caused its senses and instincts to go haywire; but at the same time, it was terrified, its instinct kept screaming at it to just run away as far as possible from whatever the thing was.
"Regulus!" Seeing that the lion was like ready to pounce at anyone at any moment, Sairaorg immediately went to its side and ran his hand through the beast's mane, as well as putting some pressure on the its body in order to keep it down. The administration managed to calm the lion a little bit, but it did not stop the beast from kept growling warily towards the source of the roar.
Looking at the state of the lion, Sairaorg himself only set his sight upon the source of the roar, wanting to know what the hell was happening and what the hell could possibly roar like that.
oXo
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
At another side of the battlefield, the angels from Heaven, now together with reinforcement from Norse's Valkyries, were startled out of their minds when the roar was heard. The roar also came together with bone-chilling pressure that made them shuddered.
"What in blazes…?" Rossweisse could not hide her shock.
Irina, who was happened to be beside her, could not hide her fear. "W-what the heck was that?!" At the same time, the reincarnated angel could not stop the gnawing feeling in her heart. She could only pray to her Lord, not only the archangel Michael, but also her deceased god, that her bad feeling was simply paranoia.
oXo
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
Sirzechs, Azazel, Tannin and Ophis turned their heads towards the source of the tremendous aura that came from far distance. The former three could not really make out of what it really was, but it unnerved them, especially the former Dragon King.
"What… was that…?" the purple dragon asked to nobody in particular. He had never encountered that kind of pressure after his previous feud with a certain red dragon.
Even Ophis was showing a flicker of interest and curiosity on her expression as she stared at the direction where the aura came from.
Saitama, while he did not possess the actual ability to sense or perceive aura, his sixth sense told him that whatever hit him was awfully familiar.
While everyone could not make out who was the owner of the said roar; Saitama, however, narrowed his eyes as he had a hunch about where the roar came from.
"…Ise?" Muttering his son's name, Saitama then turned back to the dragon god. "Ophis, can we talk later? I need to take care of something."
Ophis did not say anything, and she did not do anything to stop Saitama from leaving.
The three males who overheard Saitama's words were a bit perplexed of how casual Saitama just talked to the known strongest existence. The latter then turned to address the three. "Sirzechs, Azazel, Tannin. I gotta go. See ya later!"
"Ah! Saitama-kun, wait-!" Sirzechs was about to ask what was going on, but the man had already blurred away.
Azazel only sighed and turned to Sirzechs. "Now it comes to this, I guess we have to trust that guy for now. Ophis, what are you going to do now?"
"I, shall have a look as well." Ophis replied before she simply vanished from her spot.
The three males left then decided to settle the matters at hand first before they would catch up with Saitama.
Back at the present time, Rias Gremory and her peerage were speechless, as they watched the fight between a man and a dragon. It was kind of surreal for them to see that the hulking figure of Issei in Juggernaut Drive could move with such a speed that made him looked like nothing more than a streak of red light. It was even weirder that the human could also move at equal speed, matching and keeping up with the dragon blow-to-blow.
The fighting had become a game of cat and mouse for a while, with Saitama seemed to be pushed back by the Juggernaut's relentless assaults. However, Saitama's face did not show any sign of fatigue nor distress. He simply let his son to chase and attack him around.
The group that was watching the fight could not do anything but watch with worry etched on their expressions. Then, a crack appeared on the air behind them, and everyone saw a familiar face came out from the said crack.
"So it really is Juggernaut Drive…" Vali Lucifer made his presence known. "Looks like you guys are in a tight spot."
"Vali?!" Rias did not expect the arrival of the White Dragon Emperor. Everyone else then tensed up in anticipation for a fight.
"Relax, I'm not here to fight. I came here to observe after I sensed Hyoudou Issei's aura all the way to our location while we were travelling in dimensional gap." At the mention of 'we', two more figures appeared following Vali; Arthur Pendragon and Bikou.
"This girl is one of yours, isn't she?" Arthur stepped forward, carrying the unconscious Asia in his arms.
"Asia/Asia-chan/Asia-senpai!" Everyone then gathered around the girl, when they found that Asia was still breathing, everyone was immensely relieved with tearful eyes. Even Xenovia immediately cried in joy as she hugged Asia's body.
"That girl was really lucky, you know? We found her flying around in the dimensional gap. If we did not take her with us here, she would've been exposed to the nothingness and her body would've perished." Bikou explained.
Vali on the other hand, only stood as he observed the fight. "…So that's Hyoudou Issei's Juggernaut Drive, huh?"
"Yes, and he's our only problem now…" Rias said as she turned towards the battlefield again.
"You have nothing to worry about." Vali said impassively. "That form is incomplete."
Rias only gave a questioning look at Vali, who then began to explain again. "Looking at the situation here, I assume that girl of yours was the cause of Hyoudou Issei's transformation, correct? Juggernaut Drive that is triggered by sheer emotion like rage alone; tends to be premature, thus making it incomplete. It also happened to me during my first times using mine of Divine Dividing."
"So it's possible to revert him back?" Rias asked with hopeful tone.
Vali only let out a sigh. "To begin with, it's not impossible to forcefully dismiss even the complete form of Juggernaut Drive…" Then Vali pointed at the ever-impassive Saitama, who was still moving around in the battlefield in high speed. "And Hyoudou Issei's case of his incomplete form only makes things easier. Saitama will end this soon enough. He'll be fine."
oXo
Meanwhile on the battlefield, Saitama was still running and dodging around his son's hulking figure as he occasionally would block and redirect the draconic monster's attacks on him.
However, due to Saitama never took most of his fights seriously, the man averted his attention from his opponent when his eyes caught the sight of Vali and his team standing with Rias' peerage.
"…Vali?" As he lost his guard for a moment, Saitama then failed to anticipate that the beast seized the moment to fire a dragon shot from its maws. Saitama only blinked back as the massive red beam enveloped the area where he stood on, causing a huge explosion.
BOOM!
Everyone on the side-lines immediately put up a protective barrier to block the shockwave and some flying debris. They covered their eyes to block the blinding light from the explosion, and when they opened their eyes again, the battlefield was in flames.
They watched with their eyes wide, worrying that Saitama might have been grievously injured, then they caught the sight of a man walking out from the flames.
It was Saitama, with no injuries or damage whatsoever on his person, save for some dust and dirt on his body, as well as his cape sustaining some damages. The man only walked with his ever-plain expression, looking around for the sight of his berserker of son.
From the enormous inferno, Juggernaut Issei's giant figure suddenly appeared behind Saitama and the beast threw his fist towards the unsuspecting man.
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
BOOM!
Saitama was barely able to turn around when the beast's fist collided right to his front, resulting a shockwave upon impact, the gust of wind extinguished the blazing inferno from Issei's previous attack on the field, and the sheer force of the impact caused Saitama's body to fly away.
While Saitama's body was still air-borne, Issei had already moved to anticipate where Saitama's body was thrown to, and the beast struck, hurling Saitama's body elsewhere; only for Issei was already moved into the predicted spot. The sight of things was similar to a game of pinball, with Saitama as the ball.
The said game of pinball did not last long, as when Saitama was hurled to the ground, the man managed to stop himself as he skidded across the ground. However, Issei was already at his blind spot as the Juggernaut then threw a barrage of punches towards the man, destroying the ground beneath in the process. Saitama simply guarded himself as he took the brunt of his son's onslaught, while the said son was letting out another earth-splitting roar.
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
oXo
"Saitama-san!" seeing that the man was under consecutive attacks, Rias shouted in worry as she prepared herself to join the battlefield, along with her peerage.
However, Vali outstretched his arm, preventing Rias and the others to advance. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." The young man said with serious, yet relaxed tone.
"But Saitama-san…!"
Rias was about to protest, but was interrupted by Vali again.
"Like I said earlier, there's nothing to worry about." Vali waved off before he turned his sight back to the battlefield. "It's just Saitama's bad habit acting up."
Rias only furrowed her eyebrows as she took a look at the battle. No matter what kind of claim she had heard regarding the bald man, all she could see in the battle was one-sided beating with Saitama as the receiving end.
oXo
Meanwhile, Saitama remained on guard as his son kept attacking him while letting out his roar.
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
As the voice kept hammering on his eardrums, Saitama finally lost his patience as he just threw his fist forward. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
BAM!
Everyone, sans Vali team, had their jaws dropped and their eyes widened as wide as saucers when they saw Saitama punched and hurled Issei's massive body towards the ruins of what previously had been the temple for rating game.
Saitama, however, blinked few times when he narrowed his eyes at the dust cloud that had been raised from the force of the impact, though he could not exactly see, Saitama could vaguely make out the body of his son that was laid against the wall.
Vali only blinked at the sight, but not about the fact that Saitama just easily counter-attacked and overpowered his rival with a single punch. And whatever Vali was insinuating had been shared by Saitama as well.
"…He survived."
Vali on the other hand, also smirked at the development. "Remarkable… Even with the incomplete form, Hyoudou Issei was still able to survive that hit… But that doesn't change the outcome of this battle."
Saitama kept staring at the shadow of his son's prone form. The draconic beast let out a growl as it attempted to get back on its feet despite his heavily-damaged armour. Saitama then prepared to launch one final attack for a good measure.
Rias and the others still tried to make sense of things, but at least they knew that the current crisis was going to be settled.
Vali also believed that show was over and prepared to leave with his companions, when another thing was occurring on Issei's end.
Within Issei's mindscape, Ddraig sighed in relief as he saw that Saitama would still make it in time to land a finishing blow on his host's prone form. For the entire time, the dragon had been doing his best to use his host's magical reserves as the alternate fuel instead of his life force. Saitama's finishing blow just came on time when the reserve was about to reach the limit.
But something was off. During the fight against the Vanishing Dragon, Ddraig recalled that there was a surge of unknown power when his host was activating the Juggernaut Drive, and the said power was causing the consciousness of the past souls to go wild like crazy, as well as causing a violent reaction from Issei's mutation evil pieces.
However, when Issei was activating the Juggernaut Drive against Shalba Beelzebub, the power surge was… significantly weaker. He could feel it, but it was weak enough to cause barely any reaction from both past possessors and the evil pieces. What actually happened? Ddraig pondered, but in the end, it did not matter, as the life of his current host was the top priority.
The said host, on the other hand, had a different thing going on despite the current state of his own mind.
oXo
When Saitama began to move towards him, time seemed to slow down, to the point that the time seemed to stop rather than slowing down, as Issei, trapped in the armour and madness of Juggernaut Drive, opened his eyes to find everything looked so hazy. The cries, shouts and urging from his predecessors only made things more difficult to understand.
"…What?"
It was the first thing registered in his brain.
"…What's happening?"
Issei then tried to look around, but around him was nothing but tempest of what could be described as negative emotions; hatred, grief, anguish, agony, pain, rage, etc.
"….Asia…"
He remembered something when that name came to picture. He remembered that he swore to always protect her, yet he failed.
"Asia…"
This time, tears began to flow from his eyes as he grieved again over his loss.
[Crush! Ravage! Show the world your rage!]
"…Wha-?"
Issei then heard voices around him, but he could not make out where they came from. Then through his hazy eyes, he made out a figure of a man, charging at him with his fist ready to launch.
"…Who's that?"
Issei tried to find the answer as the man in front of him was closing the distance. After few seconds that seemed to be like forever, Issei found his answers.
"…Is that… Enemy…?"
[Show him our power! Your power!]
The voices then urged him again, causing his head to wince in pain.
"….But… He's crazy strong… I can't even scratch him after everything I threw at him."
Issei remembered how outmatched he was during the fight with the man. However, the voices did not relent in the slightest.
[Then give him more! We are more than ready to fight with you!]
[Fight! Awaken, Hyoudou Issei! We, together shall be the Dragon of Domination that sink our foes into the crimson purgatory!]
In the end, Issei surrendered himself to the voices.
"Yes… I must overcome him. I must surpass him. Must defeat him. But… how…?"
[More!]
"…More? More what…? Um…"
[MORE!]
Attacks? Speed? Strength? Power? Technique? Tactics? Wits?
No. Not only those. More…. More….
BA-BUMP...
With the pulse, Issei came up with his conclusion.
BA-BUMP!
EVERYTHING.
oXo
[What the-!?]
BA-BUMP!
Back to Issei's soul, Ddraig suddenly felt it again, the pulse, the same pulse that helped his host destroying the seal of Dimension Lost, followed by a power surge that was caused by a spark, a tiny spark that was enough to send a ripple, which then grow into a wave of unadulterated power, or to be precise, a fraction of Issei's hidden potential, washing over the past possessors, the evil pieces, and him.
The past possessors then began to scream even crazier than ever, as if they were having over-doses, getting high on the power.
The evil pieces also crackling like mad, like a generator being overloaded when the wave of power engulfed them.
[This…! This surge of power…! Grrrrhh…!]
Even Ddraig's own mind and senses was being clouded and overwhelmed by the sheer strength of the power that enveloped his every being.
[GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]
Vali widened his eyes as he snapped his head back towards the battlefield, his sight was particularly aimed at the dust cloud with Issei hidden behind it. The reason of Vali's concern was the sudden spike of power that came from Issei's exact position.
"What in the…?!"
It was when Saitama had closed the distance between him and his son. The man launched his fist forward, only for an arm covered in red gauntlet suddenly shot out from the smoke…
And caught Saitama's punch, as the impact blew the smoke away, giving everyone a new sight to behold.
Everyone else was showing an expression of pure shock etched on their faces, while Saitama only blinked several times while his eyes were darting between the trembling hand that was cupping his fist and his son.
"What….What the hell is happening now?"
The question was pointed at the Issei's new appearance. While the draconic features of the Juggernaut Drive such as the spikes and fangs were still there, Issei had become noticeably smaller. One could say that his whole appearance had become closer to Vali's own complete Juggernaut Drive. The colour of the armour was leaning towards crimson-red rather than the previous blood-red, and on the wings of Issei's armour, the gems adorning them were bluish white in colour, unlike the rest on the armour that were sporting their usual emerald.
The look might not as imposing as the previous one, however, the sheer pressure exuding from his person was on a whole different level, like a pitch-black darkness, able to cause everyone to be on constant edge. Even those who were veterans on battlefield from Vali team could not help but drop a cold sweat.
From the green gems of Boosted Gear, an announcement was heard.
[CRIMSON OVERBOOST! JUGGERNAUT FULL DRIVE!]
Before Saitama could have reacted from the turn-out of events, the newly-looked Issei suddenly yanked his arm, causing Saitama to get lifted up from the ground, as Issei then proceeded to slam Saitama several times around the ground before finally threw him away.
Saitama landed on his feet, then he turned towards his son again, who was now staring at the hand he used to stop Saitama's punch earlier.
The said hand was still shaking, presumably from the strain of blocking Saitama's attack head-on. However, Issei only clenched his fist tightly before he let out another roar.
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
Everyone was forced to cover their ears again, because if the previous roar was that of a beast, this roar was like something straight out of nightmare.
"Are you kidding me?" Vali then muttered, receiving questioning glances from the others.
"What are you talking about? What is happening to Ise now?" Rias enquired.
"Hyoudou Issei just forcefully completed his Juggernaut Drive… Which wasn't supposed to happen at this point."
"What did you say!?"
Vali did not bother to turn at everyone's shocked expression as he continued his explanation. "While it's still in the realm of possibility for such a thing to happen, if your mind was too clouded by madness like the one from Juggernaut Drive, it should've been impossible to properly regulate your power. During my first few times on controlling my own Forbidden Move, I had to maintain my sanity by using my magic reserve instead of my life force, then I would be able to complete my Juggernaut Drive. But in Hyoudou Issei's case… His mind was still heavily influenced by the madness, yet he was able to complete his form…."
Then Vali let out a laugh, resulting incredulous looks from everyone. "Fuhahahaha! This is just too incredible to be dismissed! Albion, this is Hyoudou Issei's true power!"
Albion then replied in somewhat begrudging tone.
{I hate to admit but… If the red one were able to fully activated his Forbidden Move in our fight from before… We could have lost.} Then the Vanishing Dragon grimaced at the sight of his rival. {But still… Is that even Juggernaut Drive at this point?}
"Is it because of the Welsh Dragon, along with the past possessors' will, responded to the current threat towards the wielder of Boosted Gear?" Vali hypothesized. "Or is it because Hyoudou Issei himself that forced his Juggernaut Drive to complete itself, somehow?" that part was not vocally expressed.
"This is not a joking matter! Isn't this dangerous for Ise now?" Rias voiced her displeasure.
Vali's smirk remained, but his expression had shown some wariness as well. "You're right in that regard. By now, his transformation should've begun to sap his life force away. If Saitama did not end this fight soon, Hyoudou Issei might eventually die from the curse of Juggernaut Drive."
Then, Akeno and Koneko proceeded to approach Vali. "I know we are not in a position to ask, but please… Please help us to save Ise-kun. If it's you, the White Dragon Emperor, can you at least give Saitama-san your support?"
Koneko also voiced her intentions. "…Please. We will also help with all our power, so please lend us yours."
Vali then closed his eyes. "It's not that I don't want to help, but it would be suicidal to do so. One doesn't simply dive into the fight between those monsters of father and son." The man replied with a sigh and little regret in his tone.
With the only reliable person had refused to help, everyone began to despair, as they were too powerless to do anything at this point. Vali, however, remained calm as he kept looking at the battle with great interest in his eyes.
"What are you going to do now, Saitama?"
Meanwhile, Saitama was staring with somewhat incredulous look at his son. He tilted his head in confusion as he kept staring at his son. The first thing that came up with his mind was, that this fight might be one of those days.
The now completed Juggernaut Drive was standing while its sight was glaring straight at Saitama, and unlike the usual green, there was another glint of different light glowing from the two orbs that were Issei's eyes. From his fanged mouth-piece, a steam came out as Issei exhaled.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Issei caved in, turning into a small crater, and the armoured figure had already closed his distance towards Saitama with his fist launched at the latter's face. The two then immediately found themselves in a fierce exchange of blows and attacks that even blew away the air around them, as well as wrecking the surrounding ground. From the side-lines, Vali and his team quickly reinforced the protective barrier that Rias' group had erected to protect themselves and other spectators from the sheer shockwaves that were produced from the clash.
They were evenly matched for few minutes, as Issei was able to keep up with Saitama's strength and speed, then Saitama decided to step up his game.
Before Issei could have been overwhelmed by Saitama's increase of power, he put his own power to work.
[Boost!]
Suddenly, Issei steadily picked himself up as the two then began to run and leap around the battlefield while they kept continuing their exchange of blows. Saitama then threw a straight at Issei, and the latter suddenly moved aside, avoiding the punch perfectly. Saitama then quickly proceeded with a kick, but Issei immediately jerked his body enough to have Saitama's kick merely passed him, as Issei then quickly proceeded with a punch towards Saitama's jaw.
The man then quickly leapt away before the Issei's strike could have hit him, and as soon as Saitama landed, he dashed again towards his son and the two once again, went into another fierce exchange of blows.
Saitama and Issei fought in awfully similar manner; trying to overpower each other in every single aspect. However, when Saitama threw another punch at Issei, the dragon then sneaked his way through Saitama's extended arm, by-passing his guard, and launched another strike towards Saitama's chin.
Saitama blinked, and he was able to avoid at the last second through his speed and reflex alone. As the exchange of blows kept going, Saitama blinked as he noticed something.
Issei dodged better from Saitama's strikes, it could be that Issei's boost from earlier allowed him to keep up with Saitama's movement, but Saitama's hunch said it was something more than that.
"He's reading my movements… No…"
The way Issei dodged and blocked Saitama's attacks were still way too crude, and were only done rather occasionally, but the former's moves were gradually improving. It was as if before Saitama could have fully launched his attack, his son was already moved away from Saitama's trajectory.
"He's trying to read me?"
Issei's movement became better, despite his mind was still clouded by the madness of Juggernaut Drive. In his previous form, Issei's assaults and moves were more akin to a crazed beast, as the boy had even tried to mow Saitama with his jaws. And now, his movement was clearly leaning towards that of a human fighter. In addition, some of his strikes were aimed towards his eyes, head, and his other vitals instead of simply intended to cause large-scaled destruction. Those kinds of move were awfully familiar for the bald man.
"…It's still sloppy, different, and nowhere nearly as good as Garou, but… Martial arts? He's trying to use martial arts techniques?"
However, few minutes of blows-exchange later, the bluish-white jewels on Issei's wings suddenly shone, then Saitama suddenly felt like his muscles 'twitched'.
[Divide!]
oXo
A familiar sound was suddenly heard, surprising Saitama and everyone else, whom were watching from the side-lines.
[Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!]
Everyone from Gremory group then glanced towards Vali, who was looking with slightly widened eyes in interest at the development.
"I see…. Hyoudou Issei is using the power he took from me from our previous fight. Those are terrifying combination, however…" Vali then narrowed his eyes analytically. As the Red Dragon Emperor had once wondered of how many times would he have to boost himself in order to reach Saitama's level, the White Dragon Emperor had also once wondered how many times would he have to 'divide' Saitama enough to bring him to the dragon's own level. "Will the combined ability of Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing be enough to even the scales?"
oXo
Saitama felt his muscle kept twitching as his son's wings glowed brightly. Not that it affected him much, but looking back at his son's condition, the man kept reminding himself that he had to end this fight sooner than he thought, or things would only deteriorate. He then leapt away, breaking himself from his son, and he stopped some distance away as Issei expectedly charged to pursue him.
Saitama then set his feet firmly on the ground, and prepared himself to launch his punch to finish things up. It won't kill Issei, but it should have been sufficient enough to stop him. When Issei was entering his range, Saitama then shot his fist forward.
WHOOSH!
The surrounding air was blown away again as a shockwave was trailing straight behind Issei, mowing down the ground. However, Saitama blinked again at another unexpected.
Issei was standing, with his feet stood firmly on the ground. His head-piece was cocked back slightly, and Saitama's fist was only inches away from Issei's face-plate. Issei's both hands were gripping tightly at Saitama's extended arm.
"He stopped and grabbed my arm in the last second to prevent a direct hit…" Saitama mused, staring at Issei's trembling hand; struggling to keep Saitama's fist in place. "…Barely, but he's finally able to read me."
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
With another roar, Issei then did an over-head throw to slam Saitama to the ground. After the ground cracked and caved in from the force, Issei then dashed, dragging Saitama's body while pressing the man's head across the battlefield, as if trying to squash the man's head in the process.
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
Few moments after having his face being pushed down and skidded against the ground, Saitama's eyes twitched in annoyance as he used his limbs to forcefully stop himself and pushed Issei away, followed by a hook. Issei managed to dodge by leaping away, evading Saitama's swing by a hair's breadth; but the force was enough to chip away some parts of the armour around the waist.
Issei then landed, leaving the father and son on another stalemate as the two stared at each other.
Saitama was cleaning out some dust and dirt that managed to get inside his mouth, nose and ears. "Really, Ise? That's a pretty dick-move you pulled on me..." Saitama chided his son. The said son only growled in return as he exhaled another steam from his mouth-piece.
Saitama then let out a sigh as he came with a decision. "I guess I have to get a bit serious on him…"
The man then looked down to the ground and much to his convenience, the condition of the wrecked ground would do enough for what he intended to do.
SPECIAL MOVE, SERIOUS SERIES…
The man then dug his arms through the ground, with his eyes never left his son. The others from the side-lines were looking in confusion of what Saitama wanted to do, while Vali's expression was akin to an anticipation. Then Saitama brought his arms up.
SERIOUS TABLE FLIP!
At first, everyone was looking at the landscape where Issei and Saitama were having their showdown. However, when Saitama brought his arms up from under the ground, or to be precise, from under the rubble, a large amount of landmass was erupted from the ground, the eruption kept spreading towards Issei like a wave; as if Saitama was throwing the whole landscape in front of him, where his son was standing on.
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
With that roar, Issei did another unexpected feat as his eyes were glowing red before the incoming landmass.
oXo
Everyone was not sure about what they should have gawked at. Was it the fact that Saitama just 'flipped' the entire ground towards Issei with his bare hands alone? Was it the fact that Issei was using the ability of Gasper's Forbidden Balor View? Or was it the fact that the said power had been used to freeze the entire landmass that Saitama threw on him?
"That-! That's the power of Gasper-kun's Sacred Gear!?" Yuuto exclaimed.
"E-even my power too?!" Gasper gasped.
"But to stop that amount of landmass… How wide is his range of vision… No, how powerful can Ise utilize that power?!" Rias voiced her thoughts.
"There's no end of surprises from you, Hyoudou Issei…. Or is it just the thing between you father and son?" Vali thought, trying his hardest to supress his gleeful grin to creep up on his face.
oXo
"…Okay, I didn't see that coming." Saitama simply said as he stared at Issei's handiwork.
There was never once anyone, who could stop Saitama's serious series. However, that case was referring to a direct hit. In case of Table Flip, the landmass itself was nothing more than rocks, but who could actually stop such amount that Saitama just hurled? Apparently, his son could.
Issei exhaled another steam from his mouthpiece, and he took a stance that caused Saitama to raise his eyebrows. The armoured figure had his body lowered to the ground, and his arms were digging through the rubble.
Saitama could barely believe what he saw. He knew what his son was going to do, the stance and the position alone spoke volumes of what was about to happen. In front of one surprise and another, Saitama could not help but think of one word.
"….Damn."
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
With another roar, Issei brought his arms up and an avalanche consisting of the mass on the battlefield was making its way towards Saitama. The amount was so small compared with the amount Saitama just sent towards Issei, but the former would never mistake of what he witnessed.
Hyoudou Issei in his Juggernaut form just immitated Saitama's table flip. As Saitama stared at the landmass that was thrown at him, he did not even realize that the corner of his lips was twitching upwards.
"…Well, that's cute." Saitama could not help with that sarcastic remark as he simply forced his way through the avalanche, expecting that Issei would be right before him once Saitama got passed the landmass.
However, when Saitama launched his punch, Issei was nowhere to be found. Then, he suddenly sensed that his son had moved behind him. However, Issei had already vanished again just when Saitama just moved his sight, and Issei suddenly had appeared right in front of him.
Saitama then did not waste anymore time and launched his attack forward. However, instead of hitting Issei, Issei's figure suddenly blurred; signifying that what Saitama hit was just an after-image of his target. The real Issei was not behind, or anywhere from Saitama's blind spot; Issei simply left his after-image by taking a far step back, exactly on a straight line in front of Saitama.
Then, before Saitama could have proceeded to his next move, Issei immediately dashed and sent his fist straight at Saitama's face. Upon impact, a massive shockwave and explosion were erupted, obliterating the land behind Saitama in the process.
BOOOOMM!
The spectators widened their eyes, some who had not enough fortitude was blanched at the sheer destruction that had been caused by a single blow from Issei's strike.
Saitama himself was launched backwards, gliding through the air at high speed. Issei did not waste anytime as he quickly chased after Saitama's flying figure and by focusing all his power, Issei used every strength and speed he could muster to launch continuous combo-attacks, not giving the bald man any chance to breath, to recover, and to retaliate.
On mundane eyes, Saitama's body was akin like shaking in the middle of the air. Issei was moving so fast that Saitama could not even move anywhere from his spot as he received all hits from head to toe. Not to mention that each hit was enough to cause a massive shockwave and destruction to the surrounding area.
oXo
Issei kept continuing his relentless, devastating assault on his father's body across the battlefield, destroying everything on its wake, forcing Rias Gremory's peerage along with Vali team to move away even further to avoid being collateral damage.
Fear and worry began to fill everyone's mind as they could not do anything to help Saitama, who was being Issei's punching bag, thrown around in the air like a rag-doll.
They only saw the streak of red light, which was Issei, launched a high-kick on Saitama's abdomen, sending the man straight up to the sky. As Saitama's body was rocketing upwards, Issei immediately moved pass him even with greater speed than before. When Issei had reached even a higher point than Saitama's position, the armoured boy quickly went down with both of his fists stretched out. The Juggernaut finally met again with Saitama, his fists dug right into Saitama's centre of his body. The two then fell back to the ground, with Issei kept pushing his fists deep into his father's body all the way until they reached the ground, erupting even bigger explosion and destruction upon impact.
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
BLAAAAAAAARRR!
This time, even Arthur and Bikou had to lend their hands to Vali to reinforce the barrier protecting the spectators on the side-line. When the smokes and the dust cleared up, when the noise had become quiet, Everyone saw an enormous crater on the battlefield, with Issei still clad in his Juggernaut Drive hovering above it.
The red dragon exhaled another steam as he landed on the mouth of the crater. As he let out a growl, as his body trembled, implying that the body under the Juggernaut Drive had had begun taking its toll.
"…Is it over?" Vali wondered. He had to admit that even himself in his full-power, even in his own Juggernaut Drive might not be able to survive that kind of attack. However, Vali could not help but feel that there was still something else going to play out.
Fear and worry began to cloud everyone's mind from Rias Gremory's peerage. They feared that Saitama, their last hope to save Issei had perished on the battlefield. At that very moment, Asia's eyes began to flutter as the girl slowly regained her consciousness.
"….Asia!" Xenovia called out as she was the first to notice Asia's awakening.
"Xe-Xenovia-san? Everyone?" Asia drowsily made out everything around her. Xenovia only hugged the former nun's body in protective way. The others were relieved that Asia had been confirmed to be completely fine, but they had even more pressing matters at hand, namely the still-rampaging, and slowly dying Issei.
The boy in question had noticed the presence of the onlookers and began to make his way towards them menacingly. The group plus Vali team quickly put themselves in a high-alert, preparing to fight a battle that they would most likely lost. They had an option to flee, but they just could not imagine that they could escape the red-armoured monster that was coming their way.
"…Ise-san?" Asia muttered in confusion as she was looking at the state of her beloved. She could not look at the face behind the armour, but she somehow could tell that the boy was hurting and needed help.
However, before anyone could have made any decision, Issei suddenly stopped. Looked back to the crater as if the beast had sensed something else.
oXo
Saitama blinked as his body was flatly pressed onto the ground. Dust still covered his vision as he slowly got up to seat himself. However, when he tried to stand, he felt something.
It was a sensation that Saitama had not felt for a very long time. So long that Saitama almost forgot about it. The sensation was akin to stings and some twitches around his head. There was also some numb feeling around his neck as well.
The man moved his neck around, and he felt his bone clicked. He shook his head around and he felt another jolt stung his nerves. He felt pain.
…Pain?
While Saitama was still registering the sensation in his brain, he felt something inside his mouth. Something was moving, mixed with something that tasted like iron. He spat it out to his palm, and he stared at a small object in pale-white colour.
…His tooth.
Time seemed to slow down as Saitama tried to make heads and tails of his current state. When was the last time Saitama feeling something like pain? A pain that was caused by his enemy, nonetheless? During the course of Saitama's life, the man himself was not sure about the mechanism of his seemingly invincibility. It was so strange; the mightiest and deadliest attack of the most fearsome being could barely itch him, yet scratches or bites from some house-pets and insects could irritatingly hurt him so bad.
But never-mind those, because Saitama finally experienced something that had never been happened to him before.
He had been hurt.
He had received damage.
He had received damage during a battle.
He had received an actual damage during a battle from an enemy.
As if to make everything even more surreal, it was his son of all people to deal an actual damage on his person.
Clenching his knocked-out tooth in his fist, Saitama let out a chuckle, a dry, ironic chuckle.
Saitama thought that Issei would be just another particularly 'strong' individual. Saitama thought that the time when the worthy opponent was still a long way to come.
He was wrong, and had been correct at the same time.
Issei was not just another decent fighter in Saitama's book. Issei was the one that could actually beat him. Issei was the answer of Saitama's little wish of finding a worthy opponent.
It was his own offspring of all people that possessed the true potential to surpass him.
However, looking back at the current situation, Saitama arrived at a conclusion. "No…" Saitama thought. "…Not like this." Saitama thought again as he stopped chuckling.
The current situation was far from ideal. If he wanted to settle everything, he was sure as hell that he did not want it to be this way. Right now, Saitama had to stop Issei lest he would die.
They would fight each other again, but that time was still yet to come; Later, but soon enough, in more proper and preferable circumstances.
Saitama then steeled himself once again as he climbed out the crater he was in.
oXo
When the dust cleared up, everyone had their eyes widened and their mouths gaped at the sight of Saitama who made his appearance known once again. The man's appearance had seen better days, much to Vali's shock, that a trace of blood could be seen around the edge of his lips.
The armoured Issei could not help but frozen at the sight of his 'enemy'. His attacks connected, but that insignificant damage was as far as all of his power could manage.
Frustration.
That was what Issei felt when his still somehow working mind acknowledged that Saitama was still more or less fine and healthy. What made it more frustrating was the look on the bald man's face, as if he still had not recognised the situation with him to be 'difficult', as if he still had not taken Issei 'seriously'.
The dragon-armoured Issei then let out another growl as he kept glaring hatefully at his father. With his mind and body being overwhelmed by the curse of Juggernaut Drive, Issei could no longer properly things like before.
Issei then walked, then he ran, then he dashed at blinding speed towards Saitama as he unleashed another roar.
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
Saitama then stood his ground firmly, guarding himself as a streak of crimson light flying around and landing many deadly strikes on his body. The beat-down did not last very long, as Saitama kept taking the brunt of his son's mindless attacks, the man focused himself as he finally saw an opening.
"It hurts, doesn't it?"
When the question was spoken, Saitama landed his fist straight towards Issei, who happened to be right in front of him, destroying the chest-plate in the process, revealing a large green gem latched to the armour.
The dragon spewed out blood from its mouthpiece, as its body was launched backwards. It took considerable amount of effort for Issei to stop himself and returned its sight towards Saitama.
"It hurts, doesn't it?!" Saitama asked again with louder voice and his smoking fist outstretched, as if the man wanted to give some kind of lecture instead of keep fighting. "…Not being able to protect those who meant a lot to you!?"
Saitama could only imagine what kind of things were running inside his son's mind. He had a fair share of experience about something similar with what Issei had, but even then, those people who Saitama could not save and protect were in the end, strangers. Issei and Asia had been inseparable, according to Rias, thus Saitama could only imagine the burden, the pain, and the suffering that Issei was going through when the boy believed that he had failed to protect what actually mattered to him.
Seeing that his berserker son had taken a considerable damage, Saitama then initiated his own counter-attack by dashing forward.
"Seriously, just move on already!"
Despite being a father and actually cared deeply for his family, Saitama never believed himself to be the best father around, especially when it came to give a heart-touching speech. Clicking his tongue, Saitama then decided to let his fists to speak the rest of his message.
TWO-HANDED CONSECUTIVE NORMAL PUNCHES!
Seeing the barrage of punches that Saitama threw at him, Issei also returned the gesture in the same manner.
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
oXo
"W-what is going on? What happened to Ise-san? Why are those two fighting?!" Asia voiced her confusion, since she was not available for most of the time.
"There must be something we can do!" Rias said as she bit her nails. "If we can have Issei to know that Asia is fine and alive, he might be able to come back!"
Asia was still not sure of what exactly was happening, but if calling out to Issei could solve the problem, then she was more than willing to help out.
The others also understood Rias' idea. Their caring feelings towards Issei were enough to make them began to shout out Issei's name, hoping that their voices would reach the rampaging red dragon.
Vali wanted to scoff. The completed Juggernaut Drive could not be reverted back by that kind of method. But he decided to stay quiet, letting the devils of Rias Gremory's peerage to conduct what he deemed to be futile.
oXo
Dusts were blown off, shockwaves were erupting one after another, and the battlefield was being destroyed at steady pace as Saitama and Issei were locked in a fierce, full-blown, high-speed fist-fight. The two kept trying to overpower each other through sheer strength and speed alone, with Issei being forced to keep boosting his power in order to keep up with seemingly increased-pace of Saitama.
"Ise!"
The two combatants heard the crying voice from the side-lines, but they did not bother to turn their heads as they kept focusing on pummelling each other.
"Ise-kun!"
"Ise-senpai!"
"Ise-san! Please stop!"
"Ise! You have to stop! There's no more reason to fight anymore! Asia is safe and sound!"
Saitama caught something from the red dragon when that one particular sentence was heard. Issei's body twitched ever so slightly, causing him to waver and growled in irritation. Seeing that his son was losing his ground, Saitama seized the chance to slowly overwhelm him.
oXo
In the midst of the chaos in the battle field, when the Juggernaut Issei was slowly being overwhelmed by Saitama's continuous punches, something was taking place inside Issei's soul. The boy who was falling and trapped into despair suddenly looked up when he heard those words.
Asia is safe and sound!
Ise-san! Please stop!
Ise-senpai!
Ise-kun!
ISE!
"….A….Asia…?" Issei sobbed with tears kept flowing from his eyes. "…Asia…? She's alive….?"
It seemed that the despairing boy had seen a glimmer of hope in the middle of the tempest of souls of his predecessors, who along with Ddraig, were screaming in ecstasy from the spark of foreign power from before.
"But… I saw her vanished right before me…. She disappeared back there…. And I could not do a damn thing…." However, a part of Issei refused to believe those words due to his own grieve.
While those two parts of Issei was struggling to take control, the battle that took place in reality and the damages that were done on his physical body were disrupting Issei's rationale.
Clutching his head in pain, Issei then let out a scream.
oXo
Saitama was pressuring Issei, who seemingly had enough as he could no longer keep up with Saitama's consecutive attacks.
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
The crimson berserker then let loose one more roar as it decided to take off high to the sky, avoiding anymore of Saitama's hits. The dragon's armour had been heavily damaged from the last clash of punches; the spikes, grieves and wings on the armour were falling apart, the chest-plate that Saitama shattered earlier had yet to regenerate itself, the large green gem then began to glow with power as Issei charged his remaining reserve into one last feat.
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! BOOST!]
oXo
Everybody was thrown out of loop at the sheer power Issei was emanating from his body. Sparks and lightning were flickering around as the green jewel at the centre of Issei's chest-plate was glowing brighter by seconds.
{Impossible…! He can still conjure that much power in that state?! Does he want to destroy everything in this dimension!?}
"This is bad…!" As if understanding Albioin's comment, Vali quickly turned towards his team. "Arthur, Bikou! Get everyone, we're leaving!" The aforementioned two quickly worked as they had been instructed to prepare tranport.
Vali knew well about himself not being the most noble person around. He and the Gremory group might be enemies, but he did not have any grudge against them. Despite their hostile relationship and Vali's sole love for fighting, the Strongest White Dragon Emperor still possessed a sense of moral and honour that he would not want to break any time soon. He would be damned if he were to let the Gremory group to be casualties when he could help it.
"What do you mean?! We are not leaving!" Rias protested, not wanting to leave her beloved servant behind.
"I'm afraid we do not have much choice here." Arthur interjected as he created a tear in the air with his holy sword. "If we stay here, we will get caught in the Boosted Gear's strongest attack."
Bikou also put in his two-cents. "Look, we know that you love that Red Dragon Emperor and all, but we sure as hell don't wanna stick around while that guy was gathering that kind of fire power!"
"If you want to die here, I won't stop you. Otherwise, get inside the barrier quickly! We're running out of time." Vali said towards the still-hesitating Gremory group.
"But… WHAT ABOUT SAITAMA-SAN!?"
oXo
"Oh, come on!" Saitama whined out. "Are you kidding me, Ise!?"
Saitama did not possess any in-depth perception to measure the exact fire-power his son was gathering, but the looks alone was more than enough to warn the man that if he did not do something, the damage would definitely spread across the entire damn place, not just the battlefield, and everything would be annihilated beyond repair.
While Issei's power was still charging, the time seemed to slow down again as Saitama's mind began to process everything around him.
He turned towards the side-lines, looking at the sight of Vali team preparing themselves to escape along with everyone from Gremory group. Saitama was relieved for a second when he saw Asia was standing among them, but that was not the main concern.
Rias' peerage and Vali would likely be fine, since the latter seemed to be able to take care of things on their end. Sirzechs, Azazel, Tannin and other leaders would probably be fine on their own….. Probably.
"But what about the others?"
Sairaorg, Rossweisse, Irina and other soldiers and troops of the alliance had no means to protect themselves from Issei's attack. Saitama could not tell whether they were still fighting or had already left. There was too much on the line for Saitama not to resort using that move.
Time was definitely not on his side as Saitama saw that the gem on Issei's chest was radiating so bright with unadulterated power, that whatever Issei had gathered for the entire time was ready to be unleashed at any moment.
Cursing under his breath, Saitama clenched his fist as he made his choice. He prepared himself to make a gamble; A gamble that might cost the life of his very own son.
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
With that last roar, The Red Dragon of Domination finally unleashed his final attack.
[LONGINUS SMASHER!]
An energy beam of immense destructive power was launched from the armour's chest, making its way towards Saitama, who remained on his spot and put up a stance with his fist cocked back as the Longinus Smasher closed the distance between them.
SPECIAL MOVE, SERIOUS SERIES…
"You'd better survive this, Ise!" Saitama then threw his fist forward once the beam was within the range.
SERIOUS STRIKE!
When the fist connected with the energy beam, everyone had to cover their faces as the gust of wind, followed by a bright light, suddenly slammed into their faces.
X
When everyone's vision became clear, destruction was the simplest way to describe what in front of them. They only remembered Hyoudou Issei, in his Juggernaut Drive, was launching the Longinus Smasher, the most powerful attack of the fifth Longinus, the Boosted Gear: Red Dragon Emperor's gauntlet. The other party, the man who claimed himself as a hero for fun, Hyoudou Saitama only retaliate the said powerful attack with a single blow of his fist. Their vision became white, and when they got to see everything again, everything was… well, destroyed.
The suffocating aura of the Red Dragon Emperor in Juggernaut Drive was no longer filling the air. However, everyone's attention was directed towards the large crack at the sky, revealing a part of the Dimensional Gap to behold. The place where the crack appeared was around the direction Saitama was facing when he confronted his son's final attack.
"W-what happened…?" Rias asked.
"This is just surreal that it became ridiculous…" Vali said while grinning from ear to ear. His two comrades were also sporting disbelief looks.
"What do you mean, Vali?" Yuuto asked this time.
"Didn't you see?" Vali replied with rhetoric gleefully. "Saitama just overpowered Hyoudou Issei's Longinus Smasher with his punch alone!"
The others could only stared at what remained of the battlefield with disbelief looks in their wide eyes. They wanted to voice their denial of such notion, but their minds aand bodies were too exhausted to do so. Not to mention that by the state of things, Vali's 'unbelievable' answer was the only thing that made sense in their minds.
oXo
On the remains of the battlefield, Saitama was approaching the form of his son who was lying motionlessly on the ground.
"Hey, Ise. Wake up." Saitama said as he tapped Issei's cheek couple of times. "Come on, kid!" Saitama pressed on as he inspected his son's condition.
Issei's body was miraculously still in one piece. Blood, wounds and nasty bruises were littering the boy's body. His eyes were closed in content, and his body was completely still.
For the first time in a while, dread was filling Saitama's mind as he feared for the worst outcome to happen. Never once he imagined he would have to use that move on his own son. If anything were to happen to him, could he still face his friends? Could he still face his wife? Could he still call himself a father? Could he still call himself a hero? He had failed to protect and save what mattered to him once in the past, and he would be damned if he could not even save his own family.
He then ran his hands through Issei's body, searching for any sign of vitals. He honestly never do any sort of medical treatment, he was only doing what he had seen from television and stories from more experienced people. He placed a finger on Issei's neck, wrist and temple, looking for a pulse. He even landed his ear close on Issei's chest and near his nose.
Fortunately, after few minutes, Saitama sensed a pulse, followed by a small flowing air from Issei's nose and mouth, followed again with slight, steady movements from the boy's chest. The pulse itself was weak, barely noticeable, yet steady.
The bald man sighed in relief that his son would live, at least for now. Issei was still in a dire need of medical attention.
The girls from Gremory group, followed by Vali team behind them finally arrived at the father and son.
"ISE!"
The group shouted in worry and relief at the sight of Issei's pitiful state. Asia also immediately used her Twilight Healing on Issei's body, while Akeno, per Rias' orders, was tapping into her communication link to call for help. Rias herself was managing her group, who was worried so bad towards Issei that they were circling around him, to make sure that the boy had enough room to breath.
As he watched over the kids, Saitama then turned towards Vali and his team. "Vali." The man greeted.
"Saitama." The silver-haired teen returned the gesture. "It seems that you had a hard time."
"Yeah… You have no idea." Saitama said as he took a glance at his son before he turned to Vali again. "So, what are you doing here again?"
"I just came to look for something in the Dimensional Gap until I ran to her." Vali pointed at Asia, who was still busy healing Issei. "Then I saw you fighting my rival…" Vali's lips then turned into a grin. "I know that you're strong, but I never thought you would be this powerful."
Saitama only replied with a snort before he realized what actually happened with Asia. "I… guess I should thank you. For saving Asia-chan, I mean."
"No need to sweat it. I simply did it on a whim." Vali waved off. Then the White Dragon Emperor looked towards the sky, particularly at the crack that showed the sight of the void world. "By the way, that's the one I wanted to see. Go take a good look."
Everyone then turned around to look at something that appeared from in the sky, as if they were alerted of its presence alone. It was a gigantic creature in a form of a true-red coloured western dragon. It had a horn on its snout and possessed two sets of wings. Its overall length measured around 100 meters.
"….It's him." Was what Saitama said at the sight of the dragon that saved him in the past.
Vali's shifted his gaze towards Saitama. "….I'm somehow not surprised that you know him. But yes, it is indeed him. The True Red Dragon Emperor, the Apocalypse Dragon, the Great Red. The dragon who is also known as the True Dragon of Dragons. Since this field for Rating Game is a dimension created within the dimensional gap, me, as well as Ophis, have come to confirm its existence within the gap. Shalba's plan was just him taking an opportunity, it's not important to us."
"…And why do you want to confirm that Great Red's existence?" Saitama asked.
"Because he is another being aside from you I want to defeat. It's just who I will able to surpass first. If I can kill the Great Red, I will become the True White Dragon Emperor, and that also means that I have a good chance of defeating you. And if I can defeat you first, that also means I'm a step closer to defeat the Great Red. Either way works for me." Vali replied with a smirk of determination.
"Is he really that strong?" Saitama could tell that the red dragon was strong, but for Vali and Ophis to team-up, building an army and all made Saitama curious.
"He is. In fact, even with Ophis' power could match him, that Ouroboros still wants to gather an army in order to ensure victory. And speaking of Ophis…"
On cue another voice was heard.
"Great Red, it has been a while."
Another powerful presence made itself known as everyone turned their heads towards a little girl in gothic-lolita dress. Ophis, was standing on top of a rubble while making a posture of shooting a gun with her fingers aimed towards the Great Red.
"I shall, definitely get my hands on silence." The Ouroboros said with a hint of finality in her tone.
It was the same time that Rossweisse, Irina, Sairaorg, Tannin and Azazel also arrived at the scene.
"You guys…" Saitama was the first to notice the arrival of the others.
"I see that everything has been taken care of." The governor of fallen angels commented at the state of things around him. "And is it really that kid of yours who released the Juggernaut Drive? His aura could be felt all across the field, not to mention that one hell of a roar of his."
Saitama only shrugged at Azazel's question and pointed at Issei.
"And it seems that the two stars of the event have shown up..." Azazel commented at the sight of the two most powerful dragons ever existed.
"Great Red…How nostalgic." Tannin commented as he was looking at the massive dragon.
"Oh, You met him before?" Azazel asked in curiosity. "Did you fight him?"
Tannin only snorted in return. "Let alone fighting. He did not even look at me no matter what kind of attack I threw at him."
"Azazel, it's been a while." Vali greeted the fallen. "I take that you have defeated Creuserey Asmodeus?"
"Well, it was actually Saitama who took care of him. You know… As usual." Azazel replied and snickered while making a punching posture.
Vali blinked and snorted. "Yeah, that's definitely something that Saitama would always do."
"And it seems that Shalba Beelzebub had also been taken care of by Ise's Juggernaut Drive." Azazel turned his attention at Issei, whose body had been healed by Asia's Sacred Gear.
"Azazel, where's my brother?" Rias asked.
"Sirzechs has to go back to the observation room since the barrier of this dimension collapsed." Azazel replied, then he looked at Saitama's wound again. "Still, though… Never thought the day would come that I will see you getting hurt... Damn."
"Yeah, this is thanks to Ise. I gotta say that it's still kind of hurt." Saitama rubbed his head. "The kid was really strong. I even had to go serious back there."
"Hmph…" Everyone turned to see that Ophis just snorted after Saitama said his words. "Spare me the modesty, Saitama. I, know that you're still holding back in that strike. Otherwise you'd end up killing your offspring as well."
Everyone had various reactions on Ophis's answer. Most of them were disbelief, shock and awe. For those who were watching the fight between Saitama and the Juggernaut Drive, the fact that Saitama's punch had overpowered the Longinus Smasher, as well as making a hole in the dimension was already too much for them to take in. Everyone swallowed a lump when they imagined what would happen if Saitama were to go all out.
The man in question only remained silent while staring impassively at Ophis before he finally addressed her. "Well, what are you gonna do now?"
Ophis hummed for a second before replying. "Hmm… I guess we can continue our talk from earlier." Ophis then walked a bit towards Saitama. "Saitama, will you join me now?" the Ouroboros outstretched her hand towards the man.
Everyone then tensed up at Ophis gesture and all eyes were on Saitama, waiting for an answer that might determine the entire outcome of the war with the Khaos Brigade. The man, however, remained stoic as he let out a sigh. "My answer is still the same as before."
If Ophis was disappointed, she did not show it. "I see. However, now that the Great Red is here, should I send you to him? That way, you can repay your debt with him, then you will have nothing left that can prevent you from joining my cause."
Everyone was shocked again at the notion. Ophis had been planning to recruit Saitama into Khaos Brigade? Debt? With the Dragon of Dragons of all things? Just what was the deal with Saitama and powerful beings?
"It's not that simple, Ophis."Saitama only let out another sigh as he massaged his temple. "Look, I'm tired, and I just wanna go home and spend some time with my wife. If you keep harassing me like this I'm gonna get angry, okay? Now buzz off!"
Everyone could only gaped at the sight of a human chiding the Infinite Dragon God as if the latter was just a mischievous child playing a prank. In return, Ophis pouted, but did not do anything else.
"…I, shall withdraw." Ophis then turned around and sent one last look towards Saitama. "Saitama, I still have not given up on you…" Then Ophis glanced at Issei before disappearing. "…And you should take care of your offspring."
Everyone was too baffled at the interaction between Saitama and the Ouroboros that nobody could have done anything to stop Ophis from escaping. Saitama on the other hand, was a bit nerved at the way Ophis regarded his son.
Vali was the first to recover with his team as he also prepared to leave. "We will also retreat. Saitama, make sure that Hyoudou Issei will be able to fight again once he recovers." Then the White Dragon Emperor vanished into the portal created by Arthur and Bikou.
Once all signs of enemies had disappeared, Azazel then turned to Saitama with a dry look. "…I knew that you left off few things about those dragons during our first meeting in China. You'll have a lot of explaining to do for me and the others, Saitama."
Saitama let out another breath as he raised up his both arms in resignation. "Honestly, I never thought myself things with Ophis would turn out like this… Oh, well."
The Gremory group and some others turned back towards Issei who was still unconscious. His body had healed, and he would live. Everyone was gathering around and smiling in relief with Asia was holding his hands and Rias was cradling his head. "…Alright, let's go home." Rias announced to her peerage.
Thus, the battle that day had ended.
X
While travelling within the emptiness of the Dimensional Gap, Bikou was slumped on his bottom as he letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Sheesh… That was really one hell of a fight, don't 'cha think so?"
At the youkai's enquiry, Arthur only gave a knowing smile, while Vali was still standing with his back on them.
"…Vali?" Arthur then called out as their 'leader' did not give any answer. Bikou was about to stand up and approach Vali, but he stopped on his track as he and Arthur caught on something.
"…He's at it again…" The two thought as they understood what was going on with their leader.
Vali was sporting a fierce grin on his face. In his mind, he was imagining the upcoming battles and interesting events that would happen as more powerful opponents had shown up.
The Great Red, Hyoudou Saitama, and the list went on with a new addition, Hyoudou Issei. The obstacle on Vali's path to be the True White Dragon Emperor had increased by one, but it only fuelled his spirit even more.
X
Ophis was by herself inside of what it seemed to be her temporary lair. The Ouroboros was born from the emptiness of Dimensional Gap, thus she represented Infinity, Chaos and Nothingness. She had not shown any interest whatsoever towards practically everything since the dawn of time, safe for exterminating the Apocalypse Dragon and returning to her silent home.
Imagine if someone were to come into the room where Ophis was, and that someone suddenly caught the embodiment of nothingness was giggling softly.
She could not help it, after years and centuries of amassing power to confront the thing that had claimed her home, she had finally found a key that could help her to reach her goal. The key took form of a human who once introduced himself as a hero for fun. The bottomless, immense power that leaking out from the man's person was giving her a similar feeling of her own home. That was one of things that attracted her so much towards the man.
The human who had surpassed and removed all limits, and in addition, much to her glee, he had an offspring. Not only the said offspring was housing the spirit of the Welsh Dragon, the fight that she spectated earlier had clearly shown that the current host of the Welsh Dragon possessed a potential that could allow him to stand on the same realm as his own father.
One was good enough, two were even better. In case of recruiting the human father, patience was essential. It was not like he blatantly refused her invitation, it was just he had something that kept him to at least 'consider' of joining her ranks.
Using cunning tricks like those humans called as blackmail was out of option. Ophis was too prideful to resort to such petty tricks. Using force to recruit him would only cause more harm than good in a long run. Having him to join and swear his loyalty to her willingly was the best option available.
She could think about recruiting the 'offspring' for some other time as she needed to grasp a better understanding about the newly developed situation. But most likely, patience would also played the big role for Ophis to complete her objective. If she played her cards right, she would not have only one, but two valuable assets when the time had come where she would settle her grudge with that stupid red once and for all.
So she waited. If time was what she needed to seal a deal with her target of recruitment, she had plenty of it, and she was willing to be patient.
To be Continued…