Divide and Conquer! The Gremory Family's Rook awakens and Rias vs. Natsuru! The Climax of the Wild Beast brawl is about to begin! Pt. 1

The sound of feet making brisk contact with the grassy ground of the dark forest filled the dark, unwelcoming vibe of the forest. The top three chimera that were sent out to destroy the devils that infiltrated their base of operations.

They were the best among the others when it came down to their power, speed, and natural instincts. No one amongst the other experiments could ever have hoped to have matched them. They were the pinnacle of their master's experiments.

Locating the devils were such an easy task that they could even sense that they were being boxed in by their less powerful chimera grunts. The ones that were successfully doing their jobs to annihilate the devils were all right in their books, but the stragglers who were still left scattered around the forest were unfortunate to have met up with them upon their arrival in the forest.

They didn't see it coming at all, the weaker chimera soldiers were instantly killed by the three without a second's glance. Even though it were because of their master's orders to do the dirty deed, to them it felt like a task needed to be done. They literally looked fearful of the devils' might exhibited once they began to fend off the others, they purposely stayed back and only came out when they were assured that much powerful back up would come.

Disgraceful, showing such reliance on power besides your own was disgusting. Encouraging the three chimera especially the Panther-man to eradicate them. Only the strong live while the weak shall perish.

"Nyahoo~! Nyahoo~!" The Tiger-woman cheered as she goes from running to jumping off the branches of trees and rolling around as they approached the main fight.

"You seem to be in a good mood! What? You actually excited to battle these devils?" The cheetah-man poked fun at the female chimera's jaunty attitude.

"Of course! Because this time I have a lot more options to choose from this time! Apart from those two strong guys who have dragon aura. There's another strong male on the island with some unique power as well, nya! So many choices for me to choose from!"

It wasn't only her, the other two could feel the arrival of another strong one who came upon the island. They couldn't verify how strong he was compared them, but they could at least tell that he was a substantial threat that must be taken care of.

"Aside from your overly horny mating urges…" The cheetah man rolled his eyes, "I'm actually having my heart beat a few ticks faster thanks to this new challenge. A chance to face off against those dragons again will really test to see how fast I can go, heh!"

The cheetah man smirked and rubbed his nose, "But it's not like they'll keep up with my superior speed, so I'll make sure to toy with the weaker ones before going heads up against them!"

"We were ordered to kill them. Don't play around with the likes of trash or you will end up being killed by trash!" The Panther-man broke his silence and reprimanded the cheetah chimera.

"Well excuse me for finding some enjoyment in my job, you prick!" The cheetah jeered at the panther chimera with a glare.

"Say what about you? Aren't you excited to face these devils?" The Tiger-woman asked the panther-chimera.

"No." The immediate answer earned the curious looks of the other two chimeras.

"But why?" The Tiger-woman pushed on for more answers.

"Because all of these opponents can't compare to me. I am the very pinnacle of complete evolutions, simple as that. The weak die and the strong love on that is the code I follow and that will be the code that leads them to their inevitable ends."

The Panther-man's set of beliefs took the two by surprise. But then they remembered that in the end there was some truth behind his words since he was ranked as number one for his unbelievable power that neither one of them could match. Being labeled at that high of a rank would give anyone that impression of nobody ever matching them.

"Now focus, once we arrive, we'll cut in and execute the devils that are too close together, their limited amount of movement will give us our advanta-!"

*KaBOOOOOOM!*

A huge explosion shook the forest as the area they were closing in on had smoking filling the night sky above.

"What could have happened there, nya?"

*SNAP!*

[—!]

Their senses kicked in at the right moment before they began to discuss their plan of attack, the three chimera, stop in their tracks to feel out the past change that had occurred.

"Crap, a few managed to break free from being boxed in, and now they're headed towards the facility!"

The cheetah-man clenched his fist as he sensed a group of them spread out in different parts of the forest.

"I can sense about 2…no, it's more than two…three probably…" The panther-man second guessed himself and only could ponder about why those devils decided to break off into groups. It wasn't like there weren't any left behind with that massive group of chimera grunts back there. If they could have made an opening that big then they would have all charged through. So why were they attacking individually.

"Oh, no! Then they're going after master and Natsuru-sama then, nya!" The tiger-woman gasped.

"Yeah, and if they were able to get out of that mess back there, then that means they're the strong guys we felt." The Cheetah-chimera bared his teeth into a big white grin, and out of those strong guys he could sense that one of them were moving quite faster when compared to the others. Meaning a real challenger for his incredible speed has arrived.

"Hou…so one of those powerful dragon guys are the ones going there? Geez, what a way to pressure me into choosing which one I want to take…hmm…oh well, I'll just take the closest one I find, nya~!"

"Strong ones…wait, this is exactly what they want us to-!" The Panther-man was too late when he came upon the truth of this tactic.

"Guess the only way to get this done is by splitting up and meeting them halfway there! Yahooo!"

In the blink of an eye the Cheetah-man vanished and surge of wind from the shockwave of his upstart running blew most of the trees and vegetation down.

"Nyahoo! I've decided to choose the one that's going this way, nya! I can't wait to have him all to myself this time! Bye-Bye!"

The Tiger-woman was quick to jump on a tree and jump from branch to branch to chase after the more brazenly stronger presence out of the others. This left the Panther-man alone to curse the gullibility of the two idiots who fell right into the enemy's trap.

"You fools…grrgh! Damn you both for being so swayed by this tactic!"

The Panther-man decided that a change in their plans was in order since the formation literally broke itself.

"No time to hesitate now…tch…being dragged into this is so pitiful. I'll just finish the unpicked stragglers as soon I get my hands on them."

He followed the directions his heightened senses gave to him and began advance to meet his opponent half-way to the facility. He noticed the level of his opponent, and could distinguish just who it is he'll be facing. But there was something odd too. He could also sense that, there was someone else there like Natsuru, but with a different "natural" presence.

The Panther-man scoffed at the possibility of their being multiple enemies.

"It doesn't matter. Any amount of enemies won't ever match up to me! The strongest of our master's experiments, I am the very definition of an elite beast who has perfectly evolved past his own limitations!"

To show a small example of his strength, the Panther man throws a single punch at a tree he passes by. The punch blew the tree out from the ground and caused it to collapse with a heavy thud which was followed by a loud chain of thuds. The shockwave of that single punch reached even the trees that stood around the one that he punched. Even though he was holding back, his strength alone will still be just enough to dispatch a devil or two.

Running through his designated direction of the woods, Kiba was able to get as far as he could from the clearing. Using his speed to get a head start from the others, he was able to confirm the presence of one of the three powerful enemies coming his way. The plan was already set in motion.

Things would have been catastrophic had everyone stay huddled in a single place. It would give the opponent an advantage, so Rias planned a way around it by allowing the strongest ones in the group to split up in three directions towards the facility. This would cause panic and tension for the three strong chimera forcing them to separate and go after them. Leaving a large opening for their second phase of the plan to go into effect.

"This should be far enough." Kiba surveyed the surrounding area. These neck of the woods were incredibly dark and hard for him to run through. His eyes just weren't adjusted to this type of darkness where the moonlight doesn't even illuminate through the branches of the trees.

With some distance away from the encroaching enemy he attracted, Kiba began to question his choice of weapon to defend himself with. He debated over whether to use his Balance Breaker's Holy-Demonic Sword or the weapon that's been handed to him by Zethyr, yes, Zethyr Lucifer. It was a surprise for even Kiba once he heard that the most powerful swordsman in the Underworld wanted to personally interview his Balance Breaker which breaks the barrier between Holy and Demonic powers.

However, the interview never happened because of some "business" Zethyr had with Kai at the time. But after he arrived to the Khaos Brigade's full on assault on the conference, he was able to actually see Kiba and harshly criticize his swordsmanship. In the end, he never really specified what business he wanted with him only that he should properly wield this weapon before even considering to speak with him any further.

"It's won't do me any good by just using one weapon, but this experience could help me break through this brick wall in my way." Kiba looked at the sheathed black katana in frustration, the weapon was a real mystery to him based on how it functions thanks to the past sparring matches he's had with Michael.

*SHING!*

His hand pulling out the katana from its sheathe, Kiba quickly turned around to face the direction that had made a rough gouging sound. But all that he could see was darkness. The forest was just too thick and covered in darkness to see through. The sound was fast along with the presence that Kiba felt coming after him.

Keeping a steady pace, Kiba walked towards the direction where he thought he heard the noise. Everything was very quiet, the tension around the forest made it difficult for him to make a sound. Closing in on a tree, Kiba reaches his hand out to feel it's surface. The bark of the tree had 5 claw marks running through it.

"So this is where the sound came from…" Kiba does his best to whisper as silently as possible, the sound of pattering footsteps dashed right behind him as he kept his focus on the tree. He wasn't alone in these dark woods anymore, he had very dangerous company.

'He's fast…that would explain why the cuts on the tree bark weren't so deep…' Kiba still made it seem like he was examining the cuts or else his company might decide to try something fishy. If you faced an enemy whose specialty is speed, then you're sure to realize that they'll have an advantage against those who couldn't keep up with their pace.

Kiba secretly begins to ready his katana once he hears the sounds of footsteps increase.

"Kikikikikikiki!"

"…" Kiba's shoulder began to unwind as he takes a couple of moments to listen to the footsteps grow more rapid with each step.

Soon enough they were picking up the pace as they were coming closer and closer and closer to Kiba!

"Hngh!"

*GIN* *CRACKLE* *CRACKLE!*

Whipping his sword arm back to defend himself, Kiba's katana managed to catch the jagged slaws of the Cheetah chimera who wore the biggest of grins. A face that was once devoid of any challenges that could get his heart pumping.

"Hello there, devil." The Cheetah-man tried to push back Kiba's blade, "Fancy meeting you here."

"Are you sure about that? Out of the others you seemed to be the only fast one to chase after me and make it." Kiba's lips curled up into a challenging smile, "Oh, wait a minute. You were actually able to make it here before I arrived didn't you?"

"Kikikikiki! Perhaps…" The Cheetah-man saw the blade slowly push back his claws and jumps back before he could get grazed.

The speed this creature exhibited matches or even surpasses Kiba's own speed. Gripping the hilt of his blade tightly, he starts to size up the opponent before taking his first stuttering step to see if he could get a reaction. But the Cheetah chimera just stood there and watched with a cocky grin.

"You don't seem to be wary of me, why?" Kiba asked.

"Because I don't want to settle things so easily, so I will just wait to lessen my speed to match yours." The Cheetah-man shrugged.

"You're so sure of your own speed that much?"

"I haven't been given a real challenge so far, so I wanna take things slow before getting serious to end this fight ya know?"

"You're going to regret doing that."

"Hm?"

"Speed may be an important factor in this fight, but it isn't the only determining factor of this fight." Kiba said.

The Chimera looked at the devil's trembling hands gripping the hilt of his katana. He knew it wasn't out of fear, but instead anxiety. The thought of being underestimated must have reminded him of his past battle with Drayfus.

"So you like to use swords, eh? Well, I'm mostly a guy who prefers ripping things apart with my own claws, you know? With just my body as my weapon I could do way more than you and that weapon, weighing you down."

"I assure you that this blade has a couple of surprises that won't slow me down."

Kiba could feel the overconfidence this creature had. He knew his speed wasn't something to sneeze at but this cockiness could be used to his advantage because people, who hold back are most likely to slip up and when this chimera does, Kiba will be prepared to end things.

Neither dumb enough to outright charge at each other, the two combatants dashed to the side of each other while running through the dark woods. Even through the darkness they could still make eye contact as they begin their high-speed duel of blades and claws.

XXX

Trudging past the seemingly endless rows of trees around him, Shirou utilized the speed of his Grand Chariot's armor to get far enough away from the cluster of enemies holding them back. He could already sense that one of the others have engaged one of the three strong chimeras and steeled himself to prepare for his opponent's arrival.

\I'm really surprised. I never thought that this one would be able to tail you so effectively./ Typhon whistled, he knew Shirou was purposely lagging back with his speed, but the prospect of this chimera to have this much tenacity to keep up was impressive.

'Goes to show you that I can't let my guard down around these guys.' Shirou's body charged up some dragon aura into his fist.

"They're coming in hot." Shirou looked over his shoulders and clenched his fist and prepared to fire it at the air above him towards the treetops where he could sense how the enemy was gaining more and more distance between them.

Stopping and turning to throw the punch, Shirou fired his attack, "Fly you, son of a bit-!"

"Nyahoo~! I found ya!"

Jumping off of the tree branch the Tiger-chimera joyously pounces on Shirou.

"Wh-What the he-gya!?"

Using his head as a springboard, she manages to avoid and redirect Shirou's punch the created a powerful blast of draconic aura that completely wiped out an acre of the forest.

"Amazing, you're really strong, nya~! I'm so glad that I was able to find you first!" The tiger-chimera watched the collateral damage and was really impressed with Shirou's strength.

'Damn it to hell! I get the rapey cat girl for my opponent?' Shirou picked himself up and faced the Tiger-woman.

\And she's a tricky one too, to be honest, you should at least be careful. Her attacks may be unpredictable./

'I'm just worried about any other "attacks" she has planned for me.' Shirou shuddered as he could feel the lust filled stare of the Chimera, 'Just one strike should be enough to finish her.'

"You guys are absolutely powerful to break free with your powers dampened! It just made the prospect of capturing you two a whole lot better! Kikikiki! This even gives me a chance to have you all to myse-!"

Shirou disappeared from his spot and reappeared behind the Tiger-chimera with his fist cocked back. His speed was able to get right behind her at the last second.

"Huraaah!"

*DOOON!*

Shirou's fist made contact with the ground creating a large crater, he really intended to end the fight in a single blow. The chimera slipped away right before he threw his punch.

"Dammit, she really is a slippery one." Shirou looked over his shoulders to see that the Tiger-chimera was hanging upside down from a tree branch. She wore the biggest of smirks and swung back and forth.

"I'm sorry Mr. Dragon, but you missed me this time! I didn't really expect you to come first, don't you know its rude to make a lady come right after you?" She teased.

"…So it's going to be this kind of fight isn't it?" Shirou inhaled sharply at the obvious innuendo.

Landing on the ground, the Tiger chimera was quick to use her feet to charge at Shirou with her claws extended out.

"Here! Allow me to come at you this time!"

Reacting in time before the thrusted claws touched his armor, Shirou jumped above her vulnerable body and prepared another punch this time with touki infused into the fist.

"Missed, bitch!" Shirou's punch was way faster and better timed with the help of his touki, however the blow didn't hit the chimera as her body flexes away from the hit at the last second.

"Are you kidding me!?" Shirou's punch yet again created a crater and a bunch of dirt to pick up into the air.

"Nice try, nya!"

*GIN!* *GIN!*

Taking his slow reaction to the dodge into effect the Tiger-chimera used her claws to try and penetrate Shirou's armor but it was too thick to break.

"Yow! That's some hard armor you have there, nya! It will be difficult to try and penetrate it as it is, so I'll just look for any weak points your armor may have."

\Wow, she's really milking this innuendo thing isn't she?/

'I don't care because right now I can barely hit her without her dodging during the last minute. I would understand why she's fast and a little strong but why is she so flexible?' Shirou growled.

\It appears that she doesn't just have Tiger DNA in her./ Typhon examined.

'True, but what else could she have in her?' Shirou focused on her long flexible tail appendage lazily moving behind her and gasped, 'No freaking way…she has a-?'

Catching on to where he's looking the Tiger woman giggled, "What? It looks like you've never seen a monkey's tail before?"

"So that makes sense. That would explain why you were able to dodge all of my attacks so far." Shirou muttered as he decided to rush in with another attack.

"Not just that but out of the others, I'm not only the most flexible creation or master has made but also the most sensitive one to sense danger." The Tiger-woman's closed her eyes while she explained, "All of my senses working as one to form a sixth sense that warns me of any immediate danger coming my way sort of like-."

*BAAAM!*

Reacting in time, she swings a kick which clashes with another of Shirou's attacks, a kick intended to knock the chimera's head off of her shoulders.

"This."

"Grr!"

\This could take a while…/ Typhon chuckled at his partner's predicament.

XXX

The ongoing sparks and flashes of light filled the forest clearing where the remaining devils of the Gremory family fended of the remnants of chimera soldiers. The strange abilities the chimeras possessed were troublesome for the group, but they were able to push through it by supporting each of their own attacks.

"First, we add some water!" Akeno creates a large magic circle which released a raging torrent of water all over the chimera before holding her hand up and shouting, "Next we bring out, Thunder!"

*BZZZZZZZT!*

"Guuuuuuargh!" "Huagrh!" "Gyaaah!"

Electrocution made more effective by the water, Akeno managed to rid herself of a trio of chimeras, they managed to force into trying a combination technique due to their swiftness. The stress of getting caught up and injured by cowardly ambushes has really exhausted her stamina.

"You bitch!" A wild cat chimera who hid amongst the shadows lunged at Akeno's back, "Die!"

"Akeno-san!" Raynare called out and threw a light spear through the chimera's head, turning the creature into dust.

"Thanks!" Akeno calls upon more thunder and uses it to burn another group of chimeras to a crisp before getting pushed back by more who hid back in the shadows of the forest. Seeing this as her chance, Akeno called Asia to her side to provide healing support.

"These things are too quick to land a hit on!" Raynare placed her hands out in front of her and kept firing a barrage of light spears at the soldiers. They kept maneuvering around the clearing, dodging each spear that almost touches.

With her time to react shortened, one the chimera managed to get close to her and bared his claws.

"Kikikiki! Surprise!"

*RIIIP!*

"Kyaa!" Raynare managed to barely lean away from the attack as the claws tore her school uniform's top.

Ready to land another blow the chimera raised his claws, "This is it for you!"

"Get baaaack!" A voice filled with fighting spirit caught the attention of the chimera as he met face to face with a large arc of destructive holy aura.

*ZAAAAAAAN!*

"Duuuuuuuagh!" The chimera was erased instantly.

"Raynare, are you okay?" Xenovia rushes over to Raynare's side with Durandal in hand. She didn't look too good, there were some evident signs of damage like the various bloody gash marks on her shoulder, arms and legs.

"Thank you, Xenovia, but what about you, you seem to be in a worse condition than me." Raynare gasped, the enemies they were facing were resorting to dirty tricks and ambushes that mostly get them when they're too preoccupied in the fight.

"These were a result of my carelessness." When faced with multiple quick enemies, Xenovia was at a disadvantage. Her main and only option of attack was just with pure power, she may be a knight but her speed was second to none when compared with Kiba's.

Looking over her shoulder, Xenovia finds Asia healing Akeno after she wipes out the remaining chimera that was brave enough to show its face while the many others stayed hidden in the woods to wait for their chance to strike.

"Akeno-fukabuchou is busy receiving some treatment from Asia, so I'll have to push myself to handle the rest." Xenovia gripped Durandal's handle tightly.

"I'm sorry for making you worry while you're injured like this, but what about Gasper? Shouldn't you be helping him?" Raynare asked, they were assigned by Rias to clear the chimera soldiers while keeping Kiyome and Makoto safe.

"Don't worry, he's fine right now. He was able to freeze quite a few of them as I cut them down." Xenovia helps up Raynare and winces a little herself as she gripped her bleeding arm.

"Xenovia!" Raynare helps her up and proceeds to use some magic to heal the wounds just enough to stop the bleeding. It wasn't Twilight Healing but it was still better than bleeding out.

From off to side of the main battle was Gasper holding back any Chimera trying to sneak up onto them

"Ngh!" "I-I can't move!" "Dammit! How can a brat that small do this to us!?"

"As a man, I can't allow you to move past this point!" Gasper's eyes shined as he froze a few mid-air chimeras that were about to attack him, Kiyome, and Makoto from all directions. The two non-devils looked at the dhampir in amazement as the once timid boy was actually sporting a bold face.

"Gasper-kun?" Kiyome held Makoto tightly as she watched the Devil protect them from the Chimera.

"Don't worry, K-Kiyome-senpai. I'll make sure neither of you will get hurt. I made a promise to Michael-nii to protect you guys, and if I can't keep it then I-I won't be able to face him ever again!"

"Michael-nii?" Makoto repeated to himself as he watched Gasper push himself even more, "Is he the reason why Gasper-san is really working hard at this?"

Suddenly the slow steps of a lynx chimera were coming at them from behind, he kept the noise down as a way to not alert Gasper and prepared to dig his claws into the throats of both of the weaker non-devils.

"Kikik-!"

"Ky-!"

*FREEEZE!*

"Not…so…fa-fast…"

Before any of them could scream, Gasper managed to turn his head in time to stop chimera from slitting their throats. The claws were just a breadth away from their necks. The strain of having to freeze multiple enemies at once was quite taxing, he still hasn't attained complete control over his power and without the boost from Michael's blood, he's basically relying on his own strength in the end.

Almost reaching his limit, Gasper was close to losing his hold over the enemy and cried out, "Akeno-senpai, Raynare-senpai, Xenovia-senpai! I've managed to gather enough! Let it rip!"

"Come and resound! Thunder!" Akeno fired a large burst of thunder.

"Durandal!" With a swing of Durandal, Xenovia was able to create a large sharp arc of destructive holy energy.

"You're finished!" Conjuring up a large magic circle, Raynare shot out light spears in rapid fire.

They didn't even hesitate once the boy gave them the go as they fired their respective attacks at the frozen chimeras who were completely terminated once the attacks engulfed their unresponsive bodies.

Falling to his knees, Gasper prepares to take a short break to regain some of his lost stamina because things weren't over yet. There were still chimera crawling around in the dark forest and they weren't too keen on just giving up yet. Though they were reluctant after witnessing their comrades getting eradicated.

With enough time, Asia managed to heal Xenovia and Raynare's wounds and proceeded to do the same for Gasper should he have any injuries.

Leaning in to whisper, Xenovia says, "We still have a few more left to handle."

"Should we smoke them out by attacking the woods?" Raynare creates a large light spear.

Shaking her head, Akeno said, "No, doing that will force us to believe that they've been dealt with. We may get rid of a few that way, but I believe a few survivors would just wait and attack once our guard is down."

"So all we have to do is wait until they decide to strike?" Xenovia asked.

"It's our only option…" Raynare sighed.

If not for the next few seconds of silence, the group would have been prepared to stand in the darkness and await the next move of their opponents. As they waited the chimera were stuck deciding on a plan of attack, but any plan they came up with always ended with them possibly getting killed. No matter what clever, dirty trick they had in mind it would end in dying still…

Their whispers filled the forest as they panicked,

"What do we do? We can't keep going in like this… A lot of our guys were killed doing the same thing!"

"Our numbers don't even matter, they're just too powerful."

"Weren't the top three among our ranks supposed to be here? What is taking them so long?"

"I don't know but if we go out and search for them then maybe we could stand a chance! No, we can stand a chance! Let's g-!"

*Shiiiiiiiiiiiiine~!*

A bright light filled the thick woods as the figures of the chimera were shown to those in the clearing.

"What's that?" Akeno gasped.

"M-Master? What are you do-Aaaaaaaaaah!"

A big burst of light enveloped one shadow and left nothing remaining.

"W-Why? We were doing our jobs! Why are you doing thi-Nyaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

"Gyahaagh!"

"No, no, no, no, no, n-Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

The figures of the remaining chimera disappeared with large bursts of light filling the forest. Everyone in the clearing could hear the murderous cries of each chimera. They could only imagine the type of monster killing them so heartlessly. Through the light there was only one figure left who fell down and cried,

"N-No more! Please have mercy! Ma-Master, please don't kill me! I don't want to die!"

A cold, harsh voice groaned, "All of you are such boring specimen, I should have known experimenting on you all would be a waste of time. In the end you were just glorified cannon fodder. Bye-Bye…"

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

The last burst of light finally destroyed the last figure and soon after the light dimmed down until it died as well. Everything was completely silent as everyone heard someone walking towards the clearing, they couldn't possibly know how to react to the merciless, cold and terrible person that killed those-!

"Hey-Hey~! How's everybody doing!? Great? That's so great!" Posing like a magical girl, the hooded woman appeared from out the forest's shadows.

No one knew how to react to this new stranger so they still kept quiet.

"Come on now y'all you should at least greet me back. Its only courteous that way, ya know!?" The woman laughed and snapped her fingers, "Oh, I get it! All of you might not see me because of my clothes, well excuse me for this! Wearing the wardrobe, your boss forces you to wear every single day can be such a drag you get me, my fellow ladies out there? Eh? See? She knows what I'm talking about!"

The stranger points at Gasper who awkwardly looks around.

"U-Um…I'm a boy…"

"Hey don't take it personal girl, I didn't mean to push your buttons! All of us have our own self-perspectives and if you envision yourself as a boy then you're a boy in your heart…and your vagi-!"

"Look just tell us who you are!" Raynare growled, she still felt a little threatened from that horrifying display of power on the chimera but still kept the main objective in mind.

"Who I am? WHO I AM!? The nerve of you devils to demand my identity when we haven't even exchanged a proper greeting! I am deeply hurt by your rudeness! Harumph!" The hooded woman huffed and crossed her arms.

"Excuse me, but we haven't the luxury to go along with whatever you're doing." Akeno's hand starts emit a pale gold aura which emitted thunder, Akeno's smile was calm but the aura she surrounded herself with was growing with a grave seriousness, "So start explaining you're with who you are why you're in these exact woods as us."

"Oh come on, can't a girl just have a little fun?" The hooded woman shrugged.

Kiyome blinked as she got a better look at her, "Wait a minute…you're that person that Natsu-nee was discussing her plan to in her study the other night!"

"Eh?" Makoto was confused, he didn't really understand what was going on. Just what is going on and how did it relate to his older sister?

"Ping-Pong! That's true, and now I know who the rat amongst you all is. Thanks, drill head!"

The hooded woman gave a thumbs up.

"Then that would mean you're working with our enemy." Raynare prepared her light spear.

"Ping-Pong! Ping-Pong!" The hooded woman nodded.

"Then this will become an inevitable fight we can't avoid." Akeno led the remaining group of devils to face the hooded woman. As the Vice president to the Occult Research club and Queen to Rias, she needed to think cautiously and get a better read out of anyone suspicious.

"Ping-Pong! Ping-Pong! Ping-Pong! Yup, yup! That is the reason why I'm here after all! But wait, where is your master along with the Red Dragon boy and that other dragon boy? Geez, did you guys split up? Well after I'm done with all of you I will just have to round them up and take them out…"

*ZAAAAN!* *BOOM!*

The hooded woman groaned then watched as a destructive blast of holy power collide with her body.

"The first strike in battle always decides the victor." Xenovia says that calmly.

Raynare sweatdropped and shook her head, "That may be true, but attacking out of the blue like that isn't very smart, Xenovia."

"Eh? But doesn't Michael do it all of the time?"

"Well…" Raynare trailed off.

XXX

"What the-!?"

The panther-man still keeping chase after the presence he chose, started to notice something weird. The powers weren't even going towards the facility any more, it was now going in a different direction. And it was his direction!

A bright red aura flashed right in front of him as it was knocking down trees. And within that bursting aura was a Scale Mail armored Michael screaming his little heart out,

"FIRST BLOOD!"

"…!" The Panther chimera stopped in his tracks as he tried to turn back but was too late once he saw the armored fist just inches away from his face.

*WHAAM!*

The force of the punch heavily distorted the panther-man's face as his body was sent flying through the air and off into the distance.

"That was for stomping on my head, you bastard!" Michael stayed afloat in the air with Koneko riding on his back with her arms around his neck.

"Michael-senpai…" Koneko reminded him of their task, veering off track like that could have caused them trouble.

"Now prepare for me to kick your ass!"

"Michael-senpai…"

"Hah! Payback is going to make you it's bitc-!"

*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!*

Koneko wrapped her knuckle against the back of Michael's helmet covered head.

"Gyagh! My ears! Koneko-chan just what are you-!?"

"…You knocked our target too far away…"

"Eh? Holy shi-! I did? Oh my maou, I did! Oi, get back here I wasn't done with you yet."

"…Idiot…"

"What?"

"…Hm?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing…"

Almost by instinct, Michael had expected those words to come out from Koneko's mouth, but instead he just heard her sigh. Taking a look back at her, Michael could see her troubled expression and her faraway look. There was something going on with her, and he needed to know what before they begin this fight.

"Koneko-chan, are you okay?"

Koneko realizes her mistake of letting her thoughts cloud her mind and continued to wear he stoic expression, "Yes, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"…"

That answer wasn't good enough, if she was okay then she would have been acting like her usual self by insulting him or actual putting more effort into scolding him, despite being the underclassmen in their relationship.

"Because lately you've been acting pretty weird and it wasn't just here. Back at home you were kind of..."

"He's right over there, Michael-senpai…"

Koneko immediately pointed to a stack of fallen trees. The way she immediately steered of the subject made Michael suspicious but he went along with it.

"Right, thanks." Michael landed and places Koneko down on the ground as they confronted their enemy who was shakily getting up by pushing the trees out of the way, unfazed by that powerful attack.

XXX

"The thought was good, but…attacking out of the blue isn't very tactical." Raynare said awkwardly.

"And also it's very obvious enough to block~!"

The hooded woman stood through the smoke with her hand stretched out. No one could believe what they saw. This stranger blocked out Durandal's destructive blast of holy power with no signs of injuries.

"Durandal had no effect?" Xenovia gasped.

"Teehee! That's a holy sword, right? The blade may be sharp but its owner's wit is incredibly dull! The holy sword Durandal you say? It's a remarkable weapon if only it were in more capable hands!" The stranger insulted Xenovia, which earned a small growl from her.

'This person isn't someone to trifle with. There's nothing to read from them to determine their strength. But if they can strand through Xenovia-chan's attack unharmed then it won't be good for us either.'

"Don't be swayed by this person's words! We may not know who they are or what they have up their sleeve, but remember our task from Buchou! We are not to leave until all possible threats in the area have been vanquished!"

Using her position as a [Queen], Akeno started reciting a strategy to everyone, who listened intently to their vice-club president, "Gasper-kun, stay alert and continue to protect Abe Kiyome-san and Makoto-chan. Asia-chan, stay back and provide us any healing, should we sustain any fatal bows. Xenovia-chan, you're still exhausted form handling those past enemies, stay back and only attack when there is a full opening. As for us Raynare-san, we'll be attacking this guy head-on, don't let up the pressure! Now do your best to fulfill your roles dutifully understand!?"

"Hai, Fuka-buchou!" Everyone went into place, heeding the words of their sub-leader as she and Raynare unfurl their wings and engage the stranger.

"A combination of both a devil and a fallen angel? My, what a treat!" The stranger was surprised when she saw Raynare's black feathered wings along with Akeno's devil wings.

"Come down, Thunder!"

A violent stroke of lightning came down at the hooded woman, but missed once the hooded woman dodged it by jumping to the side.

"That's nothing special, a predictable attack!" The hooded woman laughed.

"Freeze!" Akeno casts a blizzard spell which rained multiple sharp shards of ice.

"Hup! Hup!" The figure dodges it by doing a quick jump in the air, "Still nothing special!"

*WHOOSH!*

Soon black feathers fell down upon them as a shadow was shown above the hooded woman. Raynare was able to get a good chance to get behind the opponent for an attack as she tries to impale her with a large light spear.

"Ohoho! You're good! You're good!"

*ZANK!*

'How in the-?'

The figure laughed as she catches Raynare's light spear that was just inches away from her chest. No ordinary person would be able to touch a light spear without their hands burning from the painful sensation.

"Come on, Miss Fallen Angel-chan! You can try better than that!"

*BAM!*

"Guugh…"

The figure pulled the spear and dug their fist into Raynare's stomach, sending her reeling back in pain before catching herself from falling to the ground.

"Raynare-san!" Asia cried out.

"I-I'm fine…" Raynare heavily gasped as she held her midriff in pain, the blow from that punch wasn't ordinary. It literally shook her very body as a stinging sensation filled the inside of her body too.

"Not for long if you keep staying there~!"

The figure now held Raynare's light spear and chucked it at her with incredible form, the speed it was going at was fast and Raynare was still too much in pain to dodge it.

"Hah!"

*SHIIIINE!*

*SHATTER!*

"It broke it apart that easily?"

Flying in front of Raynare just in time, Akeno creates a barrier which instantly shatters upon the light spear crashing into it. The recoil slightly pushed Akeno back.

"Incredible…"

Xenovia stepped back and still held Durandal up, she was catching her breathe while slowly charging holy aura into the blade of Durandal. This opponent was no joke, they're physical strength up till now has been forcing them back up until now. But Xenovia knew that when she gets her chance, she'll properly overpower this person in a single blow.

Landing on the ground, the figure shakes her wrists and sighs, "Ouchies~! Look what you've done to my beautiful hands? I was going to experiment on a few corpses later! Oh, well I guess I need to compromise all of your bodies instead!"

Everyone could tell that behind that over the top cute voice was someone actually being honest.

"Raynare-san, are you okay?" Akeno and Raynare slowly drift down to the ground with Akeno helping Raynare.

"I'm fine the burning sensation is slowly cooling off." Raynare winced in pain as she started to rub away the last ebbs of pain.

Looking out at the figure stretching their limbs so flippantly, Akeno narrowed her eyes, "We haven't fully seen the extent of their power, but if they're holding back then we could use this chance to overwhelm them."

"R-Right…I'll follow your lead…" Raynare coughed as she regained enough strength to stand on her own.

"You two should just let that power idiot, sword swinger over there help you!"

"Hey!"

Xenovia felt insulted to hear that but felt like she was called that before by some others in the past. Somewhere out in the woods were to two sneezes coming from two directions, one was Michael's while the other was Kiba's.

"Why are you making it harder for yourself by allowing more of our allies to attack you, are you going to stop holding back?" Akeno asked.

"Hold back? To do that, I'd actually have to start trying wouldn't you agree?" The hooded woman shrugged.

"!" Everyone couldn't believe it, this stranger wasn't even doing that much to push them back!

"I just wanted to play around with you all at first, and boy you guys really suck~! Suckity! Suck! Suck! Suck!" The hooded woman giggled, the ire of being insulted made everyone focus their killing intent towards the hooded woman.

"Whoa, what's going on little ones? Did I strike a nerve, but it's the truth though! I can't get serious with you all the way you are! I mean if you two would at least get serious then I could actually put up some sort of self-defense to fight back with~!"

"Resound and tear the ground asunder, Thunder!"

Without warning, Akeno fired a violent and powerful torrent of lightning that tore up the ground and headed towards the hooded woman.,

"Is this serious enough for you?"

"Hmhmhmhm~!" The hooded woman placed out her hand and created a small enough barrier to block out the large spell, "Nope! I'd suggest you actually put some effort into your attack. I mean you're lightning is pitiful. At least try to live up to the name of Barakiel wielder of "Holy Lightning"!"

"…!" Emotions started to well up inside of Akeno as the mentioning of that "Thing's" name shook her to the very core.

Turning around and opening their hand the figure says, "And you…"

*ZANK!*

The figure caught the light spear Raynare was about to thrust through their back.

"Aren't you tired of using the same light spear trick over and over again? Try to spice things up, I honestly expected more from a relative of the "Nightmare Flame" Raymond."

"Y-You…how do you know about h-him…?"

The hooded woman didn't dignify that with an answer, she allowed her actions to speak instead. She tore Raynare's light spear out of her hand and cocked back their arm.

*WHAAM!*

"Guuuagh!" Raynare literally loses her breath as the hooded woman delivers a crushing palm strike to her chest, the burning sensation she felt again coursed throughout her entire body that it made it difficult for her to recover as she fell on the ground instead.

"Raynare-san! You…!" Akeno uses her wings to soar directly towards the hooded woman.

"Take a seat, spawn of Barakiel…"

*SHING!* *BOOOM!*

The hooded woman threw Raynare's light spear a few feet ahead of Akeno and allowed the force of the attack to push her back and into the air with some exception of the rubble scarring her shrine maiden attire.

"Raynare-san, are you okay?" Asia rushes over to Raynare's side and mends the pain she's going through.

"T-This person…just who are they?" After getting another feel of that stinging sensation, Raynare could manage to compare it to the equivalent of a light spear, but instead it felt like more than 30 of that had been lunged through her body.

"I swear you Fallen Angels have gotten pathetic over the years… First, your race dwindles down after being the first ones to back out of a war. Now you're being so stubborn as to not fight seriously especially the blood relatives of the leaders. Hehe…it's so funny that it would hurt to laugh if I actually cared."

The hooded woman could feel a rising killing intent fill the air above her, she knew it was a small step up from before but that much increase in power wouldn't do much to her.

"That creature…don't you dare lump me in with it…that's absolutely unforgiveable…" Akeno's expression was very unpleasant as she glared at the figure, her aura was bursting out around her in a yellow clad wall of lightning surging out of her.

"Ohoho! Now don't be getting mad at me, you're the one who is being shrewd. The both of you in fact. Holding back the full extent of your powers is rather wasteful, if you two were to actually continue on as miserable suckers like this, then killing you all off here would actually be doing you both a favor."

*SUUUUUUUUUUUU!*

A fierce gale of wind rose and shook almost everyone back as the figure released a powerful aura of darkish yellow light which pressured everyone around them. The power they exhibited was phenomenal, even Akeno who had her mind clouded with rage could feel the overwhelming pressure in front of her. Things were starting to heat up.

Opening her arms wide in a welcoming fashion, the hooded woman laughed, "Now come here, I'll put you both out of your misery. Don't worry about your bodies going to waste, I'll be sure to preserve them and dissect them so I can pick up where you last started and see how they actually tick!"

The cute laugh the hooded woman had was overshadowed by the crazed maniacal laughter of a deranged person. No one could safely say that they can feel safe anymore.

"Kiyome-neechan, what's going to happen to us?" Makoto trembled closer to Kiyome who did her best to comfort him while trying her best to not shiver in utter fear.

"Nothing, Makoto-chan, we'll be just fine, okay?" Kiyome assured herself when she said that.

'Natsu-nee, just…why? Why would you involve yourself with a-a person like this? I don't understand why you're doing any of this at all!' Kiyome's head was getting filled with doubt as she stood within the midst of an upcoming heated battle.

"Huuuuuuah! Resound, Thunder!"

*BAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKA!*

Not letting this display of power hold her back, Akeno holds up a single finger and summons a large magic circle above her which brought down a massive thunderclap of lightning that came down upon the hooded woman whose face's lower half was revealed to be a huge excited smile.

"Teehee! The stubborn ones are so fun to rile up~!"

*BAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!*

A huge explosion filled the clearing as a huge ball of smoke rose up in the air.

XXX

"Hiyah!" Michael swung his fist directly at the Panther-chimera's face

*BAAAM!*

"Hmph!" The Chimera used the bicep of his muscles to block the attack.

In their part of the woods, Michael and Koneko were engaging their opponent, the Panther-chimera. They were surprised by the creature's rapid recovery from their powerful blitz attack from earlier, how could someone who was punched by a fist full of dragon power get right back up after being crushed by a group of fallen trees?

Now they had to stick with the original plan in mind by trying to completely defeat him with any form of attack they can come up with.

"…There."

*BAM!*

Koneko who stayed low to allow Michael to attack the top landed a blow directly at the Chimera's solar plexus, but the beast didn't react in pain, he still looked unbothered by the attack like it never happened.

"Is that it?"

"…!" Koneko gasped as her reaction time was to slow to realize that the Panther-man was already aiming to land a blow on her.

"Koneko-chan!" Michael quickly pulls back with her in his arms as the punch made contact with the ground and created a large crater. Michael growled as he jumped a far distance away with Koneko under his arm,

"He wasn't joking around with that hit, are you okay, Koneko-chan?" Michael placed the girl down.

"…I'm fine…" Koneko said, but her distanced look told Michael that she wasn't all there.

Michael wanted ask what was going on with her but the imposing Panther-man walking out of the crater caught his attention. He was looking down at them and that brawny display of his power was supposed to be an example.

"You two should already know your chances of survival are very grim against a stronger creature like me, it would be wise to give up so your suffering can end." The Panther-man walks over to them, he was going to take this nice and slow.

"That's right, I don't know of our chances of survival and neither do you, but I sure know that I'm not going to roll over and let you kill us. I'm in this thing to win it!" Michael lowers himself into his fighting stance and slowly breathes out, a white aura flowed out and around his body. By using his touki, he increases the power of his strength, speed and skills.

Michael signals to Koneko to listen, "Koneko-chan, I'm about to go at him with everything I can throw at him. Try to find an opening whenever he tries to attack me, okay?"

"…Right." Koneko nodded.

"Let's go!" Michael uses the jets of his armor to propel himself at the Panther-man who takes a few jumps back before catching one of Michael's fists with less force placed into it due to continuous movement.

"Not good enough…"

"Kch!" Michael tried to pull back his fist but the grip was too strong to break free.

Very soon the Panther-man throws a punch at Michael's head only for it to be blocked by Michael's armored forearm, but the armor surrounding it began to crack after receiving the blow. Even Michael's naked arm could feel the impact of the attack.

'Wow, this guy's strength is just too crazy! The damage can even reach through my touki and my armor!' Michael winced in pain.

"Its not over yet…"

Holding his other arm in place while preparing another punch, the Panther-chimera intended to keep bashing through Michael's forearm.

"You think?"

[Boost! Boost! Boost!]

"…!"

"Dragon Shot!"

Before the Panther-man could even react Michael boosted his power and fired a blast at the creature in point blank range, however, the chimera managed to dodge by releasing Michael's arm and slowly falling back as he flexibly allowed the attack the go over him.

"Darn it, that didn't work too?" Michael growled as he saw the Panther-man jump back on his feet as the impact of his dragon shot exploded in the background.

"Nice try, but you'll have to do a lot better than that." The Panther-man wasted no time and lunged at Michael now with his claws bared.

"Heh, now we're fighting up and personal, huh? Come on, bring it, you turkey!" Michael roared as he and the Panther started throwing their fists in a rapid close quarters confrontation. Each hit they threw at one another was intended to batter the opponent's endurance down along with their face.

Through the storm of fists, Michael had to grit his teeth a couple of times when he leaves himself open to try and leave a devastating blow on the Panther-chimera. At first when he attempted it, he thought it would be okay to acquire some damage while dishing out even more than the chimera. But when he did attack, his attack would land a powerful blow against the chimera but it would never affect him that much, the creature's body was just too thick and durable.

'This guy is too tough…gck!' Michael thought as he receives a sharp blow to the chest, but fights through it to hit the chimera's jaw with a bone shattering uppercut, but after sustaining the blow the chimera spat out some blood and just kept attacking,

'I can't tell if that really hurt him or not, he just keeps looking to be the same as when we started! From my surprise attack to this, how can he be so durable to my punches!?' Michael thought then grinned, "Maybe I should try to-!'

[No.]

'But you don't even know what I was about to say!' Michael groaned.

[If you overdo your boosting you will just break your arms that have already been damaged way more before thanks to the past recoils.]

'But I'm going to need way more power to break through this guy's tough defenses!' Michael raises one arm to defend against a swinging right hook.

"…" Koneko watches at a good distance as she tries to find an opening she can exploit, but while she thinks of it another thought crosses her mind when she feels a small part of that natural presence that has been bothering her these past few days.

The encroaching feeling of anxiety has been terrifying her and the only way she could act normal was suppressing those urges. And right now she still was, her focus wasn't on just the fight anymore, it was now placed on fighting her own fears holding her back.

"Hyah! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora!" Michael fired a strong barrage of fists at the Panther-chimera who does the same, but with each punch thrown they would usually clash knuckles which made them recoil back and try again.

"I'm impressed that you are keeping up with me even though all of your attacks can barely scratch me, a superior creature. I am surprised, you went down as fast you did the first time we met, but that would suggest how pitiful you really are."

"I'm impressed that you can still stand after I knocked you up into the sky. I'm surprised a Superior being like yourself can be so easily tricked and blindsided by me!"

"Graaaaaargh!"

That comment may have ticked the Panther off as he cocks back a fist with his muscles pulsating from the pressure. He was about to do a fatal damaging punch but Michael wasn't going to be left out to receive a hit like that alone.

"Huraaaaaaah!"

[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]

Michael's dragon aura flared out as he multiplied the strength of his power on his arm while coating his entire body with touki.

'I will have to stay on my toes for this one. When we both attack, I'll look for an opening to dodge so I can at least make it out with no harm. If not, then I'll just leave have to get hit and hope this bastard keels over too.' Michael narrowed his eyes as he focused on the punch coming right at him.

The two slowly enclosed the gap between one another and prepared to slug each other with their deadly attacks. The two enclosing fists were getting closer and not too far away from impact as the panther-man's fist was inches away from Michael's face due to being taller. As Michael's fist was close enough to reach the left side of his chest.

'There!'

*SMASH!* *BREAK!*

Michael sees an opportunity and barely moves his head to the side of the fist as it destroys half of his scale mail's helmet and visor. But that's not the only thing that happened, the shockwave of the punch visibly tore up the forest right behind Michael as it bore a carving tunnel along the ground which sent most trees and vegetation crumbling.

'You nimble, little brat!' The Panther-man gritted his teeth then widened his eyes where Michael's fist was about to hit him.

"Look who just discovered an opening! Dragon Crushing Fist!"

*BAAAAAAAAAAAM!*

The aura clad fist dug in to the Panther-man's chest and visibly forced the creature to finally wince in an unbelievable amount of pain. Michael grinned and chuckled, "So this is where you've been keeping your weak spot!"

Michael's fist made direct contact with the Chimera's left chest and it sunk right in a good amount of damage rather easily.

"Huuuarck!" The Panther-man coughs out a large amount of blood and loses his breathe, he leans back to retreat from the critical blow.

"Oh no you don't! You stay right here!" Michael grabbed the shoulder of the panther-man and held him in place, for extra measure, he dug his fist deeper into the weak chest spot to make it harder for him to move.

"Curse you!" The Panther-man glared spitefully at Michael.

Whipping his head back, Michael shouted, "Koneko-chan, quick come over here and find another opening by using his back!"

Koneko was unresponsive as she was just standing there with her head down, trembling.

"Koneko-chan?" Michael called out once in question, then began to notice something strange, the Panther-chimera wasn't trembling as much as before. He was recovering!

'But how is get up so fast, I just literally prodded more at his weak spot?' Michael gasped then began to feel the Panther-man try to shake him off, 'Dammit, I won't be able to hold him back if he gets up again!'

"Let go of me! You, inferior devil!" The Panther-man was regaining his strength as he slowly forces Michael to lose his grip on him.

"Nrgh! Never! Koneko-chan! Koneko-chan!" Michael grunted as he began to struggle with holding

But she didn't respond, her hair was covering her face and made it hard for Michael to read her expression, but he could definitely tell that she wasn't paying attention. All to herself, she muttered, "O-Onee-san…"

Sucking up all the air his lungs could hold, Michael screams,

"Koneko-chan, what the heck are you doing over there!?" Michael snapped at his kouhai, breaking her out of her funk just in time to notice Michael struggling to pin down the Panther-man.

"…Michael-senpai?" Koneko was slowly catching on to what was happening.

"Koneko-chan! Find another opening! Find it quick!" Michael holding the panther-man in place was getting to be a challenge.

Immediately jumping in to make up for her absentmindedness, Koneko rushes in, she wasn't really sure where to attack so she assumed to just head straight in without heeding Michael's words.

Seeing her come at them from the front, Michael shook his head, "No Koneko-chan, wait! I said attack from the back!"

His words couldn't reach her anymore, it was like she listened for a moment then switched off her ability to assess what was really going on.

*BAM!*

Attacking at the place she targeted, Koneko's punch made contact with the bottom midriff of the Panther-man.

It had no effect, but by paying attention she was able to grasp something strange about the chimera's body but before she could question it, a big hand lunged right at her.

"Hraah!" The Panther-man roared as he regained enough strength to his other free arm not restrained by Michael, "Get over here!"

"Ngh…!" Koneko's cry of pain was cut short when the Panther-man's hand strangled her high up in the air.

"Koneko-chan!" Michael decided to stop holding the panther-man back and use his jets to break Koneko out of his grip.

"I'm not forgetting about you either, boy!"

*SMAAAASH!*

"Guuuuack!"

The Panther-man's released arm made sure to repay the favor of being restrained by stabbing 5 claws into Michael's lower stomach. Blood splattered from the cracks of the armor as Michael literally being held up by the Panther-man's hand in the middle of being impaled.

'M-Michael-senpai…' Koneko could only voice out her worries in her mind as she was losing air flowing to her head. His choke was crushing the life out of her.

"Pathetic, you did well so far but look what it all amounted to. Maybe if you were alone, kid things would have been different for you. But you brought along this weak little scrub, she made things worse for the both of you." The Panther-man's grip tightened, "I'll just handle this by snapping her neck for you then your next."

Despite losing her ability to speak and breathe, she didn't lose her hearing, 'I-I'm holding senpai back? …Baka-senpai, forgive me…'

"You know what, because of you-!"

*GRIP!* *GRAB!*

[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]

[Michael, you're overdoing it!]

Grabbing the wrist of the arm holding him up and the head of the Chimera, the jewels of his Scale began to glow as he boosted his power multiple times.

"I'm starting prefer dogs over cats! Dragon Shot!"

*DOOOOOOOOOOOON!*

A huge blast of red energy decimated the head and the top half of the Chimera's body as only its limp arms and legs were still intact. Dropping to the ground, the body fell back with both Michael impaled on his claws and with Koneko still locked within a deadly strangulation.

"Urgh! Get ou-agh! That stings!" Michael pulls himself off the claws and sprayed out some of blood, trying to use another one of his hands, he instantly cringes and screams, "Ouch, that hurts like a bitch!"

[That's because you broke your knuckle with that attack, for now you won't be able to make a fist with it.]

Michael removes his helmet and visor and breathes heavily, 'He was this close to breaking Koneko-chan's neck! I had to something…wait…'

"Koneko-chan!" Michael realizes that she was still being chocked and broke the tight hand's hold over her neck.

"Are you okay? Koneko-chan!" Michael helps the girl up with his good hand as she coughs out and regains some of her strength.

"M-Michael-senpai, I-I'm…" Koneko muttered as she insistently tried to get back up, "I-I can…"

"It's okay, we're safe now. I finally managed to get that guy when he was careless…" Michael smiled.

Shaking her head, Koneko points back at the limp body, "…No, he felt strange…his body isn't normal."

"I know, he was really tough. His body was able to take most of my attacks." Michael coughed.

"It's not just that, his body it isn't just durable…when you attacked his weak spot, I felt that his heart had exploded…no, one of his hearts were destroyed…"

"Two hearts? I don't get it and how can you sense that?"

"…Because…" Koneko avoided to answer the second question and went on to saying, "That heart that you destroyed was rapidly healing itself over a matter of seconds before it started beating again."

"It healed itself? Then wouldn't that mean this guy has-!"

*DON!*

Slowly turning back at the headless body, Michael sees that one of the limp had created a small crater under its closed fist before doing with the other free arm. It was a bizarre sight as the hands rapidly searched around for what could only be their victims. Soon enough a bright light flashed and filled the top half of the chimera as the form of its head shaping slowly began.

"Freaking regeneration!?" Michael shouted, "That is just hacks! But to be honest a little cool…"

"…L-Lets handle him…I'll be able to fight more clearly now…" Koneko attempted to get up but struggled to stand with Michael holding her down, "Michael-senpai…?"

"You're going to have to stay back for this one, Koneko-chan."

"N-No, I can…"

"Koneko-chan."

The look on Michael's face told it all, it was a concerned look of not just a fellow servant but of a senior about to scold his kouhai. She hasn't been scolded like this by him since the Kokabiel fight, meaning things were that serious enough for him to make that call.

Looking at the regenerating chimera, Michael looks deeper into the woods and coughs out some blood, "Let's just *COUGH!* regroup…"

"H-Hai…" Koneko complies as Michael kneels down and lets her wrap her arms around his neck as he unfurls his dragon wings. A few miles away will give them just enough time to regain some strength, but first they needed a head start.

Opening his good hand, Michael prepares a basketball sized sphere of demonic energy in his hand and aims it at the regenerating Chimera's head.

*DOOOOON!*

The blast recreated the same destroyed body that was about to regenerate before the process began again.

"That should give us enough time." Michael said, but the response Koneko gave him was silence. That silence followed them when they began to leave this area of the destroyed woods.

Michael took flight into the air and flew through the night sky searching for a good distance to rest at. It only took them three minutes or so to find the right spot near another forest clearing. Their landing a little bumpy, Michael places Koneko down a couple of feet away from him as he walks up to a tree and unequips his armor to better breathe.

'Man does this hurt…' Michael held the bleeding wound in pain but gritted his teeth.

"Michael-senpai, are you okay…?"

Michael turns his head around to look at Koneko's face, it was cute but at the same time really sad especially if she thought it was her fault.

"Wha-! Oh you mean this? Psssh! This ain't nothing to someone of my great caliber, see?"

Michael flicked the wounds and twitched in pain before grinning to cheer her up. Suddenly the dam of pain was broken when he had realized he flicked with the hand that had the broken knuckles and the fact that he flicked 5 fresh wounds that dug into his midriff.

*SLAM!*

"I-I mean, I'm fine so don't worry…" Michael hit his forearm against the side of the tree and tried to regain his breathe.

"…I-I see…" Koneko looked down, she wasn't dumb enough to believe that act and Michael knew it.

Groaning before looking right at Koneko with a serious expression, Michael asked, "But my wounds aside, what about you Koneko-chan? Are you okay?"

"…I-I'm fi-" Koneko was interrupted.

"Don't lie." Michael coughed wiped some blood off of his lip, "I want the truth."

Koneko avoided eye contact with Michael, a maneuver to dodge this subject. Unfortunately for her Michael wasn't going to let that happen.

"Lately, you haven't been acting like yourself. At home, you weren't eating as much as you used to and your way quieter than usual." Michael walks over to her and kneels down to see her face, that she tries to keep away from making eye contact with him, "Even out here, you broke focus more times than I could count. It's like you weren't all there when I called for you. That's not like you. The Koneko-chan I know would have focused on the task the whole time. You may say that you're fine but you're not and you have to tell me why you're acting this way or else you'll just be getting into more trouble like earlier. So will you tell me what's wrong?"

"…" Koneko still wouldn't answer him.

Lowering his head, Michael smiles, "I see, so it really looks like I am a failure in your eyes then, huh?"

"…?" Koneko was taken back when she heard that.

"I mean what kind of senior can I be for my kouhai, who can't be comfortable with talking about their problems. I guess my duty as your senior, someone to watch over you, didn't give you the results you needed." Michael wore a sad smile, "You're so afraid and you can't even tell me why? Hehe! Man, what a joke of senior I am…"

"!?" Koneko's eyes widened as she heard all of this conflicting stuff come from Michael's mouth.

Getting up and turning his back to Koneko, Michael says, "If I can't even relieve you of whatever you're so afraid of, then I guess to you I'm not that great of a senpai."

Koneko clenched her hands as she trembled, 'N-No…that's not…'

"Go on you can say it, I'm just Baka-senpai the most terrible senpai who isn't even that great for his kouhai to trust." While Michael was poking fun at himself, he rubbed his eyes of any moisture. He may have been sounding all jaunty and playful, but deep down he really felt that what he was saying was the truth.

'M-Michael-senpai, please, no more…' Koneko's lips began to tremble, she was about to break.

Turning around wearing an apologetic grin, Michael finally broke the last remaining wall that kept Koneko silent,

"Koneko-chan, sorry that you had to have me as your senior…"

"N-No…"

For the first time since he joined the Occult Research club, Michael had finally heard Koneko's voice start to break up. Getting on her feet, Koneko was filled with so much rushing emotions that they could be contained anymore the gates holding her back were now open.

"D-Don't say that anymore, please, no more…" Koneko staggers slowly towards Michael while raising her head.

*Drip!* *Drip!* *Drip!*

Michael gasped when he saw streams of tears go down her cheeks. Koneko was crying.

"Koneko-chan?"

"Michael-senpai, I don't like it…"

"Huh?"

"I don't like it when you speak that way…Michael-senpai isn't a terrible senior, he's not. H-He's a senior who kept protecting. He even showed me kindness even when I made trouble for him. I-I trust you…! S-So y-you're not a failure! M-Michael-senpai isn't a failure…! H-He's n-not!"

Koneko's cries grew louder, her usual calm speech was starting to crumble, right now she was acting exactly how a girl her age would. Her words were getting shorter and more frantic as her voice was rising and cracking up.

"I don't want to ever regret having you as my senpai…I just keep bringing you so much trouble, you always get hurt because of me and kept trying to keep me safe when I keep messing up over and over again. B-Because I'm so weak…!"

Koneko closes the distance and wraps her arms around Michael's waist and buries her head into his chest, "…Because I'm so scared…"

Koneko sobbed into Michael's chest, "I'm only holding you back and I really want to "help" but I'm afraid…this place is…I…I'm just so scared! Letting my fears interfere with my actions really makes me more of nuisance for yo-!"

"Koneko-chan." Michael's voice was neutral as he called her to look at him.

Koneko looked up and-

*PING!*

"…oh!" Koneko winces back and holds her head in slight pain, "S-Senpai?"

Having just flicked her on the head, Michael shook his head and smiled, "Go on keep talking like that and there will be more where that came from."

Koneko tilted her head and didn't understand why Michael did that.

"You may say that I'm not a failure but you speaking like this only makes me know how bad of senior I am. You're thinking your useless because your scared, and it is all because of this place, right?"

Koneko tried to deny Michael's thoughts, and tried to tell him the full truth, "N-No, that's not all. I-!"

"You don't have to tell me anything more. Knowing that your just afraid is good enough for me. Now I have to do my job as your senpai to handle your fears and make you feel more safe with yourself."

Michael scratched his neck.

Looking doubtful, Koneko said, "…But you don't know why I'm scared, so can you really do that? What if…what if it is something you can't handle and it gets you even more injured?"

*PING!*

"Uh…" That one received another flick to the head.

"You know I can keep doing this all night. Stop worrying and leave it to me, I'm supposed to be your senior, I have to watch out for you and I sure as hell know that I will do everything in my power to protect you. Like before, you said you were a nuisance? No, I let myself get hurt for you because that is my job as your senpai."

*PAT!*

Michael grins and rubs Koneko's hair affectionately.

"When I watch over you I always swear to protect you because you're my very important kouhai and nothing will ever get to you unless they get through me first."

"Michael-senpai…"

Michael pulls her in for a hug with his good arm, "So just have faith in me for this single thing. You know I'm an idiot, so I'll probably mess up on most things, but trust me with handling your fears because I'll always blow them away…"

"O-Okay…" Koneko tears this time came with a light blush on her cheeks. She didn't know why, but her uncomplacent fear was subsiding. She felt lighter than before like she was burdened by the thought of running rampant, not to the extent that she was before. Her fear wasn't gone it just lessened all because of a few reassuring words from a single guy. A guy she trusts. Her senpai.

Looking ahead, Michael glared at the direction of an incoming presence.

'He's coming.'

It was that damn Panther-chimera and it was coming straight for them fast. That regeneration quirk of his was looking to be a real pain, and he just closed the distance between them by running in just less than a couple of minutes.

Fearing that Koneko was not ready to fight again, Michael tries to push her back, but she wouldn't budge.

"Koneko-chan?"

"Michael-senpai, I-I can help too." She was still a bit too shaky, but her eyes said it all. She was intent on fighting all-out like Michael.

Michael shook his head, "No way, let me handle this. Forcing yourself to fight won't work when facing this guy."

"But Michael-senpai, your injuries are going to hinder you with your fight."

"You mean these wounds? Pfft! I can still fight with a broken knuckle. If my hand won't work I'll use my elbow. If that gets broken then legs. I'll use any limb I have to make sure to beat this guy." Michael clenched his good fist, "So just stay back and wait for me to wipe the floor with this guy."

Koneko was still reluctant, "But his two hearts, I can help you with finding the second one. You need to destroy both if you want defeat him."

"Destroy both?"

"…He's using two hearts which act as key sources for his regeneration ability. Whenever one gets destroyed the other acts as a fail safety and heals it back up again. The only real way to end this is by stopping both of his hearts, and I can help you by finding where the second one is hidden within his body."

"That sounds about right…but…" Michael addresses a question that Koneko had been avoiding, "Koneko-chan, how can you sense all of that in the first place?"

It wasn't something she wanted to bring up personally, but if it means Michael would let her fight with him then she'll gladly reveal herself, "B-Because I'm a-!"

Eyes widening, Michael senses the presence of the Panther-man in the area of them but he wasn't on the ground but in the air as his shadow was slowly casted over Koneko's!

"Above you!" Michael pushes Koneko out of the way as a big black fist came barreleing straight down at him.

*DOOOON!*

"Michael-senpai!" Scrambling up to her feet, Koneko watched as the Panther-man's fist missed Michael's head by a few inches as the ground beneath him was smashed apart.

"Stay back!" Michael shouted.

"I was hoping to get rid of the weakest link out of the two of you, but I see your still persistent to keep her alive." The Panther-man clicked his tongue.

[Dragon Booster!]

A soft ball sized sphere of demonic energy levitated over Michael's index finger as he equipped the Boosted Gear while pointing it at the chimera's chest.

"Dragon Shot!"

The chimera backs off at the sight of danger as the beam of energy goes up into the night sky.

Getting back up, Michael conjures a single spiraling ball of flames in his hand, "Dragon Flare!"

*FWOOOSH!*

"Hng!"

*KaBoooom!*

The Chimera crossed his arms over his chest and took on the brunt of the attack as a smoky explosion filled the clearing.

'Ddraig, how much time do I have left if I enter my Balance Breaker state?' Michael panted, the surprise attack caught him by surprise.

[With all of the training you've been doing lately, you were able to raise your time limit to about 3 hours and 30 minutes. As of now you have at least 2 hours due to all of your past boosting.]

'Two hours already? Damn, I'll just have to save it for later. Right now I'll just rely on the Boosted Gear itself.' Michael clenched his right fist.

[Boost!]

'I'll save up enough energy to pierce through the first heart, he'll probably try to evade my attacks to heal it. But Bam! I'll stay keyed on him the entire time and try to find any weak spots.' Michael's plan had one flaw and it was the boosting setback with only 10 seconds needing to boost again.

"Annoying."

Deftly avoiding his head being clashed off his neck, Michael dodges the Panther-man's close attack as he pounced through the smoke. Afterwards that close call seemed like a walk in the park when compared to all of the hits he was now either taking directly or barely blocking.

"Hraaah!"

"Ngh!"

*SMACK!*

Michael caught the chimera's fist with his good hand and was pushed back.

[Boost!]

'I still need more than that…' Michael grunted as his feet were dragding through the ground thanks to being pushed back by the creature's punch.

"Your other side is wide open!"

"…!" See a side kick being swung after the side of his with his broken knuckle, the only way Michael could react was by releasing the balled up fist from his grasp and ducking down beneath the swift kick. With the kick still in motion the Panther-man was too late to regain his balance.

Surging touki into his fist, Michael took the chance to knock the Panther-chimera's face off with a clean slugger to the face, but the result was the same. His body was too sturdy to receive any damage from his attacks.

"In your regular state, you can barely make me feel anything from that weak punch." The Panther-chimera took hold of Michael's wrist and held it up, so he wouldn't pull it back so easily.

[Boost!]

"Let go!" Michael struggled to break free as he boosted his power once more.

"Your using your sacred gear but not to its full extent, just return back to that form so things will at least be more interesting. It alone was able to rough up my entire thick body, made to survive through the harshest of blows." The Panther-man explained.

'Thick body, eh?' Michael pondered then grinned, 'Heh! Time to show this guy, I ain't no joke!'

Michael swings back his leg and yells,

"Thick body? What makes you so sure about that!?"

*BOONG!*

That's right Michael had kicked this guy in the nads, really hard. It was an achievement he had been wanting to do for a long time.

"Hah! That's for letting your guard do-!"

"Was that supposed to hurt?" The Panther-man asked with half-lidded eyes.

"Eh?" Michael sweatdropped, "B-B-But how come you're not hunched over in pain? I definitely kicked you in your nuts so how come it didn't work?"

"My entire body was made to be this thick so that it can endure the harshest of blows." The Panther-man emphasized and cocked back his fist.

"Hm?" It took Michael a while to process this then he widened his eyes and said, "Oh…damn…"

*BAAAAAAM!*

"Wuuuuuuuuagh!" Being punched and sent crashing through a tree, Michael ate the dust fast as the panther-man still charged right at him, things were about to get a lot more painful.

"Michael-senpai!"

"Stay back!"

Koneko hesitated for only a moment at the raw display of violence in front of her.

*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*

[Boost!]

Interlocked in a battle of desperate fisticuffs, Michael was in the worst possible disadvantage ever. One of his fists were broken. He was losing ground. He was trying to focus on boosting and fighting at the same time. And he was the one mostly getting hit.

Staggering back after receiving the most gnarliest of punches to the face, Michael started to breathe heavily as he wiped his bleeding nose clean.

[Boost!]

"What a joke, to think this was what Natsuru-sama wanted. Your genes must really be what she's craving for kid because you're definitely not showing me all of those impressive feats you've done in the past." The Panther-man crossed his arms.

'Just need a few more boosts…just a few more, but how can I be sure that I will get a chance to hit him with my attack to get to the next heart, that has yet to be found?' Michael growled.

[Boost!]

"Say all you want! Let's just continue with our fight!"

"I'm ending things now."

"…!" Both Michael and Koneko were stunned when they head the intentions of the chimera.

"True, I've been going at you normally while trying to destroy you, but this is literally wasting all of my time when I should be eliminating every single one of you devils. So continue boosting your power because it will be useless once I'm ripping out that heart of yours. This could have been prolonged if you weren't wasting your time protecting that insignificant beta over there and refusing to use your sacred gear's full power is what brought you here. Remember that these unnecessary factors were what lessened your standings."

Taking one last leap, the Panther-chimera charged at Michael and cocked back its fist, this was the final blow!

"Kch!" Still standing his ground, Michael was met with an opponent who was someone dangerous. For the first time Michael was facing someone who saw him as a threat or wasn't seeing things as a total game. He wanted him dead and that creates no more opportunities that he can take for himself to get stronger.

'Dammit!' Michael gritted his teeth and prepared to meet the creature halfway for his attack. He wasn't about to go down so half-heartedly as to be struck down while waiting for the attack to happen.

*SNAP!*

*SNAP!*

'Hey, wait a minute…what's that?' Michael thought.

'Is that Natsuru-sama, no, it's not the same like her's but who's-?'

But then suddenly something clicked with him and not only that, but the Panther-chimera stopped in his tracks as well as he felt something too. It was that natural presence again, at first the chimera doubted himself since none of the two he fought acted like this big of a threat. However, now after feeling this much natural power form in one place, he couldn't help but place his eyes on the same person as Michael,

"Koneko-chan?" Michael saw a white warm Ki surround Koneko's small body as it kept flowing out around her.

"Michael-senpai, I-I…" Her eyes were tightened as her hands trembled at the thought of summoning up this power she has grown to detest, but that fear alone was in the way and must not allow it to be the reason why she couldn't help her beloved senior in aid,

"I can help too!" Soon enough the white aura disappeared, soon enough a new change in appearance had happened for Koneko.

*FLOP!* *FLOP!* *Groow~!*

Two white cat ears grew out of her head along with a white cat tail which swayed side to side.

"Nya~!"