Scarlet 52 (Patreon)

Scarlet 52

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Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

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“You rely on borrowed power?”

“I’m not a Devil and it works.”

Vali glared at my general direction, while I set my duffel bag filled with various tools around. My Longinus was very versatile in its effects, as long as you were creative yourself. Transfer gave me the ability to impart power into objects or other people. I’ve never done the latter, but the former was how I made my weapons last… or made them that much more effective at the cost of their durability.

“Hey, I got here an hour early to set things up and give you a decent fight. Are you going to be a prick about it?” Vali gave me the time and day, so I planned on setting up the battlefield to my advantage. It was a bit disturbing how elated the guy was when he realized that was why I got here early. Yeah, I’m taking you seriously and doing my best in the fight. Not exactly a reason for you to be so happy. “You asked for the best fight I can give. Not an honorable one.”

“Very well, then. I shall allow it. Consider my presence a counterweight to your own preparations. The sharpness of my memory against your wits.” Vali leaned against a tree… content to just pay attention, while I pulled out a bear trap, some chains, several wires, and a few hammers and crowbars. Things that I could Transfer power into once, then discard. Depending on how many boosts I had, they could all do a whole lot of damage or immobilize people with ease. “Did you purchase all that with your own treasury?”

“Yeah? I don’t use my girlfriends’ pocketbooks.” I would if I needed to, but I had plenty of my own. I had known enough history in my past life to get my parents to invest in trends and get wealthy, then I made some more money by doing the same after they gave me the funds that I requested. As far as they were concerned, I was just a genius when it came to predicting things and investing early. It wasn’t remotely true, but just a bit of foresight was enough to get plenty. “But most of these I already had on hand. I’ve got stuff stashed all over the city just in case. Run to a place, arm myself, and kill whoever’s trying to kill me is the plan.”

“Hmph, you should aspire to be so strong that such things are unnecessary.”

“I am, but I’m not going to be an idiot and not recognize the fact that I need it now.” Talking to him directly, not pretending to care about him, seemed to get Vali Lucifer all the more excited. He kept talking to me with his voice projected, as I hid a few spare weapons here and there. This guy’s really getting on my nerves. He’s using magic like he’s got plenty to spare. He probably does. “How’s this going to go, anyway? Are you going into Scale Mail right away, or are we both going to see how we each fare in rounds?”

“Now, why would I face you while not at my very best?”

“Because you want a rivalry that you can grow and improve from. That means working our way up.” I got out of the woods and re-entered the clearing, and took a look at the clock. There were still a few minutes until our fight. He scowled when he realized that I wasn’t going to start until the agreed time, but he kept his word. He set the time, after all. “If I need to fight you, I want to learn and improve. That’s best in three stages. Just one-on-one without our Sacred Gears, then with them, and finally with Scale Mail. We decide when we need to go to the next stage.”

“Ah, I see. I can be victorious thrice over. No. I can be victorious thrice over with you at your strongest, while I merely use my Sacred Gear.” A near-manic smile formed on Vali’s face. If this guy encountered a Thinker, let alone a Master, he’d be under their sway in seconds. “I see, I see! That holds tremendous appeal to me, Issei Hyoudou. So, that is how it shall be.”

I grunted and turned around to do my best and not scowl at him right at his face.

What a moron.

Nah, just probably raised by Albion like he’s a Dragon. It’s all there. He’s the usual whelp itching for the best victory.

It’s no wonder most of your kind just got themselves killed off.

Aye, but our best are feared by the gods themselves.

Couldn’t disagree with that.

I finished up my preparations, taking off the coat I wore to bike over here, and put on the jacket of my school uniform. Sona had given it to me after reinforcing it with magic to be very sturdy. It was a lot better with the motorcycling outfits with padding and leather reinforcement that I planned to make when I had time.

You’d have looked like K*men R*der, though. It would’ve been great.

It would’ve, but I preferred protection over style.

Vali got off the tree and I knew it was time for our match to start.

“Ready to lose, Issei Hyoudou?” He walked up to me, looming over me with his height, with a sneer on his face. “Why don’t you bring out your Sacred Gear first, so that you have a chance to beat me at my weakest?”

I had a simple answer to that statement.

I shot him several times in the stomach with the small-caliber gun that I concealed in my jacket pocket.

The extra weapons were a feint.

The idea for stages was to make sure that he have Scale Mail on.

And, thirdly, the gun didn’t have holy bullets, so this was still a match.

Vali crumpled with the force that impacted his stomach, and he rushed to cover his stomach and wounds. He realized his mistake, and moved his hands away from his stomach after realizing the bullets didn’t penetrate, but it was already too late.

My hammer struck him in the side of the skull and I sent him flying, unconscious, into several trees.

My final trick, of course, was that I could use Boosts just fine without having a massive, armored gauntlet covering my arm.

Well.

Guess this is my win.

…

Vali glared at me, while Asia healed him, as Azazel could barely keep a straight face at my family’s dinner table.

He couldn’t help it and smiled, after I finished recounting our match to him.

Vali’s glare turned Azazel’s way and intensified, but the Grigori leader didn’t care.

“Well, brat, you learned a fine lesson: never underestimate your opponent. You’ve got the years, you’ve got the training, and you’ve got a Longinus, too, but that all meant jack shit when you came up against someone with a brain.”

“You mean someone without honor.”

“If I had honor, I’d already be dead. You’re a Devil, and you’ve trained most of your life. You’re stronger than me, so I had to use subterfuge to win.” I wasn’t below putting myself down to assuage some broken pride. Vali wasn’t someone I wanted as an enemy. Not only that, but there’s nothing wrong with using trickery to get the results that you desire. “You said it yourself. I’d have been lucky to beat you with my Sacred Gear, even without you using yours.”

Was it bitter to admit that I couldn’t beat him at his ‘worst’ without being at my best?

Yeah, but I wasn’t going to be an idiot about the situation.

Besides, I still won.

And, that’s what matters. Heh.

“Hmph. The same trick won’t work on me again, Issei Hyoudou.” Vali declared and sat up. He looked at Asia with a glare for a second, before giving her a slight bow. “You have my thanks for your help.” Then, he looked at Azazel. “I’m leaving to train.”

“Go get em, kid.”

He grunted and left my house... but not before looking my way again to have the final word.

Can this guy be any more predictable than he already is?

“This isn’t over, Issei Hyoudou. Henceforth, you will only know defeat.”

And, with that, he left.

Whereupon I looked at Azazel.

“You let Albion raise that kid.”

“Guilty.” Azazel helped himself to some chips I’d set on the table. They were American chips, which he seemed rather amused by. The Japanese ones were fine, of course, but there was just something missing in them. It was the greasiness, honestly. “Congrats on giving the kid a good sucker punch, though. That’ll keep him out of trouble. Well, a little bit of trouble. You’re good for him.”

“Gross. I’m not into dudes.” Asia sat next to me and I scooted her and her chair over, so that she’d be close. She blushed a bright red, while I gave her a one-armed hug as thanks, and served her some snacks on her plate. “He’s going to get himself killed, honestly. If I’d used lethal weapons, he'd be dead.”

“Yeah, he would’ve been, even though I was watching. Nasty surprise to pull that gun out… though I’m grateful you didn’t use the Exorcist weapons you’ve got handy.” When fighting to retake the Excalibur weapons, I’d taken more than a few Light Weapons. They weren’t much use in the last couple of fights, since I was allied with the Devils and fighting against the Fallen, but they would’ve been deadly here. “Still, I gotta ask… why not?”

“Azazel, he’s obnoxious and arrogant and a prick, but he hasn’t done anything worth being killed for.” This wasn’t even a leftover of my brief stint as a hero in my past life. Vali was annoying as hell, but that didn’t warrant me putting several light bullets into his stomach and chopping his head off with a sword dedicated to obliterating his Devils from existence. “He’s not an enemy.”

“Well, that’s a relief. Though, I suppose I should’ve known you’d have your head on straight, since it was Fallen that tried to kill you first.” Azazel nodded and stroked his beard. There was a glint in his eye that made me feel unnerved. That was the look of someone with a stupid idea that they thought was pretty good. “Hey, I’m teaching you the ins and outs of romance, but how about learning a bit more from me? I think you’ll have a decent head for making some pretty low-brow, dangerous, and terrible magical artifacts.”

Nevermind, this sounded like a great idea.

“I’m always ready to spend time to learn. Do you have any counters for Holy power, like the Light for Devils?”

“Already asking for a way to make things dead… you’re really just the kind of student I’m looking for.” Azazel grinned and gave me a pat on the shoulder, before getting up and picking his jacket off the back of the chair. He hung it over his shoulder with one hand holding the collar. He’s only pulling it off because he’s attractive. If we tried, we’d just feel embarrassed. Yep. “Alright, I’ll make some time for you, kid. Consider it thanks for helping turn Vali into more of a person instead of a Dragon. I tried, but nothing stuck.”

That made me raise my eyebrow.

“On a scale of one to ten, just how much effort did you put in?”

“Hah! The kid’s got a Dragon in his head, he’s half-human, and he’s descended from Lucifer… any more effort than one would just be a waste!”

I disliked the fact that I couldn’t disagree.

…

“So, you’re now actively training with my older sister, getting taught how to make dangerous artifacts by Azazel himself, and actively competing against a Longinus user.” Sitri’s tone was very, very dry as she summarized my explanation. She wore a white summer dress and a matching hat, while I escorted her through the department store. Here in Japan, department stores had floors with vendors that sold food. It was still strange, even though I’d been to them multiple times. They were called food halls. Not cafeterias. You didn’t eat there. You bought food and went somewhere else to eat it. Home. I didn’t get it. “And, yet, you still somehow think that you’re weak.”

“It’s a better mindset to have. Strong people tend to get killed first, or pick fights that they can’t win.” If I needed to kill someone and have them dead, my first thought shouldn’t be going up to their face and punching them until they died. It should be, how can I get it done with as little risk as possible? “Strength is best just shown off, y’know?”

“Yes, I understand how deterrence works, Ise-kun.” Sona rolled her eyes and pointed at a very convincing and well-made plastic facsimile of food that she wanted. A hexagonal bento filled with sushi rice and various kinds of raw fish. In a department store. Sold by someone that looked like they should be selling make-up. All of the food was also cold and meant to get warm by the time you got home. Honestly, I’m fine with living in Japan, but there’s things like these that make me think about at least visiting the US. Maybe, Hawaii. “However, you’re ignoring another fact of strength: the acknowledgement of others who are of great repute and strong themselves. That itself is a signifier of your worth and potential.”

Like being taken into a good team, or being acknowledged by the Triumvirate, I suppose.

Two people that are equals to gods and one that’s been training his whole life to wield a godslaying weapon.

Alright, definitely more than just being taken in by a good team.

Your Triumvirate was strong, but they do not compare to Azazel, let alone Leviathan.

Well, I wasn’t about to listen to information that might get me killed for being too proud.

Suit yourself.

“How about you just tell me what you want to happen, because I’ll agree to do it anyway?”

Sona huffed and the saleslady rolled her eyes, but I didn’t like being coy when it came to staying alive.

“Ise-kun, do your best to see them as more than assets to use. Become their friends. A person they would assist without a second thought. That is a greater deterrent than you can manage alone.”

Huh.

Right.

“Yeah, that can work.”

I just need to make friends.