Scarlet 38

Scarlet 38

…

Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

…

“This is a trap.”

I checked in with Sona with a walkie-talkie. The Devils used telepathy to talk to one another, but I already had one voice in my head, so I didn’t accept the offer. Regular technology did just fine, so I wasn’t going to risk having my mental space intruded upon.

If they had any ill intent, I would usher them out.

More likely you’d guide them and show them my most embarrassing moments.

Perhaps.

I ignored Ddraig.

“I have the same suspicion. We are being hounded. The first waves were meant to bring us closer together.” Sona clarified on her end, and I was glad to find that I wasn’t just being paranoid due to my past life. “Their stronger lines have formed and are far more cohesive. True soldiers, rather than warriors with something to prove.”

“Cannon fodder.”

“Indeed.” Sona probably pushed up her glasses at that word. “They are playing with us and are still confident in their victory. We must disabuse them of that notion.”

“A breakthrough, then?”

“Yes. I’ve already sent out my Peerage to probe their defenses. Once that happens, we’ll try to defeat them in detail. Still, if we do not wish to fall to attrition, we will have to rely on Argento. How is she?”

I turned my gaze towards Asia and confirmed the impossible.

“She’s still perfectly fine. Are you sure that she doesn’t have a Longinus?” Asia was able to heal Devils, Fallen, Angels, and Humans. That was more than enough reason to deem Twilight Healing a High-Class Sacred Gear, but beyond that it was also effective. It could bring limbs back together, refresh energy and stamina, fix destroyed organs, including the brain without any repercussion to the one being healed, and finally it was exceedingly low cost. “She’s healed me a dozen times and she’s barely broken a sweat.”

“It’s because I have time to rest between healing sessions!”

“Fifteen minutes is hardly that much time.”

“That’s barely a break.”

Sona and I were of the same mind, but we refocused on the task at hand, instead of the cornerstone of our current defense.

“You stay safe and keep up the pressure. Your ambushes are delaying the vice grip that they have on us. Delay them until we can turn the situation around.”

“Got it.”

The walkie-talkie cut off and I was left alone with Asia until we could heal.

If this were a manga, this is when the two of you would raise flags that might get one of you killed.

Yeah, it was, so I just stayed quiet until I was healed, gave Asia my thanks, and moved forward to get my job done.

I did check on the clock for a moment, before leaving though.

Daytime was quickly approaching, and Devils were weaker in the day.

Our reinforcements would have to arrive before dawn arrived, and until then we’d have to survive.

And, if they didn’t arrive then, our current forces would get weaker in the sun.

There were a lot of benefits to becoming a Devils, but in situations like this I couldn’t help but believe that I made the right choice in staying… mostly human.

Hah, mostly.

Shut up, Ddraig.

…

The fights were getting more difficult.

Left.

In the first few fights, the enemies were eager warriors, but as Sona said… I was now fighting against soldiers.

They didn’t speak, using telepathy to coordinate instead.

They weren’t easily riled up, and stayed in formation, with spears pointed at me.

And, if I killed one of them, they took that as an opportunity to kill me.

Still, though, they weren’t enough to face me after I ramped up enough.

I caught a spear of light with my gauntleted hand and crushed it, before turning and punching into the helm and skull of the opportunist. The helm broke beneath my bare fist, and my fist drove straight through my opponent’s skull.

The problem was their determination.

Two behind you.

I jumped up and rove through the ceiling into the next floor to dodge two sweeping attacks. Then, I dove through the floor into the two attackers. I crushed one with a tackle and a squeeze of my arms, but the other one was already swinging through his dead comrade’s body. I blocked the sword of light, before kicking upward between the Fallen’s legs. I broke through pelvis with my leg, crushing everything else in my path, and shattered spine with foot. Still, the soldier tried to swing at me one last time, before losing everything to pain and trauma, and I had to step back.

That was just a group of four.

They barely flinched when I ambushed them.

That’s just what soldiers do, when they know they can’t turn away. They’ll fight to the last and live for themselves.

Ddraig rarely complimented anyone he considered lesser, and that made up a lot of the population since he was a Dragon.

Respect is earned, not given.

Most of his lines were from Shounen or Seinen manga though.

Literature is literature!

I shook my head at his words, before putting the last of the squad out of their misery, and checked on the clock.

Our reinforcements should be arriving soon, but it was most likely that our opponents knew that too.

I looked outside and saw it, the encirclement that was forcing us closer and closer together, so that we could be killed at our foes leisure.

The sight of the slow vice enclosing upon us almost made me growl.

I didn’t know whether it was because I was partially a Dragon, or because I was frustrated with how things turned out.

But, as always, this was probably happening due to Sona’s plan.

Our attackers won’t expect a breakthrough charge when they think they’re about to win. It was a classic case of hiding our strength, while letting the enemy believe that they were that much stronger than us. With both Rias and Sona’s peerages, we could break through the encirclement or scatter it.

If, of course, the leader of this attacking force could be held back by Rias, Akeno, Sona, and Tsubaki.

A foolish plan.

I agreed with Ddraig, and so I searched the night sky, while feeling and allowing another Boost to flow through me.

It didn’t matter how many Fallen Angels we killed, because most of their strength lay with their leader. Even if we killed everyone else that was with him, he was their chief powerhouse and asset, thus he made up the majority of their strength. The people he was sending after us probably only made up twenty-percent of the fighting strength of this force, while he made up the rest.

So, despite all that I promised, I could see only one way that everyone was getting out of this alive.

Explain the power to me again, Ddraig.

I call it Penetrate.

Of course.

I was just a few hundred years old, dammit!

Mhmm.

Anyway, it’s one of my signature abilities. The only three that I ever needed to become the strongest of my kind. Boost is the first. Penetrate is the second.

Makes sense, sometimes there were just defenses that couldn’t be overcome, so Ddraig created a power like Flechette’s.

Exactly. It’s annoying when you know you’re strong enough to kill, and you can make contact with the skill that you have, but some magic or shield or armor is in the way.

It was a very draconic way of confronting the tyranny of facing certain opponents. In the face of something that was unfair, they came up with a way of winning that was just as unfair. Though, admittedly, suddenly finding your defenses overcome by someone finding a weakness was just as unfair in the end.

Bah, whatever. The only thing that matters is that you can defeat your enemies on the field without tricks. Strength in both offense and defense, the ability to overcome defenses, and flame. That is all the power you need.

Straightforward and lethal.

If I wanted to do anything fancy or different, it was all on me.

Which suited me just fine, so I nodded and listened to Ddraig.

Alright. We’ve focused a lot of your changes to your insides, so this shouldn’t rip you apart. Do you remember the magic you used before?

I nodded. Sona taught me magic before the Rating game. Ever since then, I’d been practicing when I had the free time. While I didn’t have any particular affiliation to any element, I did have power and just needed to control it. It was more than enough to give me a small Blaster rating, though my range was limited. The increase it gave to my strikes, giving my punches a ripping effect and increased the damage I dealt, made it closer to a Striker power.

Ddraig told me to focus on sending my power into my Sacred Gear, converting it, and then using that the same way.

It was difficult, even while running hot from Boosts, as my personal, human power was converted into fuel for a Dragon’s spell. A Dragon that “God” deemed necessary to seal away. Even with all my changes to my body, I felt pain shoot my gauntleted arm into my shoulder, and sweat from exertion broke on my brow.

It was close to going beyond my limits by any means, though.

There it is. Test it on the wall.

A green sheet covered my gauntleted arm like a thin film. It was barely perceptible, but that was a good thing in my opinion. I didn’t know why I would want my ability to pierce any defense to be showcased for everyone looking my way. It was better off used, while no one expected it. Like if the villain did the stupid thing and tried to catch my attack with their bare hand, only for my punch to go through right into their face.

If none of this works out, we should make a manga.

There’s enough battle harem manga out there already, though?

There can be more! And, we can have a protagonist that will be a real dragon and actually lavish himself with his rewards and mates!

There’s been a few of those, but don’t they fail?

That’s because the audience is wrong!

What a wonderful mindset to have as a would-be author.

I let loose a chuckle, while letting out a breath and walking back into the battle.

That was a good break, but now that I’ve recovered enough, it was time to join the fray.

…

Despite my best efforts, the encirclement was completed, and we were all hounded to one location. Well, technically we had a way out, but with the firepower we were facing we’d simply be buried alive if we tried it.

However, Sona did manage to salvage the situation.

She consolidated everyone into one space, maximizing our firepower, and that space was the most heavily defended of our fallback positions at the foot of the clubhouse Rias and her peerage used. The clubhouse itself served as a wall at our back, relieving us of one front, while also giving our ranged attackers cover and concealment.

Sona also kept Asia secret the entire time, letting wounds take place and get bandaged up with blood seeping into them, before getting healed up. The bespectacled Devil also went as far as to rotate her Peerage in and out, so that it would seem like we were conserving each other’s stamina for a prolonged battle. Therefore, the situation was more like a siege than an encirclement, as we had our frontliners ready to fight and create breakthroughs while supported by the ranged element in fortified cover.

Sona bought us time, and as that time ran out, we got into a heavily fortified position.

Winning was never possible, and she played the battle out with drawing it out until reinforcements arrived.

This was the plan all along, but it still felt kinda… overwhelming.

Hmph, if we unleash all our power, then this can be overcome.

The power that will most likely kill me if we use it?

10% chance.

Of killing me, or of survival?

…

Ddraig’s silence on the matter confirmed that I would have a 10% chance of survival.

Anyway, Rias and Sona, along with their Queen’s were at the front while flanked by the rest of the frontline. They didn’t have a hair out of place despite the battle and were fully rested. Both Tsubasa and Akeno were in similar states, which told our enemies that our best wasn’t in play yet.

Still, I had to admit Kokabiel, the leader of this whole attack… didn’t seem all too bothered as he gave a slow cap.

“A wonderful performance. You have killed much of the chaff that followed me and my soldiers here. Those that did not deserve to live, if they could die by your hands.” Kokabiel wore lavish black robes and golden pauldrons. He had long black hair that reached his waist at the back and from the front it was parted into two long trails that fell to his waist. On his back was 5 pairs of black wings, which told me that he was about the strongest creature I met. “Still, I am afraid that they were Fallen still, and so your own deaths must be twice as terrible, if not thrice.”

He reached out with one of his hands and suddenly a spear of light rushed past all of us faster than we could react.

It crashed into the door of the clubhouse and went straight through our fortification.

The message was pretty clear, but as usual… villains liked to talk.

“That is proof that you are all at my mercy. Your deaths could be swift and painless, even with all your weaknesses to Light.” Kokabiel stepped back and on gestures at the earth. A throne rose up at his command and he took a seat. “But, my soldiers have vengeance to act upon, and desires that they wish to see fulfilled. I would make for a poor general, if I did not allow for such things, especially when I aim to harm my foes.”

A too-long, pointed tongue reached out his lips and I felt my heated blood turn icy in a moment.

I knew exactly what he was implying, and suddenly that ten percent chance of survival looked a lot better. After living one life with that fear in the back of my mind popping up every now and again, I knew exactly what he intended for Rias, Sona, and others upon his victory… and I wasn’t going to stand by it.

Ddraig.

Yeah?

If that even has a chance of happening, you know what to do.

Yeah.

That single word comforted me a great deal, while I refocused on the battle to come.