High School DxD: Return of the Crimson Dragon Emperor

Chapter 524: Chapter 514: The Counterattack Begins

Teleportation using the structure of space itself...? I can’t believe he was hiding a cheat code like that.

On top of that, Asem said he could teleport anywhere as long as he had the coordinates. Meaning he could warp wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted. If he felt like running, he could pull the plug in an instant.

...Though I seriously doubted a bastard like Asem would ever run.

”You giant cheat. Having our old man around is already more than enough hacks for one lifetime.”

I pushed myself up and dusted the sand off my clothes. Having landed right in the middle of a desert meant sand had worked its way into literally everywhere.

Asem scratched his cheek with a dry chuckle at my swearing.

”Come on now. Comparing me to a Sword Saint who possessed that kind of strength as a mere mortal hardly seems fair. If you ask me, he’s the one breaking the rules. Besides, you’re packing that kind of power yourself—you’ve got no right calling anyone else a cheat, Mr. Hack-User.”

”No way, you’re definitely the bigger cheat.”

”Now, now, you’re easily the bigger cheat.”

”No, no, no. You’re 100% the cheat here.”

”No, no, no, no, it’s definitely you—”

”Will you two just admit you’re actually best friends already?”

Shut up, Ddraig. Whose side are you even on?

”Given the current display? Neither. From where I’m sitting, you’re cut from the exact same cloth.”

”Right?! Oh, brilliant, Ddraig! You get it!”

”Drop that tone. You’re reminding me of a certain goddess.”

The moment Ddraig growled back with a thoroughly annoyed edge in his voice—

”Hmm~? I wonder who you could possibly mean by ’a certain goddess’~?”

”W-Wait! What do you think you’re doing—!”

”Fufu♪ Maybe it’s time I tied up little Ddraig again after all this time☆”

”GYAAAAAH! S-STOP IT! GET OFF ME!”

You useless goddessssss! What are you doing the second you show up?! We are literally in the middle of the final battle right now! Do you even realize where we are?!

As I screamed in my head, yet another pair of voices chimed in.

”Ddraig! Hold on, Ddraig!”

”What a tragedy...! Ddraig... Ddraig is...!”

Elsha-san?! Belzard-san?! It’s been ages since you two spoke up, but what the hell just happened?! What on earth is being done to Ddraig?!

””Ddraig... We will never forget how completely hilarious you look right now... Pfft.””

HEY! They laughed! They actually broke character and laughed! What does ”hilarious” even mean?! What kind of state did she leave you in, Ddraig?!

I can’t take these people anymore! They’ve completely surrendered to Ignis! They exist solely to obliterate any shred of tension!

””We, the faithful of Ignis, cannot endure more than three minutes of seriousness at a time.””

What is that?! What kind of Ultraman rule is that?! If you’re on a three-minute timer, at least save the damn planet! You haven’t done a single useful thing yet!

”Oh, Belzard-san! About this month’s Ignis Cult drinking party—”

Hold on—what?! What did you just say?! The Ignis Cult drinking party?! Are the past Welsh Dragon Emperors seriously running a social club behind my back?!

”Ahem! Well then, to the prosperity of the Ignis Cult this month as well... Cheers to boobs!!”

”””CHEERS TO BOOBS!!”””

Wait... huh? Why—why has the party already started?! Wasn’t that supposed to be a proposal for later?! Is this a ”no time like the present” kind of deal?! Isn’t that way too fast?! And more importantly, why was the toast ’boobs’?!

Ugh, the noise inside my head is turning into complete chaos! They’ve gone full party mode!

”At least wait until the battle is OVERRRRRRR!”

I threw my head back and roared at the sky, completely forgetting Asem was even there.

The fate of the world? Forget the world, I’m the one in a crisis here. My legendary predecessors have been brainwashed by a useless goddess, and they’re systematically destroying the dramatic tension of my fight. Ddraig’s been captured. Word on the street is he looks hilarious now. Someone please save me.

”AHAHAHAHAHA! Bfft! M-My stomach... Cough, cough! Gag!”

Asem had collapsed into hysterics. He was clutching his gut, tears streaming down his face, laughing so hard he was practically dry-heaving. He was wide open. Would it be wrong to punch him right now?

Tears welled up in my eyes—half from the chaotic banquet roaring inside my soul, half from the wheezing laughter echoing in front of me.

”Man, that was a good laugh. You really are the ultimate mood-breaker.”

”Shut up! Was that even my fault?! How am I the bad guy here?!”

”Because whenever the serious mood shatters, you’re always right in the middle of it. Making the joke or taking the hit. They say dragons attract power, but I’m starting to think you’re just a dragon that attracts comedy.”

A dragon... that attracts comedy... It hurt that I couldn’t even argue. For the first time, I felt like nodding along with Asem. ...Which was depressing as hell.

Besides, he was right there joining in on the joke! This fake god better not forget his own part in it!

I took a deep breath and refocused on Asem, who was looking down at me. ...Alright. How am I going to handle this?

Ddraig spoke up, his voice finally returning to normal.

”He may be a fool of a god, but he’s the real deal. And he hasn’t even drawn that yet.”

That... Meaning that black gauntlet. Even after claiming he was going to take this seriously, the bastard still hadn’t used it. It was infuriating how strong he was without even trying.

That said, the energy blast I took earlier had dealt surprisingly little damage compared to how it looked. Past-me would’ve been wiped out instantly, but current-me could tank an attack of that level without breaking a sweat.

I dropped into a stance. Asem smirked.

”Still want to go?”

”Damn right. Nothing’s over yet.”

Our killing intent collided in the air. And then—we burst forward simultaneously!

Fists clashed head-on, sending shockwaves that cracked the very fabric of space. Mid-clash, Asem raised his free hand toward the sky.

”Let’s add some magic to the mix!”

Magic circles expanded instantly—not just one or two, but thousands, tens of thousands, forming an overwhelming blanket across the sky.

To weave that level of magic while engaging me in hand-to-hand combat...!

I immediately leapt backward, sprinting across the desert at full speed. A split second later, the ground where I had been standing was obliterated by a torrent of spells. A relentless rain of offensive magic chased after my heels as I ran!

”Trying to keep me from finding an opening to counter? If that’s how you want to play it—”

Lowering my center of gravity like a ninja mid-sprint, I pointed my palm toward the ground. I condensed a blast of ki in my hand, compressing it again and again, pouring raw, overflowing power into the sphere until it swelled to the size of a volleyball.

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