Shin High School DxD - Volume 4 - Chapter 3.2

Lion Heart 

I, Kiba Yuuto, was fighting in London's underground, in the territory of the [Alliance of Hell Leaders] which now became a world of ice due to [Absolute Demise]’s Balance Breaker. Inside of this place I was closely observing the confrontation between Sairaorg-san and the artificial Transcendental-class ? Balberith. 

While everyone was deciding whether or not to deal with Balberith together, Sairaorg-san and Balberith sent their fighting spirits at each other, creating the atmosphere of a duel. 

Sairaorg-san said. 

"Kiba Yuuto and the rest of you, do not make a move. He is consciously focusing his aura towards me." 

With Sairaorg-san’s words, I cut down several enemy Devils and said. 

"Understood." 

If Balberith released an evil aura while directing his hostility at all of us, everyone wouldn't just accept it even if it was Sairaorg-san’s opinion. But... Balberith was foolishly honest, as he was only concentrating his aura towards Sairaorg-san. 

Sairaorg-san’s [Queen], Kuisha-san, while supporting her master so that enemies couldn't approach, said. 

“If something were to change the situation, then I'll give my assistance.” 

While hearing her master's wish, she gave him a warning. Sairaorg-san nodded to Kuisha-san words. 

"I understand. I'm sorry." 

Sairaorg-san said. 

While enveloped in a dense aura, Balberith said to Sairaorg-san. 

"Lion King. I only have one wish." 

"What?" 

"Hades-sama probably can't be helped anymore. Even I think that he deserves what is coming. But please, don't kill Verrine. More or less, she's my elder sister. And?" 

Balberith looked at a high rank-looking Grim Reaper, who was standing behind his back. 

I was familiar with this High-class Grim Reaper. It was the [King] of the team [Black Satan of Darkness Dragon King] from the Realm of the Dead, who participated in the International Rating Game Tournament. His name was Zeno? 

While concerned about Zeno, Balberith said. 

"This is the Grim Reaper, Zeno. I want you to let him go." 

<?!?> 

Zeno was surprised at Balberith’s words. 

Balberith put his reason into words. 

"I don't quite understand what having a family means, but from the information I got from [Chichiryuutei Oppai Dragon], my relationship with Verrine and Zeno could be called something close to it." 

Hearing that, Zeno, who didn’t have eyeballs or flesh ? due to the characteristic trait of a Grim Reaper being a skeleton, trembled his face. 

<Y-you..... what are you saying in this kind of situation.....?!> 

Though Zeno was surprised, Balberith continued on. 

"You accompanied me to Kyoto. I'm grateful." 

<I-in this last moment, you… idiot!> 

Zeno ? collapsed on the spot. The Grim Reaper Zeno... was probably like his foster parent. Judging the appearance, those words from Balberith were beyond expected by Zeno too. Consequently, because of this situation, tears of lament flowed out of Zeno's empty eye sockets. 

While taking a fighting stance against Sairaorg-san, Balberith said. 

"Today, even if I were to die, the fact of having met [Oppai Dragon] and buying a figurine in Kyoto. From the depths of my heart, it was really fun." 

White taking a fighting stance himself, Sairaorg-san conveyed. 

"About Verrine, there's no problem. If it's Rias, then she probably won't kill Verrine. About that Grim Reaper too, if he were to surrender then this side has nothing to say. Even if there's the command of the higher-ups, we won't cause him harm either." 

[Sairaorg-sama, if you decide any more than this at your discretion, your father and founder-sama would....] 

Regulus said to his Master, Sairaorg-san from the lion sculpture in the chest part of his armour. 

"I understand. I just have to capture Balberith." 

While enveloping his fist with Touki, Sairaorg-san asked Balberith. 

"I should ask before the fight ? how do you want to fight with me." 

"I want to fight like [Oppai Dragon]. I have seen the recording of the last fight in the Bael match countless times." 

Hearing this reply, Sairaorg-san made an expression of amazement but immediately said while smiling. 

"?Well said. I'll accompany you! Balberith!" 

[Ha!] 

Regulus replied to his master's voice. 

In the next instant ? from every part of Sairaorg-san's body, a golden Touki tinged with purple was released. 

Sairaorg-san sang the chant of power together with Regulus. 

"?This body, this soul, even if it falls into an endless ravine!" 

[My Lord and I, we will exhaust this body and this soul to rise up the endless royal road!] 

The golden armour of the Lion King changed itself to a more offensive form. 

"Raze, triumph, play, and shine!" 

[This is the body of a Demonic Beast!] 

"Lodged on top of my fist, is the glorious imperial authority!" 

The silver world surrounding Sairaorg-san was blown away by the shockwaves created by the raised Touki. In the place where the Lion King was standing, the ground had caved in ? creating a crater. The earth was torn, and the atmosphere trembled. A shockwave strong enough to make this whole area tremble had occurred. Sairaorg-san and the Golden Lion sang the last verse? 

"[Breakdown The Beast, Climb Over!]" 

What appeared there was the Lion King, Sairaorg Bael, while clad in a golden-purple armour, releasing an immense amount of Touki!! 

The power of that form rivaled Maou-class. No ? in this form, Sairaorg-san should be called above it. [Regulus Rey Leather Rex Imperial Purpure], Breakdown the Beast form! 

While gathering the maximum amount of Touki in his fist, Sairaorg-san started running forward at high-speed. 

"Come and punch me! Like Hyoudou Issei!" 

Hearing this, Balberith ran ? like that Gremory vs Bael match, like Ise-kun vs Sairaorg-san in the last battle! 

That's right, from the front, right in front, just straight ahead, only going straight ahead! Sairaorg-san's fist, and Balberith fist, hit each other's faces! 

Boooooommmmmm! 

That one blow made a roaring sound and a shockwave throughout this whole area. Even while bending their bodies back because of the impact of the blow, while spurting out blood from their noses, Sairaorg-san and Balberith continued to hit each other using only their fists! 

The offensive power of Sairaorg-san's fist in this form was said to absolutely surpass Maou-class. It was quite a dreadful thing. Balberith, who was receiving it directly and continued to accompany this rush of fists, was as expected a rare genius possessing both talent and stamina. With this overflowing talent, Balberith gathered aura in his fist and hit Sairaorg-san. 

Sairaorg-san too, received dozens of punches from Balberith, who was said to have Transcendental-class talent as he already had his helm destroyed and his whole face bloodied. Even so, Sairaorg-san didn’t fall, there's no way he would fall. 

In addition to being requested to have a fight like the one he had with Ise-kun, for the sake of his pride and for the sake of Ise-kun’s pride too, putting the things won in that fight on the line, he was probably thinking that he couldn't fall immediately. 

Balberith too became bruised as his whole face was covered in blood, with his nose broken and his eyes swollen, from continuously receiving Sairaorg-san punches. It was a straightforward fight. It could be called a crude fight too. After all, it was only an exchange of punches. However even with a fight like this, the comrades in this place were greatly attracted by it. For a while, even the enemy stopped attacking. “What are they doing?”, even while being puzzled, they were paying attention to this fistfight filled with intensity. 

Sairaorg-san said to Balberith while punching his face. 

"Compared to you, who defeated the Prince of the Asura Gods clan, this is by far an inferior way of fighting! You showed that you could overwhelm the Gods with your violent way of fighting by relying on only your instincts and talent! Compared with that, the current you is weak! But!" 

With a fist from Balberith hitting his face, Sairaorg-san staggered. But he immediately regained his stance and struck Balberith's chin with an uppercut. With an impact as if to pierce through the top of his head, Balberith seemed to have lost consciousness. But, he too immediately regained his stance? 

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" 

Raising a battle cry, Balberith gathered a powerful aura in his fist and pierced Sairaorg-san’s abdomen. 

“Gaha!" 

Sairaorg-san vomited blood together with his breath. But, he didn't flinch at all. Taking a step forward, he released a hook upon Balberith! 

"From every hit, I can vividly feel your spirit through your fists! It's the kind of fist I like! It's just like Hyoudou Issei’s!" 

It's just like Hyoudou Issei! 

It was at the moment he heard those words ? tears started overflowing from Balberith’s eyes. 

Balberith said while throwing a punch. 

"I! With the exception of fighting, I only know about [Oppai Dragon]! With the exception of the power to fight, [Oppai Dragon] was my everything! From the moment I was born, there was only [Oppai Dragon] for me!" 

Sairaorg-san and Balberith exchanged headbutts. 

GOZUUNNN! 

With a dull sound reverberating in the whole area, Balberith asked with blood streaming down his chin. 

"Can I become like [Oppai Dragon] too?" 

Sairaorg-san said while smiling. 

"What are you saying? You are already like him. You are fighting to protect Zeno and Verrine, right?" 

Being told this, Balberith smiled happily. He smiled just like a child ? as Sairaorg-san said, the battle style being shown by Balberith now, if particularly compared with the one he used against the team of Asura Gods in the preliminaries of the International Rating Game Tournament, was considerably inferior. 

His current fighting style, which he was forcibly trying to use, was like the one used by Ise-kun in the battles of the Tokusatsu program [Chichiryuutei Oppai Dragon]. If compared to when he only fought with instincts and talent, it was a battle style that he was not familiar with. Even if he were to fight against the strong with this superficial fighting style, it was not something that would work against Sairaorg-san or the Champion, Diehauser Belial-san. Even if he was a rare talent, against the really strong ones, a half-baked way of fighting wouldn't work. Above all, it didn’t matter who it was. If he were to continuously receive Sairaorg-san’s punches which reverberate to the core? 

After that, the two of them continued their fist-fight. Balberith’s breathing was hard, sounding ‘huff, huff'. For Balberith who didn’t have experience in controlling his stamina, what he was feeling in this contest of exchange of blows with Sairaorg-san, was probably a pain he experienced for the first time in his life. By experiencing such a battle where there was no time to breathe, you would start to foster your stamina and feel something that you could call your rhythm. 

Balberith’s body trembled with cold sweat dripping all over his face. Although Sairaorg-san and his armour were broken everywhere, his whole face and some of the parts of his body were swelling. 

If they were to continue fighting anymore, Sairaorg-san himself would probably be in danger. Balberith seemed to have this much offensive power with only his talent. If Balberith were to manifest his characteristic trait...it probably wouldn't have come to this situation. But, this fight was already? 

Sairaorg-san pulled his right fist back, enveloping it with his touki. Gathering the maximum amount of aura in his fist, he was creating a special move. Balberith didn't escape, but once again he stepped in Sairaorg-san’s direction with his trembling legs trying to throw a punch? 

Sairaorg-san screamed while releasing Touki from all over his body. 

"If you were to master this style, you probably would surpass me. But!" 

The fist of the Lion King ? smashed the coming fist of Balberith and without a pause, dug in his face. 

"Right now, I won't lose!" 

With Sairaorg-san’s tremendous attack, Balberith's body was sent flying away ? this last blow became the deciding factor. Balberith who was sent flying, fell on the ground facing upward and remained motionless without getting up anymore? 

The fight ended, as I and Sairaorg-san approached the collapsed Balberith. But there was someone who was shielding the collapsed Balberith. It was ? the High-class Grim Reaper, Zeno. That appearance was like that of someone desperately trying to defend their own child. 

<P-please wait! Just restrain him! This child is not like Gressil and Sonneillon, who were purely malicious!> 

Sairaorg-san, who after releasing his armour while limping approached Balberith. As he created a small-scale magic circle in the palm of his hand, a certain something appeared from there, 

[Oppai Dragon], it was a figurine of Ise-kun in his armour. Sairaorg-san with his whole face covered in blood and bruises, sat down next to Balberith's side and said this. 

"?[Bal-kun]. The one who sent letters to Hyoudou Issei was you, right? The letters which came countless times. It became one of that man’s driving forces." 

He addressed him as Bal-kun. ?Bal-kun. It was the child Grim Reaper, who continued sending letters to Ise-kun. His identity was ? Balberith. 

He, with his clumsy Devil writing, put in his utmost effort to convey his impressions of the program of the TV match of the tournament, the things he thought, the things he felt, everything. The fact that even in hostile forces, the Realm of the Dead, there was a child cheering for him became one of Ise-kun’s daily encouragements. And then, from Balberith’s behaviour and actions in Kyoto a few days ago, both Ise-kun and us, understood Balberith’s identity. For that reason, Ise-kun was concerned about Balberith. 

Sairaorg-san placed the figurine on Balberith’s collapsed chest. 

"?It's a figurine. I've come to deliver this. It's alright for you to hold this action figure." 

Taking it with his trembling hands, Balberith brought it before his eyes. Something started to fill and accumulate in his eyes. Then? 

"............UuU, uuUuUuUhh." 

While hugging the figurine, he shed large tears like a child. A few days ago, he protected a village of Youkai in Kyoto against a raid of Devils (the ones created by the God of the Realm of the Dead, Hades). The fact that he gave away his important figure to a Youkai child was something that we all knew from the report. Sairaorg-san, before the start of this operation, prepared the thing he was unable to obtain at that time. Really this person, to the bitter end, was? 

Sairaorg-san said to Zeno without turning back. 

"You can be at ease.. I won't do anything bad. In the name of the Great King, Bael's clan name and in my pride." 

<......Thank you......Thank you.> 

While shedding tears from his empty eye sockets, Zeno single-mindedly thanked him.