~Rias Gremory~
"What do you think we should do Takumi? Do you think we can win?" Rias asked Takumi while standing with her peerage, they had made plans for the rating game beforehand but they excluded Takumi because no one actually knew of his full capabilities.
Takumi just chuckled to himself.
"Don't worry Rias, move on without me, I want you guys to be able to face off against the Riser peerage without worrying about anything. Because..."
Takumi smiled, for some reason, he exuded an indescribable pressure that sent shivers up everyone's spine, not out of fear but out of suspense.
"As long as I am here, we can't lose."
That was not a challenge, it was not an assurance. It was not stated as him being confident that he could beat Riser. It was stated as a fact.
Takumi couldn't lose against Riser.
Then suddenly the pressure withdrew and Takumi looked a little abashed, as if he accidentally let that slip out.
"Sorry, sorry, I am still getting a little used to it. Anyway, you guys don't have to worry about the outcome, just do your best, I will be cheering you on, I have my own preparations to make as well."
"Okay, I will trust you Takumi." Rias said matter of factly, she had long decided to put her full trust in Takumi and she would not second guess herself now. Especially after that statement, something about the almost animalistic tone of his made her insides tingle and her panties a little wet.
Her gaze drifted to Akeno who was blushing heavily and rubbing her legs together slightly.
Something told her that Akeno was far more affected than she was.
Regardless, it was time to trust Takumi and do her best.
✧—•✦•—✧—•✦•—✧—•✦•—✧
~Takumi Katsuragi~
I left it up to Rias' peerage to do their best while I took care of something else. This was crucial since if I did not do this, losing was a very real chance.
I made sure to ward and erect a barrier around the clubhouse and made sure it was sturdy and strong.
Why would I bother doing such a thing for seemingly no reason? Well, it was simple.
Because if I didn't.
It wouldn't just be the Phenex peerage who would get eliminated.
So, to make sure I don't turn this into a double wipeout I needed to make sure Rias was in a solid base. After setting my hyper-specific wards up I decided to lean back and watch how the fight was going.
Pulling out Aero and Terra catalyst I used two spells I brainstormed in my free time.
Echolocation & Seismic Sense = Semi Clairvoyance
I achieved this by sending undetectable waves from the air and earth and using my enhanced mental capabilities to map out literally everything the waves make contact with down to the last minute detail. Hell, it was better than my sight, I could easily watch the entire rating game like this, it was like watching black and white. Not too costly either.
And as I expected the fight did not go too well, which was to be fair, it's a 3 v 13. Honestly, they were holding out better than I thought, Koneko managed to take out 2 pawns out while Kiba managed to take out 4 pawns and a knight before losing to the other knight.
Akeno was mostly tied up with the bomb queen before getting caught off guard by her drinking a Phoenix Tear(papa needs some of those) and getting eliminated.
Also, it's surprising just how many clothes were torn during the fight, it was almost surprising. But I knew better than to expect otherwise from this world.
Well, the outcome of their scuffle did not matter to me. This was just supposed to be a wake-up call for them, that they need to get stronger, there was no other reason for me to even let them fight after all.
Maybe I will personally train some of them, I needed to bolster Rias' peerage a little since it was rather lacking at the moment due to me. Maybe some sentient homunculi could do.
I tried using idle thoughts to distract myself. They were hardly working. I was trembling.
I could barely contain myself, I was itching to move but I had to let them have this and I wanted everyone to see.
<"Rias-sama's Queen, Akeno Himejina has been retired.">
Grayfia's cold voice rang out and my ears perked. Finally! It was my turn.
My grin turned malicious as my wings popped out of my back and I used Dominator's Touch to tear open the roof and start flying.
✧—•✦•—✧—•✦•—✧—•✦•—✧
~3rd Person~
He took to the skies, overlooking the arena where the rating game held place.
He was curious, he wanted to test, he wanted to see, he wanted to witness.
From the beginning, he had not seen Riser as a threat. Only a challenge to be conquered. But now it was even below that.
He wanted to use Riser as a test of how strong he had become.
So he wanted to unleash one move, it wasn't to defeat Riser or to accomplish anything of the sort.
He simply wanted to see.
He wanted to see his utmost.
He felt the power of domination stir in his veins as he pulled out an ornate vial from his inventory, inside the flask there was a swirling cloud of frigid mist.
Takumi's eyes observed the bottle, excitement thrumming up his heartbeat as he summoned the boosted gear the sacred gear manifesting in his right hand.
And with one command, he would go beyond, he would witness the sky, his current ceiling.
Before he came to this fight he had made a decision.
~~~~~~~~~~
- 1 Day ago -
Ddraig, are you sure about the safety of this transformation? Because I am honest, if this hurts me and I have to Speedrun making a potion to fix the side effects I'm forcing us to watch two girls one cup.
{I don't know what that is but I feel like it is something I should stay far away from. Anyway, it should be safe, especially with your path of Innovation. Though I feel like I should warn you.}
Ddraig's voice got way more serious.
{All power comes at a cost. Converting your heart at the moment would be very unwise, you should make the changes gradually to not overwhelm your soul. I would recommend a hand or arm at first for your body to get used to the mana.}
Hearing Ddraig's words made me think. They were right, but how do I get the maximum benefit out of it?
Then inspiration struck me.
Instead of making changes gradually why not let my body used to the change gradually?
I transmitted the full idea to Ddraig who went silent for a moment.
{It... could work. But I have to ask, why this much? You know you don't need this much power to fight the Phenex Scion. So why go through all of this?}
I leaned back in my chair.
It's simple Ddraig, it's because there are much meaner things out there, things I cannot hope to compete against at this rate. But above every reason I could list like survival, fear, anger, and indignation, one stand out the most.
I want to.
What other reason should one need?
I need to become strong, and I want to become strong.
And this is simply the best way to go about it.
It's me against the world and the world will regret picking this fight.
{You truly are insane partner, but I suppose it is a part of your charm. Very well, let's do this.}
I grinned
~~~~~~~~~~
One word rang out, one single word.
"Unseal."
*Crack!* *Boom!*
A wave of pressure was released as Takumi's magical power suddenly seemed to rise rapidly, his grin revealed a row of sharp teeth, and his eyes turned a glowing teal with feral draconic eyes. His draconic aura surged. His hair turned from brown to bright auburn.
Takumi, instead of transforming his hand to access the Balance Breaker had instead transformed his heart, the very core of his body.
And then he sealed it. His seal skills had allowed him to seal his changing heart. And with a simple chant, he could change his heart back to that of a Dragon.
Only the heart of a dragon could handle a power like this after all.
Then it rang out, like a declaration.
{"BALANCE BREAKER: LIMIT BREAKER!"}
An emerald aura surged from Takumi, the aura was oppressive and overwhelming. It was as if infinite power dwelled in his vessel for a moment.
Not all balance breakers manifest the same. For Takumi, who has drastically altered the existence of sacred gears bound to him it manifested completely differently.
Instead of gaining the armour of the red dragon emperor, he gained the power of the red dragon emperor instead. Instead of needing an armour to channel the power, he himself was the channel through his dragon heart.
For a brief moment, the sacred gear would allow him to unleash his absolute potential.
He made use of his mana sense that now stretched to the entire arena to make sure that no one would get killed by what he would do next.
He uncorked the bottle, bringing it to his mouth before inhaling, feeling the violent mist gather in his lungs ready to erupt.
Like a dragon, he gathered all of his power in his chest before breathing it out, unleashing it on the world.
'Frozen Dragon's Breath: Borealis!'
.
.
.
Everything went white.
Like thunder had flashed, the entire world of the rating game was blinded by white for a second.
Then the giant thunderous roar of destruction as the pillar of freezing breath hundreds of meters wide ripped apart the world, the freezing winds creating shockwaves impartially tore everything apart.
Like a nuclear explosion had taken place the pillar of frozen mist extended to the skies.
After half a minute the entire world of the rating game had changed.
Instead of a school, now it was nothing more than a frozen wasteland, the frigid mist covering every inch of the arena was so dense you could barely see your own hands.
Every drop of water had flash-frozen and in the middle of the arena, there was now a crater, extending dozens of meters down and kilometres wide.
<"R-Riser Phenex's Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rooks and Pawns have been eliminated!">
It was a winter wasteland and all of Riser's peerage had been eliminated in one go, Takumi specifically had to aim to NOT kill them instantly.
Takumi spotted Riser and gently landed in the middle of the wasteland, the winder winds bending around him like ethereal ribbons as he watched the shattered pile of nondescript shards on the floor burst into fire and reform into a human shape, revealing Riser heaving on the floor with his pupils trembling.
"Huh, I must admit. Your regeneration is actually rather impressive. But I guess it makes too much sense that only useful things about you comes from your parents." Takumi smirked as the limit breaker wore off, the Boosted Gear manifesting back in his hand, he was still maximum boost since he hadn't burst.
Riser raised his upper body off the floor, looking at Takumi with a hint of fear that was overshadowed by his rage.
"You...! What the hell are you...!? What the hell did you do!?"
The mist bent around Takumi as it made way for light to shine down, framing his figure in rays of light as he looked down on Riser.
"I am pretty sure we established this before but I suppose I will have to repeat it again to get it through your thick skull."
Takumi's draconic gaze held unhidden malice.
"I am the Red Dragon Emperor of Domination, Takumi Katsuragi."
He gave a feral smile.
"Now kneel."
A/N: Takumi is truly becoming a dragon now, both in heart and spirit. Though the full dragon heart is a bit hard to handle for his body right now so he is using seals to get around that restriction, toggling his heart when he needs it.
Also, I decided to put my unique spin on the balance breaker, never was too big of a fan of the clunky scale mail design and it definitely didn't fit Takumi so I decided to go the route of it being something completely different.
Finally, what did you guys think about Takumi's breath attack? He is in a completely different league than he was before. Riser is in for the beating of a lifetime.
What did you guys think about the chapter? I would love to hear your thoughts about it.