Issei vs Tiamat Part 2

Off in the distance, Rias and everyone else managed to escape safely as they stopped to take a few breaths. Matsuda literally dropped dead on the ground. He was the most tired out of all them. Understandable considering that all he was the primary target of Tiamat's unrestraint killing intent which chilled him down to his very soul.

"I… thought… I … was … going to die" said Matsuda clearly out of breath and scared out of his wits.

"We should be good now… We travelled quite the distance so their clash shouldn't affect us" Zatouji said. He was also tired but clearly not as much as Matsuda. Plus, he is used to running around the forest due to his job. It was the first time though that he felt his life was truly in danger.

"Is… Is Issei going to be okay?" Asia was extremely worried for Issei as she tried to imagine what was going on between him and Tiamat. She didn't want to lose her new family. Rassei nudged her cheeks reassuringly.

"I don't know if he will be. I can tell that that boy is strong but he is facing Tiamat and her title as the strongest dragon king isn't for show. She can easily go toe to tow with all of the Maou's." Zatouji's opinion did help alleviate any of Asia's anxiety. She knew Issei was strong and could handle himself but she didn't want him to get hurt. She then felt someone embrace from behind. She looked up to see that it was Akeno.

"Don't worry. Issei-kun is going to be alright. I have complete faith in him." she assured Asia.

"Indeed, Issei is strong. I'm he will be able to handle himself."

"Yes"

"He is super strong"

Kiba, Koneko and Matsuda all agreed with Akeno.

"Yes. All we can do now is have faith in Issei-kun" Rias added although a small part of her couldn't help but be worried. She knew Issei was strong but he was facing Tiamat, the strongest dragon king and a being even her brother was weary of.

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sounds of massive explosions. Everyone could see big flashes of blue and crimson off in the distance. The blast radius was most certainly miles wide! Rias gasped at the sheer destruction she was witnessing. She knew Issei was powerful thanks to the incident of the church but this was more extreme that that time and they had only just gotten started, Truly, a battle between dragons of this level was insane. At the same time, she couldn't help but envy them. If she had power like that, she would be able to deal with her little situation very easily. While she was having such thoughts, she immediately heard Zatouji scream

"Everyone, brace for impact! The shockwave is heading our way" No sooner when he finished his warning, the shockwave and sound came next, blowing through the forest. Many rocks and dust were tossed up, trees were being uprooted even at this distance, as a gale force wind billowed through the trees, making all the devils shield their faces. They even had to dodge incoming debris although they used their powers to get rid of it. Rias used her powers of destruction. Akeno used her lightning. Kiba conjured up a sword and sliced and diced any incoming debris. Koneko simply used her legs and fists to deal with it or sometimes just tank the smaller ones. Matsuda was using his boosted gear to defend himself. Unfortunately, he did get hit by a pretty big rock that he could not deal with. Asia quickly ran towards him to heal him while Rassei was shooting off lightning to protect Asia from the incoming projectiles.

After the shockwave passed, Matsuda was the first to react

"Holy shit, that was insane!" he shouted as he got up before dusting his uniform.

"Yes, I'm impressed that we were even able to feel the aftermath from here despite the vast amounts of distance between us." Zatouji said in awe.

Rias nodded. "It is said that dragons can fight for days so it is pointless to stay here. We should go back and wait for Issei."

"I am not leaving here without Issei" Akeno said resolutely. Rias was about to try and convince her out of it until she heard someone else voice their opinion

"I-I also would like to wait for Issei" said a shy but equally determined Asia. Seeing that she had no way of convincing them, Rias sighed in resignation.

"huuh fine! We will stay but we need to move away from here. We are not safe from the aftermath of their fight from this distance."

"In that case, follow me. There sis a safe house not to far from here and it should shield us from any debris." Zatouji interjected. Rias nodded and asked him to lead their way.

Asia placed her hands together "Dear God, I hope Issei is - ouch" she yelped.

"Now then" Rias asserted "Let's get going" everyone nodded and followed the familiar master to the safehouse.

Issei and Tiamat were now unleashing a series of blows against one another. Claws, fangs and tail swipe were being exchanged so as to get an advantage but so far, other than the first strikes earlier, none of them could land a hit on each other. Issei knew he had the edge in terms of power but Tiamat definitely surpassed him in terms of experience.

Tiamat opened her maw and spewed blue flames. Issei swerved just in time to avoid the fireball which crashed into the ground and exploded, creating a large crater. Issei then proceeded to do the same and unleashed his own roar, which Tiamat also swerved around to dodge.

BOOM!

Not only was his explosion louder but it also created a bigger crater.

'Tsk! Show off' Tiamat seemed a bit annoyed at this display.

There was no time for smugness however as Tiamat came charging at him. Thinking fast, he charged his flames into his wings and unleashed it in a gale.

"Wing Blaze" he called out as Tiamat was engulfed in the vibrant blast. Issei's instincts quickly warned him of danger and he managed to dodge to the side just in time to evade a ramming attack by Tiamat. He was surprised that she didn't seem harmed by his attack at pretty much point-blank range. Upon closer inspection, he could spot some scratches layered all over her body and the reason became clear.

'I see! She used her aura to surround her entire body which acted as a shield in order to withstand his attack and simultaneously allow her to attack him. Offence and defense in one move. Her experience in combat is really showing… She really is amazing' Despite the fact that he was currently in battle against her, he couldn't help but admire her strength and experience. The fact is that had it been anyone else but him, her previous attack would have definitely struck home and dealt severe damage to her opponent if not outright end the fight then and there. She was that strong. Even then, it was only thanks to his instincts that he was able to dodge her attack at the last second. He could see why she was regarded as the strongest dragon king by his uncle. He remembered he asked him once if they ever fought each other. Tannin admitted that he had fought her several times in the past. However, he was never able to beat her in a fight which Issei found very shocking, knowing how strong tannin really was. When Issei asked him what were his odds, Tannin said that he probably had about 10% chance to beat her. His only real strategy to beat her would be to be able to hit her with his signature attack at full power but Tiamat never allowed him time to charge his attack.

Tannin told him that many people speculated that had Tiamat continued training herself to this day, then she would have become heavenly dragon class. Instead, she decided to settle down in the familiar forest and no one really understood why she did it considering that she was always one who sought to improve herself constantly. In any case, Issei could see why Tannin praised her ability so much.

There was something else he realized.

He was currently smiling. He was actually enjoying fighting against her. Dragons, by nature, loved to battle strong opponents and Issei was no different. Tiamat was one the strongest opponents he had ever faced, not counting his parents, and he was enjoying every minute of it. In any case, while he was having fun, it was time to get his head back in the game.

He needed to change his strategy.

'Let's try this then' "Hound" Issei unleashed multiple rays of fire towards Tiamat. She easily dodged by flying upwards however to her surprised, she saw the rays bend upwards as they started pursuing her

'Homing projectiles' Despite Issei being her enemy, she had to admit he had a a diverse set of moves. She flew in every direction but she saw that the projectiles kept following her.

"In that case, I'll simply blow them away" she stated as she unleashed a series of blue flames and effectively shot them all down.

Suddenly, she felt her instincts kicking in, warning her of incoming danger. She quickly turned around and spotted another volley coming from her blind spot.

'not bad' she thought before conjuring a shield of chaotic flames which protected her from his attacks.

"However, not good enough. You are going to have to do a lot better than that youngling." What Tiamat failed to notice was that she had played right into Issei's hands. Those two attacks were merely distraction which caused her to shift her attention towards dealing with his attacks and away for Issei for a moment. However, that moment was all he needed.

"I'm not done yet, Tiamat" Tiamat gasped at the proximity of his voice. She quickly shifted her attention towards the source but unfortunately it was too late. Issei had managed to close in the gap and was in motion to strike her.

He struck her in the stomach. With an echoing boom, she was sent flying sideways. While she was disoriented, Issei unleashed another volley of hounds towards her. They struck her and exploded, covering the sky in orange. The shockwave downed even more trees as they were being ripped from the ground.

However, even though she was disoriented, it did mean that Tiamat did nothing. At the last second, she was able to strengthen her defense using her aura so while she took damage, she was able to mitigate it somewhat.

"That was a magnificent combo." She praised Issei. She had to admit that she seriously underestimated him. "It has been a while since someone has been able to damage me to this extend."

"Oh, so will you forfeit?" Issei knew the answer but… a man could dream couldn't he?

Tiamat started laughing uncontrollably "Forfeit? Really? I haven't even gotten started yet" The energy around her suddenly doubled, no tripled.

"You didn't think it would be that easy to defeat a dragon king, did you?" she smirked before unleashing a searing ball of blue flames towards Issei.

"If you want to get serious, fine by me" Issei matched her power and released his own roar.

BOOM! The two roars met in the middle and fought for control, resulting in gale force wind being spread outwards, flattening everything in its path. In the center, nothing remained.

Tiamat then launches herself once more at Issei and unleashed a series of blows against him. These were more powerful than before indicating she has certainly gotten serious. Issei counterattacked each blow before taking a single fully charged blow by Tiamat sending him backwards. He then noticed a magical circle underneath him. Tiamat smirked

"Chaotic pillar" A massive pillar of chaotic energy suddenly surged from the ground racing towards him.

"Holy sphere" Luckily Issei managed to conjure up a shield of holy flames around him at the last minute. Both attacks cancelled each other out.

"You even know how to use holy flames. You certainly are full of surprises" Issei suddenly heard Tiamat say from behind him. He quickly turned around only to spot her already in mid swing.

"This is payback for your earlier hit" she smirked. This attack would most certainly hit him… if only he weren't Great-red son.

"Distort" Tiamat suddenly saw Issei turn around at unfathomable speeds in order to block her attack. She was incredibly surprised and had no idea what kind of ability Issei just used. (for those who don't remember this move, it's the one he used back when he was a child and was ambushed by a group of devils. It's his first ability he inherited from his father but not at the same level as him)

Seeing her reaction, Issei smirked.

"Sorry, you are going to have to do a lot better than that." Issei taunted her with the same line she used before. Although it did annoy her, she couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

"Nice sense of humor you got there!" she said before separating herself with a beat of her wings. It would seem that even Tiamat was starting to have fun, enjoying her battle with such a young yet strong foe. She was strong, determined and absolutely beautiful if Issei could be honest with honest. Which is why he just didn't understand! What could drive her to have so much hatred towards Ddraig that she would even go out of her way to exterminate every single one of his hosts.

"Why do you hate Ddraig so much?" At Issei's sudden question, Tiamat's mood suddenly turned distraught as the previous dissipated anger, started resurfacing at the mere mention of the red dragon emperor.

"I do not want to talk about the Welch asshole. What he did to me was unforgivable" she growled, clearly not happy that Issei mentioned his name.

"I'm just trying to understand what he did so I can maybe come up with a solution so you can stop going after his host. His current host is one of my friend and" Before Issei could continue he was interrupted by a large burst of power erupting from Tiamat.

"ENOUGH!" she yelled before charging one again towards Issei and unleashed a series of furious attacks against him.

"Whatever Ddraig did to you was not the fault of the current or previous boosted gear users that you killed. Some may have deserved such a fate considering what I heard about previous users but definitely not all of them." Issei told her as he defended against her assault

Tiamat, still very much enraged, continued hammering on Issei as she screamed "YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT HE DID TO ME."

"THEN TELL ME!" he responded by using his tail to smash her away from him and he continued to talk "If you can tell me what he did, I can at least try to help resolve the situation peacefully and avoid anymore needless killings". Tiamat charged forward rearing her empowered fist backwards

"HE"

She got closer

"HE"

Even closer when she revealed

"HE PROMISED ME EGGS!" This caused Issei to go wide eyed

"HEEEH, GUUOOHH"

That statement caught him completely by surprised that he dropped his guard momentarily allowing Tiamat's strike to hit him full force breaking a few ribs, causing him to spit a mouthful of blood and sending him plummeting towards the ground, however before crashing to the ground, he managed to recover and regain his balance, flapping his massive wings and making his way back into the air.

'Shit that hurts! Thank God, uncle isn't here or he would have definitely lectured over dropping my guard. I would never hear the end of it.' Issei thought as he applied his healing flame on himself easing the pain somewhat. Unfortunately, it would take a lot more time to heal these injuries, something he was sure Tiamat would not give him.

As he made his way back up in the air, he sees Tiamat once again launch herself towards him but this time he saw that she was crying as she laid out everything, she kept hidden inside of her

"Do you get it now; he was supposed to be my mate. He promised to give me younglings. I was finally going to become a mother but then he… that bastard left to engage against his rival in the middle of the Great war which caused both of them to get sealed into sacred gear leaving me with nothing but an empty promise and a broken heart! Do you have any idea what it's like to be promised the one thing you ever wanted, only to have it stolen away from you in the blink of an eye? It devastated me! I could not even get revenge on him as he was sealed so even that was taken away from me. Therefore, I decided to make him pay by making sure he would never see the light of day by killing his hosts. What's even more irritating is that even after those two were sealed, the dragons continued with their rivalry through their hosts which constantly reminds me of what I lost. I CANNOT STAND THIS." She roared with rage before charging towards Issei who quickly dodged her incoming strike and countered with his own. However it was blocked by Tiamat using her wings. Luckily they sustained the hit without taking much damage except a few scratches.

"You are right that I do not understand what you have gone through; but what I do understand is what it is like to lose something you treasured more than anything else in this world, and have it stolen from you in the blink of an eye" Issei recalled the time when he witnessed the shrine get annihilated by a pillar of lightning and believing that he had lost his beloved Akeno. How both rage and sorrow overcame him and he lost control. That was by far, the worst day of his life when he lost his aunt Shuri and Akeno in the blink of an eye. The powerlessness he felt from being unable to save them. If it wasn't for his family's support, maybe he might have turned out just like Tiamat. A dragon consumed by anger and revenge, hellbent on destruction.

Yet, it's because he understands her pain that he needs to stop her. Just like his parents did for him all those years ago when he went on a rampage. He had to prepare himself because in order to beat her, he would have to use his decaying flames. Most of his flames either simply aren't enough or don't affect her due to her resistances. It would be a different story if he used his black lightning or his crimson flames but they were a no go. Even if he held back on those, they would kill her instantly so his only remaining option are his green flames. He knew Tiamat was powerful enough to survive them and if he wanted to end the battle fast, they would be the perfect flames to use. Her resistances should be able to mitigate the damage somewhat… he hoped.

"That's enough. The time for words is over. If you want to stop me then you will have to defeat me" Tiamat began charging her fist with a great amount of chaos energy. The very air itself seemed to shake at its core. Issei knew that if he took on that hit, he will no doubt take a lot of damage.

"Very well!" He himself gathered as much energy as he could towards his end as he conjured his own green flames. Seeing Issei's newly created flame seemed to send a chill down her spine. She felt an eery vibe coming from those flames but soon shook it off. She believed that her flames will be enough to overpower his flames no matter what he did. In addition, if those flames were anything similar to his black flames then she had nothing to worry about as her resistances will be able to nullify most of not all the damage.

Once they were done powering up their attacks, they charged at one another winding up their arms, ready to attack.

When they met in the center, they unleashed their blows

"Chaos Impact"

"Reaper's Scythe"

When both of their attacks collided, they generated the biggest shockwave of the fight. Both attacks were fighting for dominance waving back and forth. However, soon it became clear that one was slowly overpowering the other.

Tiamat went wide eyed at what was happening in front of her. Issei's flames seemed to be slowly weakening her own attack. How could that be? What kind of flames were these? She tried to add power to her attack but it did no good. His flames simply weakened those as well. She could not think of anything and just like she predicted, his flames soon overpowered her own. There was no way she could doge the incoming blow. She could do nothing but stare as his fist was inching closer and closer towards her.

Then

BOOOOOOM

"GAAAH" Tiamat wailed in pain. The explosion had flung her below sending her crashing and bouncing through what remained of the forest, destroying everything in her path. His flames had countered her own but it didn't stop there. Even as she skated painfully into a halt, she could see his flames clinging on to her, burning her and sapping her energy

It was like her life force was being drained away. No wonder she felt an ominous vibe coming from his flames. The one good grace she had was that she did not take as much damage thanks to her resistances. However, these flames were not ones made to damage the opponent but rather to drain and weaken them which is exactly what it did. She had to be very careful from now on to avoid getting hit by those flames. The fight would most certainly end if she were to get hit by one of those again.

She looked up and could spot Issei making his way towards her, flying over the ruined area without much effort. However deep down, he was actually breathing a sigh of relief. Tiamat's chaos impact contained much more power than he had initially estimated. It held enough strength to easily dispatch most foes and even destroy a town in the process. Had he used any of his other flames to deal with it, he would have no doubt been the one to eat dirt on the ground. Once again, he found himself being impressed by Tiamat's power. Even after being hit by his flames which would spell certain death for most, she still seemed ready to continue the fight. His thoughts were shown to be correct when he heard Tiamat scream

"It's not over yet!" before she unleashed a very powerful breath attack in his direction which he managed to dodge by swaying to the left.

With a roar, he dove back at Tiamat, slashing a clawed hand at her. She reached around and bit him on the neck, drawing blood. Pushing her to the ground, he twisted her off and smashed her away with his tail, sending her crashing towards the trees. There wasn't time to breathe, however, before the dragon king flew towards him at top speed. She was definitely moving way faster than she had previously. An impressive feat considering he had hit her with green flames which should have drained most of her strength. She really was amazing but despite her newfound speed, he could still follow her movements and he was ready this time. Issei tilted his head down and the two collided in an intense headbutt, a shockwave of energy resounding across what remained in the forest. Immediately, Issei smashed his fist on her shoulder.

CRACK

Tiamat immediately recoiled in pain. With a gut-wrenching sound, she heard and felt her bones shattered. Her arm was most certainly useless now. The force of the blow sent her spiraling down, crashing violently into the ground. Taking shuddering breaths, she immediately stood up, looking at her injured arm before looking back at Issei with fury in her eyes. She wasted no time to return into the fight. This time, she needed to be careful not to let her guard down and allow Issei to land another direct hit like that. They grappled and exchanged blows each threatening to cause severe damage if not end the fight outright if it lands. The land had already been devastated to the point that the forest now looked like a post nuclear strike, devoid of life. But even, so both of these dragons kept fighting.