Chapter 16

Heads up, I wanted to use a character from a specific franchise. I just wanted to use it for a good battle for Issei and to showcase how much of a threat Ddraig is.

Not only that, but I love the franchise as well. It's the SCP franchise.

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A massive explosion decimated a huge portion of the landscape and was turned upside down. However, that wasn't the only thing that happened, the land, the cave that held the stray devils, had been exposed to the surface. The only thing that was left after the smoke cleared were the blood and broken limbs of the stray devils.

Issei landed on the ground, the blazing ground that he looked upon with mixed expression. He destroyed all those devil angels with no remorse due to him only seeing red. However, he was conscious this time, questioning himself.

A pile of rocks began breaking apart. Issei turned to where the sound came from and looked to see a red blob of flesh that looked disorientated and began moving towards Issei. Backing away into the air, Issei made sure to stay a little away while the blob began morphing its head. Issei watched in slight fear of the disgusting thing that was in front of him.

"You have come to my domain." The voice echoed throughout the entire area. "My minions... They all fell. Is that what you think?"

Issei didn't feel good about this anymore. He began powering up right back into the Balance Breaker form.

"This is bizarre... Who is this stray?" Even Ddraig was confused.

That was when Issei felt something behind him and instinctively dodged the attack by flying higher. Turning to see what it was... It was another flesh sludge but much larger.

"Come to me. My minions."

Flying higher, Issei watched in horror as the limbs of the stray devils began melting into just flesh. They all began traveling back to the main flesh blob. The flesh began detaching and reattaching with the main flesh, slowly beginning to grow in size. A huge legion of flesh, blobs began fusing together. That was until... A monster with the eyes of the dead strays speaking. Blood began falling from its mouth while it landed right back on the flesh beneath.

"Partner, this must be one of the highest-ranked stray devils. I don't know if it would be wise to fight against it."

Issei didn't want to fight against something so horrific. However, before he could move, a flesh tentacle narrowly missed his head. Issei could only watch as part of his armor was destroyed.

"Do not be afraid. You will become one of us soon enough."

Issei backed away and watched the sludge begin to form a beam.

"That thing is disgusting." Issei said while watching for where the monster was trying to aim through its many eyes. "Right there..."

Issei narrowly dodged a beam aiming straight for his liver. "What the hell?" Issei sensed the beam boomerang right back to him. Dodging once more, Issei rushed straight at the sludge.

"Yes, come to me, child."

Issei stuck his aura blade out and with penetrate, he was able to bypass the sludge defense that the monster had, damaging the very essence that the monster was made of. Hearing the scream from the monster, Issei watched as the sludge began forming around him.

"Leave that to me," Ddraig said while forcefully teleporting Issei back away from the sludge. "Partner, whatever you do, do not let that sludge touch you. The properties are unknown but always assume the worst to make sure you do your best."

Issei braced himself, his fists clenched tightly as he faced the sludge monster. He took what his partner said seriously, he was a novice in the supernatural world and Ddraig knew far more than him... Following Ddraig's advice would definitely bring him more safety than following his own pride.

The monster's slimy form quivered with malevolence, an amorphous mass of revolting sludge. The air was thick with its putrid odor, causing Issei's eyes to water, but he refused to let it distract him from the battle at hand.

"What are you waiting for? Come here become family."

With a surge of power, Issei lunged forward, his fists, covered in penetration power, propelled at intense speeds. He changed his fighting tactics. Spreading all his boosted power into his legs for pure speed and relying on penetration to carry his damaged output. He aimed for the monster's supposed center, the potential brain location within the large head, hoping to penetrate through its gelatinous exterior. The sludge monster reacted swiftly, lashing out tendrils of sludge to intercept Issei's assault.

Issei dodged and weaved, his body moving with astonishing agility. The tendrils of sludge missed him by mere inches, leaving corrosive trails on the ground where they struck. He could feel the sheer malice emanating from the monster, knowing that a single touch would spell his doom.

Closing the distance between them, Issei focused his energy and delivered a mighty punch, aiming to pierce through the sludge monster's core. His fist collided with the monstrous mass, sinking deep into its slimy flesh. The sludge the monster howled in pain and fury, its form convulsing violently.

However, Issei immediately dodged to the left, sidestepping and narrowly dodging a large sludge-formed arm slamming into the ground next to him. Issei took off into the air, however, what he didn't know was that the sludge arm morphed into a tentacle. Relying on instinct, Issei moved his head to the left and narrowly dodged the tentacle.

However, the tentacle stopped and turned to him mid-flight... Issei used penetrate to crush the tentacle in front of him. Watching the flesh monster beneath him, Issei had an even greater plan. Enhancing himself, Issei covered himself in all his aura. Combined with his boosted gear's power, Issei began enhancing himself to the highest degree he could possibly go. Gritting his teeth, Issei dove straight toward the sludge monster.

That was when his flurry of attacks began. Issei unleashed a relentless barrage of strikes upon the sludge monster, his enhanced strength and speed allowing him to deliver powerful blows with each attack. His fists and kicks landed with precision, shattering chunks of the creature's flesh and causing it to writhe in pain. Penetrate was being used in all his attacks, now he was feeling the toll of his overuse of the attack, slowly shaking his bones, but the adrenaline was overtaking that feeling quickly.

As Issei continued his assault, he noticed that the sludge monster's movements were becoming sluggish. 'Ddraig, support me, remove the placement of the armor from unnecessary places and place them towards the places being used right now. Enhance them to the max, I can see the end.'

Ddraig did just that, Issei began feeling his armor lose some plates, but those plates were quickly placed onto his fists, elbow, knee, and shins. This allowed for his attacks to deliver even more of an impactful force onto the sludge. It seemed that his attacks were taking a toll on the creature, weakening its defenses and leaving it vulnerable to further damage.

With a surge of determination of seeing the end, Issei continued staying at the same level, not faltering at all. His aura stayed stagnant, crackling with the same energy as he channeled it into his attacks. Each strike became more potent, carrying the force of his enhanced abilities and the amplification of his boosted gear.

How many attacks had it been? Hundreds? He lost count after hearing the screams of pain from the monster. The sludge monster struggled to counter Issei's onslaught; its amorphous form unable to defend against the sheer force behind his strikes. The speed that Issei was moving at was too much for the large body. With each hit, chunks of its body disintegrated, dissolving into the ground.

However, what felt so weird was when Issei landed his final blow, when he reeled his hand back the furthest and twisted his hips as fast as he could, the monster shattered into pieces of flesh on the ground. That didn't seem right. No... He was breaking apart into pieces, that didn't seem right. Issei didn't waste any time, moving straight into the air and looking down, Issei didn't see anything change.

Nothing happened. What was this?

That was when the ground began melting, the sludge began forming once more. The sludge began growing in size. Issei watched as the sludge began expanding outwards, grabbing onto nearby trees, plants, and grass to assimilate into its body. Growing and then... The sludge began shooting hundreds of flesh tentacles straight at Issei, moving at fast speeds, but Issei was able to predict some of the movements. Moving as fast as he could, Issei began circling the monster in front of him, but Issei noticed something weird. The tentacles didn't boomerang back towards him like before, but rather they remained in place. That was when Issei noticed that the tentacles began connecting with each other and began glowing.

They were going to explode right in front of him. Blocking himself from the potential damage of the blast by forming a large barrier around himself, the tentacles began wrapping around him. Burning away at the barrier that he formed, the sludge monster quickly formed a face right on his barrier and spoke, "Soon, the very gods will become one of us."

Blowing up right in front of Issei, the barrier tried its best to withstand the force of the blast. Issei continued boosting the barrier. That was when the barrier shattered from the pressure and the flesh began engulfing Issei. Attaching itself to him, Issei could only feel pain. This was nothing like anything he ever felt before. The sludge began suffocating him, entering his mouth. This was happening so quickly, this thing was growing in power the more it came in contact with anything around.

The flesh began burning Issei from the inside out. What the hell was this thing? The flesh was... it was ripping his flesh out, melting his flesh to become part of his. No, he couldn't die! No, she was still out there. No, he will not die. With his own power, Issei with every ounce of his willpower placed everything into his fist and applied penetrate onto his entire body. Using his aura... Issei shined brightly before exploding all around him. The sludge screamed before disintegrating once more.

Issei watched as he lost all his energy. Landing on one knee and watching as the flesh monster in front of him began reforming. However, before it looked at Issei, the monster continued growing outwards, grabbing onto more of the ground, feasting upon the plants, dirt, trees, and even unfortunate animals that were in the proximity. Not only that but there were even more disembodied body parts of strays that were beneath the rubble, the deepest part of the rubble, that began moving towards the flesh monster.

"Come to me... become one with me."

This thing was dangerous. There was no way that he would be able to handle the monster in front of him in his current state. However, if he left the area, there was no telling how much more powerful this thing would become? This was probably his best chance at defeating him... if any more fallen angels, stray devils, or even regular devils begin getting in contact with this monster, the power of this being will increase to extraordinarily high levels.

"Looks like I'll have to get involved," Ddraig quickly used his power to recover Issei's own power. Quickly, feeling the surge of Ddraig's power entering his body, Issei quickly took off into the air once more. The monster began getting annoyed. That was when the monster began condensing the flesh that it had into a singular point. Issei watched as the sludge began forming into an animal shape. That was when Issei felt the power of the being increasing even further than before.

"This thing won't stop growing." Issei began feeling fear. There was no way that he would be able to handle this alone. "How does something like this exist in the supernatural world."

"I believe that it was sleeping underneath the ground. We woke the monster up from its slumber." The monster continued condensing until it was finally the shape of a deer. Not only that, but there were four white mystical orbs that flowed around it. Issei felt it...

Watching the thing in front of him simply stare at him.

Seeing the thing motionless.

The power that it was emitting was terrifying.

"Ddraig, I need your help."

Issei felt fear, genuine fear for the first time in such a long time. How was he going to win? No matter what he threw at this monster, it would simply regenerate the damage. Was he too weak to actually harm it?

While Issei was fearing for the worse, his partner simply looked at the monster through his partners eyes and started thinking about what they could do. Issei was still an amateur in the world while Ddraig was a master.

"I am what happens when day breaks!" The monster said before standing off against Issei.