Sirzechs Lucifer watched the screen with apparent calm, though his fingers drummed rhythmically on the throne's armrest. Beside him, seated in a relaxed posture but with his eyes fixed on the data flowing in a magic circle, was Ajuka Beelzebub, the Demon King in charge of technology and creator of the Evil Pieces.
"What do you think, Ajuka?" Sirzechs asked without taking his eyes off his sister. "I've never seen Rias move her pieces with such coldness."
Ajuka adjusted his glasses and the data on his screen began to flash red.
"It's fascinating, Sirzechs. I've analyzed thousands of Rating Games, but what we're seeing breaks every statistical pattern. Kiba and Koneko's energy consumption is 40% more efficient than their previous records. They're not 'fighting'; they're executing perfect combat algorithms."
Ajuka pointed to the figure of Issei, who was walking calmly through the central courtyard.
—And everything seems to revolve around that human. His presence acts as a tactical catalyst. Look at Rias's formation; they're not protecting their King, they're clearing a path for him to reach Raiser. It's as if the system of pieces has been rewritten by someone who understands combat better than we do.
In the rest of the hall, chaos was growing. Phoenix Clan supporters shouted in outrage as Raiser's pieces were systematically removed.
"That human must be using some forbidden artifact!" shrieked an elder of the council. "No mortal can coordinate a retinue of demons in that manner!"
"It's not an artifact," Ajuka murmured to himself, with a smile of scientific curiosity. "It's pure experience. That kid moves like a veteran of a thousand battles in the body of a student."
The tension reached its peak when Raiser Phoenix landed in the central courtyard, engulfed in a whirlwind of fire, blocking Issei and Rias's path. The entire Underworld held its breath. The Phoenix's "immortality" was about to be tested by the greatest enigma seen in centuries.
The academy courtyard trembled under the oppressive heat. Raiser landed with a crash, sending up a column of fire that charred the grass around him. His face was disfigured with humiliation; his bloodshot eyes scanned the remnants of his former nobility, which vanished in particles of light across the stage.
"Enough with the tricks!" roared Raiser, spreading his fiery wings. "Rias, I'm going to show you why humans are only good for turning into ash beneath our feet!"
He propelled himself with an explosion, becoming a projectile of living flames. He channeled all his power into his right fist, creating a fiery vortex that promised to reduce the school building to rubble.
"DIE, WORM!" he screamed, launching the impact directly at Issei's face.
Rias was about to shout his name, but she stopped when she saw that Issei didn't even take a defensive stance. With a calm that defied all logic, he simply raised his left hand. Raiser's blow generated a shockwave that shattered nearby windows and kicked up a dense cloud of dust. The Underworld fell into a deathly silence, waiting to see the charred remains of the human.
However, as the smoke cleared, the sight left the spectators breathless. Issei was still there, standing firm, without having retreated a single millimeter. He had stopped Raiser's flaming fist with his bare palm. There were no burns, no pain; only a frozen gaze that seemed to pierce through the Phoenix's soul.
"Is this all, Raiser?" Issei asked. His voice resonated with an authority that momentarily silenced the crackling fire. "You talked so much about your immortality that you forgot the most important thing: a strike without conviction cannot hurt a true warrior."
Raiser stammered, trying to free his hand, but it was as if he were trapped in a steel vice.
"How... how is this possible? My fire is that of a High-Class Devil! You should be dust!"
"Your fire is just noise," Issei declared.
He tightened his grip on Raiser's fist, and the sound of bones giving way echoed through the air. For the first time in the game, a scream of genuine pain erupted from the throat of the Phoenix heir.
«Partner, it is time,» Ddraig's voice boomed, projecting itself outside Issei's body so everyone could hear it. «Give them a reason to tremble.»
A crimson glow began to seep from Issei's pores, and the surrounding air distorted from massive heat—one that made Raiser's fire look like a mere candle. Raiser stumbled back as soon as Issei let go.
"No... it can't be..." he stammered, looking at his fractured hand that was barely beginning to regenerate. "You're just a human! A filthy pawn!"
Issei didn't answer. A dull, deep heartbeat, like that of a colossal heart, thundered across the battlefield. The ground beneath his feet began to glow the color of blood.
"WELSH DRAGON!" Ddraig's voice was a roar that shook the foundations of the dimension.
A burst of light enveloped Issei's left arm. The magical pressure was so devastating that Rias had to cover her face to avoid being swept away. In the royal box, Ajuka Beelzebub stood up as his screens exploded from a power reading that exceeded any known scale.
As the light dissipated, the Boosted Gear appeared for the first time. The metallic red gauntlet, its emerald gem glowing intensely, covered Issei's arm up to the elbow.
"A... Sacred Gear?" Rias whispered in awe. "But that presence... it's not normal."
"BOOST!" the gauntlet bellowed.
Issei's aura doubled instantly, creating a whirlwind of energy that completely extinguished Raiser's flames.
"Listen well, Raiser," Issei said, his voice now carrying a metallic, ancestral echo. "You play at being a god because you can heal your wounds. But I carry the power of the one who was capable of killing gods."
Issei took a step forward, and the sky's timer seemed to stop.
"BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!" The gauntlet repeated the power increase without rest, turning the purple sky into an intense red.
Terrified, Raiser created a massive blast of fire in a desperate attempt to defend himself.
"I don't care what you are! I am a Phoenix! I am immorta—!"
"I already told you, Raiser," Issei interrupted, appearing in front of him in a blur of pure speed, his gauntlet charged with destructive energy. "Immortality is just an excuse for those who don't know that death is looking them right in the eye."
Issei didn't deliver the finishing blow. Instead, he deactivated the pressure for a second, letting Raiser catch his breath. He wanted the Underworld to see the absolute difference between an arrogant heir and a true warrior.
Feeling the pressure diminish, Raiser thought he saw an opportunity. The fear in his eyes transformed into blind fury.
"You got overconfident, you stupid human!" he screamed, regenerating his arm with a burst of flames. "No one survives the true flame of the phoenix!"
Raiser spread his wings and lunged into the attack, firing continuous blasts of fire. Issei moved through the flames with terrifying elegance; he didn't use the Boosted Gear to attack, but to block and deflect blows with minimal movement, as if he were giving a combat lesson.
"BOOST!" the gauntlet echoed.
Every time Raiser threw a punch, Issei met it with his palm, returning the impact with a shockwave that rattled the devil's internal organs.
"Is this all the Phoenix Clan has to offer?" Issei asked as he dodged a descending kick. "Your technique is sloppy. You rely so much on your regeneration that you forgot how to defend yourself."
Raiser was losing his mind. He summoned a fire sword and attacked frantically, but Issei simply caught it with his gauntlet, squeezing his fingers until the magical weapon shattered into sparks of light.
"Curse you! Die! Die!" Raiser launched a point-blank explosion.
Issei didn't even blink. When the smoke cleared, he was still there, unscathed, his gauntlet glowing a vivid green. On the Underworld screens, the audience watched in horror; it wasn't a fight, it was a public humiliation. Ajuka Beelzebub observed how, with every Boost, Issei wasn't just increasing his strength, but seemed to be analyzing the very structure of Raiser's magic to nullify it.
"Rias," Issei said aloud, without looking away from a Raiser who was already beginning to gasp from exhaustion. "Look closely. This is the man you were afraid of. A man who, without his last name and his regeneration, is nothing more than a frightened child."
Issei punched Raiser in the stomach—a sharp blow that didn't send him flying but left him on his knees, vomiting blood that evaporated from its own heat.
"Get up, Raiser," Issei ordered in a cold voice. "You still have plenty of 'immortality' to prove before this is over."
Raiser stood up with a cry of pure madness. His eyes were bloodshot, and his elegance had completely vanished. He realized he wasn't just losing the wedding, but his reputation in front of the entire Underworld.
"You won't humiliate me like this in front of my people!" he shrieked. "If I can't have Rias, I'll reduce you and this place to primordial ashes!"
Raiser began to burn with a bluish-white fire; a temperature so extreme that the academy floor began to liquefy beneath his feet. His wings expanded until they covered almost half the courtyard, and a phoenix of pure fire formed behind him. It was the "Great Phoenix Explosion," a suicidal attack that consumed much of his essence to generate a total blast.
"Issei, watch out!" Rias shouted, feeling the heat burn even from a distance. "That attack will destroy the entire stage!"
Issei didn't flinch. He stood there, watching his opponent's desperation with an almost divine calm.
«Is that all, partner?» Ddraig asked within his mind. «His flame is noisy, but it lacks a soul.»
"Let's finish this, Ddraig," Issei replied.
Issei raised his left arm. The green gem of the Boosted Gear emitted a high-pitched sound, like the roar of an engine at maximum power.
"BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!" The power increases followed in less than a second, so fast that the screens began to show static from the energy interference.
"DIE WITH ME!" Raiser lunged forward, turned into a meteor of white fire.
Aquí tenés la continuación de la traducción, manteniendo el estilo épico y la terminología técnica del Sacred Gear:
"DIE WITH ME!" Raiser lunged forward, transformed into a meteor of white fire.
Issei didn't even clench his fist. He extended the palm of his gauntlet and uttered a single word that seemed to stop time:
"TRANSFER."
Instead of attacking Raiser, Issei transferred a portion of his immense accumulated power directly into his enemy's attack. Not to strengthen it, but to overload it. Raiser's white fire became unstable, shifting to an emerald green color before collapsing in on itself.
In a blink, Issei charged through the fire as if it were water and slammed his hand directly onto the devil's face.
"This is for Rias," he whispered.
"EXPLOSION!" the gauntlet roared.
A crimson shockwave erupted from his hand. There was no fire, only a force of impact so massive that Raiser's phoenix disintegrated instantly. The heir was sent flying, crashing throug
h three school buildings before being embedded into the clock tower, unconscious and with his wings shattered.
The silence that followed was absolute. The clock in the sky stopped.
—Raiser Phoenix, eliminated. The winner is Rias Gremory's entourage—announced Grayfia, her voice betraying, for the first time, a hint of astonishment.
Issei deactivated the gauntlet. A light steam emanated from his left arm as he turned to face Rias, who was looking at him with tears in her eyes.
"I promised you, didn't I?" Issei said with his usual calm smile.