Me? Human? : Chapter 45 : First rule of Fight Club - (Patreon)

NEVER FIGHT A REGENERATOR

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.

Nephilim Institute

–Motohama Kenji–

It was clear that Tobio was just testing him, because the Wolf, Jin was his name, was only attacking him with probing intentions, without ever following through with the assault. Always ready to take a step back after an attack meant that he was not being taken seriously here, and he did not like that, not one bit.

Not because of some misplaced ego or arrogance, but because of the fact that being attacked by people going all out, without being killed, was the best possible method of getting stronger using his power. It was why, when he caught Jin’s paw for the first time, he rotated the wolf violently before throwing it towards Tobio with full power.

Jin’s entire body morphed mid air, claws of shadow appearing beneath him and stabbing into the ground to halt his momentum, but he had thrown Jin with such force that even then, Tobio had to move out of the way and let Jin pass him to slow down.

After Jin disappeared and appeared from out of Tobio’s shadow, Tobio finally looked at him with a raised eyebrow, the first change in his expression ever since he started duking it out with Jin. The Sacred Gear Manifestation was highly capable when it came to close combat, what with the ability to manifest sharp projectiles from every single part of its body, along with the ability to be completely malleable.

Shapeshifting to change the angle and makeup of its arms, limbs, claws, and even the entire body was one hell of an advantage when it came to a close quarters fight.

“I think that’s enough of a warm up, don’t you think?” He intentionally goaded Tobio into the fight because he knew that Jin was only one part of the overall equation. He could tell from the way Jin fought. The Sacred Gear manifestation was not used to fighting alone, and was always on the lookout, as if looking to back up someone.

Or, atleast so he hoped. He had no idea if it was true or not, especially since his only significant combat experience was with two Cadre level Fallen Angels, who have both had centuries of combat experience.

Tobio exchanged glances with Lavinia before looking back at him, Jin having shrunken and standing shoulder height next to him, and he could just tell that this was their preferred fighting form. He grinned, getting into a relaxed combat position, his Light Armour covering his face, still not summoning his Spear but ready to do so at a moment's notice. That Spear was seriously busted, and so far, he hadn’t felt any need to summon the Spear in the face of Jin alone. Maybe now with both of them coming at him together, he might need to–

He blinked, a searing sensation spreading across his face as he instantly jumped back, having to use his Light Armour because suddenly, he was standing in a veritable minefield of shadow portals, with dozens of sharp objects sticking out, just waiting for him to step on them. He had no idea how or what cut his face, but thankfully, his innate durability meant it hadn’t managed to go too deep, barely drawing blood as his gaze tracked the explosion of Shadow portals all over the floor.

Who knows where that portal might lead, or if there was some sort of Shadow Realm that would keep him trapped for eternity, if the user so wished. 

He felt the cut on his face heal itself, as he landed on the ceiling, the Spear seamlessly forming in his right hand as he stabbed it into the ceiling right next to him, dispelling the shadow portal that was about to form.

His gaze was on a swivel as he tried to predict where the next attacks would come from. Both Jin and Tobio were nowhere to be seen, likely inside the Shadow portals. So, the next move would be based on who could–

His hand shot out as the the Spear shot out once more, stabbing into a forming Shadow portal that dispelled once more, all the while he spread out his senses to get a read on Tobio or Jin, but it would seem that the shadows acted as excellent hiding spots as well, so with a sigh, he jumped towards the ground, his Spear stabbing into the ground, dispelling the portals on impact before he jumped forward, doing the same to every portal in sight.

Meanwhile, he hadn’t forgotten to keep an eye on Lavinia as well, because while she did not feel as dangerous as Tobio, there must be a reason she was here. Azazel must have placed her here for a reason. She probably had an OP Sacred Gear as well.

Hopefully, Tobio did not have a power-up mode. While it would inevitably serve to increase his strength, for now, he would like to fight Tobio in close quarters, as he hadn’t yet fought multiple opponents with seamless coordination between them. With Tobio and Jin being bonded right at the soul, he supposed that he wouldn't get much better coordination from anyone else.

It happened when he was on his third sweep of the floor to take out the shadow portals, an activity that had become increasingly boring and tedious. He had stabbed his Spear in the ground, almost lazily, just expecting to do the deed and move on to the next, only for a scythe of all things to emerge from below him, headed straight for his crown jewels.

The blade, despite being completely dark, gleamed with its sharp edge as he jumped with all his midget, cratering the flooring and hitting the ceiling, only to jump away immediately as the scythe followed suit.

He only managed to clash with the scythe using his spear on the fourth attempt on his life by Tobio, which released a wave of light that seemed to pull Tobio from the shadow realm or whatever was on the other end of that shadow portal, dispelling the portal once more.

Only now, he had to deal with twin scythes to the face. Well, only one to the face, and the other seemed to inch alarmingly close to his prized jewels, a fact that he did not like, even if he was armoured from head to toe in his Light Armour. It was just not proper decorum for a spar. In an all out fight? He would respect it even, just to win at all costs, but they were not fighting to the death!

As he deflected the scythes once more and jumped back, his hand automatically shooting out to stab his fingers into the shadow portal that was forming on his back, he shouted, “Where’s Jin?”

Tobio just smiled at that, and it was not a good smile. He mechanically looked down at the sound of growling as Jin came jumping out of a portal on the floor and jumped straight for him, the wolf changing shape entirely to form one giant spear, aimed to stab him.

With a grin, his Light Armor seemed to explode with Light, lighting up everything around him, dispelling the three shadow portals that were about to form next to him, likely to capitalise on the distraction that Jin created with his unique shape and speed. 

The area was bathed in his Light as he, instead of dodging, just shot straight down, hitting Jin with the flat end of his spear, just in case stabbing Jin did some damage to Tobio as well, landing on the ground before jumping back once more, this time headed for Tobio, who looked prepared for his approach.

His Light Armour continued to glow, something that seemed to work, as Tobio had to use some kind of magic on his eyes to see properly. Even then, he seemed to be running on instinct, as he used his spear to fight Tobio’s scythes.

The scythes that were no longer covered in total darkness, but even so, they were durable enough to take multiple blows from his Spear empowered form without breaking. Tobio, on the other hand, seemed to be a human with only above average physical stats, but was using reinforcement magic to compensate.

Alas, reinforcement magic could only do so much as he morphed the Spear into twin knives, which then morphed into Kunai, all in the middle of the battle, as he fought Tobio with two weapons. The Spear was too short and was leaving him to defend using his armour against the next Scythe attack.

Tobio was exceptionally skilled with his weapon of choice, as he was able to immediately capitalise on his opponent’s unfamiliarity with the kunai. He would freely admit that it was a bad move to change his weapon in the middle of a battle with an extremely skilled foe. He was also appropriately punished for it, by Jin coming back in full force and fighting alongside his master? Friend? Partner? Whatever their relationship was.

Only then was he made aware of the terror that was the combination of Tobio and Jin. Whenever Tobio overextended with his scythes and he had trapped one of the scythes using his Kunai by manipulating the shape of the Kunai by assimilating the scythe into it, Jin was right there to bat away at the scythe or attack him so he was forced to retreat. 

Jin’s presence allowed Tobio to fight without having to worry about guarding his flank. Even with their combined prowess, he was able to knock both of Tobio’s scythes away from him, only for Jin to retrieve them immediately, forcing him to stash one of the scythes into his Light Armour.

Then, he was made aware of just how big a folly it was, as Tobio controlled the scythes remotely and had it not been for both his innate durability and his ability to sense magic on a very small scale, he would have been stabbed from inside his Light Armour, which was otherwise impenetrable to both Tobio and Jin.

In the end, he had no feasible way of taking the scythes away from Tobio, not when he was faced with the combined assault from Tobio and Jin. The scythes were some kind of magical weapons that could be controlled remotely, and Jin could retrieve them at a moment’s notice, no matter how far he threw them away.

Holding onto both of them was not possible now, especially since he had turned off the Light Blast mode in his armour, and had to keep fighting Tobio, who was handed an unlimited supply of scythes courtesy of Jin and his shadow manipulation.

Sure, the pure shadow scythes broke upon impact with his Light constructs, but they kept on coming.

___xx__

Just like that, they continued fighting, with Tobio and Jin only growing more intense as the fight dragged on, though the fight was slowly but clearly shifting in his favour. It wasn’t even damage based adaptation, but some kind of combat sense that he seemed to have picked up somewhere in the middle of his battles with two Cadre.

He wasn’t even tired yet, as he pushed forth with all his might, and this time, even the combined might of Jin and Tobio, who together were able to match him in physical strength, was pushed right back.

Shifting the kunai back into the Spear form, he slammed it into the ground, a far bigger explosion of Light with him at the epicenter, pushing both of them away from him. The second it happened, he had jumped towards Tobio, who, to his credit, had already cast the spell that allowed him to see through all this Light.

Alas, in the end, he was still a human and, as such, was no match for the abrupt blow that blasted him into the ground.

He raised an eyebrow at the small patch of black that dissipated soon after, but it had done its job of softening the blow.

“Hai! That’s enough!”

He jumped back instantly, as Lavinia now stood in front of Tobio, who stood up but was hunched over, hand on his torso, as the last blow had clearly damaged him in some form.