NOVEL NEXT Chapter 50: Chapter 50
"First thing first, let's begin fighting. I want to see how powerful you truly..." Issei rushed straight at her in his Balance Breaker form and threw a powerful right hook at her.
Elsha was able to block the hit in time with her own Balance Breaker form, but the sheer power behind the blow sent her soaring through the sky as she felt the bones within her arm rattling as the armor protecting her arm shattered upon the impact. Grunting in pain, she was not expecting such a blow... Kneeling onto one knee to keep herself from falling over once she landed, Elsha was breathing heavily from the sheer pain that she felt.
It was just one blow, but the fight was already decided. "I guess I will have to use that."
"I'm guessing you're going to use the juggernaut drive." Elsha widened her eyes in Issei knowing the skill already. "Go ahead! I want to see if you're better than that... What was his name again? The silver-haired dude..."
"Partner, even I forgot his name. Something along the lines of Valorant?"
Elsha instantly transformed into her own Juggernaut Drive form. Turning into a mimic of Ddraig but with armor and far more grotesque in comparison. With her green emeralds shining brightly, she began speaking, "Being a dead soul within this realm allows me to have the ability to go into the juggernaut drive at will. Now, what will you do know that I will now have the upper hand in combat."
She was about as strong, maybe slightly more powerful, than Vali when Issei first fought him in his Juggernaut Drive form. Being unimpressed, when scanning her stats, Issei simply summoned his hammer and threw it straight at Elsha. Moving at speeds that Elsha was not expecting, she was directly hit in the head by the hammer and was sent flying even further than before. Issei, using his pure strength, leaped straight towards Elsha. Zooming straight through the air, Issei grabbed his hammer, which was still soaring with Elsha connected to it, and turned it to slam Elsha straight into the surface. Ending the fight with two actions, Issei walked away as Elsha de-transformed into her base form while being unconscious.
"Ddraig, what was it you were speaking to me about the Juggernaut Drive form?"
Ddraig wasn't expecting this type of demolition to occur. He was expecting for Issei to struggle a little bit, but he simply steam rolled this woman without any hesitation. "The juggernaut drive form... You seem very excited to learn about this form and this is concerning me greatly. I want you to promise me that you will never go into this form."
"I promise."
Ddraig knew that his partner was going to enter the form the moment that he would obtain it... But there was something that was telling Ddraig to not be worried. It was a strange feeling, but Ddraig decided that he would show his partner something first. Teleporting the two to another location, Issei looked around to still see the same white void surrounding him, but there was something behind him. Turning to see many individuals ranging from the youth to the very old, all looking soulless as they continued staring into the ground and emitting a dark-blackish aura that surrounded them.
"Partner... Do you know what happened to all of these individuals? They all had suffered through the curse of the Juggernaut Drive."
"It's a curse?"
Ddraig nodded before continuing, "The form will appear during your worst time. When you are at your darkest moment in life, the curse will begin taking its effect and pushing you until you lose control and snap. When you do snap, you will begin a chant that will block me out of communicating with you."
Issei continued listening before asking the question, "What does this curse do? Does it kill me after using it? If so, then how did Vali survive after I rocked his shit?"
"I have no idea. But the form slowly begins draining your life force rendering you to continue slowly losing your life within the form, but the worst part is that since you lost control over your mind, you don't have anything to stop yourself from reverting back to your normal form."
"How do I enter this form?"
"Didn't I already tell you... you must be at your darkest moment to unlock this form."
With this knowledge... Issei quickly heard a ding notification.
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New form has been unlocked: Juggernaut Drive
Details: This form will give a flat +100 STR and END on top of the number of boosts obtained. Not only that, but the form will give an additional +20 level.
Costs: This form will drain all MP in two minute as the mana you have will create a mental barrier before you begin losing your health. After the MP has been drained, the form will begin to drain HP at a rate of 25% per minute.
Drawbacks: This form, once your MP drains completely, will begin causing your mind to slowly deteriorate to the point where you will be a mindless beast once a threshold has been passed on your HP.
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Smirking deviously, he would love to use this form even when he would lose all his MP costs. Now, would he be able to fight against Artemis without getting clapped.
"They were unfortunate enough to suffer the Juggernaut Drive curse. Each one of these fellow warriors have died to the hands of the curse."
Issei noticed a smaller individual, someone who couldn't have been older than 7, sitting down in front of the rest of the individuals. Walking towards the kid, Issei inspected him closely. "I'm guessing they will remain as if everything around them is non-existent."
"They haven't moved a single inch ever since their souls have been brought here by the juggernaut drive."
Issei continued looking at the soulless individuals and could only look somberly at the life in their eyes being devoid of meaning. They continued staring down at the ground while Issei turned around and walked away. "Ddraig, let's teleport back to the blonde-haired woman."
"Her name is Elsha and yes, let's go. This place is just gloomy."
With that, the two teleported away and Issei noticed Elsha finally up and staring at the two. "Perfect timing, you just woke up."
"You clearly don't know how to handle a pretty lady in combat." Elsha pouted while dusting off her dress.
Issei blankly stared at her before responding bluntly, "In a fight it's hit or be hit."
"I ought to teach you some manners, young man. Wait, you're still not even an adult yet." Elsha smirked mischievously before continuing, "You're just a little wittle boy."
Issei chuckled slightly after hearing that. Being teased like this was something that he enjoyed... The teasing he would receive was far more brutal than this. Elsha smiled on seeing the muscular giant laughing, it definitely did lighten up the mood. Being around Artemis and knowing that she was there for him made Issei a little more relaxed with strangers speaking with him. "You're not going to let me go with that are you..."
"Nope, you're just a little boy to me." Elsha giggled before walking towards Issei. "Since you're still here, how about we get to know each other more? I don't mind watching over you during your time in the real world. You seem like someone who will be entertaining for both me and Ddraig."
"Sure." Shrugging his shoulders, Issei didn't mind speaking with someone else. Ddraig watched the two with a small smile seeing two hosts interacting. This hadn't happened since Elsha met his previous strongest host.
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Reputation with Elsha increased dramatically:
Elsha --> Sees you as someone strong willed and interesting to watch.
Artemis --> She is possessive over you and sees everything that you do to defy her as a game. She isn't afraid of using force to make you do what she wants as she thinks that what she does is for the best. You are her lover and one of the only people that she can open up to.
Rias --> She sees you as someone to admire more than her brother and is currently training to become a powerful asset to you and your future endeavors.
Sona --> She sees you as someone competent and someone that she can trust thanks to your achievements and saving the city.
Akeno --> She sees you as someone hot and admirable. She wants to learn many things from you.
Kiba --> Sees you as a friend to hang out with.
Koneko --> Still sees you as a pervert, but someone that she can still trust when it comes down to everything else besides woman talk.
Gasper --> He is fucking afraid of you ever since the first time you interacted with him.
Ddraig --> Sees you as a chill partner and enjoys his time speaking with you and watching you grow even if his tone contradicts this.
Sirzechs --> Wants to see you as a brother and still wants to have his rematch in smash bros.
Grayfia --> She sees you as a little boy that does a bunch of things to create problems and wants to support you like a big sister figure.
Venelana --> She is motherly towards you. For some reason, she can't help but be reminded of Sirzechs when he was a child when seeing you.
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Seeing all the opinions that everyone had for him... Well, everyone that Issei knew the name of and interacts with, Issei was right with his concern with his relationship with Artemis. Maybe he should decrease the reputation that he had with Artemins, but he still didn't want to lose all that he grinded for... He needed to decide. If there was another quest that directly asked for helping Artemis, if it wasn't something insane, he would try to ignore it to prevent any further development with Artemis's love for him.