The Maniac of DxD (Highschool dxd insert/ semi-crack): Chapter 16

The children of this school are talented, I’ll give them that at least.

I avoided the strike of the wooden sword aimed at my head and struck back with a palm strike to the girl’s abdomen, making her spit out saliva and stomach fluids before she flew for a few feet.

I did not get to observe the girl for any serious damage before another sword headed straight for my forearm, the force that I could sense her muscles exert would probably cripple a normal man.

These girls are coming with the intent to kill, I can respect that.

I could have used Touki to take that attack easily, but what would be the point of using my powers against a bunch of normal, albeit talented, humans?

There would be no fun in such a fight, not one bit.

So, I took the attack with my body without any reinforcement.

…..Maybe I should back down on my battle lust a little bit?

…Nah! There is no fun in doing something like that. Sanity is overrated anyway.

I used the momentary pause in her movement and delivered a punch straight to her temples, knocking the girl straight out.

Now, there is only one opponent.

The last girl held her wooden sword in a simple stance, but I could tell that she was afraid, watching the pile of over a dozen girls lying motionless around us.

At the beginning of the fight, the girls had wanted to follow the rules of Kendo and duel me one after another, which was already hypocritical since I am a single opponent and they are over a dozen in number.

But, after the fight began, I ignored all the rules and straight up knocked out one of the girls, telling them that they should come at me all at once to win.

I don’t know if it was their pride that took the hit or maybe they understood the truth after the first fight, but they heeded my words. They even brought a few reinforcements in the form of two second-year students from their club.

What followed was a free-for-all where I was attacked simultaneously by the dozen girls who completely ignored the rules of Kento and came at me with the intent to win.

Just how I like it!!

Now, the fight is nearing its conclusion and the last girl standing is afraid to even approach me.

However, it is not just fear that I can sense from her. I also sense a strange mix of respect and determination.

How interesting.

Seems like this girl now views not as some pervert or bully, but as a fellow warrior.

It won’t do if I don’t return such a gesture.

I took a proper stance and picked up one of the fallen sword, holding it like how I would hold my mace while looking at the girl and giving a short nod.

The girl’s fear was suppressed by her determination as she took a deep breath and took a proper stance before rushing me.

Tragically, despite her determination and talent, she had no practical experience in fights to the death, so she could not keep up with me for long.

My fighting style, the Gadayuddha, is an ancient Indian martial arts focused around a type of mace known as the Gada.

It focuses on overwhelming force and aggressive attacks, targeting the weak points of the enemy and aimed at destroying the opponent as quickly as possible.

In contrast, Kendo is more focused on fast and precise strikes. While designed primarily for sportsmanship, its true roots which lie in the samurai arts of old, also hold the same principles. To defeat the enemy with fast and precise strikes targeting the important organs of the opponent.

In theory, both our arts are similar, but in practice, things could not be more different.

My savage but precise strikes forced the girl back continuously while she tried to find an opening to strike. But I kept my guard up and always made sure to leave no gaps for her to exploit, such is the way of Gadayuddha, to decimate the enemy with overwhelming force.

As expected, my strikes proved to be too much for her after some time. With the final strike, my sword broke into two, unable to keep up with my force, while the girl’s hands shook and the sword fell from her numb hands, making her slump on the ground in defeat.

I let go of my stance and extended a hand to the girl who looked up at me with respect and fear, the look of a fellow warrior.

“I believe we have not had the chance to exchange names, I am Izayoi Ren, a first-year student.”

“…Reya Kusaka. First-year student.”

Kusaka? That name sounds familiar. Where have I heard that-Oh!?

“Wait, are you related to Yuki Kusaka by any chance?”

The girl’s surprise showed that I was spot on.

How can there be such a coincidence?

“Yes, she was my grandmother.”

“Haha! Now it makes sense why you are so good. So, how is that old bat doing nowadays!?”

I really am interested in knowing what that hag has been up to these days.

Back when I was a kid, fresh from my escape from the Himejima compound, I had run into Yuki Kusaka by chance.

As far as power is concerned, she was barely average, with nothing much to write home about in the magical arts. But where she excelled is her cunning and insidious personality.

Seriously, If someone told me that Yuki Kusaka is a devil in disguise, I would believe it in a heartbeat.

The sudden gloom on the girl, Reya Kusaka’s face, gave me a bad premonition which was proven right immediately.

“She passed away in her sleep last year.”

…So, even that old bat ended up dying huh!?

But, that’s just how life is, isn’t it?

You are born, you live your life to the fullest, and then you die. Such is the nature of the universe.

I closed my eyes for a bit and sent a Shinto prayer in the old woman’s name before gazing at the sad girl on the ground.

“..My condolences. She was a pretty good woman in the short time that I knew her.”

“…Thank you. Izayoi-san.”

The girl smiled wryly and took my extended hand, getting up on her feet.

She looked around for a bit before looking at me strangely.

“You are really strong, Izayoi-san. But, I think you should leave now. The student council won’t be pleased with this sudden influx of students in the infirmary. I’ll see if I can’t explain things in a way not to implicate you in the aftermath.”

I raised an eyebrow at her words to which she once again smiled wryly.

“If you knew my grandmother, you couldn’t be a bad person. That, and I see a fellow warrior in the way you fight. Think of this as a favor that you’ll return at a later date.”

“So, a debt then? Very well. I accept.”

We shook hands to solidify the deal, after which I left the clubhouse, and headed straight home.

Since I had stopped the live stream right before the fight began, I’ll have to look at what kind of comments my followers made in the meantime.

Why did I not stream the fight? Because I am concerned about the safety of these girls.

A large number of my followers are Devils. And knowing their kind, the moment they find these girls to be even slightly talented or too beautiful, they will go to any lengths to secure them as members of their peerage.

They will not even hesitate to destroy the lives of these girls for their own benefit if they find them too attractive.

Again, I am insane, but I am not stupid.

I don’t care what the other races do with each other, they can even kill each other into extinction for all I care. And I don’t particularly care about the humans either.

But, needless cruelty is something that I don’t like to see.

I know that cruelty is a necessary element of every civilization. How else are people supposed to extract information from their captives? But when this cruelty is turned on those not deserving of such a thing, that is where I draw the line.

Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts and thinking about something more fun, like thinking about where to go for the weekend and which kind of prey to steal from this time, I indulged myself in those happy thoughts as I headed towards the gate.

Of course, things could not be that easy for me as I found someone waiting for me at the gate.

Her tender gaze made me pause as her smile involuntarily made me avoid her gaze with a strange guilt that I could not understand.

“You really took your time, Ren. I’ve been waiting a long time for you.”

“..Hello, Akeno. Why are you waiting for me?”

“Isn’t it obvious silly Ren? To go home with you.”

“…Alright.”

I allowed the girl to hold my arm as we walked out of the school, heading towards the house that I bought for myself in this town.