High School DxD Light Novel - DX.4 (Volume 23.5)

[Joeemm]

Ise's demonic power is still very low, so low that he can't even fly with his demonic wings. Each time he had to fly, he entered Scale Mail mode to fly. After he was dragonified (got his new body from Great Red with Ophis help) he was able to fly using his dragon wings. Even Ise's dragon shots come mostly from being a dragon. When using his demonic powers to create dragon shots, the most I've read he being able to perform is two shots before he runs out. So while he has more than Sairorg, his demonic power is still low. He can't even use his demonic wings to fly like I stated earlier.

[Lucidrago]

But yet Sairaorg can fly using his devil wings.

[DragonOsman]

Yeah. The reason he can't fly with his Devil wings has nothing to do with the amount of Demonic Power he has. The reason is that he isn't compatible with his Devil wings. His compatibility with his Dragon wings is greater. [But even then, Ddraig has take care of the flying]

@Lucidrago: Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan's "Eiyuutan" part is not supposed to be translated as "Cavalry". That's a mistranslation. It's supposed to be "Chivalry".

I know there's nothing wrong with being a Low-class Devil, but I also know that Ise's Pawn Pieces mutated. And we also don't know how much a difference it makes in how much Demonic Power you have if you train, if any at all. But like I said before, it could also require the person to actually try to increase his/her Demonic Power, and since Sairaorg probably doesn't care, he doesn't try to increase his.

And speaking of Rakudai. No one in DxD ever said that a Devil can't increase his/her Demonic Power like how it was said in Rakudai that Blazers (normally) can't increase their mana capacity (unless they undergo Brute Soul and become Desperado). That's why, in DxD's case, it's not really known whether or not one's amount of Demonic Power is fixed from birth.

[Lucidrago]

Again Issei even said in Volume 5 he had low amounts of demonic powers while fighting Saji.

We had better prepare ourselves. Should I use my Sacred Gear normally? Or should I use Balance Breaker? I wavered between them, but I still didn’t know what kinds of abilities the opponents’ had.

My strong point was—my simple physical strength that I prided myself on. I barely had any magic. Even if I increased my magic power with my Sacred Gear, I would quickly run out of gas…Even if I had strong power, if I mistakenly used it, I would instantly lose!

…I was always in a dangerous situation. I had to bear at least that in mind.

I saw Saji point his hand at me and trying to fire a magic bullet at me! He intended to deliver the finishing blow right away! I quickly got up and rolled over to the side!

Don!

A big hole was made in the floor from the magic blast he fired! What power! It was completely a finishing blow move! It’s dangerous! I was going to exit the stage before I activated Balance Breaker. I wouldn’t be able to say anything about what happened to Gasper then!

“…Not bad, Saji.”

“Hyoudou. I’m serious. I'm going to seriously defeat you, the Sekiryuutei.”

—. Saji’s eyes were filled with resolution. I could tell that his seriousness was tremendous.

Then, Saji raised his hand and tried to fire another magic blast.

Don!

He fired another high-volume mass of magic! The size of it wasn’t considerable, though. Mostly like, he was following the rule that said that not to damage the building as much as possible.

But, the attack was powerful enough to take down an opponent like me!

I dodged, and the store I was standing at before was destroyed by the blast of magic.

However, how did Saji create such an attack? I had heard that he had low magic like me. Yet, how was he able to release such power?

At that moment, I opened my eyes widely. Because Saji’s Sacred Gear had its line connected to his chest— to his heart.

—The source of Saji’s continuous attacks was his life-force!?

“Saji! You! Are you converting your own life-force…into magic power!?”

“That’s right. With my low magic, this is the only way for me to shoot powerful attacks. I convert my life-force into magic power using my Sacred Gear’s ability. It’s just as you see. I’m [risking my life], as it were.”

Both of those quotes cone from Volume 5 Life 4. The first one is while Issei and Koneko are on their way approaching Saji and Nimura. He's thinking about who the opponents were that they would be facing. The second quote is during his battle against Saji.

I don't believe it's possible to increase demonic powers if you train. Issei has the Boosted Gear, which doubles power including demonic power. Saji converted his life force into demonic powers using his Sacred Gear to connect a line to his heart. The only other means I've seen of increasing demonic powers is the king piece and Ophis' snake. I just think that Issei gained more control of his demonic powers but his base is still low-class. Any devil can teleport using a magic circle. Now with Rias and Akeno, their powers were enhanced by sucking the dragon aura out of Issei's finger. Besides that I believe there is no way to increase demonic powers.

[Bennia Lover]

Issei's demonic power isn't great offensively, but it is defensively. His demonic power will never be like Sirzechs', Vali's, or Ajuka's offensive wise, but it is high enough to create a seemingly impossible technique like breast language. His demonic power is great for defence not offence.

[DragonOsman]

@Lucidrago: That's Volume 5, though. It's before the power from all eight of his Pawn Pieces was liberated, if I'm not mistaken. You're probably right about Demonic Power being able to be raised, but at least if I'm right, his Demonic Power at that time wasn't what it was after his Pieces' power was released. And now his Pieces have mutated. I know all Devils can travel through a magic circle, so you don't need to keep repeating that. I'm just saying that it's possible that his Demonic Power went up at least a bit when his Pieces mutated. Reincarnating stronger beings requires Mutation Pieces, and all eight of Ise's Pawn Pieces are Mutation Pieces (not confirmed yet, but it's likely).

Edit: One post late.
@Bennia Lover: Eh? Dress Break is offensive, though, isn't it? Pailingual may be a passive ability that isn't offensive, but I wouldn't necessarily call it defensive, either. The ability to talk to breasts isn't defensive, after all.

[Bennia Lover]

Yes it is. An ability to learn your opponents next move is defensive because it prepares you to defend yourself or others.

[Joeemm]

The mutation of Ise's pieces weren't brought about by demonic power but by the 'evolution' of the sacred gear he has. Remember, the first mutation was brought about by the incomplete Juggernaught Drive but because of the incomplete nature of it, something got messed up and Azuka had to fix it. Ise has been undergoing abnormal growth through his sacred gear and the last change was most definitely brought on by Dragon Deification. Even Azuka pointed that out. Anyways, the author hasn't laid out a clear cut method of how the demonic powers come about especially for reincarnated devils; what factors affect them and what doesn't so all we can do is speculate. But we're getting a bit off topic there I think.

[Bennia Lover]

I'm wondering if Elmenhilde can fly by herself or she fly's in this volume thanks to Issei's blood. Most likely she can fly by herself.

[DragonOsman]

@Joeemm: Please don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to say that his Pieces mutated because of his Demonic Power increasing. I'm proposing the opposite (Mutation causing power to increase). But one thing, though: Ise's Pieces mutated after Ajuka's adjustments, not as a direct result of Juggernaut Drive. Juggernaut Drive messed up the code in Ise's Pieces' program, and that was hurting Ise. Ajuka had to make those adjustments to allow the Pieces' traits to mix with the power of the Sekiryuutei. That's why the four Pieces mutated in the way that they did. They carry different values, so that each one represents one type of Piece that a Pawn can turn into using Promotion. Ajuka's adjustments made it so that the Evil Pieces could adjust to the power of the Sekiryuutei, and that allowed the original power of the Sekiryuutei that was released with the Triaina and True Queen to possess the characteristics and traits of the Pawn Piece. Ajuka said that he didn't know what the results of his adjustments would be, though, meaning it wasn't intentional on his part. He just wanted to leave "something" in there as a gift to Ise while fixing the code that the Juggernaut Drive messed up, but even he didn't know what that "something" would end up being.

As for how reincarnated Devils get Demonic Power, isn't it through their Evil Pieces? We already know that. They get power from the Evil Pieces used to reincarnate them. And yes, it's just speculation on my part that Ise's power may have risen from his Pieces mutating. But I feel that it's a reasonable thought, though I don't think it rose that much. Probably rose to somewhere between Low- to Mid-class or somewhere around there.

Ise was able to use Dress Break and Pailingual when he'd just gotten back after his body was remade and he hasn't asked Rias to give him his Pieces back yet, but I think that that was an author mistake. Ishibumi probably just forgot. Either that or Ise's Evil Pieces are unique to him in that they are now linked to his soul. Ajuka did say that they can no longer be used on anyone except Ise. He said it like it's something that's never happened before, from how I read it. But, even when they're linked to his soul, they apparently still need to be inside him for him to be reincarnated into a Devil. So it could still be that Ishibumi messed up (though his Pieces could still be linked to his soul).

About Elmenhilde: Yes, I think she can fly on her own.

Edit: To add to what I said before about the adjustments to Ise's Evil Pieces: Ajuka's main intention was to allow the Pieces to be able to handle Ise's erratic growth, as well as the power of Sekiryuutei. That's why he made the adjustments. I forgot to mention that earlier.

[Lucidrago]

@Bennia We're talking about the amount of Issei's base demonic powers not the techniques he created due to his perverted nature. Defensively? Sirzechs, Ajuka, and Vali can easily use defensive magic circles to defend them from attacks. Dress Break and Palingual are just countermeasures against females. You're comparing Issei who has low demonic powers to three devils who have the most demonic powers out of all the devils today. It's not about Issei's demonic powers being defensive-based because look at Dragon Shot and all its variants. It's just about Issei's low-class demonic powers. Issei creating those techniques is due to his extremely perverted nature not because of his demonic powers being based on defense. Look at Ajuka's Kankara Formula and Rizevim's Sacred Gear Canceller. Those would be considered impossible techniques right? Issei being a pervert has no bearing on his amount of demonic powers.

And the Boosted Gear allows Issei to increase his demonic powers due to Boost. And Issei bding in Balance Breaker state increases his stats including his demonic powers when he's wearing the armor. When Issei's not in Balance.Breaker, he has to Boost for quite a while before he has enough demonic power to use Dress Break or Palingual. When in Balance Breaker state, he has enough demonic power to use it. And Dragon Shot, Dragon Blaster, Crimson Blaster, and Infinity Blaster are his demonic powers infused with Ddraig's aura. And are you saying those aren't great offensively. It's not about Issei's demonic powers being suited for offense or defense, it's just that Issei's base demonic powers are low.

[Bennia Lover]

@Lucidrago He created breast language because he is perverted yes, but just because he didn't intend it to be defensive, does not mean it is not. It's a case of 'something created for an unintended purpose'.

[Lucidrago]

Not saying it isn't but Dress Break and Palingual have no bear o ng on thd fact that Issei's base demonic powers are low. So how does Dress Break and Palingual THEMSELVES defend you against attacks? Do the abilities themselves block attacks? If a female outsmarts Palingual and attacks him then how well can Palingual defend against the attack. I understand what you're saying about how it allows you to defend against an attack by reading a girl's breasts. But allowing someone to defend against an attack and defending against an attack are two different things.

[DragonOsman]

He isn't saying that Dress Break is defensive. He never even mentioned Dress Break in that context.

@Bennia Lover: I'm with Lucidrago on the point of Pailingual. It allows Ise to know what a girl is thinking, but if the girl in question manages to outsmart it, Pailingual won't defend him from the next attack(s). Hence, it's not a defensive technique.

Also, yes, again, look at Dragon Shot. That's an attack that uses Demonic Power, and it's offensive. And while it's perverted, Dress Break, too, is offensive. That makes two offensive Demonic Power moves and one passive one (Pailingual is passive, not defensive).

Ise's amount of Demonic Power is what's being talked about here. And there's also nothing to explicitly tell us what the nature of his Demonic Power is, but I'd be wiling to venture a guess and say it's offensive rather than defensive.

[Bennia Lover]

@Dragon Someone bypassing a defence does not mean that defence is no longer a defence. Also, a passive ability is an ability that's always active and activates automatically. Breast Language is therefore not a passive ability.

[Joeemm]

Leaving the long debate aside of Ise's base demonic power, do you think we'll get to see Elmenhilde become a permanent member of Ise's team? I know she's on "observation" status but in the spoilers she participated in that match. What do you guys think? Or was she just on a test run?

[Bennia Lover]

I think yes she will. Her power to absorb abilities or powers through drinking blood is useful. She can drink the blood of her opponent and gain one of their powers. She doesn't even need to bite them, just one drop of blood spilled onto her will be enough.

[DragonOsman]

How she get their blood without biting them? Unless her teammates can somehow get a vial of the blood for her, she'll have to bite the target to get the blood. But yeah, her ability is definitely useful and since she did participate in that battle according to the spoilers, there's a chance she's already on the team officially by then.

About Pailingual, @Bennia Lover: It's not a defensive move because it doesn't defend against attacks in its own; it only lets Ise know what the girl whose breasts' voice he's listening to will do next and then it's up to him how he'll act to avoid the attack or defend himself. How he defends himself or whatever else he does in response to the knowledge is completely up to him. If Pailingual were really a defensive move, it'd protect him from attacks on its own because that's what defensive moves do. But it's not like that at all. I hope you see now how flawed your argument is.

[Bennia Lover]

Elmenhilde can get opponents blood off let's say, Issei's clothing if they spit blood onto them but that would be rare.

[CCPDarkraiRules]

n0m@n posted this awhile back:

Team Ise:
King - Ise
Queen - Grayfia
Rook 1 - Rossweisse (depending on situation she's a Bishop)
Rook 2 - No official member
Knight 1 - Xenovia
Knight 2 - Irina
Bishop 1 - Asia
Bishop 2 - Ravel (depending on situation a pawn)
Pawn (3 piece) - Bova (depending on situation a Rook. He was a Rook during the match against Dulio)
Pawn (5 Piece) - Nakiri Ouryuu (depending on situation a Rook)
---------------------
Benchwarmer - Elmenhilde (worth 2 Pawn Pieces. Participated in the match against Dulio)
??? - Roygun Belphegor

So I think Elmenhilde is a part of Ise's team. Also I think if you have free pieces in the tournament you can swap people around as an example for Ise's match against Dulio Bova who is registered as a Pawn was a Rook for it as showed above.