User blog comment:B214/Volume 22 spoilers/@comment-50.139.232.230-20160721023809/@comment-9595671-20160721051156

Azazel did worry about this for when Issei finally had his own peerage.

This is Issei's newest hurdle, and learning how to fight as a leader could help him improve greatly. He's been the sword all this time, so now he needs to become the shield.