When I was a kid, I had been lonely.
The only friend I had had was an orange haired kid that I could trust beyond words. We were inseparable. We played together whenever we could. We would watch anime whenever we could. We did everything together because we could only believe in the other.
That was the extent of our friendship and trust.
One day, he had to move away. His father worked in the higher ranks of the church and was required to move to Europe if he wanted to keep his job. I was devastated at first, but I realised that all good things must come to an end. I was sad, he was sad, and we both knew it. We promised each other that we'd meet when we were older and return to our previous lives.
He left me and I was alone again.
I was the lonely kid at school. I was picked on because I was labelled as a 'pathetic loser' because I sat alone all the time. I didn't mind, though. I was receiving some much needed attention to feed my desperate little mind. I had learnt to deal with it because I had nothing else to do with my time.
I learnt to read people and the conversations that come with them. I learnt to manipulate people because I wanted to get the things I wanted and needed. I wasn't a 'pathetic loser'. I was a 'powerful idiot' that was doing bad things.
I had realised that and had sat on the swings in the park on one winter day, watching as the snowflakes fell without a care in the world. A man had sat next to me that day, his hair long and brown. His eyes were a warm honey brown and his skin was a milky white.
He told me that things would eventually get better if I was a good boy. He told me that if I abandoned all perverted ideals and committed myself to acting like a normal kid, I'd experience wonderful things that would flip my world upside down.
He promised me that if I acted totally normal, I'd be the best person in the world.
Lanky movements. Empty eyes. Broken smile.
A red gauntlet had consumed my left fist and had filled me with an unimaginable strength. I felt as if I had a chance to beat Azazel. I felt as if I had the chance to set things right. I felt as if I had the chance to break the promise I had made with that man.
Azazel had stepped backwards out of something that was akin to fear; he was afraid of what I had become because of his actions that could not be reversed. He had effectively broken my soul into pieces and he didn't leave any room for those pieces to put themselves back together.
That meant there was no room for mercy for the fallen angel. My heart wouldn't allow that to happen. My mind didn't even spare a little bit of my fragile mental capacity to consider the consequences of my future actions.
I'd probably die, but I didn't care about life anymore.
I began to run at Azazel, my feet carrying me as I could not feel my body anymore. The void had consumed all of my feelings and I did not mind. It was nullifying the pain I would be feeling right now. It was supressing my infinite amount of rage. It was supressing my killing intent.
I launched a fist Azazel and watched as he easily dodged it, punching me in the stomach. I was sent flying backwards across the room, but I landed on the floor and slid on my feet. I ran at Azazel again and again, the same thing happening over and over and over and over.
It was an endless loop.
The imaginary pain wasn't stopping me. The fact that Azazel was looking on in pity wasn't stopping me. Nothing was going to stop me because I wasn't going to stop, no matter what.
[Boost!]
I felt power flow through me as an omnipotent voice rang out from the gauntlet. I was faster and stronger now. It still wasn't enough, though. Azazel kept on dodging my attacks and punching me away from him with a frown on his face.
He wasn't even trying.
[Boost!]
The cycle continued.
[Boost!]
It wouldn't stop.
[Boost!]
It would never stop.
[Boost!]
It wouldn't stop because there was no way we could stop it.
[Boost!]
Time had been fractured in this small space.
[Boost!]
When would time be fixed?
[Boost!]
When would this infinite cycle end?
[Boost!]
Why is this happening to me?
[Boost!]
Is it because I'm not normal anymore?
[Boost!]
Is it because Yuuma had died?
[Boost!]
Is it because this wasn't supposed to happen?
[Boost!]
Am I not supposed to exist?
[Boost!]
Is that what the foreign memories are for?
[Boost!]
Am I not supposed to exist?
[Boost!]
The hall was silent as I hit Azazel for the first time.
He flew into the wall on the opposite side of the hall and bounced off of it, hovering in the air. I rushed after him and threw another punch, missing my target as he dodged at the last second, grabbing me by the arm and launching me into the air.
He appeared above me and dropped a leg that was aimed at my stomach. I grabbed the foot and reversed our positions, swinging Azazel around in a circle as fast as I could before I launched him towards the ground.
A giant cloud of dust was kicked up upon impact, obscuring my vision. The hall was silent. No sounds of pain, no footsteps, no wings flapping. Nothing. I crossed my arms and grunted in dissatisfaction. I was hungry for Azazel's blood. I wanted to see him struggle. I wanted him to feel the pain that I would be feeling.
The floor was instantly in front of me and there was nothing I could do.
I felt my nose snap and contort upon the meeting between the bone and the hard ground, sensing the blood that was pouring from my face. My body followed straight after, a few ribs snapping and stabbing at my internal organs as my limbs dislocated themselves from their sockets.
Azazel gracefully landed in front of me. There wasn't a speck of dust on him or a hair out of place.
I grit my teeth, "You're going to die soon, Issei." I struggled to move my body, the pain melting through the void that consumed everything. I bit down on my bottom lip and tasted the blood that was drawn from the wound.
"You're the one that's going to die, Azazel." My voice was quiet and monotone. Azazel chuckled and walked over to where Yuuma's body was peacefully resting, picking her up by the hair. Azazel turned to stare me straight in the eyes.
"You see this? This is the consequence of your actions." He stabbed a spear through Yuuma's heart that demolished her entire chest cavity. What little hope I had of Yuuma still being alive was crushed, and the anger and grief that surged through the everlasting void brought all sensations back to me.
It was almost as if someone had dumped a gallon of freezing cold water on me.
The pain of my broken body forced a scream out of me. It could have been the result of my injuries or Azazel's horrendous murder of an already dead person, but I screamed until I ran out of breath, regardless of the reason. The grief forced me to tear up and sob uncontrollably as I watched Yuuma's body fall to the ground without any grace, crumpling up as blood freely shot from the giant hole in her chest. I slammed a fist down on the hard ground and grit my teeth at the same time, trying to hold back the tears.
"Dammit, Azazel…fuck you…I hate you…I want to kill you…I'm going to kill you…you're going to die!" The room was consumed by a red light as I felt a malicious red armour form around me, supressing my thoughts and emotions as I released a deafening distorted roar that shook the room.
Azazel stepped back in fear and swore under his breath as the light died down, revealing my new form. I could care less, though. I wanted Azazel to pay for what he has down. I wanted Azazel to beg for mercy as I finish him off. I wanted him to feel the pain that the people he killed were feeling.
I wanted him to die.
I appeared in front of Azazel and felt my fist connect against his face, his nose cracking under the pressure as he was sent flying into the wall. The wall cracked and rumbled upon impact, rocks falling from the ceiling as it shook. I appeared in front of Azazel again, pulling a fist back before I sent it through his stomach and out the other side, blood soaking my gauntlet
Azazel grunted in pain and grabbed me by the helmet I was now wearing, head-butting it as hard as he could. I stumbled back in a daze and felt the entire force of a million people punching me in the stomach, cracking my armour.
I flew into the wall on the other side and bounced off of it, sticking my hand into the wall to pivot my body as a swarm of spears was hurtling towards me, impaling the wall and missing my body as I attempted to dodge the poisonous weapons.
Using the wall as support, I bounced off of it and flew towards Azazel, a red ball forming in my hand. It connected with his chest and bounced off as a magic circle appeared before the impact, sending a shockwave through my arm.
I hissed in pain and jerked my arm backwards, taking a couple of quick steps back to avoid Azazel's incoming fire fist, "You're pretty good, Issei. But I must say that I'm not even using ten percent of my power!" Azazel's fist slammed down on the ground instead, forcing a miniature earthquake to form under the ground beneath us, splitting the earth apart as the ceiling slowly fell apart, giant chunks of rock and building falling to the ground around us.
"You're going to die, Azazel!" I lost control once more, noticing that the wound I had made in Azazel's stomach had disappeared entirely. I grit my teeth and let loose a guttural roar as I charged at Azazel once more.
He disappeared and in an instant, the force of a thousand suns exploding on the back of my head. I felt the red helmet crack and shatter, revealing my bloody face and disgusting expression that was full of malice. I lay still on the ground, attempting to move, attempting to do anything.
I couldn't move.
"Oops. Raynare's body got crushed. Sorry, Issei!"
[I, who am about to awaken,
Am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the principles of domination from God
I laugh at the "infinite", and I grieve at the "dream"
I shall become the Red Dragon of Domination
And I shall sink you to the depths of the crimson purgatory!]
A deafening roar echoed around the room as I lost all control of myself.
I felt my sanity slip away further down into the void. I felt my control over my own body disappear entirely. I wasn't myself anymore. I saw and heard the sorrow of countless amounts of humans swarming into me.
I was up and running again in an instant as all of my wounds healed, tackling Azazel to the ground with as much power as I could. Instead of hitting the ground, we burst through a wall and out into the forest. We hit the ground and cratered the rock underneath us, rock flying everywhere.
I stared down at Azazel for a split second before I sent a flurry of fists down at him, watching as my fists bounced off of a cross guard he had created with his arms. I roared once more and pulled my head back as far as I could, ignoring the fact that I didn't have a helmet anymore, and sent it down at Azazel's arms, relishing in the cracking sound of his bones upon the impact.
He grit his teeth and I grinned in response.
His first sign of real pain.
I grabbed Azazel by the hair and slammed his head against the floor, bathing in the cracking of his skull against the rock and the sound of blood splatting against the floor. Azazel grabbed me by the arms and threw me off of him, multiple trees smashing on my back as I was sent flying through the air.
I didn't feel it, though. This red armour and the malicious thoughts were preventing me from feeling any pain, let alone any kind of sanity.
I flipped backwards in the air and stopped flying immediately. I was hovering above the ground with my arms crossed. Azazel had pushed himself to his feet and was rubbing the back of his head with a frown on his face.
"For the leader of the Grigori, you are unusually weak." Azazel grinned and crossed his arms in response.
"Well, I've done what I've wanted to do here. I have no need to actually fight or kill you." I let out a grunt and let my arms fall to my side.
"You're going to pay for what you did." Azazel sighed and ran a bloody hand through his hair that was as equally bloody.
"If you can touch me, that is." I set my feet down on the ground.
"I've had enough of your games, Azazel." Azazel shot past me.
I sighed and turned around, staring at his retreating form.
He's going to pay for what he has done, no matter how much it destroys my body.
But these thoughts weren't my own.
It was dark.
Too dark for me to see anything.
All I could hear were the screams of many individuals piercing my skull and the hatred those screams brought with them. I was worried. Not only for myself, but for what was happening. I could vaguely hear distant words that were muffled beyond any kind of recognition, but it was my voice.
I sighed and held my hands behind my head.
I deserved some rest, I guess.
[You do not deserve what you have not earned, partner.]
I sighed and moaned as a small flicker of flame appeared in front of me, illuminating nothing. There were no shadows or no light that was emitted from it. It was just a flame that kept on growing until a giant red dragon burst through it.
It was too tall for me to see its face, but I could tell it was staring down at me.
"I have earned some rest."
The dragon lowered its head to my eye level, looking me up and down with the giant emeralds that were the eyes of the beast.
[Have you earned rest if you're going to kill the leader of a powerful faction, die, and then never think again?]
I briefly nodded and stared at the dragon in the silence that followed. I sighed, realising that the dragon wanted me to continue speaking my thoughts.
"What's the point of living anymore?"
The dragon huffed and raised its head once more.
[You're a foolish human. You had so much potential but you're letting it go to waste. You should have never befriended those fallen angels. If you ignored them we wouldn't be in this position.]
I sighed again and shut my eyes. The dragon ignored what I had to say. I didn't care about the things that other people did anymore. I'd be more than happy to die knowing that. I'd be more than happy to kill Azazel knowing that. I could care less about Rias and the rest of peerage now knowing that. In the end, I didn't care about anything and I knew it all too well.
"I had potential? That's funny. The last time I thought I had power I was punched out a window and into a tree."
The dragon chuckled.
[Is it because of that meeting you had with that man ten years ago?]
"I guess. I'm just a normal, average teenager, you know? I was never destined for greatness or anything like that. I was supposed to grow old, marry a beautiful woman and die. Nothing more, nothing less."
I cracked an eye open and glanced up at the dragon.
[If you want to believe that, that's up to you. If you want to die and leave your friends, that's up to you…I have no control over your body, so it's all up to you…oh, by the way, the armour you're using right now – it's using up your life force, the essence of life.]
I sighed and cracked both of my eyes open.
"Are you kidding me? I guess I'm gonna die sooner than I thought, I guess."
[You're going to die within the next five minutes if you don't do anything.]
If I had a liquid in my mouth, it would have been spit all over the place.
I had pinned Azazel to the ground and was breathing heavily. Most of my armour had cracked or had been shattered. All that was left was the original gauntlet on my left arm, a heavily cracked chest piece, a shin guard that was a twitch away from shattering and a boot that was undamaged.
"I've got you now, you piece of shit!" Azazel was in bad form. An arm was broken, both of his legs have snapped and bent at unnatural angles, he had a hole in his stomach and his jaw was broken.
"Before I die, I must tell you something, then. This is the first time this has come to this, after all."
"What do you mean?" A bead of sweat that had mixed with blood dripped onto Azazel's cheek from my forehead.
"In the distant future, the Trihexa had attacked and had destroyed the earth. In a desperate attempt to fix things, a future Issei and myself had built a magic circle that was meant for time travel and had attempted to go back to fix things."
"That's impossible!" Azazel slowly shook his head and sighed.
"It's the truth. That man you met ten years ago was you from the future. That man was what you would have become." I grit my teeth and inhaled deeply.
"You're lying!" Azazel grit his teeth.
"I'm not lying to you! I'm trying to fix the future right now!"
"If that's the case…where am I!?"
"You…? He shattered because the timeline couldn't handle his presence. There were two Ddraigs, the dragon in your Sacred Gear, in the universe at the time so the universe destroyed that Ddraig, along with that Issei."
"And you were trying to fix the future without him?" Azazel chuckled at my words and shut his eyes.
"Time is infinitely looping. Whenever I die or something happens that would kill someone important, the universe resets itself to the day where the future Issei shatters. It wouldn't surprise me if you don't remember, though. This is the first time I've told you what had happened."
"So you're telling me that if I kill you, time will reset itself and Yuuma will be alive again!?" Azazel nodded. I sighed, pulled back a fist and shakily drew breath.
"I'll see you on the other side, Issei, even if you forget. But remember. Don't forget." Azazel was no more as I crushed his skull and brain under my fist. I clicked my tongue in annoyance, pushed myself to my feet and wandered through the forest, holding a stab wound on my stomach.
All I needed to do before time reset itself was find Yuuma's body, no matter how crushed or broken it was. She was all that matter. Seeing her face for the last time before everything I've ever known and done disappears will give me the comfort I need.
My legs were becoming heavy and my arms were starting to burn up.
It seemed as if the Juggernaut Drive was taking effect on this body, after all.
I noted that I seemed to have my own thoughts back in my mind instead of Issei's.
Not that I cared, anyway.
I mean, even though I devoured all of Issei's body and memory upon the release of the forbidden move, I'd live on in the Sacred Gear regardless of what happens next, with or without my memories of what had happened here.
I sighed and pushed Issei's body to the limit, acknowledging the fact that I had gained all of his memories and hate from the second that he even unlocked the Boosted Gear.
From that moment onwards, though, the past users, as well as myself, had been influencing his thoughts because he was so vulnerable. He was easy to take control of and that made it easy to abuse his body and have fun. I mean, being trapped inside of a gauntlet and doing nothing for a millennium is not fun and it never will be.
[Now!]
Ddraig's voice echoed around the rubble of the church as I smashed rocks and other hard objects to dust while finding Yuuma's body. It's the last thing I could do for the poor kid. I have killed him because I decided to have fun, so he should die with the person he's closest with.
It's too bad that that person is already dead.
I gasped as all of my senses returned to me. The colours, the smells, the pain, the sounds. All of it was overwhelming. Ddraig had warned me of what would happen when I regained control of my body, and he was also kind enough to somehow let me listen in on the conversation that Azazel and 'I' had had moments prior.
But I was shocked to know that this could be the umpteenth time I've done these things. That's if time repeated itself, though, and I doubt it wouldn't change. It starts off from after the time the future me had told me to be a 'normal' kid, so nothing really will change.
Time will loop for an infinite cycle.
I'm guessing that those memories I had found in my head had been the result of my future self being shattered, whatever that meant. The remaining fragments of his soul were probably those memories so they attached themselves to what they thought was their proper owner, which was me.
I sighed and felt my knees collapse under my weight.
I felt weak and useless. I was going to die and see everything repeat itself over and over without any memory of this ever happening. I wonder if Azazel has memories of every timeline, though. He did say that time always restarts itself, so he's probably experienced this moment over and over and over and had just given up on trying.
That's why he didn't fight to his full strength because there was no point. If he killed me, time would restart, and if I killed him, which I did, time would also be reset. However, that brings me to another point.
Time hasn't reset itself.
My vision became blurry and my hearing became muffled.
I noted that I felt awfully relaxed to be dying. My body felt warm, my mind was at peace and I had achieved what I had wanted to do. I hadn't achieved everything that I had wanted to do in life, sadly, but I still felt that I had accomplished something.
My body stopped moving.
It felt nice to know that Yuuma wasn't going to be dead forever, though. Maybe in some other universe she had died and this whole encounter hadn't happened. Maybe Azazel decided to not kill Yuuma and Mittelt and had spared them because they simply weren't worth his time. If I had a choice, that's the universe I wanted to wake up in when time resets itself.
My brain began to shut down.
There was nothing I could do about it, though. I was a completely average high school student. In more detail, there was absolutely nothing special about me.
In short, I was totally normal.
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The buzzing of a phone disturbed my slumber. My body was numb but comfortable, it was warm and enjoyable, and last but not least, I was well-rested.
My eyes slowly opened in the dim room, revealing the familiar white ceiling. I looked around, dazed, and noticed two blobs of hair on either side of me. A mop of blonde hair to my left that was clinging to my chest while the other one, a neat drape of raven black hair, had an arm slung around my neck on the right side of my body where a small wooden stand sat.
I cleared my throat, noticing the buzzing of a phone. The buzzing of my phone. I tried to move my arm and clicked in annoyance as it wouldn't move. The tips of my fingers would burn slightly when I tried to move, but I did not care all too much for that.
All I wanted to do was move my damn arm.
And it did. It came out from the under covers, snaked through the arm of the black haired person and reached out to grab the phone. It attempted to grab it, failed when the fingers wouldn't move, and tried again, succeeding without any trouble.
The phone was answered and pulled to my ear, "I hope you're ready for the second act…Issei…"
I dropped the phone with wide eyes as my mind began to function properly.
Time didn't reset itself. Instead of going ten years back, I had jumped into another universe where everything turned out alright. I should have died and Yuuma shouldn't be alive right now, either. Mittelt should be seriously injured and on the brink of death.
I smiled, though.
It felt great to have woken up like this as it means I'm starting to abandon normality.
Aaaaand, that's the end for now, kids! Show's over! Pack up and leave! I have an idea I want to work on in DxD, though, so look out for that if you're interested! Thanks for all of the support you guys have given me!
Don't fear, though. I left it at a point where I can resume the story if I desire to. So you may receive a chapter notification that tells you when I do. For guests…well, there's nothing you can do unless you create an account. Sorry!
I'd like to make a few shout-outs first to a few people that have supported me on the way! Thank you RedSS for always leaving reviews and inspiring me to write this! Thanks to darth56 for always reviewing and supporting me, as well! Also, thanks to KingPlotBunny for the same reasons. All three of you are amazing!
Sorry for disappointing everyone with this chapter and ending ;)
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