I don't know how many times I have said this but... I'm not dead, yet. I was so busy with exams and preparing my thesis. Yes, that's right, I will graduate soon! Hahahahahaha! *cough* Like usual, I thank all of you that have followed and favorited this story, although it has such a very random schedule. Anyway, that's it for this author note. Be prepared for the last chapter for PDE's 1st season! Happy Reading!

P.S. I own nothing except the plot, and OCs.

Chapter XIII

"Welcome, everyone! I, Naud Gamigin, will be the announcer for tonight's Rating Game. Tonight, we shall see the debut Rating Game between the famous Riser Phenex and his peerage, against the lone challenger, the new member of our own Princess of Hell's peerage, her own 'King', the masked dragonkin, Hakumen! How will the Lucifer King fare against this experienced Rating Game player?! We shall see if he is truly worthy to be the Prince of Hell!" the light purple haired devil, Naud Gamigin, announced.

On the circular arena chosen as battlefield, Riser's peerage and Issei could be seen standing in front of each other by a few meters.

"Heh, you can still walk out, you know. Who knows, Riser might let you visit beloved Ana after Riser take her as his concubine," Riser said off-handedly.

"You aren't worthy to say her name, Chicken. Besides, are you sure you aren't the one who wants to walk out?" Issei sneered.

"Hah, take a look at the mirror! Who is the one keeps hiding their face all this time?! Aren't you just a coward?!" Riser replied.

Against Riser's comeback, Issei just chuckled, "Ah, that's right, seeing how my fight here will reflect on Ana's reputation, I think I should come clear then."

Issei then did something no one would expect, even his own peerage, with the exception of the giggling Ana. Grabbing his helmet, Issei then took it off, letting his white and black colored hair free.

"It's quite suffocating there," Issei smirked at Riser.

The significance in this action wasn't the fact that everyone now knew who it was under the helmet, but the fact that Issei's magical signature was no longer suppressed by the armor.

"Y-you, you are a human?!" Riser flustered.

"Half-human. I'm still a dragonkin, remember?" Issei replied.

"To think that a half-breed such as you dare to set foot here. This is sacrilege!" Riser accused.

"Oi, oi. Chicken, did you forget what the Satan twins said?" Issei replied.

"Kuh," realizing his mistake, Riser could only stay silent.

"To think that the Lucifer's King is a half-dragon, this's a surprise indeed. Now, without further ado, let the Game begins!" Naud started the match.

"Grr… Mira, Shuriya, Marion, Burent, attack him from the front. Ni, Li, Ile, and Nel, flank him," Riser commanded.

"Yes, Riser-sama," the Pawns replied, before following Riser's order.

"Riser, don't you think this's high-handed?" Riser's Queen, Yubelluna, asked.

"No, Yubelluna. The half-breed is right. He might be half-human, but he is still a dragon, nonetheless," Riser answered.

"Heh, I'm glad you no longer underestimating me as much as before, Chicken. But this. Is. Still. Nothing!" Issei grinned, as he activated both Cosa and Crúba.

In an instant, Issei was in front of Riser's arguably weakest Pawn, Mira. Sinking his fist into the girl's stomach mercilessly, Issei then grabbed the girl and threw her at Shuriya as hard as he could, resulting in both of them slamming onto the arena' wall.

"2 of Riser's Pawns, retired," a mechanical voice announced.

Surrounded by 6 Pawns, Issei kept going towards the maid pairs while ignoring the two pair of twins coming from his flanks. In shock from how Mira and Shuriya were retired in an instant, both Marian and Burent weren't ready for the half-dragon grabbing their heads and slamming them onto each other. Even with their devils' physique, it would result in at least concussions, and worst scenarios, slight cracks.

"2 of Riser's Pawns, retired."

When the twins came, Issei just ignored them as Ile and Nel slammed their chainsaw on his body while Ni and Li hit his back. They attacked with their full power, yet only scratches appeared on the armor while Issei didn't move even a millimeter.

"You know, I almost regret wearing this armor now. Because you make this too easy!" Issei shouted as he did a spinning kick, throwing the four Pawns away and disarming the chainsaw twins, though none of them got retired.

Grabbing the two chainsaws, Issei dashed and slashed the four Pawns. The Pawns let out painful screams before they got retired. Although they're gone, it's clear that they suffered grievous wounds judging from the amount of blood wetting the ground.

"4 of Riser's Pawns, retired."

"Don't you know that chainsaws are dangerous, Chicken? You shouldn't have let underaged children playing with them," Issei taunted.

"Grr… Enough! Yubelluna, to the air! Ravel stay with me! Everyone else, crush that half-breed!" Riser ordered.

It's evident from their silence that Riser's peerage was too angry to properly answer Riser, so they just followed his order. Meanwhile, on the audience stand, a worried Arthur could be seen talking to Ana.

"Ana, is it just me, or does Ise seem a bit too… different than when he sparred with us?" Arthur asked.

"It's not your feeling, Arthur. Ise is more… ruthless than when he sparred with you," Ana answered with a frown.

"But why? Did he…"

"If you're going to say he went easy on you and Bikou, you're wrong. It's just… *sigh* My uncle told me about this. About how Ise might take after his father," Ana said.

"His father?" Arthur asked.

"I'm sure you already know who Ise's father by now, right, Arthur?"

"Yes, I have my slight suspicion when Ise introduced himself as Irish and that he also has a dragon as father. But now, without doubt, his father is the Crescent Circle Dragon, Crom-," Arthur about to say, only to be cut off by Ana.

"Shh, don't say it. We can't have everyone knows that Ise's father used to be one of the Evil Dragons," Ana whispered.

Realising his mistake, Arthur just nodded. While being the son of an ex-Evil Dragon sure was something to be proud of, to let the information out now would be too risky since Ise was a newcomer to the supernatural world by the Devils' standard. And most importantly, Ana was afraid that someone might target Ise because of the information. Ana was confident that Ise was capable of facing any enemies, but she still didn't want him to face such risks if he could.

"It's just, my uncle said how Ise's father was really infamous for his battle maniac tendency and bloodthirst back during his era. While they have been… calm until now, certain situations can make those instincts returned subconsciously, just like what happened to Ise now," Ana explained.

"So basically, the more serious, and life-risking a battle is, the more excited and ruthless Ise will be?" Arthur concluded.

"Yes. After all, his father isn't also called the Crooked Slaughterer without a reason…," Ana said, her frown deepened.

'Please, Ise. Please don't lose yourself…,' Ana prayed in her mind.

[Still want to hold back, Issei?] Albion asked.

'Yeah, I'm saving you for the grand finale, after all,' Issei answered.

[As you wish. Just don't get too overconfident,] Albion advised.

'I know, but that's exactly why I'm saving you. I don't know how strong Riser's immortality is. Gotta save my trump card for the Chicken,' Issei reasoned.

[A wise decision, true. By the way, from above,] Albion warned as Riser's Knights, Karlamine and Siris, descended from the air for overhead strikes with their sword and Zweihander respectively.

'Tch, if it's just them without the Queen, I can probably just tank them all. But while I'm resistant to the Queen's explosions' flame, those shockwaves are really annoying,' Issei thought as he stepped backwards, dodging the sword and the Zweihander and then the following explosions casted by Yubelluna.

"Chance!" Riser's Rooks, Isabela and Xuelan, said as they rushed towards Issei with fists ready.

Coldly looking at the Rooks, Issei now chose to stay at his place rather than retreating like before. Dodging the Rooks' fists, Issei discretely observed Riser's Queen that was flying in the sky. Once he saw that the Queen was once again ready to cast her explosions and the Rooks retreated from the explosions zone, Issei grabbed one of the retreating Rooks quickly and then threw her at Yubelluna. Yubelluna, not expecting Issei to make such move, didn't manage to cancel her magic in time.

"Xuelan!" the masked Rook, Isabela, shouted as she saw her partner was hit by their ally's magic.

"1 of Riser's Rooks, retired."

"Don't lose your focus," Issei spoke softly as he dashed towards the still stunned Isabela. Isabela didn't manage to defend herself before Issei grabbed her head slammed it to his knee, shattering the mask in the process. Releasing the Rook, the already unconscious Rook was then retired.

"1 of Riser's Rooks, retired."

[Issei, what's with you and cracking people's skulls,] Albion remarked.

'I don't know. I just feel that cracking skulls are… very refreshing,' Issei answered.

"You're a bad influence on our son," a frowning Tomoe could be seen in the Hyoudou-Dubh residence as she watched her son's performance through a TV.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not surprised, remembering who his father is," Azazel surprisingly was also there, as he's also the one that made the TV able to show the Rating Game.

Chrome, who was strangely silent from the beginning of the fight, now spoke, "Tomoe, if Issei isn't capable of at least this much, then it's either I fail in training him, or he is not my son at all. Remember, I might be a family man now, but I'm still the Crescent Circle Dragon, the Crooked Slaughter, and the Vanguard of Balor."

A discomforted Tomoe replied, "But…"

"Tomoe, I didn't remember you being this hesitant about cracking or crushing skulls, or even outright slaughter back during the wars," Chrome countered as he looked at his wife.

"T-those are wars," Tomoe reasoned.

"And the family that I burnt down to the ground?" Chrome continued. Tomoe could only stay silent at the mention of that.

Returning his sight to the TV, Chrome coldly said, "That is a battlefield, Tomoe, and therefore war. There is no such thing as mercy for the weak in the battlefield. That only exists in stupid dramas and fairytales. War is cruel and merciless. And moreover, that lowly avian has messed with a dragon's pack, OUR pack. And until he proves himself as either a worthy opponent or worthy to be kept alive, then he shall be prey to be killed and eaten. And if our son isn't capable of doing it? I will."

Looking back at Issei's fight, Tomoe was glad that she had told Asia to buy ingredients for dinner that morning, knowing that with her current abilities, she should be able to protect herself. She didn't think her daughter was ready yet to see this side of the family.

'Issei…,' Tomoe thought in worry, while Azazel just stared at the frowning mother with a stoic face.

"2 of Riser's Knights, retired."

After the announcement, Issei then dropped the sword and Zweihander he used to eliminate the original owners of the weapons. Looking at the only one left of the attackers besides the Queen, Issei snorted at the kimono-wearing Bishop.

"Pitiful," Issei said before he suddenly disappeared. Before anyone could react, Issei's fist sunk in the Bishop's stomach, instantly putting the latter into unconsciousness.

"1 of Riser's Bishop, retired."

"Now, only 3 of you left," Issei stated as he looked at the remains of Riser's peerage. Ravel, the last Bishop and Riser's younger sister, hid behind her brother in fear. The audiences have now murmured among themselves for what they thought as overkill for the Phenex peerage

"Isn't that too much?"

"But it's 16 against one."

"But does he have to be that cruel?"

"Well, Riser did mess with his Queen. And I've heard that messing with a dragon's pack is a fool's errand."

"Tell me about it. I've heard rumors on how kingdoms have felled because someone foolishly insulted or even somehow killed a dragon's mate."

Such murmurs could be heard throughout the arena. Unconsciously, Ana started to bite her lips in response to the whispers, while Issei, ignoring the murmurs about him if he even heard them, just focused on the enemies in front of him.

'Albion, now,' Issei thought.

[Alright,] Albion responded.

"Grr… Yubelluna!" Riser shouted to his Queen. Yet before any of them could do anything, something that they clearly didn't expect happen.

"[Dragon Divider!]"

The Divine Dividing appeared on Issei's back, stunning all who watched it, except his own peerage, of course.

"So, Ise has finally used Divine Dividing. Took him long enough," Bikou said in annoyance.

"It can't be helped, Bikou. We don't know the extent of Riser's so-called immortality. To use Divine Dividing now when Riser's peerage only has him and Yubelluna as able combatants is a wise move," Arthur said.

"Still… this feels so unfair with Ise not going all out from the start," Bikou reasoned.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Arthur over this matter, Bikou. The risk is too high in this battle to fight fair," Kuroka seriously said, tightening her hold on her sister that sat on her lap.

"… *sigh* I'm afraid you're right," Bikou finally relented.

The only member of the peerage that didn't say anything, Le Fay, just looked at her Queen who clenched her hands so hard that it started to bleed.

"Wha-?" Riser said in stupor in the realisation that his current enemy was the White Dragon Emperor, only to notice Issei was no longer on his place before.

"Wait, where is-"

[Divide!] the sound of the Sacred Gear could be heard from above.

Looking upwards, fearing that his enemy would surprise attack him in his stupor, what Riser found was instead the dragonkin kicking his Queen until she slammed the ground. Jumping from the crater that he made, Issei held in his hand a vial. Opening the vial and drinking the content, Issei could feel himself being rejuvenated.

"Ah, so this's what Phoenix Tears tasted like. True, it's very useful," Issei said as he threw off the empty vial.

"You… How do you know about the Phoenix Tears?" Riser asked in disbelief.

"C'mon, Riser. Anyone who bothered to read the rules on Rating Game would know that each team can bring two vials of Phoenix Tears. And while it's pretty obvious I won't have any, the same can't be said about you, a member of the Phenex Clan itself, right? Besides, now we can have a fair fight where each of us is in his prime condition," Issei said.

"Fair fight? Fair fight?! Then what about the massacre that you did to my peerage?!" Riser shouted in anger.

"If I didn't do that, would you deign yourself to fight me directly, Riser? If I didn't beat them thoroughly and bait you to use your full power, I'm sure you will find excuses to make the result of this Rating Game invalid, that's why," Issei sneered.

"Full power?! Full power?! Fine, you asked for it, Lizard! I will fight you with full power!" Riser finally snapped as a pair of wings made of blazing flames appeared on his back instead of the traditional Devil's wings. Dashing towards Issei, Riser threw a fist at the latter's face, only to be caught.

"You know, I just realised that you no longer speak in third person, good. But still, this's not enough to defeat me, Chicken," Issei taunted.

[Divide!]

"Raaahhhh!" Issei shouted as he punched Riser's face back, except that this punch hit Riser. The punch managed to throw Riser quite far before he stopped. Riser's jaw was dislocated as a result of the punch.

"Oi, really, that's it? You're pathetic, Chicken."

After finished saying that though, Riser rose back, his jaw was aflame for a bit before being completely healed. Touching his jaw to check it, Riser looked at Issei again before taunting back.

"That's just a test, Lizard. Now this's my real power."

Propelled by his fiery wings, Riser managed to deliver a punch so fast that Issei didn't manage to block it. Now it's Issei's turn to be thrown across the arena, and even slammed to the arena's wall. As Issei's body fell from the crater on the wall, a hole could be seen on the armor.

"Ahhh, damn, now that's more like it," Issei coughed a bit.

"Now, shall we fight, Lizard?" Riser asked as he settled into a stance.

"He, he, he, he. Ha, ha, ha, ha! Bring it on, Chicken!" Issei laughed as he lunged at the Phenex.

The battle between them was nothing like the ones before in the arena. It was intense, terribly intense. Punches and kicks were thrown around by the two combatants. While the fights before between Issei and Riser's peerage were quite short either because he was that strong or Riser's peerage was underestimating him, the current one showed why Riser deserved his reputation in Rating Game.

While everyone thought that the fight was even, it was not. Each of Riser's attacks that hit left at least a bruise on Issei's body, and yet any of the wounds Riser received from Issei was healed instantly because of his clan's power, even with constant Divide from Issei.

[Issei... This's bad,] Albion warned.

'Yeah, I know. I know that Phenex Clan has insane regeneration ability, but this's out of my expectation,' Issei replied.

'Just how much demonic power this guy has to be able to keep healing himself even with all of the Divides I've inflicted upon him,' Issei thought, yet that slight negligence was all that Riser needed to deliver an uppercut on Issei's jaw.

"Damn...," Issei groaned as he landed a few meters away from Riser.

'Shit, if this keeps going, I might lose...'

"Is that all you got, Lizard?! I thought you're better than this!" Riser taunted.

"Tch, you've seen nothing, you damned Chicken," Issei said as he wiped a trickle of blood from his chin.

"*snort* Admit it, Lizard, you miscalculate. You thought that with your power and Divine Dividing you can handle my immortality. Heh, you're wrong, and now you're going to suffer because of what you've done to my girls," Riser grinned as he cracked his knuckles.

"I thought dragons are supposed to be very resistant against attacks like that," Azazel commented as he saw the fight.

"Mature dragons, maybe, but Issei isn't one, yet," Chrome replied.

"And what marks one as a mature dragon?" Azazel asked.

"Well, the opinions vary, but most agree that a dragon can be deemed as mature when they can summon their own flame. And for my son's case, he would probably unlock his wings as well," Chrome answered.

"I see...," Azazel said.

"All in all, this's good for Issei. Being pressured is one of the fastest ways for a dragonling to unlock their flame," Chrome added as he lied back on the sofa.

"Show them, Issei. Show them the power of the son of Crescent Circle Dragon," Chrome grinned.

"GAAAHHH!" Issei screamed as he was thrown to the ground again by Riser.

"Now where is your confidence, Lizard?!" Riser taunted.

"Ugh...," Issei groaned as he crouched on the ground.

'Damn, some of my ribs are broken. That Chicken is no joke,' Issei's thought as he touched his chest to check his injuries.

'Hahaha, if I knew things would turn out like this, I wouldn't have gone overkill on his peerage,' Issei laughed in his mind.

"You know, Lizard, I changed my mind. I won't make the Lucifer heiress my concubine. No, she will be more than that. I will turn her into my... sex slave," Riser smirked at the end, causing uproar in the whole arena.

"Oi, isn't this too much?!"

"Fucking Chicken!"

"But... isn't that completely within his right once they're married?"

"That will only happen if the half-dragon loses though."

"Who cares? The heiress is just a half-breed. I say she deserves it for being so audacious."

"Yeah, a half-breed as the Princess of Hell? Preposterous."

Such conversations could be heard from the audiences in the arena. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Princess was focusing her whole attention on her childhood friend.

Gritting his teeth, Issei spoke to the person responsible for the uproar, "Riser, this matter is between the two of us. Don't bring Ana into this."

"Heh, why can't I? Once you lose, the Princess will be mine to take, so why can't I do this?" Riser boasted.

"Riser...," Issei growled, an emotion not unlike his feeling about Ana's grandfather growing in his heart.

"Heh, to think you can beat me. Sure, I applaud you for being able to defeat my peerage, but I am immortal, Lizard! You will never defeat me!"

Clenching his hands hard, Issei terribly wanted to rip Riser into shreds for what he had said, but he knew the Phenex was right. The latter's immortality was too strong for him, way out of his expectations.

Unknown to any who watched the Game, except maybe his parents watching from their home, Issei's body started to release heat.

"And once again, my offer still stands, I can let you come visit if you want to. Maybe I'll even let you watch when I do her."

But even so, he had promised her.

The heat kept becoming hotter.

"I'll let you watch how I turn your beloved Queen into my plaything."

To protect her. To never let anything hurt her.

The heat was hot enough at this point that it caused heat haze like effect.

"How she begs for me to take her."

For she was her beloved friend, part of the pack.

The heat haze now was strong enough that the air around Issei blurred, just like a mirage.

"How she begs me to do it harder."

And he would do and sacrifice anything to protect her. Consequences be damned.

The heat haze was so intense that everyone in the arena could feel it. All except Riser who was so busy boasting.

"How she begs me to-," Riser suddenly stopped, as he realised that Issei had somehow disappeared.

"Wait, where did he-" Riser was cut off as something invisible crashed into him, the only reaction he could do was to think how hot it was suddenly.

As the audience tried to puzzle out just what had happened, the air around where Issei was before flickered, showing him one moment and not the next. As if there was an invisible flame covering him. As the flame receded enough so that everyone could see him, the audiences could see that the half-dragon's appearances had changed.

A new pair of scaly wings came out besides the Divine Dividing, making Issei had 2 pairs of wings now. The new wings were white in color, with black flame-like patterns on them. Other than the wings, Issei's hands and feet had changed into claws, incorporating the draconic enhancement into them. And lastly, a pair of black horns grew from Issei's head, making his looks more draconic, or even demonic.

"Wow, I never expect the horns. I guess he gets that from you, Tomoe," Chrome commented on Issei's new form. Ignoring her husband, Tomoe was still frowning while looking at her son's fight.

"*sigh* C'mon, Tomoe, cheer up. I'm sure our kid will make the right decision regarding the bird. He's my son as much as yours, after all. C'mon, you should be proud that our son gets your horns," Chrome tried to cheer Tomoe as he pulled her to cuddle with him on the sofa.

Sighing, Tomoe finally relaxed and snuggled into her husband, "I guess... I'm just gotten lax after all these years. I mean, the wars stopped, we finally could settle down in peace, we had Issei, and then suddenly Asia and Ana joined the family, along with her little peerage. It's just, I sometimes wish things will never change, you know. That things will stay the same forever."

"And yet you know things exactly will never stay the same after the incident with Rizevim 10 years ago," Chrome replied.

"Yeah... I guess I can only hope for the best then," Tomoe relented as Chrome played with her white hair.

"By the way, Azazel, what the fuck are you doing hiding behind my table?" Chrome turned to look at the pathetically hiding and shivering Azazel.

"Y-you mean, y-you didn't recognize your son's flame?" Azazel stuttered.

"Now that you talk about it... I at first think that it's a combination of my flame and Tomoe's ability, but do you have any idea about it?" Chrome raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's-"

In a castle quite a distance away from the arena where Issei and Riser fought, two male devils could be seen drinking tea on a table.

The first one, a middle-aged looking man with black hair and peaceful violet eyes, stopped when he felt something familiar coming from the direction of the arena.

"What is it, Father?" another black-haired man with violet eyes that seemed to be a bit younger than the first one, asked.

"... Dialka, are there anything of note happen today?" the first man asked back.

"Huh? Tch, let me check," the younger man, Dialka, furiously checked a journal.

"*sigh* Thousands of years and yet still can't remember the daily news in Hell, Dialka?" the first man asked exasperatedly.

"Shut up, old man. You know I prefer fighting than being the head of the clan like this. Ah, I find it. It says here that there's a Rating Game between the Lucifer girl's new King and the Phenex brat's whole peerage. Hoo, really interesting. I wonder whether the King is really that strong or he is just being idiotically arrogant," Dialka grinned.

"Hm... I see...," the older man said as he sipped his drink again.

"Why the question, Father?" Dialka asked.

"Nothing. Just, an old man curiosity," the older man answered.

'This feeling... Have you returned to us, Your Majesty?' the first Bael, Zekram Bael, reminisced.

As Issei flexed his new claws, he saw Riser finally returned after being thrown away before. There were burns all over his skins, most of them third-degree burns. Amazingly, none of them seemed to be healed by Riser's ability.

"You... What the hell is that?" Riser gasped as he suffered a great deal amount of pain from the last attack.

"What else? It's my dragon flame, Chicken. And apparently, it's very effective against you. Just give up, Riser," Issei said. Though he said that confidently, the wounds he received from Riser was still there.

"As if. I won't lose to you, Hakumen," Riser indignantly replied.

"... Issei, that's my real name. Not Hakumen, but Issei, Hyoudou-Dubh Issei," Issei said.

"I see... Then, shall we continue, Hyoudou-Dubh Issei?" Riser readied himself.

"Of course, Riser Phenex," Issei said as he reignited his flames, which once again covered him as if he was half-invisible. Then with a roar, they once again continued their battle.

"RRRRAAAAAHHHH!"

On the background, Azazel's explanation could be hear.

"Let's see, where to begin this."

While Riser's new burns wouldn't heal like usual, Issei was also limited by his previous wounds, evening the field once again.

"Issei's flame, is, was, the original Lucifer's flame. A long time ago, back when he was still an Angel and known as Helel."

Yet, as Riser's attacks no longer as effective as before due to Issei's newfound strengthened defense through his draconic awakening, Issei's flame was super effective against Riser.

"It's Lucifer's original ability, gifted by the Biblical God to his First Angel. It's known by many names, such as the First Holy Flame, the God's Judgement, and others. But its true name is, Flame of Phantasm."

Moreover, the flame's ability helped Issei in hiding from Riser's more direct attack, forcing the latter to use more area-of-effect attacks.

"As you can see, the flame's name isn't just for show. The flame doesn't just have really strong holy properties, it's also terribly hot, ending up way after the blue color in the light spectrum. It causes this weird effect where it doesn't only turn invisible, but also hides the user. At normal state, it just cloaks the user, hiding them, but if fully unleashed, the flame will cause a flare wave that engulfs and incinerates all that it passes in an instant. Comparable, if not stronger, to the gods of flame from various pantheons. The only ones I can think of that are capable of the same feat are the likes of Kagutsuchi, and he can burn the whole continent to cinders. This's why Lucifer was, is the strongest of all of the Angels, and later on, the Devils, the Morningstar, the Devil King."

Though Issei's mastery of his new flame was minimum at best, he still managed to control and use his flame as best as he could. He subconsciously realised that his flame was really dangerous to beings like Devils, and hurting Ana was the one thing he didn't want to do the most. And so, slowly, steadily, he managed to corner Riser.

"After Lucifer became a Devil, most of the ability turned into Lucifer Clan's current ability, Eternal Void, with what left of the flame then given to the original Satan, then Satanael, becoming the Satan Clan's Azure Blaze. With the return of the flame, well, it's obvious what else will follow. Your son is no longer just the White Dragon Emperor, Chrome. He is also the second-coming of Lucifer, the second Morningstar. He is now, the Phantasm Dragon Emperor."

"This's it, Riser. This is the end. TAKE THIS!" Issei opened his jaw wide and unleashed a blast of invisible flame like the one he did against Rise before. Except that this time, it was clearly stronger than before.

"DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Riser returned fire as he unleashed a blast of hellfire of his own. At first, it seemed Riser's blast was stronger, but then Issei's flame slowly overpowered Riser's bit by bit.

"DAMNNNN ITTTTT!" Riser gritted as he used all of his might to push back.

"I WIN, RISER!" Issei shouted as he gave a last push, his flame engulfing Riser in an explosion that blew all of the audiences in the arena and even outside of it.

As the smoke from the explosion receded, everyone was holding their breath to see what remained of Riser. When the smoke disappeared completely, the body of Riser could be seen, still breathing from the movement of the chest, though unconscious and badly burned. The latter was nothing that couldn't be healed by advanced healing magic though.

"R-Riser Phenex is unconscious, and therefore is retired. With the King of Riser's peerage retired, Riser Phenex's peerage has lost. The winner of the Rating Game is the sole contender from Princess Valiana Lucifer's peerage, the King, the Hakuryuukou, Hyoudou-Dubh Issei!" Naud Gamigin loudly announced, drawing loud cheers from all of the audiences. At his name announced as the winner and the cheers, Issei lifted his clenched left claw high, drawing more cheers.

"Ise!" the screaming form of Ana could be seen as she ran and jumped to the arena, to the panic of her peerage, including Issei.

"A-Ana?!" Issei caught his childhood friend by reflect as the latter started to hug Issei really hard.

"A-Ana? M-my ribs. T-they're broken. Ouch!"

"Do you realise how worried I am, you muscle headed reptile?!" Ana screamed as she cried.

"B-but you know as well as I that I mustn't lose," Issei reasoned.

"But do you have to risk yourself this much in the process?!"

"Uh, well, um, the battle wouldn't be as fun and exciting as this then," Issei nervously said as he looked elsewhere.

"... Ise...," Ana responded by tightening her hold over her childhood friend.

"Gaahh! A-Ana! M-my ribs! Agghh! I-I can't breathe! Ugghhh! I-I'm sorry, alright! Hey, I'm dying here!"

As the Lucifer Princess kept punishing her battle maniac King, now surrounded with the rest of her happy peerage, the scene changed into that of Zekram Bael and Azazel drinking tea from two different locations, the latter having calmed considerably.

"And thus, a new era begins for this world."

And so ends the 1st season of PDE. After this, we will begin the 2nd season with the Excalibur arc, after a short break for me to come up with more awesomeness. Anyway, here is a small sneak peek.

"I AM ZARATHOS! THE FALLEN ANGEL OF JUSTICE! THE SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE! YOU KILLED ME, PREPARE TO DIE!"

That's the sneak peek. Anyway, returning the chapter itself. I'm sure many of you wants Issei to kill Riser, but that will be too much, and as you can guess, Issei, who is actually more alike to his father than others might realize, considers Riser a worthy opponent, if not a good punching bag. If you have any questions, feel free to ask either via review or PM, and I will try to asnwer them if they don't contain spoilers. That's it for now.

May We Meet Again.