Yes. There is a rewrite but I decided that it would be a dick move to end and rewrite it without telling you all how Season 2 ends so here. A bone for you all.
I do not own Highschool DxD. Highschool DxD is owned by Fujimi Shobo, Fujimi Fantasia Bunko, Funimation, and Ichie Ishibumi. Please support the official release.
[Ddraig talking]
[Ddraig thinking]
{Albion talking}
{Albion thinking}
|Tiamat talking|
|Tiamat thinking|
Mental Communication
"Regular Dialogue"
Attacks/Spells
Ruined Town West of Kuoh, February 24, 2021, 9:59 PM, Current Time: 1 minute and 2 Seconds Til Midnight
Issei stood silently as the winds blew across the ruins. His brown hair blew slightly in the direction of the breeze as he looked at his older sister with an angry gaze. His teeth were gritted as his grip around Darkscalon tightened.
Lilith stood there with an impassive look on her face as her azure blue eyes looked at her younger brother without any semblance of emotion whatsoever. She placed a hand on her hip and snapped her fingers.
Astaroth appeared next to Lilith in a plume of black smoke, kneeling next to the Demon Princess.
"Astaroth. Release them and send them back," Lilith said, gesturing to Gorou, Miki, and Lily.
"As you command My Princess," Astaroth said as she walked over to the hostages.
"See? We can negotiate. Your life for theirs," Lilith said.
"Wait? What are you going to do with my son!?" Miki screamed as she struggled against Astaroth's telekinetic grip.
"Big brother!" Lily called out.
"Lily! Damnit! What are you doin-!" Gorou was interrupted.
"SILENCE YOU PATHETIC WORM!" Lilith said as her aura flared. Lightning crackled across the sky as the wind picked up.
"It's going to be okay, Tou-san. Kaa-san. Lily," Issei said, smiling at them. "You're safe now."
"Astaroth, if you would," Lilith said.
"Of course, my Princess," Astaroth disappeared in a plume of black smoke with the Hyoudou's leaving Issei alone with Lilith.
"You know. I have to thank a few people. If it weren't for them, you would have never come here and I would have had to hunt you down for the rest of your life," Lilith said.
"Who did it?" Issei asked.
"I was expecting that. Since I'm such a good big sister, I'll let you talk to them. You have 5 minutes," Lilith said.
"Five minutes is plenty," Issei said darkly.
Lilith snapped her finger and two people appeared in between the two siblings.
"I should've known it was you two bastards," Issei said.
"W- What? Where are… you!" Tatsuya took a step back and pointed at Issei. Yuu merely looked on in terror as he began to shake in his shoes.
Issei took a step forward as he dragged Ascalon menacingly across the ground.
"Remember. Five minutes," Lilith said as she turned around.
"Wait! What about our reward!?" Yuu asked.
"Yeah, aren't you going to help us!? We're on the same side!" Tatsuya screamed.
"Same side? We were never on the same side. You hurt my baby brother. As for your reward? This is your reward. An early death. Better dying here than with the others in a little while," Lilith said as she waved. Lilith's body dispersed into a black mist.
"Issei."
Tatsuya turned to see Yuu holding his hands up in surrender.
"I know that we didn't get along and I kidnapped your family and all but… that bitch Lilith. She promised us something. She said she wou-!"
"I don't care what she said. In fact, I'm going to gut her next for targeting my family so just do me a favor and don't struggle," Issei said as he jammed Ascalon into Yuu's stomach.
Yuu's eyes widened in pain and terror as Issei twisted the blade around. His bargaining devolved into cries of pain and mercy as Issei ignited the blade inside of Yuu. Yuu's voice became hoarse as his screams began to die out. His organs were being incinerated as he felt every waking moment of his body being burned from the inside out.
Tatsuya watched in horror as his accomplice was being charbroiled alive right in front of him. Yuu reached out to Tatsuya with a charred hand before Issei stomped on his skull. Issei brought his foot up and slammed it back down into the ground once more. Yuu's burning corpse spasmed before going still. Yuu's hand fell pathetically to the ground.
"Woah there Issei. This was all Yuu's idea. It was his idea to make a bargain with Lilith. He forced me to go along with it!" Tatsuya protested as Issei pulled out Ascalon and began walking over to him.
"I don't care. The minute you touched my parents and sister. Your life was forfeit," Issei said.
Tatsuya took a step back and tripped, falling on his back. He groaned and squealed in terror when he saw Issei above him. In a panic, he summoned his Sacred Gear and attacked Issei.
Issei's eyes glowed and Tatsuya froze mid-punch.
"I have one minute left with you so I'll make it count," Issei said as he grabbed Tatsuya by his face and began to overload his body with Miasma.
Tatsuya screamed.
"PLEASE STOP! NO MOORE! PLEASE!"
Issei ignored him as he poured more and more Miasma. A red light came out of Tatsuya's mouth before his pathetic struggling ceased and Issei dropped his body. His eye sockets were scorched and his mouth was streaked with charred blood.
[Play Nanatsu no Taizai OST: Meliodas vs The Ten Commandments]
"You done?"
Issei whirled around to see Lilith sitting in midair with an emotionless look on her face.
"Yeah," Issei said.
"So, we're doing this then," Lilith said, standing up and floating down to the ground.
Issei stayed silent.
[|Abyss Dragon Drive|]
"So that's your starting move," Lilith muttered.
"I'm not dying tonight, Nee-Chan," Issei said as he dropped into a stance.
"I can see that," she said. "Well then. For what it's worth. I'm sorry. I had no choice on the matter."
"We always have a choice. You made yours," Issei said.
Lilith smiled sadly. She took one step towards Issei and disappeared. Issei's eyes widened as he frantically scanned his surroundings. Lilith appeared in front of Issei and delivered a devastating uppercut, sending Issei into the air.
Blood spurted out of Issei's mouth as his visor was shattered. Lilith appeared above him and performed an ax kick sending him into the ground and skidding across the street. Issei slammed into a wall, bringing down the building on top of him.
"Come now. I know that that one didn't kill you," Lilith said, crossing her arms as she hovered in midair.
The rubble exploded as Issei appeared in front of her.
[Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!]
[Catastrophic Dragon Shot!]
Issei fired a massive beam of blue energy at point-blank range. Lilith was engulfed in the blue energy beam. Issei raised his arm and the beam curved, sending it high into the atmosphere. The sky lit up as a massive blue flare of energy could be seen in the sky.
[End OST]
Kuoh Town
Irina slammed into the barrier once more, trying to break past it.
"Irina. Just stop it's no use," Kuroka said as she shifted back to her normal form.
"Tch! There has to be a way to break through this!" Irina yelled.
"We can't," Sirzechs said. "The barrier is practically invincible. Power Absorption seals for any magical attacks and Spatio-Temporal Locking seals for locking down teleportation," he said.
"So we're trapped here!? How will we know if Issei is even safe?" Rossweisse said.
"We use Iris," Artemis said.
"Iris?" Kiba asked.
"In our pantheon, in addition to using CCs to communicate. We also use Iris Messaging," Artemis said, pulling out a gold coin from her pouch along with a spray can. Artemis pressed down on the sprayer and a mist sprayed out, forming a small rainbow. Artemis flipped the coin and tossed it into the mist.
"Oh, Iris, Goddess of Rainbows. Show me Issei Hyoudou," Artemis said. The polychromatic mist shimmered before an image of Issei fighting Lilith appeared. Everyone's eyes widened when they saw Issei fighting for his life.
"Issei!" Irina called.
Issei didn't respond as he thrust his sword at Lilith's torso. The Demoness simply batted Ascalon aside before kicking his foot out from under him. She slammed her palm into his chest, sending him sliding across the ground.
"We need to help him!" Mitsuki said.
A pulse of miasma alerted them. They turned around to see Astaroth with Mitsuki and Issei's parents and Lily.
"A deal is a deal," Astaroth said before disappearing in a plume of black smoke.
"Lily! Tou-san! Kaa-san!" Mitsuki ran over and hugged the three of them.
"Mitsuki! Those monsters! They have-!" Miki began but was interrupted.
"We know," Mitsuki said.
"We have to get him out of there!" Gorou said.
"Unfortunately, Hyoudou-san."
The two parents looked up to see Sirzechs.
"That won't be possible with our current situation," he said.
"Gremory-san?"
"I'll explain to them. You go find a way to help Issei," Sirzechs said. Mitsuki nodded and ran back over to the Iris Message.
With Issei and Lilith
"Ack!" Issei coughed up blood as he fell to his hands and knees. Ascalon lay next to him. He had no time. No opening to activate the Qliphoth Mode. He looked defiantly at Lilith as she walked towards him. She slammed her foot into his stomach, sending him sliding across the ground.
Issei stopped several hundred feet from Lilith and rolled onto his back.
My back is flayed. I'm pretty sure I broke several ribs and I think I've lost six teeth, Issei thought.
[Hang in there partner!] Ddraig urged.
|Don't die on us Issei!| Tiamat pleaded.
"You know Issei. My mother, Lucifer, when she told me that I had to kill you because of all the Special Children, you were the one that qualified the most, I almost said no. But she promised that once your work was done, you would be the first to experience Paradise," Lilith said as she stood over him.
"Your Paradise is just a lie," Issei said.
"You're wrong. Through my mother, anything is possible. All the Gods and beings that oppose us will be erased from existence," Lilith said. "All bad concepts gone… it will just be peace. You can finally have the piece you longed for since the Evil Dragon War. We can be a family again. I can give you a real family with a mother who will care for you and adore you," she said.
"If your mother is the mother you're proposing to be my new mom, I don't think I'd be game since she's the one forcing you to drag my soul to Hell," Issei said.
"You'll see and you'll be wrong when you're living in the New Eden," Lilith said.
"You won't succeed. Even if I die here," Issei said. "Someone will take my place and fight you!"
"I know. And I'm prepared," Lilith said. "The Seals are pretty straight forward. In fact, the Final Seal is similar to the First."
"...," Issei remained silent.
Rossweisse analyzed the barrier as the others argued about what to do.
"I say we break it. Pool our powers together!" Sona argued.
"No. You heard what Sirzechs and the others said. All magical attacks will be negated," Irina argued.
"Vali, can you divide the barrier?" Kuroka asked.
"No. Not right now. I'm still recovering my strength from my fight with Samael," he said.
"So what we just sit here?" Rias asked.
"I may have something," Rossweisse said as she saw one portion of the runic array that seemed peculiar.
"What!?" Ingvild asked as she ran over alongside everyone else.
"There's a part of the barrier I can exploit and it'll allow me to open a temporary hole here at our location," Rossweisse said as she began to tinker with the runic array.
"Okay! Let's do it," Gasper said.
"There's a catch," Rossweisse said.
"What's the catch?" Kiba asked.
"Only a couple of people can fit through before it collapses," Rossweisse said.
"How many?" Bikou asked.
"Eleven, I think," she answered.
"Should we let the leaders know?" Akeno asked.
"No," Irina said. Everyone looked at her curiously. Irina met their stares with a determined and rebellious gaze.
"If they know, they'll try and stop us," she said.
The others looked down at her words, knowing them to be true. After a few seconds of tense silence, Asia spoke up.
"So… who's going through?" she asked.
"We will," Rias said, stepping forward.
Everyone turned to look at her. Rias smiled.
"My peerage will go."
"Why yours?" Sona asked. "Issei is our friend too!"
"We know," Kiba said, standing next to his king. "But Issei was a part of Gremory Peerage before he became your friends," he said.
"And it's our responsibility to bring back our Pawn even if he's not a member anymore," Koneko said.
Rossweisse and Irina looked at each other and nodded. They walked over and stood next to Rias. Gasper nodded along with Rias's words as he and Asia stepped up and stood beside them.
"I'll go too," Mitsuki said. "It's my fault that Aniki is in this mess, to begin with. It's only right I get him out of it."
"I will as well," Ingvild said. "Issei was my first friend, first love, my first time. He made me feel normal despite my family status. I'm not blind. I know the looks of disgust I get from other devils for being related to the Original Leviathan but Issei, he always made them go away and saved me from my pain. And I'll save him from an eternity of it. Plus… what's a team without their captain?"
Irina, Mitsuki, Kiba, Rossweisse, and Gasper's eyes all widened at her words.
"That's right. Issei is our captain," Irina said.
"They have no right to take him from us," Rossweisse said.
"The only ones who can mess with our Captain is us," Kiba said.
"Ditto," Gasper said.
"Alright, Rossweisse. How does this work?" Irina asked.
"Well, give me a few minutes," she said.
Issei cried out in pain as he crashed into the ground. He looked up weakly at the moonlit sky where Lilith hovered above him. Her hand was suddenly covered in an aura of darkness as she looked down at him.
"This is the end Issei-chan," Lilith said sadly.
Issei closed his eyes when a tingling feeling crept into his mind. He smiled and looked defiantly at his older sister.
Lilith looked down at his smile and dove towards Issei, intent on shoving her fist through his chest. Issei kept smiling and closed his eyes once more. Time slowed down as Lilith was mere inches away from Issei. Her fist moved forward and was about to turn Issei's chest into swiss cheese when a large blast of light sent her flying into the sixth story of an office building.
"You're an idiot," Issei rasped out in pain.
The familiar sight of twin tails blowing gently in the night breeze comforted him as the figure's loving violet eyes looked down into his brown ones. Ten pairs of translucent cyan wings were seen behind her.
"Yeah. But I'm your idiot," she said.
"That's my line," Issei said.
"And you used mine so we're even," Irina said.
"Issei!"
He turned around to see Rias and the others landing. Asia immediately ran over and began to heal Issei. Issei sighed in relief as he felt his body put himself back together. After Asia healed his leg, Issei sat up as she continued to heal the rest of his body.
"You guys are all idiots," Issei said, chuckling as Asia finished healing his arm.
"Yeah, we are. But since when is this the first time we did something stupid," Rias said, smirking.
"Stupid is part of our club motto and our peerage motto," Akeno added.
"No, it's not," Koneko said. "You literally just added that."
"Well it's our team motto," Mitsuki said, walking forward.
"Is it?" Issei asked.
"It is," Kiba confirmed as he helped Issei to his feet.
An explosion alerted them to the building where Lilith had crashed into. Everyone tensed when they saw a woman clad in violet aura step forward. Her hair floated as her upward ponytail grew longer and sharpened into a bang that hung in front of her eyes. A long stocky metallic tail could be seen swishing as massive bat-like wings expanded from her back. Dark markings appeared on Lilith's body as her once blue eyes glowed an ominous red.
"It was a mistake to come here," Lilith said.
"Vali."
Vali turned around to see Sirzechs walking up to them with Bael and Grayfia. The Maou's blue eyes looked around as he tried to locate his sister.
"Have you seen Rias?" Sirzechs asked.
Vali glanced over to Kuroka who simply shrugged.
"Just tell him," Artemis said as she swiped the Iris Message, enlarging it so Sirzechs could see.
The Maou Lucifer felt his heart drop when he saw where she was. There on the Iris Message was Rias standing with Issei and the others while Lilith hovered in the air above them. Sirzechs' vision started to spin as he stumbled back.
"Sirzechs?" Grayfia asked in a worried tone.
"How?" Sirzechs asked in a low tone. "HOW THE HELL DID SHE GET OUT!? WHY DID YOU ALL LET HER GO!?"
Sirzechs' aura flared and shook the area as he took a step towards the teams.
"It was her idea," Kuroka said.
Sirzechs froze.
"She wanted to go and rescue Issei," Vali said. "They all did. Said it was their responsibility."
"Well that responsibility is going to get them killed," Grayfia said, staring at the Iris Message.
"Did you really expect that coming here to help Issei changes anything?" Lilith asked.
"It might not but…," Irina said, grabbing Issei's hand. "If he dies, then he won't be alone."
"Irina," Issei said softly. The angel flashed him a small smile before turning to Lilith. A blue aura enveloped Irina, causing Issei to step away from her. A pillar of blue light erupted from the ground, enveloping Irina. The light swirled and pulsed as Lilith and the others looked on with interest. The light finally died and faded except for a few particles.
[Play Naruto Shippuden OST: Those Who Are Encouraged]
Irina's hair had turned silver. Her body was covered in a black bodysuit that was covered in a black breastplate with red lines of energy pulsating across the chest. The armor extended down, forming a waist cape made of pure black metal while her arms were covered in malleable black metal sleeves. A black crown manifested itself on her head as her hair turned into a light silver color. Irina finally opened her eyes to reveal that her eyes were no longer violet but gold. She opened her mouth and spoke.
"[Heaven's Twilight Balance Breaker: Code Lailah!] Irina announced. She summoned Hauteclere and leveled it at Lilith.
Lilith narrowed her eyes.
"If you're so adamant about staying here," Lilith said, raising her palm. "Then you can all die together!"
A flash of violet light erupted from her palm, bathing the world in purple. A massive explosion rocked the entire area.
Sirzechs and the others covered their eyes as the light that was coming from the Iris Message became too bright for them to bear. When the light died down, a cloud of smoke could be seen in the image.
"RIAS! ISSEI!" Sirzechs yelled.
"Wait… look!" Bael pointed.
Lilith narrowed her eyes when a red comet sped towards her.
[|Qliphoth Mode: Issei Cathariel!|]
Lilith held her hand out and caught the flaming fist of Issei Hyoudou. His red eyes looked into hers defiantly. She raised her other hand and caught the blade of Hauteclere. Irina gritted her teeth as she tried to push on the blade.
Mitsuki appeared next to her in her {Grand Design Form} and tried to kick Lilith's torso only for Lilith to raise her knee to block it.
Kiba flickered into existence behind Lilith and tried to slash her unprotected back when Lilith's tail blocked Gram.
She smirked as they pushed all their strength against her.
"NOW!" Issei yelled.
Lilith's eyes widened when the rest came out of the cloud. She narrowed her eyes and kicked away Mitsuki and wrapping her tail around Kiba's arm and threw him. Lilith swung her arms towards each other, forcing Issei and Irina to collide with each other. Lilith threw them as she dodged an attack from Rias.
Xenovia appeared behind her and swung Ex-Durandal. Lilith deftly evaded the blade and wrapped her tail around Xenovia's throat. Before she could crush it, a dense ball of red energy slammed into her, sending her flying back and forcing her to let go of Xenovia.
Rias, in her Goddess of Ruin form, fired a tandem shot with Akeno. Their lightning and Power of Destruction merged together forming a beam of black, red and yellow energy.
Lilith raised her hand and smacked the beam out of the way, sending it crashing into a mountain.
Gasper, in his Balor Form, brought his fist down on Lilith. A large shockwave reverberated throughout the area as Lilith's head turned slightly to the side, Gasper still struggling to send her flying as his fist dug into her cheek. Lilith placed a hand on Gasper and blasted him away.
A shadow appeared behind Lilith as she turned to see a massive red dragon made of blood close its maw around her. Ingvild and Rossweisse looked at the Blood Dragon in anticipation.
Rossweisse pointed Misteleinn at the dragon and fired a blast of pure energy at it. The blast destroyed the dragon and traveled until impacting a building a few hundred feet away.
A beam of dark violet energy was fired from the rubble. The beam headed straight for Rossweisse.
Issei appeared in front of her.
[Divide!]
Issei gritted his teeth as he tried to hold off the beam.
[Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!] [Divide!]
The beam grew smaller and smaller until it was enough for Issei to deflect. Issei fell to his knee as Lilith flew into the air. She formed five black and violet spheres and fired them at Issei.
Irina, Xenovia, and Kiba appeared in front of Issei and unleashed a massive wave of energy from their blades. The large blade of energy clashed with the spheres, causing the area to shake. Rias, Akeno, and Koneko added to the energy to support Irina, Xenovia, and Kiba in holding back Lilith's attack.
"Soul Extinctor!" Issei fired his attack, pushing back Lilith's energy spheres. The attacks destabilized and exploded in mid-air. A massive shockwave traveled outward from the town for miles.
Lilith narrowed her eyes before disappearing.
[End OST]
"Where'd she go?" Gasper asked as he kept his guard up. Issei closed his eyes and tried to sense her Miasma signature. Issei's eyes snapped open when he felt her energy surround them.
"LOOK OUT!" Issei yelled. Lilith appeared between Issei and the others and raised her palm. A blast of darkness sent them all flying away from Issei.
Irina groaned as she landed. She shakily stood to her feet and spread her wings to try and get to Issei.
"Sit still will you," Lilith said as she snapped her fingers. Tendrils of darkness erupted from the ground, wrapping around her and slamming her back to the ground. Irina looked around and saw that the others were bound in the same way.
Lilith smiled before turning to Issei.
"You know that the others are watching right?" Lilith asked.
"Watching?" Issei asked, confused. Lilith pointed to the misty screen that showed Vali Team, Sitri Peerage, Sirzechs, Grayfia, Bael, Metatron, Lily, and his parents.
"Sad. It really is," Lilith said.
Issei took advantage of her lapse in concentration and swung Ascalon to her throat. His eyes widened when he saw tendrils of darkness wrapped around his arm and the blade. Issei struggled to push forward to no avail.
Lilith's eyes glowed and a tendril stabbed into Issei's right thigh. Issei's face winced in pain as he struggled to focus. Another tendril pierced Issei's side while another embedded itself into his shoulder.
"STOP!" Irina yelled as she watched Lilith's tendrils pierce through Issei.
Everyone else watched in horror as Issei's hand fell and dropped Ascalon.
Issei tried to keep his eyes open as his breaths became slower. He felt his miasma begin to heal him but the blood loss was too much.
|WHELP! HANG IN THERE!| Tiamat roared inside his head.
[Damnit Partner! I'll try and boost your healing factor!] Ddraig said.
Issei nodded but coughed up blood as Lilith drove her fist into his stomach. When she pulled her hand away, Issei fell to his knees and vomited a large amount of blood. He looked up at his older sister with a defiant stare still on his face.
"That defiant stare is becoming annoying. You must accept the role given to you, Issei. You are the Lamb of Judah, the bringer of the Apocalypse and the bringer of Salvation," Lilith said.
"Over my dead body!" Issei said.
"That's the idea. I'm sorry Issei. I never wanted to do this but I promise, it will all be over soon," Lilith whispering the words into his ear. She pulled away and a coating of dark energy.
Issei looked at the ORC and Eden Squad with a look of resignation and sadness on his face. He smiled before turning back to his older sister.
"I'm sorry… Issei-chan."
Issei mouthed a few words to Lilith and she nodded. Ddraig and Tiamat roared inside the gear in rage as they felt powerless to help their host.
Irina screamed in horror as Lilith's darkness blade extended and stabbed straight through Issei's chest. Issei gasped in shock as he looked down at his chest.
Lilith closed her eyes as tears began to stream down her face. She dispersed the blade and the chains holding down Irina and the others.
As soon as the chains dispersed, Irina shot off towards Lilith with Hauteclere poised to strike. As she slashed downwards, the blade went right through Lilith as she dispersed into a cloud of black smoke.
Irina frantically looked around for Lilith with a crazed look in her eye before the sounds of Issei's shallow breaths brought her back down to reality. She kneeled and grabbed Issei, cradling his head close to her. She saw a gaping wound in his chest and several more on his body.
"ASIA!" Irina yelled. Asia ran over as fast as she could and began to use Twilight Healing to try and heal Issei.
Issei's wounds glowed violet as they rejected Twilight Healing's healing power, sending Asia stumbling back a bit as the violet lightning attacked her hands.
"I- I can't heal him!" Asia said.
"Well keep trying!" Irina yelled.
"R- Rin…"
Irina looked down and saw Issei reaching out to touch her face. Tears began to flow from her eyes and fell onto Issei's bloody face.
"M- Mii-chan," Issei said weakly. Mitsuki knelt next to Issei and gripped his hand.
"Rossweisse, I- Ingvild, K- Kiba, G- Gasper, e- everyone," Issei said. "I'm sorry."
"No, Issei stop talking. We can get help. I'll just call Onii-sama and get some Phenex Tears and you'll be as good as new!" Rias said as her voice began to break from grief.
Issei sent her a bloody smile before lifting his left hand. He opened it and inside was a small red bracelet with emerald and sapphire embedded into the band.
"Lily," Issei said. Mitsuki gingerly picked up the bracelet and nodded at her twin brother. The pain in her chest was nothing compared to the pain her grief was causing her.
Issei squeezed her hand one last time before the light left his eyes. His eyelids slowly dropped before he stopped breathing.
"Issei?" Irina asked when she saw his eyes close. Thinking he had just fallen asleep, Irina gently shook him.
"Issei, wake up," Irina said.
Rias and the others looked away while Mitsuki just placed her forehead into her brother's hand. Rossweisse fell to her knees and began to sob while Ingvild just looked at Issei blankly with a steady stream of tears streaming down her face.
"Issei, come on. It's not funny," Irina said, her shaking becoming more desperate. Visions of their childhood came flying into her head.
"Wake up you dumbass!" Irina yelled as visions of their date and trip to buy their car came to mind.
"Please… please don't leave me alone again," Irina whispered as she pressed her forehead against Issei's increasingly cold skin.
Her eyes snapped open as her face turned to the sky. A violet glow came from her eyes as a white aura surrounded her. She let out a blood-curdling scream to the heavens as a pulse of light exploded from her, forcing everyone to erect a barrier to shield themselves.
"ISSSSEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Irina screamed as her surroundings were leveled from her very aura.
March 7, 2021, Gremory Territory Graveyard, 10:00 AM
Irina looked blankly at the coffin as the Archangel Michael said a small blessing. A large cross symbol appeared over Issei's coffin before dissipating into a stream of golden particles.
Rossweisse and Kuroka stood next to her, crying while Ingvild sobbed into her hands. Mitsuki looked down at her brother's coffin with tears streaming down her face while Lily cried into her sister's dress. Kiba and Gasper stood by with Kiba being comforted by Tsubaki, who was also crying, and Gasper hugging Koneko while crying. Asia, Akeno, Ravel, Xenovia, and Rias sobbed while their families and friends comforted them.
Azrael nodded to Sirzechs and Azazel and the two, alongside Bael, Ajuka, Vali, and Arthur, walked over to Issei's coffin, picked it up, and began to carry it outside.
Issei's funeral, despite Irina's wishes for it to be a simple affair, became overinflated as masses of people waited outside for him to be carried out of the Gremory Estate. Irina looked out over the crowd which contained members from every pantheon and the residents of Kuoh.
Behind her, Issei's parents looked down solemnly as they followed the coffin that contained their now dead son. A thought ran through Miki's head.
Issei… I was such a horrible mother to you. I'm so sorry, Miki thought.
After several minutes of walking, they arrived at a large mausoleum that had been constructed in the past few days in honor of Issei. It was made of white marble with the statues of Ddraig and Tiamat stood outside the building, guarding it.
They entered the building and the men carrying the coffin placed it at the center and opened the casket. Azrael walked up to it and held her hand out. A black glow appeared around Issei's corpse before fading.
"I preserved Issei's corpse. It won't decay. Ever," Azrael said.
Everyone walked forward and began to say their goodbyes. Each member of Vali Team, the ORC, and Eden Squad all gave heartfelt goodbyes one by one as they walked up to Issei's coffin.
Irina went last as she walked up. She placed a hand on the glass as a few tears fell onto the casket.
"I swear Issei. I swear to the dead God that I'll kill her. I'll kill her and avenge you. I'll make Lilith pay for what she did," Irina said as her eyes glowed violet.
The service winded down as everyone began to leave one by one. Before Lily and Mitsuki could leave, Irina called out to them.
"Mitsuki. Lily, I have something for you two. I was there… when Issei wrote it," Irina said. She pulled out a folded piece of paper from her dimensional storage seal. "He wrote it. Just in case he… you know," she said, glancing at the open casket.
Mitsuki accepted the letter with shaky hands.
"I'll leave you two alone," Irina said as she walked out of the mausoleum.
Lily looked up at her older sister as she sat down against the wall of the dais that held Issei's coffin. Lily saw down next to her, the red bracelet around her left wrist. The sapphire and emerald dulled in color as if projecting a wave of despair.
Mitsuki looked at Lily before unfolding the letter and reading it.
Hey, um, Mii-chan. Lils. There's something I want to talk to you two about. Just in case you know. I know that in a year that I might die. Other than the girls that I'm bonded to, you two are my entire world. My sisters.
Mii-chan. God, how do I say this? Please don't beat yourself up over what happened. I don't regret selling my soul to save you. I know that our childhood wasn't the best and we weren't close for a time as kids but… I never stopped loving you as my sister no matter how many times you put me down. And when you started talking to me again, I was happy. As twins, we could feel each other's feelings and I felt the pain and guilt you carried around and know that I never hated you. Like I said earlier, I always loved you, little sister.
"Three minutes, Aniki," Mitsuki said, laughing a little as a watery smile made its way to her face.
Please. Mii-chan. For my sake. Live for both of us. Take care of my car. Remember what I told you and please for God's sake, don't let Irina do anything stupid like hunt Lilith-nee down. Do this as a last request for Aniki. I left you with a little something to help with that. You'll know what it is. After all, blood is what holds us together. And please, don't make a deal.
Mitsuki's eyes widened as she remembered their moment at the Celestial Council Headquarters building. She snapped out of her thoughts and continued to read the letter.
Lils. When you came into my life, it was when I had gotten back from training and I saw you eating out of the dumpster. And then I brought you to a McDonalds and since then, we were stuck together. I'll miss playing games with you. Teaching you how to use your powers. Making triple-decker waffle extravaganzas every morning with you. But the thing I will miss most of all is the things I'll never get to do. Teach you how to ride a bike. Threatening your first boyfriend. Being there at your graduation. Walking you down the aisle at your wedding. That goes for you too Mitsuki. You know. If you let me.
"Baka Aniki. Of course, I would've," Mitsuki said.
And for that, I'm sorry Lily. I failed you and Mitsuki as a brother. But even though I'm gone, I made sure that you'll never be alone. People called me the Red Dragon Emperor and Emperors pass on their titles.
Lily looked down at her bracelet. The gems seemed to glow in response to her.
Lily. Keep an eye on Magala and remember what I taught you. And Ddraig. Tiamat. Mitsuki. If you're with her reading this, keep her safe. Make her the Red Dragon Emperor that I never got to be. Or should I say, Empress?
With love,
Your Big Brother, Issei Hyoudou
Mitsuki's tears came back full force as she placed the letter down onto the floor and began to sob, wrapping her arms around Lily as the younger girl sobbed into her chest. Irina stood outside, crying silently as she listened to the inconsolable wails of the Hyoudou Sisters as they grieved over the loss of their older brother.
Hell, Fifth Circle
Issei screamed as another slash mark appeared on his chest. Blood profusely from it as he glared at the man before him.
Alastor grinned as he wiped the dagger clean.
"I'm not submitting to you bitch!" Issei said, spitting in his face.
Alastor paused, placing the dagger down then wiped his face.
"Oh no. Please. Struggle. Make this more fun for me Lamb of Judah. Besides. We haven't even gotten to the good parts yet."
Issei let out another scream that reverberated and echoed in unison with the damned souls of Hell.
Well, there you go. The official last original chapter. After this, I'll only post the rewrite chapters.