Hello there! It is me, Czechus, with another, long-awaited chapter of "The Betrayed Dragon!"

I hope that you are ready for chapter 24 of this epic adventure! But, before we begin, just like always, I will answer your comments from the previous chapter.

CRZYPaladin – I am glad that you're waiting in anticipation. I guess you will be very happy to hear… I mean, to see, that this chapter is the penultimate chapter of the 3rd arc. And yes, Issei's return is going to be sick.

WolkaiserDrake – Well, I must admit, even I am relieved that I have killed Himitria. Although, is she truly dead? …Nah, I am joking, she is dead, she's not returning, I promise.

leader .dbz– Don't worry mate, I understand. I am also glad that you liked the previous chapter. Perhaps I should do more Yandere Ahri PoV action? Anyway, as I previously said, I will try to release chapters as fast as I can, but it all depends on how much time I have in the real world.

LorDragun – Well, first of all, please let me say thank you for your very kind words. I am trying my best to deliver to all of you the possibly the best story I can create, so I am always glad to hear that someone thinks my story is the best when it comes to "betrayed DxD" fanfics. Not like I have big concurrency… As to team DxD imploding… Well, remember that the entire DxD Team has many other strong members, like Vali, Dulio, and Dulio. The only people truly losing the most firepower is peerage of Rias Gremory, since Issei was the main reason why they were strong at all.

Atryx10 – For the sake of my sanity, I am not going to indulge myself in this very poor flame you made. So let me say it like this – you being here is not a must. JFC what a shitty and pathetic flame you made.

And that's it for now. I think you we can... oh wait, one last thing before the chapter will begin. Remember, this is the next-to-last chapter of the third arc.

I have created a discord server for all the fans of this story. Just copy this link ( discord . gg/ pghekDe – just remember about deleting the space between the letters. And if for some reason it does not work, then please send me a PM on fanfiction about – I will send a working link ASAP). I hope to see you there soon!

The Betrayed Dragon

Chapter 24

Irdorath

There is nothing that I would regret more than what I've done after the invasion. Nothing at all. Not even being reincarnated by Rias Gremory, not trusting those backstabbers, literally nothing I could regret more than a decision I made after the invasion.

And like in many cases, all the worst of possible to come, began with one simple desire to do just one good thing. Just one thing that – from a moral point of view – was good.

Sadly, it was another situation, when I learned that morals and idealism are good for children. That they have nothing to do with real life.

And now, here I am waiting for my doom, held in chains, kept in a dark cell, forced to endure the worst possible tortures ever created. And all because I – Issei Verphis – wanted to do what was right. That one good thing.

How it all begun? Well, let me take you back in time… Sadly I can't tell how far back in time since I don't know how much time has already passed out there. Days and weeks seem to blend when you're kept alone in a dark cell.

So, let me take you back to days after the invasion…

The first thing I can recall was the inside of my soul. I was once again in this weird place where Ddraig and Raynare resided. They were standing near me, waiting for me to say anything. But at that moment I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know if there was any need to say anything. Or maybe I was just lost in my thoughts?

"After all those years…" I finally decided to speak. "My sacred gear, the legendary Boosted Gear has finally returned to me…"

Happiness was one of the biggest emotions in me. Almost a decade I've been waiting for my Boosted Gear to once again appear. And here it was, after all those days of training and fighting, my sacred gear, the one that belonged to me by birthright, was once again a part of me.

[Well, since I wasn't dead or away from you, it should be obvious from the beginning for you that one day, the physical form of your Sacred Gear will return to you. Although, I am not so sure about your Boosted Gear being a Sacred Gear anymore…]

Yes… What Ddraig was suspecting could be true. Within all those years, my Boosted Gear came through so many evolutions. And right now it was completely a part of me. It was no longer connected to the Sacred Gear system in heaven, so I guess calling it a Sacred Gear was no longer an option. It was something completely else, something new and unseen anywhere.

Perhaps if Azazel was here, he would be able to create his twisted theory about what my Boosted Gear had become, perhaps he would try to consult it with Ajuka, or with his organization… But then again, should I even care about a nomenclature? All that mattered was that the power of Ddraig was with me once again. And this time I was sure that nothing would be able to set us apart.

/So, Issei, how do you like your new form?/ Raynare asked with a mixture of happy and curious expression. She seemed to be very proud of me finally unleashing my new form.

Oh yes, my new form. I was very surprised when Ddraig showed me how my new form looks like.

Honestly, I was very surprised. I was expecting just a plain old Boosted Gear on my left arm, instead, I got a completely new look taken straight out of Dangeon&Dragons universe… Wait a second, I was practically living inside a D&D world…

Anyway, I could help but crack a smile at my new form… It looked just so badass!

/Yes, I believe the word "badass" is very accurate here. And now it is time to say how powerful you are in this new form of yours!/
[The fallen one is right Issei, it is time to reveal to you how much power you can unleash with your new Boosted Gear!]

Yes, with every new form, I was becoming more powerful. If I had to be honest, I didn't care that much about power… All I ever wanted was to be strong enough to protect what I love, and that's all. I never wanted to have a power able to destroy gods, or to obliterate whole civilizations… I just wanted to protect my family.

But it would seem that the Universe had different plans…

[With your Boosted Gear unleashed, I am proud to announce that right now – if you'd still be a devil – you'd be classified as super-devil. That's right, your power is on the same level as the ruler of hell or even Dragon Kings!] Ddraig couldn't hide the fact that he – just like Raynare – was also very proud.

I on the other hand… I just couldn't believe his words. To be on the same level as one of the strongest groups of beings… It was something I just couldn't imagine. A power that once I could only dream about… Now was in my hands.

Not even on DxD worlds, I was that strong. I guess that I have already long surpassed my old self when it comes to power.

"Ddraig… When I tried to destroy the barrier around the island… I've heard something new coming from my Boosted Gear… Something that I have never heard before…" I asked while trying to understand fully what happened a few hours ago during the invasion. While I was awake and conscious during my battle, some of my actions were based on my pure instinct. In other words – I needed to know how I was able to break through the barrier.

Ddraig only looked at me, with a teacher-like smile, again proud, that I noticed such a detail. And so, he took a deep breath and started his lecture.

[There are many abilities of mine, that are considered as lost or locked away. In normal conditions, Boosted Gear grants you the ability to boost yourself or to send some of your power to someone else through "transfer". But those two were not the only weird abilities I could use.]

For a few seconds, Ddraig seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. It looked as if he was recalling times when he was still free to fly and dominate Earth's skies. Times before he was locked away in a Sacred Gear.

[One of my lost abilities you already possessed. My crimson flames, Crimzon inferno of scorching flames… It was my original and primal ability, long before I have learned how to boost my power. Somehow, when you have merged all our powers, you have unlocked those flames.] Then Ddraig smiled as if he was laughing at his old younger self's past mistakes. [I gained the ability to boost during my fight with Albion. None of our primal abilities were working on us, so we had to learn something new.]

I couldn't help but listen carefully to this story. This is the first time Ddraig was speaking about his past, way predating his battles with Albion. I don't know if anyone even knew about this part of his life. At that moment I started to wonder, just how old is Ddraig? How many centuries did he live through? How many civilizations he had seen falling?

Meanwhile, Ddraig continued his explanation.

[Boosting and transferring power is not the only thing you can do with your Boosted Gear. The one you used during the invasion was "Penetrate" – another one of my original abilities. With this, you can bypass any form of enemy's defense. Be it armor or magical shield, whatever.]

Ability, that allows me to bypass the enemy's defense… That was indeed something powerful. More than I could imagine. Part of me was saying that this technic was nothing more than cheating, but then again, pure honor was rarely winning any battles. If one wanted to survive, he must embrace everything that will allow him to survive and win.

After all, idealism was good for kids.

I have learned that many times, mostly in very painful ways. In a grown-ups world, everything is brutal, everyone wanted to deceive you. There was only one place, a sole exception from that rule, then only save haven. A place I called home.

But back to Ddraig's revelation… I wondered how many more of his hidden abilities I could unlock. And perhaps I could even re-create my old technics, back from the DxD times.

"Ddraig… Just how many more secrets this Sacred Gear has to unravel?"
[I… Don't know. The truth is, after being sealed away in this Sacred Gear for so long, I may have forgotten many of my original abilities. So much time has passed, so many generations… It is hard to say. But perhaps I may have a way to cheer you up a bit – yes, it is possible to re-create some of your old abilities.]

And that was news that made me grin. If I could re-unlock the same abilities I had back on DxD worlds, and combine them with what I know and can do right now… And if I'd add my power to that…

I could be invincible.

/Now, now, Issei, it is time to remind you, that you still have a long road before you. Many abilities are waiting for you to discover. But right now, you have to wake up. I believe someone is calling you in the real world. So be a good boy, and wake up./ Just when I was about to ask more questions, Raynare came to me and said those words.

And so, the last thing from my soundscape I could remember was Raynare waving her hand with a smile on her face, while Ddraig just noded.

I could swear I've seen a smirk on his face…

When I opened my eyes, all I could see were two golden, sun-like orbs with a black hole inside them.

No… That would be wrong. First – a black hole and sun cannot co-exist near each other, because the black hole's gravitational pull would obliterate anything around it. And most importantly – both stars and black holes could not shed tears.

And yet, it would seem that those could indeed cry.

Soon, a new feeling came to me. Someone was touching my cheeks, caressing them carefully.
'Since when cosmic objects can hold someone in such a loving manner?' I thought with my half-awaked brain.

And soon I've realized what was going on. I was indeed caught by a cosmic entity. An entity so beautiful, that I – without any doubt – would fall into her embrace. In other words – I was woken up by my amazing wife Ahri.

She was again protectively holding me as if she was trying to protect me from the outside world. I couldn't help but scold myself for making her worried all over again.
"You really should stop making me worried about you all the time Issei!"

Her voice sounded relieved. She was happy that I have opened my eyes. And I supposed that everyone can agree with what she said.

After a few minutes, we both decided to go outside, to meet with the rest of our family. As soon as we came into the garden, we were welcomed by the happy cries of children. But before I could respond to them, someone had trapped me in a bear-hug. I instantly recognize who that person was.

My mom was also relieved. She wasn't crying, but it wasn't hard to notice that she was extremely worried about me.

I was happy to see her again, but at the same time, I felt guilty. Something was pinching my heart with emotional pain. And I knew why. I have broken my promise. I used the very thing I swear I won't use anymore.

I used the Dark'hasi powers to interrogate Himitria Ashburn.

One could argue that I did it for the better good. That what have I done was fully justified. And yes, that Is true, thanks to the information obtained from her I could not only save our city but also save the entire orphanage from the worst possible fate.

But there was also a second side of the coin – to do that, I had to willingly break the promise I made to mom. And that wasn't something easy for me to accept. I didn't even think about her at the moment I decided to use this ability on Himitria. At that moment I was too angry to care about possible consequences. I just wanted to squeeze every possible bit of pieces of information from her.

So not only I used a forbidden ability, but I also did it without thinking, in a wave of pure anger. It wasn't something I was proud of it. I never wanted to act on just my emotions. I wanted to be better than that.

I was also afraid of how mom would react to that revelation. How much will she be disappointed?

But turns out – she already knew. I don't know how, but she just knew. I tried to apologize to her, but she didn't care. She just hugged me tighter and whispered.

"I know why you did it. I can tell you just how much you feel ashamed of yourself. But I won't scold you for that. I know why you did it. I know, because I know you. I know how far you can go to protect your family. That is why I will forgive you. I will always forgive you. Just remember why I forbid you to use it. It's because Dark'hasi users always fall into the darkest fate. And I don't want this to happen to you. You had enough of misery in your life. It is time for you to be happy. Just remember that."

I don't know why I was expecting something harsh coming from mom. Maybe I was afraid of history repeating itself?

And yet, despite all my fears, my mom was the same person I always remembered her as. Loving, caring, understanding. She knew. She knew why I did it, she understood how I felt. I didn't have to explain anything to her. She was just there for me. And that was something I was forever grateful for.

After that, I was forced… I meant I was kidly asked by my family to stay on our isle and relax. And I had to admit – the invasion took some of my strength away. Relax was indeed something I needed at that time.

And so I stayed, just like in the old times, watching after kids, staying more at home with my family. I missed those days when I wasn't attached to my duty. When every single day was just peaceful.

But even then I was still wondering what was going out there, beyond Elyne. Was the war still going? Who was winning? And most importantly – what was Loki planning? With the entire campaign going like this, it was more than obvious that Loki would not be happy. He wanted to dominate this entire world, so with a lost war, it was less than possible to him.

And yet, there was one important factor I knew I should consider – Loki was a god of mischief, he was a trickster, a manipulator. He could manipulate everything to his liking. So maybe this whole war was also part of his plan? Or maybe he just adapted to this new situation and just created a new plan?

Yes… it would seem that we will have to rediscover Loki and check out what he was doing this time… Of course, I knew that this time it will be so much more problematic… It won't be easy to just enter the Capital City again…

And so I was thinking about possibilities of incoming future, when – after a week of rehabilitation – Angar came with shocking news.

It would seem that during the invasion, the enemy forces kidnapped some of the kids from the poorer part of the city. Kids, that some of I knew. Some of those kids would often come to us for a free meal, or to get some help.

I was beyond shocked. I was furious. I treated those kids the same as I treated kids from the orphanage – like my little brothers and sisters. And now I've learned that someone just took them away from their parents, doing god-knows-what to them.

I wanted to start to search for them as fast as possible. I didn't care if I would have to go straight to the heart of the enemy's empire, I just wanted to save those kids.

My decision was nothing everyone approved. My mom was torn apart – part of her, just like, wanted to save those kids. But the other part didn't want to let me go. She would say that I was barely on my feet and now I wanted to march straight into enemy territory.

Ahri on the other hand… Well, imagine a very angry Yandere wife… And, to be honest, I understood her. I knew why she reacted this way. Many times she had to watch me take many wounds for someone, and she couldn't just take it anymore. She wanted to protect me.

But the job had to be done. Someone had to find those kids. And I was the only person brave enough to go and check the Darksiders' territory.

Before I went away, I decided to have the last talk with both my mom and wife.
"Mom… Ahri… I know you don't want me to go. I know you hate those moments. But I am the only one who has any chance of surviving out there. And I want to save those kids. I promised this to them. So I make a promise also to you – I swear, I will return. Whatever will happen, I will return home!"

After my little speech, I hugged them both as tight as I could. All of us shed many tears. We all knew that the hardest mission was awaiting me.

To be honest… I was scared. No, even more than scared – I was terrified. I knew that this would be the most difficult mission in my entire life… And yet it had to be done. Someone had to at least try.

And so, after the very last goodbye, I flew away from my home, following the trail left by invaders.

The first part of my journey wasn't that hard – I just had to fly through a large part of the territories I once have seen. That was something I could do with my eyes closed. The whole thing became a mission impossible when I crossed the border.

On the other side of the Centauria, things were different. Most people here were slaves, evil so-called gods were ruling with an iron fist. Here I had to once again become incognito person.

Being anonymous isn't that hard. But trying to lure some secrets is. I've tried to find any traces for weeks, venturing deeper and deeper into the enemy's empire.

The further I ventured, the less I could recognize what is going on around me. People here had a very weird taste for machines… It looked as if they tried to become some sort of cyborgs, yet they didn't have advanced enough technology to do that.

Many cities were placed underground. For me, those cities looked more like tombs. Streets were filled with many automatons or cybernetically augmented soldiers. It all looked so obscured to me – it was as if someone tried to mix both fantasy and sci-fi worlds. Sadly, the effect looked miserable to me.

The longer I walked through the Darksiders' empire, the more I started to think about how much I don't belong here, how here I was something unnatural. I was scared that one day I will get arrested – or worse – just because my body didn't have any metal attached to it. The only thing separating me from being noticed was a dirty cloak I found during my travel here.

People around me… Some of them behaved as if they didn't have any free will. Almost as if they've all been… programmed. I know it sounds weird, but people around behaved more like programmed machines than like normal alive beings.

It was beyond even slavery – those people looked as if they have removed everything related to free will. It was just dreadful to watch.

I would often wonder, about what happened here. I barely knew anything about this part of my world, only hearing some gossips from the time of war, but nothing else. And yet what I saw here was beyond my imagination.

And so I traveled further, looking for any kind of clue at this point. Going through the cities so futuristic and yet so abstract. Futuristic and at the same time… dead. Sometimes I would wander through streets of cities with not a single soul around me.

For how long have I been there. I don't know. Those womb-cities were messing with my time. Without suns or stars, it was very hard for me to tell how much time has passed since my departure. Days, hours, weeks… it all blended into one.

I was slowly losing my hope. I felt as if time around just suddenly started to flow faster and faster with every passing day. I wanted to just fly away from those tombs and just reach the sky, to once again feel the sun on my skin. But I knew if I'd do that, I'd compromise the entire mission. There was no return. I had to succeed.

Then, just one day, hope has returned to my heart – I have found a trail. Pieces of clothes from Elyne, the ones that could only fit a small child. Finally, the mission was moving forward.

And then, move evidence of kidnapped children. They were close, I could feel that. They were in the same tomb-city as I was. So close.

I should have realized. It suddenly got too easy. I was so stupid to not realize that someone wanted me to find those children. Weeks of nothing and now suddenly a success after success? I should have known better than to simply trust luck. And yet I made a stupid rookie mistake. Because I paid a very high price for my stupidity…

The last thing I remember from my adventure to the tomb-cities of the Darksiders' empire was a sudden pain erupting in the back of my head.

I believe that someone punched me. But does that matter?

The truth is – when you're losing your consciousness, nothing matters at all…

No one likes waking up after losing consciousness. It is not the most pleasing experience you can have. Your mind is just basically doing a forced restart. Not cool.

So, obviously, I also did not enjoy the way I woke up. Just forced push to the real world. But then again, what I have witnessed later could be described as having a lucid dream.

When I woke up, everything was wrong. Nothing around me seems to be correct. It looked as if the reality was on a hangover.

The first thing – temperature. I was freezing. No, it was something more, it was beyond freezing. It felt as if I was bathing in liquid nitrogen. All of my internal organs started to turn into frozen rock.

I had to work fast. There was still a big chance that I would just freeze to death here. But where was this "here"?

I created a bubble of hot air. For a while I was just sitting there, waiting for my body to slowly return to a normal state. I also decided to look around, to see where I could be.

But it was hard to say anything. Everything around me was covered in a blue-like fog. The fog seemed to be connected to why the temperature around was so low. Perhaps someone tried to freeze me to death?

The fog itself… Well, it didn't smell like anything. Besides being cold and blue, it had no smell. And that was the first wrong thing I noticed with this place. Every fog had some kind of faint smell – be it of forest, or rain. But this one – nothing.

Another thing I noticed was, that through a blue fog, a few dozens of rocky pillars were proudly standing. It would seem that I was sitting one of those pillars.

But that's not all. When I looked to see the sky, I noticed that the atmosphere was… Orange. It looked as if someone has mixed atmosphere from Mars and Saturn's moon – Titan. How I was able to breath was beyond me. As far as I knew, the air did not look like pumpkin soup.

Orange soup above, thick blue fog beneath… This place was getting weirder with every second.

Without any better idea in my mind, I decided to learn something more about this place. At first, I decided to check how high I was. And so, I pointed my hand to the edge of my pilar and when I was about to create a small flame…
/NO, DON'T DO IT ISSEI!/

Raynare's scream flooded my soul. Her voice was full of fear as if she has found out something important.

/Issei, under no circumstances you can create a flame here. Even the smallest one. I know what this weird fog is. This color, this cold temperature… Issei, this fog, I've seen it before, in one of the Grigori laboratories… Issei, this fog is Oxygen!/

My eyes almost fell out of orbits. Oxygen… a fog made out of pure Oxygen… At first, I wanted to laugh, but then I realized how scary this situation was. Even the smallest flame would cause an explosion powerful enough to obliterate all the pillars around me.

If oxygen here was in the form of a fog, then I was in a deadly situation indeed. Not only because of the flames. That also meant I was unable to fly too high because I would run out of oxygen. And since you need a very cold temperature to create that thick oxygen fog…
[It means that the moment you won't be able to hold your barrier any longer, you are going to die in a very nasty way…]

It was dreadful. This whole situation. How could I hope to survive in a place like this? It is one thing to survive in a jungle or desert, but completely another when you're facing a situation when oxygen becomes liquid! It was beyond me.

But right now I needed to learn where I was. And I needed to find the nearest town. Or just simply the nearest person. I needed help. As fast as possible.

I decided to fly. I didn't give a damn about which direction to, I simply wanted to find out anyone here and get out of here.

And so I flew for hours. The pillars seemed to never end. It was nothing more than pillars, blue fog, and orange sky. And no one out there. It would seem that I was somehow transported into the most devoided of life place.

'Weird…' I thought while I was looking around. 'This is not a place I can recognize. This doesn't even feel like Centauria. It almost looks as if I somehow traveled to another world…'

I prayed to whoever was listening for that to not be true. I had no desire to find myself in a world different than the one place in an Alpha Centauri star system. And yet, the longer I've been in this place, the more I started to believe that I once again have found myself in a completely different world.

While I was flying, I noticed I passed through all the pillars. All of them were far away from me. There was nothing more than oxygen fog and orange sky around me. I wanted to fly further, to see if there was something else out there, but I knew that I will have to soon find a ground to land on.

Orange sky, poisonous with the composition of gases that I could not recognize against almost liquid oxygen. One choice was worse than another.

And yet I decided to dive into this blue fog and try to find anything that would resemble ground.

While I was falling, I noticed another weird phenomenon. Well, perhaps I should not call it weird since anything in this world was anything but normal to me. All around me, there were small droplets of pale blue liquid, falling like rain. I instantly recognized what those were. Wherever I was, oxygen rain was just another normal thing.

Soon, I have found something similar to a ground. Similar only in the fact that you could stand on this thing. The ground was nothing I have ever seen anywhere. Skin-like colored ice, covered in bloody, vein-looking like paths. And to make this even weirder – many of those "blood paths" seemed to guide towards one of many monoliths standing down there.

Right now I felt as if I just found myself in a twisted nightmare. The more I tried to discover this new place, the less sense it had.

When my feet had finally touched the ground, I decided to walk and see if I might be able to see anything else. But all I could see was nothing more than thousands and thousands of those monoliths. All of them, painted in black and red colors. All of them had rectangular shapes.

And some of them – at least the ones that were not yet destroyed by time – were covered in weird sigils… No, I could recognize them.

Those sigils were one of the dialects of the ancestor's language!

That revelation shocked me. Signs of an ancient civilization, just standing all around me, waiting to be translated and rediscovered.

I tried to read what was left on those monoliths, but it was harder than I expected. Many of the sigils were already destroyed by time, but there were words I could recognize.

War. Lost. Salvation.

And the one appearing the most of times – darkness.

Those monoliths… they didn't seem to tell a story about once-great civilization. They were more like a twisted last-will testament of the last survivors. Back in Centauria, many scholars were trying to figure out what happened to this ancient civilization. They seem to disappear without any trace. And yet, here I was, watching the last words of dying civilization. It was just terrifying.

/Issei… I don't like this place… It does not feel natural to me…/ Raynare seemed to also feel uneasy about this whole situation and place. She was scared. And I couldn't blame her. This whole place felt like one big morgue.

[I am afraid that sadly we will be forced to stay here. It's getting dark and you have to rest Issei.] Just when Ddraig said that I noticed that the blue fog started to slowly get darker and darker. It would seem that I have spent an entire day "here".

Soon, all I could see around me was pure darkness. I tried not to think about how long I will be able to hold the barrier around me, the only thing keeping me alive in this hell-hole.

The barrier… Now that was something I suddenly found suspicious. I could not recall creating a barrier at all. And on top of that, I did not know how to create a barrier with a closed atmosphere and temperature. Something was not right.

"When… And how did I create such a complex barrier…?" I asked both of my spirits, not understanding how could I even be alive at this point. Even if I was somehow able to create such a barrier, I was still unconscious before I woke up. I should freeze to death long before I'd be able to wake up and save myself.

[Issei… I don't know to be honest. When we all woke up here, that barrier was just there, all around you. Maybe someone tried to save you?]
/Whoever it was, all we know that this barrier will not hold for eternity. For now, it will hold just fine, but sooner or later this barrier will begin to break…/
'And then I will die…' I added in my thoughts. And then I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep…

DAY 2

I woke up wishing that the previous day was just a dream. Sadly, I didn't have any luck in that matter. When I opened my eyes, I once again saw the black monoliths with blood-like writings on them.

The pale blue fog was again around me. Oxygen puddles were scattered everywhere around, creating a pale blue dots.

The second day here started just like the previous one. Shock, unbelief, realizing the truth… Not every day you wake up in a place of nightmares, are you?

I decided to go further, following the main path near the monoliths. Nothing has changed in them. They still looked like a last testament. A wish of dying people, waiting just to disappear from history.

And so I continued my little adventure. I was a little hungry, but I doubted that I would find anything even resembling food here. Besides, I could survive a few days without food. I was more worried about getting out of here.

Walking, walking, and walking. Constantly, monotonously, without a break. The monoliths were still silently standing around me, leaving notes in a long-dead language. But they didn't matter to me. I wasn't here to find a new archeologic mystery. I just wanted to go back to my home.

After a few hours – or perhaps after what seemed to be a few hours – I finally reached the end of the main path. Monoliths were long before left behind and the pale blue fog started to fade away. Soon I was welcomed by a completely new view.

Without the fog, I was able to see a beautiful orange sky. It looked as if the sky was just taken out of the pastel painting. Even if the atmosphere here was deadly, I couldn't lie about how magnificent this place looked. Cosmos was indeed full of contradictions – such a beauty, and yet such deadly.

Before me, there were a few small mountains, made of the same material as the ground in the "monolith area". Was it natural? Perhaps if I was more into geology I would be able to recognize what those ice-like stones were?

There was nothing on the ground. Not a single grain of the grass, everything was dead. If not for the fact that I've seen all those monoliths a few hours earlier, I would not believe that this place was once inhabited.

And, now it's time for another thing. The most shocking.

Right above the mountains, proudly on the sky, was a giant red star, shining above this long-forgotten place.

Centauria had three suns. And none of them were this big in the sky. One of the three suns was indeed a red dwarf star, but it wasn't this close to the planet.

And yet, here, there was just one sun. Judging from the fact that it shinned with a red—like light and it was so much closer than the suns of Centauria or "The sun", I could say without any doubts – I have found myself in a completely different world.

"That is… That's not possible! How?!" I've finally realized what was going on. I was in a completely different world. Gods know how far away from my home. In a completely different world, cut off from anything I knew and anything that could help me.

In other words, I was completely alone, in a completely dead world, lightyears away from anyone.

I wanted to cry, to scream to do anything. But it was pointless. What would be the point? No one would be able to hear it anyway. I was alone.

[Issei, don't give up! You're still alive, maybe we will find a way to return to our home?]
/Issei, come on! You still have the barrier! That means that someone might protect you! Don't give up, fight for your survival!/

Both of my inner spirits were trying their best to keep my spirit high. But was there any point? Even the mysterious barrier all around me will soon break… The barrier… Perhaps they were right? Perhaps someone indeed was trying to save me?

Or perhaps someone tried to torment me even more?

Whatever the reason… Even if those were my last days of being alive… At least I could try to find out where in the universe I was?

And so I continued my otherworldly adventure, through frozen mountains and orange skies. Hours after hours, without any break I continued my march towards my destiny, hoping silently that maybe one day I will find out answers to at least some of my questions.

As I was walking and flying, I noticed that there was no sign of any civilization. As if those previous monoliths were the only thing left from what was know as an ancient civilization. But then again, what I was expecting? They disappeared a long time ago, perhaps there was nothing left of them, except for those few hundreds of monoliths?

Finally, when the sun was finally setting, I found something new in this dead frozen wasteland. It looked as if it was taken away straight from a fairy tale.
"Are you kidding me?"

That was the only thing I could say when I noticed and recognized what was before me.

An enormous pale blue ocean. It was an ocean made purely of oxygen. Enough to set this place on fire that would burn for years. Enough for millions of Apollo's missions. Enough to change the atmosphere on a few planets. And it was just here, laying and waiting for someone to take it.

If there were so many tons upon tons of oxygen in forms of oceans… I wonder if in the past there was any life here. In any form. If the oxygen right now was in the form of liquid, then perhaps, very long ago, this world was habitable, and perhaps it had its own life here.

But it didn't matter right now. Something bad happened to this world, and now it was dead. Whatever was alive here, it was dead for eons.

And so I sat there, on the frozen beach, waiting for the most alien sunset I could imagine. Once again I noticed how despite deadly conditions, this world had its beauty, long forgotten by everyone. The pastel-like orange sky soon turned red and then it started to get dark.

If what I saw before was beautiful, then I could not express in words the magnificent wonder I could see after the dawn in this beach. A pure, cloudless night sky, with millions of stars right above me. And with the reflecting pale blue ocean right before it looked as if I was transported into a land of fantasy.

I was almost imprisoned by this wonderful sight. It wasn't something I could see back on Earth or Centauria. I could almost forget how deadly this world was. Perhaps if those really were my last day, then perhaps dying in this place wouldn't be that bad?

As I looked upon the brilliant sky, I tried to see anything similar to what I could see on Earth or Centauria… And soon I noticed something. A star shining as bright as Pollux on Earth. And I also noticed a familiar triple solar system…

"GJ 669b…" I said quietly when I realized where I was…
/Hmm? What was that Issei?/
"GJ 669b. This is the official name of this planet."

For a while, both of my inner spirits were baffled. They didn't know what to say.
/And you know this how?/ Raynare was first to ask. She was still rather surprised by my sudden revelation.

Meanwhile, I just continued to look at the bright sky and started to explain.
"You see that star?" I pointed at the specific area in the sky. "It looks like Pollux from the Gemini star constellation from Earth. I wasn't sure at first, but then I noticed a very familiar triple star system that I think we all recognize. With this, I was sure that this Pollux-like star is actually Earth's sun. And with all those information combined, I think I know where we are."

I stopped for a moment as if I was trying to build tension. For a second even I thought that it was crazy, but now I had all evidence I needed.

"With the location of stars and the fact that this world orbits around a red dwarf star, I can say that right now we are on the 'super-earth' type planet orbiting around Bernard's Star, exactly six lightyears away from Earth's Sun…"

For a while, both I and the spirits were quiet. None of us knew what to say. We were alone, drifting millions and millions of kilometers away from home, in a completely dead world. With no way out. With no way to return.

/But, if you know where we are, then perhaps we will be able to find the way to return?/
"Return to Centauria is easy. Just all you have to do is just accelerate to the escape velocity fast enough to defeat both gravity of this planet and this solar system and then fly millions of years towards Centauria. Easy peasy.

To be honest, I appreciated Raynare's little gesture in trying to cheer me up. But right now, I didn't have any idea as to what to do. Perhaps the next day will be better for me?

And so I closed my eyes and fell asleep, with the diamond sky as my only guardian…

DAY 3

Oxygen… Oxygen here, oxygen there… Look anywhere you want there is nothing but an endless ocean of oxygen all around me. I felt that I was going insane from the amount of that pale blue ocean around me.

As soon as I woke up with the sunrise, I decided to check what's on the other side of the see of oxygen. And it turns out its very bad idea.

For how long I've been flying? I flew with supersonic speed, I was sure that within two or three hours I would be able to fly through the entire pacific ocean. And yet, here I couldn't find the end of this cursed ocean.

I knew that this world was called 'super-earth', but I didn't suspect that it will be this large! And that was my mistake. Because it meant that it could take me at least a whole day before I would be able to cross this ocean.

I was getting impatient. Furious even. At one point I even started to beg to whoever was listening – just let this ocean soon end. I needed to stand on the ground. If not I would soon go insane.

And then – as if some long-forgotten deity of this world just listened to my prayers – I have found land. I think it was my happiest day in this world.

As soon as I landed, I wanted to cry. It was the longest flight I had ever in my life. To fly from the one end of the ocean to another it took me a whole day. From the sunrise to long past sunset. The sky was dark once again. I needed a break.

[Good job Issei. You did a good job. Rest, for now, we will try to figure out what to do next tomorrow.]

The only thing I could do at that moment was just to listen to Ddraig's suggestion. And so I closed my eyes and drifted into a dream world…

DAY 4

My stomach decided to wake me up right before the sunrise. It was the fourth day of this otherworldly adventure of mine, and I still couldn't find any source of food or even water. Even if I was able to survive without food or water way longer than any human, I still had some limits.

The hunger wasn't that bad. More terrifying was the growing feeling of helplessness in me. Was there any way to come back home from here? Was there any chance to find anything that could help me survive here?

I knew I should continue. But it was still a little bit too much for me.

So I continued. I left the oxygen ocean far behind me, and I went towards the only thing I found interesting here – a dark canyon.

The canyon itself wasn't that interesting. Just another canyon, just like any other in the universe. Perhaps a few hundred thousand years ago there was a river here? If yes, then perhaps was it also an oxygen river? Or was it a normal one?

No… No evidence would allow me to think that in the past this world was once habitable. Not even those monoliths I've seen two days ago.

/Issei… what's that?/ Raynare was first to bring me back to reality. She noticed something odd here. I wondered what that could be, but this canyon wasn't allowing me to see everything, so I decided to fly up and to see what she was talking about.

And before me, there was another mystery in this world. Where all the canyons seemed to begin, there was a great area of flat space with just one large object at the center. It took me a few seconds, but I soon realized what this object seemed to resemble. It looked very similar to the Capital City from Centauria – if it was a few times bigger and was abandoned a few thousand years ago.

In other words – I might have found out another sign of a long-lost civilization. And with it – perhaps a way back home.

Of course, the city was still far beyond my reach. It seemed to be closer, but that was all an illusion created by the sheer magnitude of this object.

And so I made my decision. Whatever was before me, it was my next destination.

So I walked and walked, through the endless valley of emptiness, armed only with another portion of hope.

It took me another full day to finally reach what seemed to be the doorstep of this magnificent object. Blue fog once again appeared all around me, trying to cover everything in the shroud of mystery, but I still was able to see what was before me.

The Valley's view was soon replaced with something that looked like destroyed monuments. Between monuments, there seemed to be a web of ancient roads, not used by anyone for millennia.

/This place is getting weirder with every incoming second…/ That was the only thing Raynare was able to say. And I didn't blame her – to be honest, I was also rather speechless. We were, after all, walking through the forgotten parts of history.

[This place…] Ddraig suddenly said, with a hint of nostalgia. [It almost feels familiar. As if something inside me was telling me that I am not here for the first time…]

His words were suspicious to me… Under normal circumstances, I'd say loudly to him that it was simply impossible for him to know this place… But those last four days proved to me that everything was possible in this universe…

But if what Ddraig said was true… What could it mean for all of us? What was the great mystery of this world?

That was a good thing to think about for another day. But at that moment I needed to rest. After all, there was an entire object for me to investigate.

DAY 5

I ventured into the object. But I completely wasn't prepared to see what was inside.

Before my eyes, there were a thousand… No, millions of behemoth statues of monks. What was even weirder was the fact that those statues were all looking like skeletons. An army of skeleton monks.

This whole place looked just… As it was just taken out of a nightmare. For a while, I felt as if I was stepping down to hell… But then that would mean that hell truly did get frozen.

And so I walked and walked, through what seemed to be the endless maze of monuments. A few times I catch myself thinking that some of those behemoths were watching me. But it would've been a ridiculous thing, right?

Right?

And as I walked, I wondered – why would someone build and put those giants here? Did they mean anything in the past? Was this some form of a history display? Was I missing the point here?

Every incoming moment in this place was giving me more shivers. To be honest, a part of me was scared of this place. Something was wrong here…

DAY 6

Apparently, one day wasn't enough to go through this place. It was bigger than I thought. And I started to doubt that this place even could be that big. I started to believe that I was lost, that perhaps I missed something. Or maybe I was going around a circle? But if that would be the case, then I'd had to find the same spot I came here. And yet, I did not find the exit.

Perhaps I was missing something? Maybe this was a test? Perhaps I should find something here?

Or maybe this whole place was nothing more than an ancient trap?

Whatever this place, for whatever reason this place was built, I knew I had to soon find some exit. Or this place would drag me into insanity…

Perhaps I should try to fly over those things? Yes, that seemed to be a good idea.

And so I tried that. Successfully. But even while I was above those things, I couldn't find anything that would look like an exit. Within a minute I have spotted the gate, the same one I used to enter this place. But there was just no way out.

This place seemed to be just nothing more than a path between these monoliths. Did I by accident found an ancient art gallery? Now that would be a great joke.

Trying to find a way out of this world. instead, I have found out that a long-dead civilization had a weird thing for skeleton monks. Great joke indeed.

DAY 7

Third day in this maze. Seventh-day in this dead world. I really was starting to lose any hope. Even with having the advantage of flying, I still could not find anything close to answering how to go back home. Perhaps this place really was a dead-end? Was I going to die here? Left to rot in a long-forgotten world? Would my body even start rotting in this place?

In other words, I was losing my sanity. I knew I should push harder, trying all my best, but I was slowly realizing that perhaps I will never find a way home. I will die here. Perhaps, one day, my body will be found by other people who will be unlucky enough to find themselves here? Or maybe, if humanity will survive long enough, perhaps they will travel to this world.

Imagine… Humanity traveling to the stars. Finding out they are not alone. First, they would discover a Centauria, and they would get through a shock. They would finally found out that they are not alone.

Then they would reach this world. They would find traces of a long-dead civilization. And within those tombs of time, they would find a body strangely resembling a human. Maybe even they would find out my living relatives?

Relatives… It wasn't something I would think about often. During my last decade, I tend to not think about anything related to my old life on Earth. But now, with all those grim thoughts appearing, I recalled my young days, on a certain blue planet.

First, I recalled my grandfather. Always happy and energetic old man, showing me a little too adult stuff to a young kid that one day would become me. The day I learned about his death was one of the saddest days of my life. I wonder what he would say about me right now. In a way I did what he asked me for – I have found a beautiful wife, the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life. Now I only had to get back to her.

Second, my grandmother. I still remember her, always happy and kind to everyone, never having a bad word about anyone. Cheerful, loving… I wonder, what happened to her? Did she ever learn even a little glimpse of what happened to me? Did she also want to get rid of me in the end? Or perhaps she just learned that I died under 'mysterious circumstances'?

Well, that or they just wiped her memories out. Anything was possible.

My parents… No, they are not my parents anymore. I shouldn't give the privilege of calling those people parents anymore. Now there is only my mom, Imati.

But, coming back to the people that somehow managed to 'produce' me… I wonder, did they have another child? Or were they just happy with their new 'daughters'? Or perhaps their happiness didn't last long? Maybe the Gremory family also kicked them out, since they were no longer necessary?

I must admit, it would be like karma's revenge.

And since we're talking about my past life… Whom should I try to recall from the depths of my memory now?

Matsuda and Motohama… Those two sons of bitches… To be honest I knew that they were never truly my friends. They needed a third weel, someone to cover their asses. They were always good without me. And now, they don't even know I existed. After all, the devils of Kuoh are always making sure to clean up their messes.

Aika Kiryuu… She probably also had her memories wiped out. Not like we actually had any form of relationship…

Murayama and Katase… They probably also can't recall me anymore. As I said, devils of Kuoh sure work fast.

Any of my human clients… No, there is nothing to recall. They also no longer remember me. Because officially – I have never existed there.

Officially, I was never a student at Kuoh. I was never an oppai-dragon. I was never part of the Gremory peerage or DxD team. I was never a Red Dragon Emperor. I wasn't one of Azazel's best students.

Officially, the Hyoudou family never had a son…

I always knew… I wasn't what they were expecting. They would remind me very often about that. And the moment when Asia or Rias came into their life, it was very easy for them to replace me with them.

All those girls were like children they couldn't have. For thousands of times, they would choose them over me. Maybe that is why it was so easy for them to just get rid of me? They already had their perfect family. Why would they need a non-fitting peace on their perfect picture?

Or maybe they were also left behind, just like me, when their role has ended?

And in the end, was it really that important? It was all over a decade ago. And I was literally millions and millions of kilometers away from them, in the place when no one from earth could reach me for centuries.

I knew, that there were people in the DxD world, trying to open the gate to the so-called ExE world… Was it Centauria? Or was it this world, or perhaps something completely else? All I knew, was that they will fail. They think in the wrong categories, they believe that magic is the answer to everything.

They were all wrong.

I said it many times, but I will say this again. In the end, humans will always be the first to open the path to other worlds. Only they have enough imagination and knowledge. Only they are open-minded enough to learn. But just like I stated before, it will still take a few centuries before they will leave their solar system…

Unless operation "Starshot Breakthrough" will work… then, they will learn about the Centauria in this century.

If somehow the supernatural part of my birth-world will ever set their feet on Centauria, perhaps they will learn that I survived. I had overcome many obstacles, I became stronger. Perhaps they will find Lirenkus, who – perhaps – will show the DxD world how much they are enslaved?

Or perhaps nothing like this will happen? Perhaps Rizevim will win the war. Or perhaps everyone will die there, before humanity's dream will bloom.

There was no way of telling. And I had no desire to know. I wanted to left alone, to move away from my past, and let's leave it like this. As far as I am concerned, there was no Issei Hyoudou in the past. There was only Verphis.

And so, I decided to return to the harsh reality of this dead world. With one last light of hope, trying to find an answer. This place had to hold a bigger secret.

So I searched, looking at every standing behemoth, trying to see the open door. I prayed to whoever would listen that the ancient civilization didn't just create this place just to show how much they loved skeletons.

The red sun had once again begun to fall. I would have to spend another night under the naked sky.

/Issei… Is it me, or are those statues getting… denser?/

And once again, Raynare pulled me out of my inner thoughts. She was right. Those statues were indeed getting denser… No, they were just placed denser… if that made any sense.

Soon, those statues were just literally standing as tightly near each other as possible. In some cases, they were even standing atop of each other.

This whole place was getting more filled with those skeletons up to one point. Soon I noticed a dead-end, where the whole passageway ended with – literally – thousands of skeleton statues standing near and atop of each other, pointing and looking into a giant hole beneath them.

To be honest, that hole looked like a hole straight to hell. And the fact that it was already night wasn't helping my imagination. Was I imagining things? Perhaps I was seeing an army of grim reapers, showing me the place of my final rest?

Or maybe I was slowly going insane. Who knows? At that point, I was ready to accept everything.

I looked again at the giant hole on the ground, covered in thick darkness. I gazed upon the darkness inside, hoping that the darkness will not look back at me.
"Yeah, there is no way I am going down there today. I prefer creepy skeletons than everlasting darkness. Good night."

DAY 8

[Issei! Wake up, now!]

I was jolted awake by the welsh dragon inside my head. His tone was overstressed as if he was trying to rush me.

"Ddraig, what could be so important to scream at me to wake me up?"
/Issei, it's the barrier! It's breaking! You don't have much time until you will freeze or suffocate to death!/

Well, I admit, that was indeed a very good reason to wake me up and to be stressed about. But then again, where I was supposed to go? There was no safe place in this world, where I could run and hide. My life was addicted to the barrier that was falling apart.

'I guess this is a final goodbye then…'
[Issei, just jump down into this hole! Trust me, just do it!]

I didn't why Ddraig wanted me to jump into an unknown hole within the last minutes of my life, but – without any other alternative option – I decided to do what she asked me to. I jumped.

As I was falling, when the gravitational pull of this world was dragging me down, I've heard a crack all around me. That's how I knew, that the barrier was finally destroyed.

Soon, I felt an enormous shift in the temperature around me. I could feel how within seconds my skin started to freezing. Soon, I felt how my kidneys became one of the most painful things inside my body. And – to make it all worse – I could inhale air.

Well, I guess that was something I should expect from a hostile world. Now all I could do was to bet what would kill me faster – the temperature, lack of any air, or the fall.
[Pull yourself together Issei, we're almost there!]

And – through a weird miracle – the temperature again began to rise and I could slowly breathe air again. Being relieved by the fact that I might survive another day, I used my dragon wings to slow down a little and safely land on the ground.

I know, that I said this many times already, but it's all because of this world. There were just too many shocking things to see.

As I landed, I've found myself in the center of what once looked like a city. Dozens, if not hundreds of buildings, hiding underground, protected from the outside deadly environment.
"By the gods…"

It was really impressive. Now I truly could say that I have found myself in the world was inhabited by an ancient civilization. Everything around me was just breathtaking. And this time – hopefully – not literally breathtaking.

What seemed to be obvious to me, was the fact that many of those buildings were already destroyed. I could only guess how much time has passed since this city had any citizens living here, but if I had to guess, I would say at least more than one thousand years.

Just try to imagine – while we were playing shining knights, fighting with swords and bows, people from this world were already building amazing cities, achieving things that would be considered as miracles by people from the earth. And – if those people had any connection to 'Ancestors' from Centauria – then perhaps they were even more advanced than we think.

But, that would imply, that those people were capable of interstellar travels. Just imagining that was mind-blowing already.

And so I walked through the ruins of a once-great city, observing remains of the ancient civilization. The city was mostly a remnant of its old self, but it still had its old beauty. If not for the fact that there was no food and water supply, and the fact that I really should return to Centauria, I swear I could stay here for at least a few years.

To be honest, anything I have found in this world would be considered sacred by many scholars from Centauria. Even the smallest things. Perhaps if I will find the way back home, perhaps one day I will try to return here, maybe with a scientific expedition?

But back to the current matter. As I walked through the ruins, I tried to imagine how this city could look in the past. It was obvious to me that it was built as a multi-leveled city, with buildings having many floors. Now, must of those buildings were ruined, some of them even collapsed under its weight.

Collapsed, but where? Could it be possible that underneath this city, there was something else to see?

And so I decided to get on the nearest possible level. It wasn't an easy task since the ruins would often block the entire road, but I wasn't giving up. I considered using my fire powers to help myself in finding a way down there, but I was still afraid of creating the planetary-consuming fire. Even if something here allowed this place to have an earth-like atmosphere, I still didn't want to risk creating the biggest fire in the universe.

After what seemed like an hour to me – bingo! I have found a clear entrance to the lower level!

From that perspective, the underground city looked even more magnificent. All the building complexes looked as if they were flying on the underground metal clouds. At that point, the city looked almost alive, even without anyone inside.

I tried to imagine the daily life of people living here. What was their purpose in life? Was this world their homeworld, or did they came here from the other planet? Was this planet always like this? Did they try to terraform it?

As I could recall from my knowledge of astronomy, Bernard's star was an old red dwarf star. And since those buildings didn't look like they were built billions of years ago, it was safe to assume, that when this ancient civilization created this city, the planet's surface already looked the same as it looks today.

Of course, the possible attempt to terraforming this world still was an option. That would even explain why this world had so much oxygen on its surface.

As I ventured into the lower level of the city, I noticed another interesting thing – the entire underground part of the already underground city looked like an old scientific outpost. I swear that I've seen remnants of what once seemed to be ancient computers and laboratory equipment.

And so I decided to check if any of those things were still working. On Centauria there were many ancient "artifacts" that were still working, so I hoped to find something working here. And to my surprise – one of the main consoles was still working.
"Well, I got to admit – ancient people really knew how to create a long-lasting technology!"

Upon activating what seemed to be an ancient computer, I was welcome by the holograms written in an ancient language. And once again I was happy that I took so many lessons about languages of the "ancestors" – thanks to those lessons, understanding what was written on those holograms was not a problem.

The very thing I noticed was this simple information – Welcome to the Irdorath research outpost one. Irdorath… I knew this name…

And then, a realization came into my mind with the power of a bullet. I knew this place. I've learned about this place many times. The ancient Irdorath, one of the main worlds of ancestors, the capital world of one of the ancestors' factions.

According to the legends, ancestors from the Irdorath were able to create many powerful monsters, capable of destroying whole worlds.

But the greatest creation of the people from Irdorath – at least, according to Centaurian's scholars – was creating dragons.

That's right – according to the Centaurian mythology, all dragons originated in this place.

And it would seem that everything was correct. The display of information both in the forms of holograms and writings on the wall suggested highly, that people from Irdorath knew about the existence of dragons.

Soon I've begun to get sucked into the information before me. I was becoming addicted to what I could see before me. And the more I read, the more terrified I became.

First – it would seem that civilization from Irdorath did not only have contact with early Centaurian civilization. From the translated information I could notice the mention of another world, with a civilization appearing on what they called 'Fertile Crescent'.

"Oh my God…" That was the only thing I could say. Fertile Crescent was a name for regions today known as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and levant. And that was the last known period of time this ancient ruins seemed to refer to.

Now I understood everything. Those ruins were at least as old as the first known civilization to humankind – the summer civilization. When my ancestors were creating the first city on earth – Uruk – the civilization from Irdorath was already at its peak of evolution.

But there were also weird mentions of something they referred to as "The Darkness". They didn't write anything about what this darkness was, only that it had to be defeated. Through any meanings. And the more I tried to dig up about this topic, the more desperate those information seemed to become.

So much information. So many desperate calls hiding in those texts. Those people creating dragons for a specific reason, but why? Why would they try to create so powerful race that is almost impossible to control? Who would be so desperate?

I also tried to find known names from any ancient earth times. And it didn't take long for me to find very familiar phrases…

Tiamat… Apophis… Vritra… Azhi Dahāka… I have found them all… Even Ddraig and Albion's name were here… In other words, all of the dragons truly originated here. They were all created here. But for what purpose? Why would someone create us?

The only name I could find was about any pieces of information about were Ophis and Great Red's names. Perhaps they have already existed, just like on earth everyone believes? Were they the only dragons truly born from just pure energy?

Then, the last thing took my attention – a name, or rather, a number. They called it "the last resort". A weapon meant only to be released and used when everything would fail. When there would be no more hope.

A name that almost stopped my heart…

Trihexa.

Trihexa, the dragon that was supposed to destroy earth in the apocalypse, the one that was meant to fight the Great Red, was created here, on Irdorath.

And in this place, all archives of this world seemed to end. As if after the creation of Trihexa there was nothing more. As if their entire civilization just ended.

What happened to them? Was Trihexa responsible for Irdorath's destruction? And if yes, then how did he ended up on earth? How did any of the dragons end up on the DxD worlds? What was their true purpose there?

I wanted to learn more. I needed to learn more. I had millions of questions popping in my head, begging to be answered as fast as possible. For a minute I forgot about the fact that I should return to Centauria.

"Ddraig, Raynare… What do you think about all of this?" I asked my inner spirits, wanting to get a new view on this whole situation. I hoped that at least they will have some useful ideas and will not be as flabbergasted as I was.

Ddraig… I think he was just as shocked as me. He refused to say anything right now. I guess that he – just like me – needed time to adjust to all of this. He just learned that he – just like probably most of his brother and sisters – were created by a long-dead civilization. And just like me, he needed to know why.

Raynare on the other hand… She tried to find any logic in this situation. She was analyzing all the data she had, just like a true fallen angel of the Grigori institute.

/The dragons are known to all civilizations on earth. So in other words, the dragons are at least as old as the first human civilization… And that would imply that people from this world, disappeared as soon as the dragons appeared on earth… So that would mean, that the civilization of Irdorath went extinct at least seven thousand four hundred years ago…/

"Why so specific date?" I asked intrigued by Raynare's theory.
/It's easy. All the data from here – at least the one mentioning earth – are referring to a new civilization appearing on the fertile crescent. They're not mentioning already existing civilization, so Uruk is off the table. The only city in Mesopotamia existing before Uruk was Eridu, founded five thousand and four hundred years before Christ. /

I was impressed. I didn't know that Raynare had so much knowledge about the past. But that was something welcomed. Her knowledge will help me in the future in revealing more secrets of this lost civilization. Hopefully.

I again started to go around this ancient complex, hoping to find another discovery about old ancient times. And so I ventured, watching and reading how people of Irdorath were describing their achievements and history. I wanted to know all of that.

And so, I went deeper and deeper into this complex. That is until I have found the last miracle.

Right before me stood an enormous gate. Old just like everything else in this world. With just one simple difference. Inside the gate, there was something different. Something that almost seemed not fitting here. Inside the gate, there was a weird blue reflection of another complex. It almost looked like…
[Issei! It's a portal! You did it! You have found a way out of this world!]

I almost laughed. I just couldn't believe it. After eight days of what seemed to be a never-ending journey, I have finally found it. My ticket back home. It just felt surreal.

But I decided to do a leap of faith. There was a chance that I will find myself further away from home, in another long-forgotten dead world. But it didn't matter anymore. I wanted to find myself as far away from this solar system as possible. And the exit was right before me.

And so I jumped into the portal.

And then I don't know what happened. It felt as I just stopped existing for what seemed to be an eternity. And yet this eternity didn't last longer than a moment. I really can't explain what happened in the portal. Between the worlds. All I know that I constantly felt claustrophobic. As if my whole body was just smashed into one single point in space.

It was as if I was dead and alive at the same time. The agony of hanging between those two states. The impossible moment, not possible to achieve by any logical meanings.

Unable to see, unable to feel, prisoned between the space of nothingness, between time and matter…

And then – A big bang, universe existing once more, matter, space and time appearing and obeying laws of physics just like they were supposed to. Return on the other side, no longer as a remnant of your old self, but once again, in your own body, feeling the gravity, sunlight, air – in other words, feeling alive.

Alive, but not exactly well. As soon as I have returned, I had problems standing straight. The most simple tasks were like a Hercules task. I could barely concentrate on what was going on already.

Maybe that was why I couldn't sense the incoming attack, aiming at my neck…

"So… He did survive out there… Amazing…" Right after our protagonist once again fell unconscious, a few mysterious people seemed to appear around him.

"Yes. And he did find out a few interesting things… I wonder how this dragon will take the revelation… After all… There is nothing more devastating than the truth…"

And that is it. I hope that you liked this chapter. I know that it was a bit different since there wasn't a lot of action or anything, but it was a chapter that I wanted to write for a very long time.

I can only hope that you like Issei/Verphis' little adventure in this weird world of Idorath. If you are wondering from when I took inspiration on specific locations of Idorath, then please, check out the art of Zdzislaw Beksinski – I just fell in love with his art and I wanted to share it in this chapter. That and I also loved the newest part of the Astartes series.

Anyway, as I said, the next chapter is going to be the last chapter of the third arc. I hope to write it and released as soon as possible. During the whole of April, I was very busy and I am sorry that I could not write this chapter sooner. I wanted, but I just couldn't. I hope you will understand.

I must admit, writing this chapter was both fun and a challenge, since I wanted to give as accurate information about the Irdorath and the possibly first civilization on earth, I – once again – can only hope that you'll like it.

Boy, it's been a long time, but slowly we're going to the point that I believe everyone is waiting for – that for Issei to return to DxD world. It's going to happen soon, don't worry. Within a few chapters, that's for sure. I just hope that you will like my idea for the future of this story.

And now – I wanted to thank you for 369 followers, 353 favorites, and 127 376 viewers! God, I am so happy.

A quick reminder about arcs:
And – to remind you – this is the official list of arcs:
1. Prologue – completed.
2. Memories of Centauria – completed.
3. Downfall – in progress, slowly coming to an end.
4. Fade to Black – What happened on the DxD side.
5. Secret War – Verphis returns to the DxD World, very Similar to DxD Ex (hint hint).
6. Game of Shadows – after the Betrayal.
7. Dragon May Cry.
8. The Tragedy of Monsters.
9. Game Over/The Beginning.

Please remember, that the poll will remain to be open until I will release chapter 25. After that, the poll will be closed.

Once again – check out my discord for the fans (and not only) [link: discord . gg/ pghekDe – just delete the space between letters)

Well, I think that is it.

See ya around
Czechus.