Feb-2020: Thought this story was dead? Yea, me too fam. Highly recommend you re-reading from the start to jog your memory a lil' bit, and because there's a couple of minor changes
If I have to sum it up, this is a DxD: Epic Fantasy Version. Will feature characters from other anime/game as I see fit, and characters from the Fate universe will most likely appear from time to time, even joining the main character kool kids klub. Will have elements from Goblin Slayer and Akame Ga Kill, as well as Warhammer Fantasy.
You can say DxD is the giant tree and the other universes are its branches
This is honestly the biggest, most ambitious project I ever create (fanfic-wise), and took me a fuckin year to develop the plot alone
Aight then, enjoy my dudes
The Last Guardian
Prologue
Issei Hyoudou was - simply put - a legend.
A figure to look up to and an inspiration to all with modest background. A simple boy raised in a simple and loving family, who climbed his way through ranks of adventurers through hard work and sheer will. From a mere rookie barely able to fend himself with a short sword, taking small quests from his fellow smallfolk, to a worldwide renowned legend who was bestowed a Sacred Gear; a Gift from the Gods.
Respected by fellow experienced adventurers, idolized by kids and fledgling adventurers who had just picked up their swords, dreamt by girls ranging from a common house-servant to a princess of a rich country.
He was brave. Very brave. But he was not stupid. His mind wasn't as sharp as the Grand Magus, Mephisto Pheles, but to claim Issei Hyoudou was all brawns and no brains would be downright mistaken. Should a battle be no longer winnable, completely devoid of hope, he will sound the retreat and live to fight another day, crushing those who failed to slay him.
There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity; Issei knew so.
Not rarely an 'honorable knight' or anyone self-righteous enough to see themselves as one called him a coward. He didn't particularly mind. He still lived while those honor-crazed had become no more than reanimated rotting corpses deep in The Dungeon. Forever cursed to guard the rumored endless treasures until another adventurer come and lay them to a final rest.
The Dungeon... Unlike most other dungeons, this one had no name. No fancy two-words-mixed-into-one for a name. Not the Blackwood Dungeon, not the Everfallen Dungeon, not the Dungeon of Doom, only The Dungeon.
A place filled with living horrors and monsters that could eradicate an entire city, chockfull of traps varying from pit falls to acid rain. From everyday zombies or goblins that were practically the bread and butter for a party of Bronze-ranked adventurers', to a fearsome Elemental Dragon whose breath could melt a city, and to the feared Apocalyptic Beast itself.
Trihexa. The Beast of the Apocalypse. Harbinger of Death. Devourer of Life. And so on and on.
Hundreds had been dispatched into the Dungeon. A crusade to quell the Prime Evil once and for all.
Hundreds entered.
None returned.
The Dungeon remained untouched for many years to come.
Until one day, the wielder of the Red Dragon Emperor himself, the World's Champion, the Chosen of Mankind, Lover of Breasts, took upon the noble task.
Humans, Angels, Devils, Fallen Angels, the Norse, the Olympians, and people of various races all supported him and his great party, believing that he was truly the Chosen One to finally rid the world of the Primeval Evil. The human who would put an end to their ceaseless worry of the Apocalypse.
Many paraded his march into the Mouth of the Dungeon. Dismissing its grim stench, everyone cheered his name, lauded him, prayed and wished for his success. All girls and women hoped for his well-being, yearning that they would see their adored Champion once again. All Legendary Orichalcum and Mythril-ranked - S and SS rank respectively - adventurers followed him to fight alongside him until the last draw of their breath, determined to put The Evil Beast down once and for all.
The people who had never learned how to swing a sword or cast a simple fireball spell remained at the entrance, assembling a massive camp guarded by soldiers of various factions, camping for their heroes' triumphant return.
They waited and waited. Hours became a day, and days became a week, and weeks became a month. Months became year.
Nobody left at the Mouth of the Dungeon.
The Heroes never returned.
Along with their Champion, their hope died.
"But you're not dead."
Issei sighed drearily. He was really into his story-telling too. "...I know that, but that's how it goes. That's the legend that people believed in."
"Well the legend sucks!" The young girl with the ardent scarlet hair stuck out her tongue in a display of audacity, aimed at none other than her one and only Guardian. "Tell something happier!"
'This brat.' If he was any younger and heedless, Issei would have expressed himself verbally. An entire year had passed and she was still equally annoying since the first time they met.
Or rather, when he killed her last Guardian.
Not a recollection he was fond of. He always frowned when he remembered that day. That day - or maybe night - his belief that he had slain The Beast, the Prime Evil of all things that existed, shattered completely. The idea that he had saved the world was thrown down on his feet and stomped until it was dead.
"Why?" Issei remembered the rasped breath. The Beast's enormous figure coated in hot red scales, drenched in his own blood, futilely lying down next to him, miraculously alive. "...What wrong have I done...?"
"Nothing yet." He had told him. Gods, he was such a righteous prick. "But I can't have you bringing the Apocalypse or whatever as you like. Don't know when, don't know why, but I stopped it anyway." He victoriously grinned as the adventurers behind him cheered.
It had been a long, torturous fight. They had suffered massively. Around a hundred of the strongest adventurers traveled with him from the start, twenty remained when he entered the final chamber to fell Trihexa, and now, only 4 remained including him. Two Mages, a Knight, and him. The Champion.
"...The Apocalypse...?" Trihexa spoke with confusion. "But it was my duty to prevent one..."
Issei didn't know if a Trihexa could shed a tear. Hell, he doubted nobody ever knew. No one in the Seventh Hells or the Seventh Heavens probably knew. But The Beast shed a tear. Maybe it was crocodile tears; an attempt to strike his chords, begging for his pity, but regardless of what it was, he did. The fearsome Beast of the Apocalypse wept by his feet.
"...Don't joke around..." He said to the presumed Beast. Completely dumbstruck. "...You're Trihexa, you can't-"
"Trihexa?" The ancient being looked painfully confused. "Boy... that vile beast was long gone decades ago... Slain by Yahweh and other Gods. Its soul is kept in that stone..."
Idly, he turned around to see the center of the large cave. There lied a small podium, and floating atop of it was a black gemstone. It was such a small orb, not bigger than a loaf of bread.
The Soulstone, he had said to him.
"My whole life... devoted to guard that wretched stone... Protected that girl so The Beast shall never rise... It was my sole purpose of being... and I am slain due to your lack of understanding...?"
Issei remembered his resolve faltering at that. Oh it was faltering quick. As quick as ice in summer heat. It fell like it just dropped into a gaping pit, never to be recovered. Through his life, he had learned who to believe and who to pretend to believe in. Issei hoped the big Dragon would fall into the latter, but he trusted him.
He remembered his last remaining followers weren't listening. They were shouting at him, yelling that the Trihexa was only tricking him. But Trihexa- he silenced them with a glare. "Fools! What benefit do I gain by lying?! I'm dying regardless what I say!"
His entire body was covered in slashes. Some were burnt, horribly. Huge chunk of flesh was missing on his torso, blown out by the Champion's [Explosion]. The long horn at the edge of his snout was broken and his yellow eyes were losing their light.
"...Who sent you here, boy...? What cruel vindictive soul told you those lies?"
Issei recalled seeing the pain in his eyes as he told him everything. That all factions on Earth had cooperated to kill him, when all he had done was to prevent their demise, mistaking every adventurer as enemy as they mistook him as the Prime Evil. It must had been one hell of an unpleasant feeling, being labeled the Prime Evil, despised by everyone because of some baseless lies, and now dying without receiving a gratitude for his deeds in protecting the world's existence.
He remembered feeling ridden by guilt. Felt like an idiot. The glorified puppet champion of mankind.
Perhaps if he had waited. If he told his party to stay first before instantly attacking him, unleashing torrents of spells and their various weapon techniques, perhaps all of this misunderstanding could be avoided. Their death would be avoided.
Great Red's death would be avoided.
"You mulling again, partner?"
"Gah!" Behind him, his last remaining companion snorted a puff of air that lifted him off his rock-seat. Issei landed on the red dirt with an audible 'oof'.
"Fuck's sake Ddraig, how many times do I have to tell you; it's not funny. Land is flat and flat hurts my ass."
Y Ddraig Goch. The Red Dragon Emperor himself. He was only about a half of his real size, but all of his features were the same, only downscaled. The same brilliant crimson scale, same Draconic emerald green eyes, and the very same annoying guttural laughter. Just smaller and not as noisy.
Still, not less annoying.
He must had exited his soul when he was being gloomy.
"Drakey!" Tris leapt into the sky with a gust of her misty black wings. Wings he had never seen before in his life—until he met her. He still had no idea what the girl containing a part of The Beast's soul had for wings, or if it was ever named or discovered before.
He wondered if they're called Trihexanian. Trihexan, perhaps? Features of a Dragon were referred to as Draconic, so maybe Trihexanic? He had zero clue. He just knew it looked ghostly. More like wispy tendrils rather than wings.
He watched her red hair fluttered as she gently landed on Ddraig's scaly forehead, as she then ranted about how boring his story was just to miff him.
Normally, Issei would bicker back at her. But he didn't this time. Too busy brooding at the moment as Great Red's withering voice echoed.
"...My watch has ended... Boy, you're unlike any of these fools... you listened..." Maybe Issei was too disordered at the time, but he believed the Dragon smiled at him. "Swear to this old Dragon that you will protect her. Her, and the Soulstone, but her most importantly... Else the whole world is doomed."
"Protect her...? Who're you talking about?"
His serpent-like yellow eyes trailed to a small cavern. "...Trihexa's soul is too powerful to be completely destroyed... And too powerful to be contained in one Soulstone."
"There's more?"
"Six of them... In here is one..." The red Dragon coughed, spewing an excessive amount of blood from his huge maw. "...One...as well as the only seal... If she dies, and those Soulstones have been gathered... Trihexa will rise..."
Issei stole a subtle glance at Tris. She wasn't much different than she was back then. He recalled seeing her peering from her hiding place, hiding behind a wall of red rock, visibly terrified. Her hands were shivering and her body trembled as tears dripped down the tip of her chin. Her scarlet red hair was noticeable even in the dark cavern.
At first, no one noticed her. They were still cheering without him.
But Motohama...
He saw her.
Never missed a spot, that glassed magus.
He saw her and roused the rest of the party to attack her. A girl who had done nothing.
He remembered, clearly, that the red Dragon tried to stop them. He tried firing a classic Dragonic fire-breath, only to let out his blood and hacked pitifully.
It was a difficult moment with so little time. He tried stopping them, reasoning with them, yelled an order, he had done everything to give him some more time.
"Are you crazy?! We've gone this far and you're going to turn on us?! Which side are you on?! That Beast or us! Your friends?!"
Instead they branded him a traitor. His own best friend by all people.
Gods it was difficult hearing them scream. Especially when it was him who ripped their scream off their throat. He didn't kill them right then – he couldn't. They had descended floors and floors; brotherly bonds had been made, they had lost brothers and sisters in their journey. They had won and laughed. They had lost and wept.
And now he had to fight them at the very end.
He was given a choice. Return to his old life without ever looking back to this day, or prevent the Apocalypse.
That time, the World's Champion knew there would be no turning back whichever choice he made.
They were equally exhausted, and if it wasn't for Ddraig's minor regeneration ability, he might had been the one who died. But he lived. Issei lived and executed those who had been his followers since the first step he took towards the Dungeon with his very hands.
His crimson armor protected him from Motohama's flame spell that had turned people to cinders, and his armor allowed him to catch Matsuda's sword, gripping it tight as he plunged his sword through the Knight's chest.
"C'mon man... let's just get this over with... We've won, Ise. Why are we still fighting...? Just end it. I'll forget everything that has happened here... Just look at that Beast. He's dying. You can't save him. You just have to kill her... and we'll head outside... We'll be heroes and get our rewards... The ladies are waiting, Ise."
He could never forget Matsuda's disappointed smile when he stabbed his heart with Ascalon. It had to be done. No one there believed in the red Dragon but him. Letting anyone live meant a munity waiting to happen.
He didn't have time to grief. Rather, he didn't give himself the time.
Tris was staring at him that time, half-shocked and disbelief, half-confusion as she tried to grasp his actions.
Him and three others must had been the few ones who had managed to get to the deepest floor of the Dungeon. She looked like a child witnessing a murder, like an innocent soul discovering that evil do exists in the world for the first time, that the world she thought she knew wasn't a beautiful place without taint, all while her only father figure was dying in front of her.
Issei recalled, he was going to speak to her, to offer solace, but the girl retreated inside her cave. He could hear quiet sobbing as he headed back to the red Dragon.
And Issei was filled with nothing but remorse and fury.
"Alright, big guy. I just killed my friends. My two best fucking friends." He spat. His rage was hardly constrained. If Ascalon was any ordinary sword, its hilt would had been crushed under his grip. "You better not lie or I'll fucking skin you and her alive, starting with the girl."
It was probably the first time he realized the Champion of Mankind was not the ideal hero who never cursed or made cruel threats, but the Dragon still nodded.
"I swear. A Dragon never break his words. I thank, you... Red Dragon Emperor."
Issei was seething his teeth. "Issei. My name's Issei. Hyoudou Issei."
"...Hyoudou Issei... Ah, Japan-born... Land of the Rising Sun… Very well, Hyoudou Issei, I, Great Red, will be eternally grateful for your devotion... and dreadfully regretful for your losses..."
He could imagine Ddraig stumbling on his feet. "...Great Red...?"
"Aye..." Great Red grinned ironically as he rested his eyes. "...Not so great now... am I...?" He then chuckled. The chuckle was so weak that he barely heard it. "In here... At the end of my time... I pass my duty... to you... Hyoudou... Issei..."
Then Great Red died.
Burying his body was a great hassle, but Ddraig never once complained having to dig the earth with his claws. He had to transform into his true form to push Great Red to the grave, and spent few more minutes burying him. Even so, he never once complained. The Dragon was an admirer of Great Red, so he said, and it was the first time Issei saw him cry too. He didn't know Dragons could cry until that day, where two Dragons cried in front of him.
The funeral was... well, depressing.
Nearly the entire resident of the Dungeon came by, minus the zombies since they couldn't think of anything but brains, and most minor monsters at the top floors such as goblins and the slimes.
Even the Father of Wolves, Fenrir, was present.
It was then he realized they knew. The monsters knew about Great Red and knew he was simply doing his duty. They were there to serve under him.
This cavern had never been so filled. And hot. There must had been at least fifty fire spirits crying tears of flame, several low-tier Dragons breathed fire in honor of the Great One. One thing he realized, was that they didn't attack him. They all bowed to him as if he was some sort of their god, groveling in a way their body could.
'Some god I am... murdering their friends and family.'
It wasn't until Fenrir himself approached him, and spoke to him without moving his mouth, "You, Issei Hyoudou, is the Last Guardian, Keeper of the Dungeon, this world's last bastion of hope. We will serve you until the end of our time."
"Until the end of our time." The legion of monsters followed as if it was a chant. Dragons, wolves, Minotaurs, Centaurs, all the –aurs. All the pixies. All the Black Skeletons and Black Orcs. All the Elementals and Succubi.
There was no animosity towards him. They bore no grudge for their fallen companions he had slain. They cared not that they had to kneel to a Human who had believed in false truth.
To think Monsters could do more than what Humans could... He was pretty sure all of his hackles rose, just like they did just now.
Ending his recollection, the former Champion sighed deeply as he lied on his back. He was only wearing his tunic, and, honestly, he couldn't care if it was dirtied. He could get a new one sooner or later.
And it seemed it would be sooner rather than later as a pillar of white light appeared at the edge of his vision. A big bad wolf with greyish blue mane materialized, and faint haze-like mists coated his furs.
"Fenrir." Issei acknowledge his arrival as he got up to his feet, dusting off the dusts off his clothes and his brown hair. He had cut off the two short locks of hair sticking out behind his head. A goblin once yanked one of them during his earlier days, when he was a inexperienced Steel-ranked lowlife.
It nearly cost him his life. He had never let his hair touch his shoulders since then.
"What's up? More rookies?"
"Apparently so." The grey and blue wolf growled. "My pack scouted a band with a Devil. From her clothes, she seems like a noble. Their dog-tags are Gold. Six members. Mostly females. One Devil and one of mixed breed. The rest are Humans."
Gold-ranked... and mostly female. Issei grimaced. He hated when having to deal with female adventurers. He had hurt and killed a woman before since they were enemies, he just felt it didn't sit right with him. But what was needed to be done needed to be done. As for the rank, it was the fourth out of eight, from Steel, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Emerald, Platinum, Orichalcum, and lastly, Mythril. The SS rank for short, where only less than a dozen had ever attained it.
His old rank.
Without needing to be asked, Fenrir continued. "They've cleared about ten floors under than two hours, taking out at least a hundred goblins and skeletons. And... They've slain Rhaegar."
Issei couldn't hold back his sigh. A Warden gone. The Dungeon was becoming weaker and weaker by every ambitious adventurer that walked in.
"We've secured his body." The wolf assured. The most that could be done to their fallen Minotaur was to burn his body. Nonetheless, there will be time for grief. Not now. "They're camping at the eleventh floor, possibly for half an hour. Could be less. What do you want us do, Boss?"
A bit weird hearing the word 'Boss' from a creature of Norse legend, but Issei got used to it.
"Get Taurus. He'll be raring to have a go..." Because who wouldn't thrive for revenge when their brother was slain? "Tell them to wait for me by the eleventh stairs, and tell those guarding the eleventh floor to leave them be. They're C-ranked. Brute force can only get so far against a proper party."
"Aye. Right away."
As Fenrir disappeared in a ray of light, Issei grabbed a small pack latched on his belt. After it was taken off, the small pack then expanded to a size of a standard backpack. His hand reached inside, and soon enough, a set of black-tinted armor clanked and tumbled as he carelessly threw them on the ground, still looking for the helmet. The 'Noobproof' armor as he named. Normally used against those ranked Gold and below. It offered decent protection without raising any unneeded suspicions.
Meanwhile, Tris had ditched the Crimson Dragon, approaching him with a sullen and worried look on her face. "...You're leaving huh?"
Glancing up, Issei chuckled. She was a brat, but he knew she cared for him. In her own bratty way.
"Yeah." He replied casually, sliding down his feet inside the steel armor, quietly cursing why armor had to be a pain in the ass to wear. "You still have Ddraig around."
"Nothing will hurt her, partner."
Despite so, Tris was not amused. Her pout didn't fail to form as she clutched his arms, looking at him with her mean red eyes and a small frown.
"You're forbidden to die."
"Like I want to." Issei laughed. Five years ago, he a would had been a flustered mess. As a young woman who bore a part of Trihexa's soul, Tris was beautiful and not less. A set of crimson eyes with a beastly look, healthily voluptuous, with breathtaking long flowing hair that reminded him of the season of autumn. Even her spiraling horns looked more like a pair of hair ornaments adoring her hair.
Had he been any younger and dumber and had the time, he would kill to get a woman like her.
Well, perhaps no... killing for a girl was a bit extreme.
He was her Last Guardian now. His first priority was her safety. Next? Boobs, probably. Luckily, the Succubi were never short on that peculiar area. If not for their services, his sanity might had slipped long ago from having to work without play.
"Well then..." Issei took a deep breath as he wore his full-face helmet, hiding his brown eyes in its shadow. Snow-white light began to gather beneath his feet as he bade his temporary goodbye. "I'll be off. Be good."
.
.
.
"...There he goes again..." Tris sighed melancholically. For a year, nobody had gone past the tenth floor. Her Guardian and his Wardens had always 'taken care' of them without fail. Still, no matter how many times he had succeeded, no matter if he was the Champion of Mankind or whatever titles people laud at him, she worried for him.
'... I could care this much... for a person who slain my father no less... Or who I thought was my father, anyway.'
Without warning, Ddraig puffed an air, tumbling her down like he did to his partner earlier.
Tris was not amused.
"DDRAIG!"
"Is this the all-somber day? Yer all keep being somber and such. Isn't this cavern dim enough?" The Dragon guffawed, his laughter echoing around the cavern's walls while Tris kept her glare at him. "Either way, he's gone for at least an hour or so. Shall we?"
Still on her butt, Tris then showed a fearless look as she pushed herself off the ground.
"You'll pay for that."
Black flames blazed by her palms, flaring chaotic energies. She might be the one to be protected, but she didn't want that. She wanted to be able to protect herself. She had witnessed how powerless she was a year ago when she could only stare and watch, and she refused to be a damsel in distress like those princesses in Ddraig's stories. She wanted to be of help.
She had only one goal in the pretty head of hers; to be able to fight alongside her guardian.
To be continued...
Hello, welcome to the bottom section. I'd give you a cookie if I have one.
Other than that, hope you enjoyed the prologue. First chapter may come soon depending on the reception. I don't expect it to do well, but hell fuck it. It's only for fun-writing anyway.
Not much of the "world" has been revealed here. Clearly it will be AU. I have a clear direction in my head of where this will go and what will happen and who and what will appear. The pairing is a secret. You'll never know until they actually become a pairing.
Thank you for reading, and have a good day
So, Goblin Slayer has 10 ranks, which I think is a bit too much. So I reduced it to 8, and use alphabet to make it a bit easier. In case you're wondering, it goes like this: (8/F-Steel, 7/E-Bronze, 6/D-Silver, 5/C-Gold, 4/B-Platinum, 3/A-Emerald, 2/S-Orichalcum, 1/SS-Mythril)
I know it's mithril but I like mythril more cuz myth mith.