Reincarnation Game (Book 1 - Highschool DxD)

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD.

Chapter 27:

Beginning of the End

'Thinking'

"Talking"

"Talking"

- Kuoh, Japan -

-Aika Kiryuu-

No words could describe the sheer horror she feels as Aika stares almost blankly out the window of her apartment. The overwhelming shock and terror flooding through her body refuses to allow her legs to move from the spot as she distantly hears her grandmother's terrified screams.

'…t-this can't be real.' She thinks, watching with wide eyes as a cloud of black-winged beings who she first thought were birds rain down glowing lights onto the town below.

Each one is like a falling star, hurtling down towards the ground before exploding as the light illuminates the night sky. The sound alone shakes the glass of the window she looks out of, and the echoing BOOMS ring in her eardrums like some horrific firework display.

As her hand shakily fumbles to pull her phone out of her jean's pocket, Aika feels subconsciously grateful that she chose to stay in for the evening instead of taking her grandmother out on the town for dinner. Because with her apartment being located on the edge of town - coincidentally close Sora's home - she and her grandmother were spared from the initial wave of attacks as the beings focused their attention on the more heavily populated parts of town.

Over her shoulder, the sound of her TV changing from the evening news channel to a breaking news report can be heard as video footage of the beings… who the anchors say resemble… angels? … starts appearing all over the network. With every channel available being replaced with live footage of the destruction.

'I-I have to call Sora! H-He needs to know what's happening!' Trying to dial his number, Aika curses as her fingers repeatedly miss the right numbers.

She isn't a fool. She's always known that something strange goes on in Kuoh under everyone's noses. Too many people disappearing, and too few explanations given have long since made her aware of it.

More importantly… whatever it was that's been going on, she's known for a long time that her boyfriend is just as involved with it as the rest of the ORC and Student Council.

After all, for all of the secrecy that he and the others have tried to maintain, it's not that hard to hear bits and pieces of what they talk about then they think that no one is listening. Especially not in a school filled with gossiping teenagers who have nothing better to do than spread rumors.

Aika might not agree with the Perverted Duo's antics on spying on girls while they're changing, but she has to admit - if only to herself - that they knew better than anyone how to find a way of peeping in on things that no one wants to have revealed.

And it wasn't like she'd struggled to get their help with making holes in some of the ORC building's walls or outside the Student Council room. All it took was agreeing to not out them whenever she might catch them peeping - so long as they weren't trying to peep on her - and the two perverted teens were more than happy to lend a hand.

So what if her boyfriend is keeping that fact that he has superpowers a secret from her?

…he isn't the only one in their relationship who has a life-changing secret.

'Please, babe… pick up.' She begs as her shaking hands finally manage to dial his number, listening to the sound of it ring without answer with growing dread… before a horrible weight settles over her heart as it goes to voicemail. 'Please, Kami-sama. Let him be okay.'

With her phone clenched in her one hand, and the other raising to wipe a tear that is slowly gathering in her eye, Aika silently prays that if this is the end for her, that she hopes Sora will be alright.

- Kyoto, Japan -

-Sora Sakai-

I feel, more than see, the brief storm of purple mist hit me mere moments before I'm forcefully ejected from the pocket dimension. Forcing me to quickly power down my attack right before my fist, glowing with the power of a fully charged [Monk: Ki Strike], can demolish the temple's roof.

"DAMMIT!" I curse, panting slightly as I take in my surroundings while my adrenaline slowly fades.

Obviously, I've been cast out of the pocket dimension by Georg when my attack came too close to landing a hit. And now I'm stuck outside in the real world while Ichi and Juuichi continue fighting within the dimension.

Thanks to my link with them, I can sense that they're still putting up a fight even if they're at a disadvantage, but even than I know they won't last long if I don't find a way to get back in there. And while I can always just resummon them if they die, the time it takes in order to cast both summoning abilities will leave me open for a potential surprise attack.

Which means I need to get in there as quickly as a can, or run the risk of having to fight them in a 1v5 that is heavily skewed in their favor.

How the fuck am I supposed to beat them? They outnumber me, out-level me and my Summons… and their abilities seem almost tailor-made to counter us. Unless I decide to just go for broke and summon everything I have - which I am very tempted to do right now - I don't see how I'm supposed to make this work.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance?"

Blinking at the sound of a voice coming from behind me, I notice that the world around me has stopped as the birds flying overhead seem to freeze in midair while the sounds of tourists on the ground suddenly halts altogether.

Uh-oh.

Even with the sudden vacuum of silence that's descended over the area, it's the slight quiver in Gaia's voice that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Because up until now, no matter how crazy things have gotten, my faithful companion has never shown an ounce of fear.

Until now.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you, Rookie."

The friendly manner in which the new voice speaks does little to quell the sense of danger I'm feeling, and as I turn around to face the person speaking, that feeling of danger reaches new heights as I take in the… being… floating in front of me. '[Observe].'

Admin - Level *ERROR*

That's it. That's all I get from my Observe as I stare at the humanoid shape of a person, whose entire body seems to be a cutout of a hole that peers straight into the void. Only the vague outlines of two eyes, a nose, and a mouth give me any indication that they're maybe humanoid.

"Yeah… I wouldn't try using Observe on someone like me." The being replies casually. "You're more likely to get a headache than you are to get anything useful out of it."

Shrugging its shoulders, the outline of its mouth smirks. "But every Gamer reacts the same way, so don't worry about it. And hey, what's a Gamer is they don't make a few mistakes."

It knows I'm a Gamer?... How? I thought that information was supposed to be a secret kept from everyone in this universe!

'Gaia?'

…

Getting no response from her, that same sense of danger lingers in the back of my thoughts as the being crosses its - arms? vague outline of arms? over where its chest should be.

"Oh, for the love of… would you calm down already? I'm not going to hurt you." It sighs in frustration as it notices my leg take a slow half-step back. "Either of you."

I-I knew that!

Reeling back in shock at this latest bit of information, I stare wide-eyed at the being's smirking 'face' as I ask, "You know about Gaia?"

"Know her? Of course, I do." It replies. "I was one of the first Gamers to BETA test that system, back when it was first being introduced into the Gamer System. Though I am surprised to see them already being added in, I thought they weren't going to be made available to everyone for a few thousand more years so that they could work out all the bugs."

The casual way in which it speaks about several thousand years clues me in to a lot of details that Observe left out. Like the fact that not only is this likely another Gamer - which I thought was supposed to be impossible - but that it's also one that's very, very old.

At least by my standards.

"You're not wrong." It agrees with me, apparently able to read my thoughts.

He is...

"I am." It admits with an indifferent tone. "[Gamer's Mind] doesn't really work on other Gamers, after all. It's kinda a loop hole in the System that became part of the reason for why Gamer's Multiverses needed to be separated in the first place."

"But then, how are you here?"

If Gamers are supposed to be in their own separate Multiverses, then how is he here right now chatting with me?

Having expected this question, the Admit replies. "There's a lot of Gamers out there… And that means there's a lot of Multiverses to keep track of. So, some of us veteran Gamers like to take some time away from messing around in our own Multiverses and agree to act as Admins for a time. Watching over a specific set of Gamers Multiverses until we grow bored, and then we hand off the position to someone else to take over while we go do other things."

Shrugging his shoulders again, I'm starting to realize that the Admin gives off an incredibly bored disposition as if everything he's talking about - including the whole monitoring entire Multiverses thing - isn't a big deal.

"You'd be surprised what a Gamer will do to relieve their boredom." He continues; ignoring my thoughts that I now know he can read. "Trust me, Rookie… just wait until you've hit your 10 Millionth Birthday and finished your 12th playthrough of every Universe available. You'll be begging the System to give you something new to do just to stave off the boredom."

I don't think I know how to respond to that, so I'm not going to even try.

"Then… why are you here?"

Instantly, the casual smirk he's had on his 'face' drops into a frown as he replies. "Because you're Universe is currently unstable. And that's causing it to fall apart while also putting you in great danger of dying." Waving a hand, the Admit makes a textbox appears in front of me that displays a video like it's a computer screen. "Here, take a look."

Instantly, the video displays a real-time image of Kuoh.

…or, what's supposed to be Kuoh. "W-What?!" I gasp, watching an army of Fallen throw Light weapons down on the town below, destroying entire blocks in a matter of minutes as they fly overhead.

- Kuoh, Same Time -

-Rias Gremory-

It's safe to say that things have gone from bad to worse for the Gremory heir. And that this has to be the worst week she's ever had in her life… and that includes the week she found out about the marriage contract with Riser.

For starters, the Church saw fit to send a group of Exorcists into her town in order to search for the other pieces of Excalibur that they claim were being kept hidden in Kuoh.

The meeting itself looked to be ready to spiral out of hand after one of the Exorcists - Irina something - found out about her childhood friend's death.

…How any girl could willingly consider herself to be a friend of the former member of the Perverted Trio, Rias didn't understand. But that's just her opinion.

Luckily, things calmed down for a moment when the exorcist learned that it was a Fallen who'd killed him, and not one of them trying to force him into their peerage.

'Which was absolutely my plan, but Irina didn't need to know that.' She thought as she joined Sona and their combined Peerages in preparation to meet the approaching Fallen army.

Rias wasn't an idiot; despite what some other Devils might say.

She'd grown up watching her older sister Siras take control of the Underworld and bring peace to their race through a mastery of politics that Rias one day hoped to emulate. And that was after being raised in the lap of her mother, Venelana, who knew her way around tricky conversations like any Madame of a 72 Pillar House should; and taught her youngest daughter everything she could about when to speak, and - more importantly - when not to speak.

So, Rias had wisely kept quiet about that little fact, and allowed the silence to bring about a much-needed calm over their meeting.

Unfortunately, that moment of calm was shattered - along with any chance of the meeting ending on good terms - when the second Exorcist, Xenovia, was challenged by Kiba to partake in a "friendly" spar that she knew was going to be anything but friendly.

It didn't take a genius like Sona for Rias to notice the deranged gleam in her Knight's eye as he stared at the two Excalibur fragments that the two Exorcists were carrying. And she was about ready to scold her unruly Knight right then and there when the third member of the Church's group made her presence known.

Finding out that the third member sent by the church was in fact the Holy Maiden, Asia Argento, had been an even bigger shock than it was listening to the small blonde girl as she used nothing more than kind words and a gentle disposition to calm both Kiba and Xenovia down.

Anyone who kept an ear open to the political situation going on between the Three Biblical Factions knew that the once formerly-exiled nun had been brought back into the Church's fold. And that she had not only been re-elevated to her status as a Holy Maiden, but that the Angels themselves were now placing their full support behind the Twilight Healing wielder.

Taking the chance when she saw it, Rias quickly called an end to the meeting by acquiescing to the Church's demands for them to stay out of their way as they searched for the missing Excalibur fragments. She knew they weren't within hers or Sona's possessions, so there was no reason not to let them search around town.

She didn't care if they found them or not, so long as they left Kuoh as quickly as possible.

And then she'd had to spend the better part of the next day trying to discipline Kiba, only for that to backfire on her spectacularly as he went off in search of the blades himself.

Now here she was, preparing to fight alongside the remaining two members of her Peerage alongside her fellow King - who also happens to have her entire Peerage with her; all of whom aren't showing any signs of going Stray, and who are all ready and willing to lay down their lives for their King.

Glancing at Akeno and Koneko, the only two Peerage members she could count on, Rias will admit to herself that her side looks uncomfortably embarrassing in comparison.

And judging by the smug look on Sona's face, her long-time friend knows it too.

"They're coming." Koneko warns as her enhanced Yōkai senses pick up their enemies' movements. Though it isn't hard to miss, considering the scorched-Earth plan that the Fallen are going for. The lightshow alone is easy enough to see even from a distance.

"Where are the Exorcists?" Sona asks as she pushes up her glasses. A nervous tick that Rias knows to mean that she's more worried than she appears.

"Looking for the Excaliburs," She replies with a frown. While a part of her knows that this technically isn't their issue since the blades aren't confirmed to be in the Fallen's possession or not; anyone could put two and two together and realize that they are the ones behind the theft. "Unless they found them already, I assume they won't be coming."

Sona's face dips into its own frown to match hers, as she quickly comes to the same idea Rias has.

If they aren't here by now, then it's likely that they already found the blades in the Fallen's possession. And were systematically dealt with by the much stronger and more numerous opposition.

"…Then you assume wrong." A voice calls out snidely.

Whipping their heads around, the entire Devil group witnesses the three Church members making their way over. The two Exorcists wielding their unwrapped Excaliburs in hand, while the Holy Maiden's hands glow green with the power of Twilight Healing.

The presence of two powerful Holy Swords causes every Devil present to flinch, and several of Sona's Peerage prepare to defend their King when Asia's soft voice causes them to pause.

"Be not afraid, we are here to help." Asia smiles, stepping to her side to reveal a wounded but alive Kiba whose wounds are slowly healing thanks to her Sacred Gear.

Seeing her Knight's determined expression, Rias can't help but return the maiden's smile as a feeling of hope blossoms in her chest.

Maybe… just maybe; they might make it out of this alive.

- Kyoto, With Sora -

-Sora Sakai-

Watching as the Peerages gather together with the members of the Church, I watch with pride as the Asia on the screen acts far more maturely than the one I remember when she stayed at my compound. "Way to go, Asia." I whisper with a smile.

"It's pretty impressive how you handled that situation with Asia," The Admin chimes in with an amused look on his face. "You wouldn't believe how many Gamers prefer to keep her as the naïve little girl that she acted as in the anime. The fact that you did the exact opposite by providing her with the necessary pieces in order to grow into her own woman is surprising."

Waving his hand and dispelling the video, his 'face' stares at me for a moment before nodding to himself. "Then again, not many choose to go with the Summoner class as their first choice. So maybe you're different from the usual Gamer."

"Um…Thanks?" I reply hesitantly, not really sure whether to take that as a compliment or not.

"You're welcome." The outline of his mouth smiles, for lack of a better description. "But don't get too happy. While all of that seems good; the fact remains that this Universe is still on a crash course with becoming unstable. And that means bad things for your survival as a Gamer."

There he goes again, saying that this Universe is "unstable".

From what I've seen, there doesn't seem to be anything overly wrong with it. Sure, the Fallen attacking in force isn't exactly a good sign. But I wouldn't say that it's bad enough to potentially cause an entire Universe to go unstable and kill everyone. Start a war? Sure. But end the whole Universe? Not even close.

Unless there's something I'm missing here.

"There is." He replies. "What you're missing is the fact that you were never supposed to be given the option to become an Outsider in the first place. That option hasn't been fully tested yet - in fact, it hadn't even left the ALPHA testing phase, let alone having gone through the rigorous Beta testing that's supposed to check to any last kinks."

"And let me tell you, there are a lot of kinks with the Outsider option." The Admin expresses, putting extra emphasis on the amount of issues to get his point across.

"Alright," I say. "So, there's a lot of issues with me being an Outsider. But how would that cause this Universe to become unstable?"

"Because it's completely thrown off the storyline." He replies, before seeing the confused look on my face. "Let me backtrack a little bit."

Plopping himself down onto the rooftop of the temple as he sits cross-legged, I slowly follow his lead once I realize that we might be here for a while.

"Every Universe has a story that it's meant to follow." He starts. "From the moment you awaken in the new Universe, to the moment that you complete the 'main storyline' and decide to move on," he brings his fingers up in order to air-quote the main storyline part. "The quests you're given are supposed to help guide you on that journey, while ensuring you stay relatively in line with the requirements necessary in order to survive the events to come."

"Unfortunately, the Outsider option hasn't gotten those bugs worked out yet… " The Admin shrugs in a 'what-can-you-do' sort of way. "Because it wasn't ready, the story has been diverging from how it was supposed to go ever since you set foot in this new world."

"Starting with Issei Hyoudou's sudden - and brutal - murder, to the change in Raynare and Kalawarner's allegiances from their own faction to you." He points directly at me, and my eyebrows raise in surprise as I realize how true it is.

Because while Kalawarner and Raynare may still be working for the Grigori, they both have basically become my long-distance girlfriends/fuck-buddies after their time with me during the week they stayed at the compound.

Knowing what I'm thinking, the Admin gives me what I can only describe as a 'bro-nod' with a proud smirk before continuing on with his explanation. "This, and other small changes since you've arrived, has caused a ripple effect that has slowly spiraled the entire Universe on a track towards self-destruction."

"The Fallen attacking the entire town of Kuoh is just the first domino." He explains, revealing why he showed me the video early. Not to make me aware of what's going on, because my Spirits are doing that as we speak now that I know I need to keep a closer watch on it, but to add visuals to go along with his point. "The human world is already broadcasting what's going on to the rest of the world as we speak, and soon the entire veil of secrecy that's separating the supernatural world from the regular one is going to come down in one fell swoop."

I can connect the dots from there.

Once everyone not already in the know realizes that the supernatural world exists, there's going to be utter chaos.

Not only will the billions of religious people all across the globe suddenly become aware of the truth, they'll also find out the truly horrible things that have been going on behind their backs.

Do you think that the billions of Muslins, Christians, and Jews will just stand aside and do nothing once they realize that not only are Devils real, but that they've been enslaving tens of thousands of people all so they can make them into combatants for their blood-sport of a Rating Game?

Not a chance.

And now they're seeing Fallen murdering an entire town of innocent people, all because of one warmonger's need for war.

A war, that he'll definitely get.

"So… what happens now?" I ask after a long moment. Because from what it sounds like, there's not much I can do to turn things around before it all goes tits-up.

It's here that the Admin sighs heavily, leaning back against the tiled roof of the temple as he stretches out his legs lazily. "Now, I give you a little help to deal with the Heroes… and then I'll need you to say your goodbyes and make ready to leave this Universe for when next we meet."

…oh.

"Yeah…" He picks up on my feelings immediately. "It sucks, I know."

"But! The good news is that it won't be forever." He adds, causing me to perk up slightly. "It'll take me some time to get this Universe back in any sort of condition where it won't break itself the moment I leave it alone, so I'll need you to head on to the next Universe - and possible a few Universes after it - until I get it patched up to the best of my abilities."

That's… not exactly what I want to hear. But it's better than nothing.

And after working so hard to establish all of the relationships I have, and the emotional connections I've created with certain individuals - Aika especially… it's hard to think that I'll have to say goodbye to them all for the foreseeable future.

It's like a sucker-punch to the gut.

"…h-how long do I have?" I ask.

"Weeks, at best." He reveals without fanfare, and the part of me that isn't currently numb with shock appreciates his straightforward response. "Just enough time to finish the quests you already have, and make what goodbyes you need to make… any longer than that, and things will have gone too far for me to realistically fix without fucking up the progress you've already made."

So… after being in this Universe for several months now, instead of getting to spend several centuries - or even eons - building up a life for myself here, I have to give it all up in less than a month's time and move on like it never happened.

"This sucks."

"Being a Gamer isn't always easy, Rookie." The Admit sympathizes. "Sometimes it's painful, and aggravating, and even heartbreaking… but when aren't games like that?"

"Isn't that why we love playing them in the first place?" He asks rhetorically, and yet it still manages to slowly draw me out of my funk as he presses on. "Because they make us feel so many things... Because they draw us into their worlds and make us a part of their stories."

He's right… it hurts to say, but he's right.

Some of the best games I've ever played were my favorites because of the emotional rollercoaster they sent me on.

The fall of Reach in Halo, the death of Dominic Santiago in Gears of War. Red Dead Redemption 2. God of War. The Last of Us… all of them are games I've played over a thousand times. And I kept going back to play them again because of how much they made me feel.

And just like with all of them, it was never a goodbye forever… just a goodbye for now.

"Alright, what do I have to do?"

-The Admin-

He has to give the Rookie credit, not many would be able to bounce back so quickly after being told that their progress up until now is basically worthless because of a mistake that wasn't even their fault.

Maybe that's why he's willing to go out of his way to help the kid out.

Because piecing this clusterfuck of a Universe back together is going to be a pain in the ass, and normally he isn't one to do extra work just because someone asked nicely.

But if the Rookie is willing to take it all with a stiff upper lip, then as his senior Gamer it's up to him to show the kid how it's done. And letting something as measly as a few centuries worth of work get in the way of not letting the new guy one-up him is the least he could do.

After all, he is partially at fault for letting things get as bad as they are… if only he hadn't decided to take a nap when he did, he might have caught the problem early enough.

"That's the spirit, Rookie." He grins, though it's hard for the kid to tell given that he's using a mirage while his real body continues to float above the countless Multiverses under his watch. "First things first, you gotta deal with the Heroes… and while I can't just give you levels to beat them even if I wanted to - because the System very much frowns upon it - I can still give you some things to help you out."

That's putting it mildly.

The original Gamers who built the System made sure when they first created it that the Admins couldn't just fuck with the other Gamer's systems and give or take their levels, no matter how much some of them wanted to.

In fact, Admins don't actually have a lot of power when it comes to the rookie Gamers themselves. The most they can do is offer slight bonuses, quests, and a few non-OP items to help them along when it's appropriate.

Luckily, now is one of those times where it's appropriate.

"Here, this should be all you need to take care of them for now." Activating his controls as an Admin, he spawns a small handheld dagger with an oddly-shaped blade, and a small scroll that contains a single power which matches the Rookie's current class.

Who the hell picks Monk as their second class, anyways?

Getting a thank-you in reply, he continues on. "As for what's happening in Kuoh, you'll be on your own for that." The Admin shrugs, because it really is outside of his limited capabilities. "What I can do, is keep everything frozen until you exit the Dimension Lost's pocked dimension. That should give you enough time to get back to Kuoh before things get too out of control."

-Sora Sakai-

Grabbing the small dagger and scroll, I immediately use [Observe] on them to see what they are.

Item Received:

[Rule Breaker] (Legendary) - (Artifact)

A dagger that embodies the divinity of the Witch of Betrayal.

Nullifies any and all magical effects or enchantments.

Medea's dagger from Fate? This is a seriously broken weapon… and he's just giving it to me?

Glancing up at him with a raised eyebrow, the Admin just shrugs his shoulders casually. "What? You'd have been able to make it with your Artificer Profession eventually."

Blinking, I turn my attention back to the scroll as I read over what it says.

Skill Unlocked:

[Monk: Ki Rush] (Active) - Lvl. 1 (Novice)

Enhances your speed with Ki to allow you to move impossibly fast.

That's…useful, I guess? I'm not too sure what he wants me to do with it, but I think this will be perfect for getting up close and personal with Georg before he can throw me out of his pocket dimension again.

"Thanks, I really appreciate this." I try to put as much gratitude as I can into my words, because I truly do mean them.

"Don't mention it, Rookie!" He replies with a casual wave, before giving me a large grin. "Just make sure you don't die against the Hero Faction. I'm not about to go through all this trouble to help you out if you're just going to go and die on me."

Laughing, I nod in agreement as I feel the new skill settle into my body while I stow Rule Breaker in my Inventory. "I won't, don't worry."

"Good, then best of luck kid. I'll see you in a few weeks!" He replies before giving a final wave as he disappears.

Just as he said, the world continues to stay frozen even after he's gone. Giving me enough time to figure out how to get back into Georg's pocket dimension and deal with them, before needing to rush off and help Rias and Akeno back in Kuoh.

"We've got a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it…you with me, Gaia?"

To the end!

Now that the Admin is gone, Gaia's personality seems to have returned to what it was before.

I guess being around what would technically be her boss scared the newly-created system something fierce.

"Then let's go."

- END -

Author Notes:

And that's Chapter 27!

I know that I said this story would probably be another 20-30 chapters, but I'm quickly running out of ideas for where I want to go with it that isn't just mindless sub-plots; and that's drastically cutting into how quickly I can write new chapters.

I've definitely had to rethink a lot of what I want to do for the future, and I'm thinking that I'll probably get another 10 chapters put into this at most before I decide to have Sora move onto the next Universe. I won't just abruptly end this like I've seen other stories do, but I will be cancelling some of the things I had originally planned on adding now that I've hit a rut.

I have a lot of plans for other Universes, and I feel like if I don't move forward into a new direction soon, I'm just going to get tired and abandon the story altogether to work on others.

I may have Sora come back to Highschool DxD in the future, but that's more of an empty idea than anything I've got planned out.

Don't worry though, I've got A LOT of other Highschool DxD stories that I'll be posting in the future, so keep an eye out for them. And these are completely separate from The Grand Order ones that I'm working on right now, as well.

So, if you don't like The Grand Order, don't worry.

Hope you all are still liking it so far! Thanks for checking out my story.