AN: My first fanfiction, hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes. If you spot something, shoot me a PM or leave a review about it.


It was disconcerting.

Void as far as the eye could see. A pitch black darkness that had seemingly consumed the world.

What had happened?

I remembered walking out of my house. It was a cold and crisp autumn day and you could feel it in the air. Taking a seat outside, I looked down at my phone to get a sense of today's weather.

That was it. It doesn't feel like I've lost any memories, but how else would this make sense?

I shakily get up on my feet, and stumble forwards. Worried about falling from whatever platform I was on, I move carefully inch by inch until I reach a defined edge,

Curiously, I slide my hand through the darkness before me. There was no sensation, I couldn't even feel my hand anymore. It was as if the world beyond that point did not exist.

Acutely aware that I was on the verge of hyperventilating, I laid down and tried to steady my breathing.

I must be dead. How else would this make sense? This big, empty void must be the afterlife.

The fact that there was life after death was somewhat soothing to me, the idea of no longer existing terrified me. However if this was it, I think I would eventually just go insane.

I needed to get up. There has to be something here that I didn't see. Some way to move forward from this place.

Picking my head off of the ground, I turned to observe the area. Sitting where I had woken up, I spotted two objects. A phone and a small envelope.

I scooped up both objects and observed them.

The phone's back was white, there was no discernable branding on its exterior. With nothing jumping out to me as interesting though, I set the phone back down and turned my attention to the envelope.

Generic white envelope, nothing written on the outside. It had a wax seal on it, but it didn't help me figure out who had written it. Tearing open the letter I pulled out the small note inside.

The note read 'Life is meant to be lived. I'm sorry yours was cut short. Try again, and live a long and fulfilling life.'

I'm sorry yours was cut short, huh.

The confirmation that I was dead hit hard. Not only did I still not know how I died, but it brought to mind all the people I had left behind. Family and friends who I would never see again. My grandfather had always joked about having one foot in the grave, but it seems I jumped ahead of him.

I had to stop thinking about this. If I continued to think about them, I might stay in this place for the rest of eternity.

I instead thought about the second half of that letter.

Try again, and live a long and fulfilling life?

So I was going to live again? I was worried over nothing, I would see-

The back of the note had text on it.

'High School DxD' it read.

With the wind firmly taken from my sails, I slumped on the ground, taking sure to not sit on the phone.

Remembering my words from earlier, I stopped thinking about everything I was leaving behind. It wasn't like I hated High School DxD or its world. In all honesty, it would be an interesting world to live in. A battle shounen with incredibly interesting world building, and in all honesty; who hasn't wished for a harem before?

I remembered that there was one thing I hadn't truly investigated, so I I looked over and grabbed the phone. It powered on normally, but instead of a lock screen, I found myself loaded into an application.

The top of the page was captioned, 'Pick A Race'.

I could also tell from a small bar below that there were three sections to this, so it seems like I have quite a bit of control over my reincarnation.

There was no additional text anywhere, just a list of supernatural races ranging from 'Angel' to 'Youkai'.

An interesting thing to note is when I hover over 'Human', 'Devil' or 'Youkai' a new section appears on the bar.

Human and Youkai make sense. Humans get access to Sacred Gears, and Youkai aren't one race but more of a collection. I don't understand why Devils get an additional section though.

For interest's sake, I select Devil and progress to the next section.

The header reads 'Pick A Clan'.

Ah, I see. I could become a child of one of the 72 pillars.

There are a lot of names I recognize there, but the one that catches my eye is 'Phenex'.

The Phenex Clan had a whole plethora of abilities from what I can recall; regeneration, healing tears, and innate pyrokinesis.

From a pure ability standpoint, the Phenex Clan seems unmatched.

Sure, the Gremory or Bael have the Power of Destruction which might be comparable, but the ability to just shrug off grievous wounds means that an enemy needs to vaporize you to defeat you.

Also they have fancy wings, which is absolutely a bonus.

Speaking of wings though, there is always a Sacred Gear like Divine Dividing.

It would be fun to have a Longinius, like Ddraig's or Albion's. It would never be lonely; you'd always have someone to speak to… at least once you unlock them.

It also doesn't preclude you from becoming a devil or an angel, but there are quite a few downsides though.

You would be tracked down and monitored by nearly every supernatural faction. I know that Azazel tracks down Sacred Gear users. That's why Issei was killed by the fallen. Azazel also doesn't have full control of his faction, so if I refuse to work for him, I'd probably be murdered by somebody like Kokabiel.

There would also be the Devils who would try and kill you to reincarnate you into their peerage. Those types of people probably wouldn't treat their peerage as kindly as Rias does.

There's also the risk of going insane and dying due to Juggernaut Drive. I think there was something about Issei and Vali being the only two to not die trying to use it? I don't exactly remember, which kind of sucks, but what can you do about it?

With all that said I think I'll avoid Divine Dividing.

The choice seems clear to me, the Phenex Clan is just too good to pass up.

I confirm my choice and I'm left with a loading circle.

The previous ones loaded quickly so I'm curious as to why this one is taking its time.

Half a minute later the circle disappears and what took so long is revealed to me.

Its character customization, not only that but there is an actual model onscreen. I can only assume that that is what I'll look like as a Phenex.

The first thing to note is that the model is beautiful. It feels strange to call a guy beautiful but he really is. The stranger thing is realizing that that will be me.

I vaguely remember there being a bunch of pretty boys in DxD. Issei would use it as an insult surprisingly often. I guess it's not too surprising then.

I move down to hair color and find that the option is grayed out.

Does being a Phenex mean that you have to have blond hair? That kind of sucks, I wonder if that will affect any other option?

I move down to eye color and find the same thing; I can only have blue eyes.

A bit disheartened that the fun parts were inaccessible to me, I slowly piece my way through the remaining settings.

The majority of the options are already great, so I don't really do a lot.

The only thing I do is add glasses to the model.

On one hand, having good vision would be a blessing, but on the other…

If everything about me is going to change, I would like one thing to remain the same.

With everything set to go, I hit confirm and the next screen loads instantly.

'What is your name?' it reads.

There's a section for both first and last name, although the last name is already filled in.

Being that I'm going to be Devil Nobility, I should probably pick a snooty rich person name. Although I'm not going to make it a name that I dislike.

After a bit of pondering, I find a name that sticks.

Into the first box I type 'Lucius'.

I'm fully aware that the Phenex's stick to names that begin with 'R', but I can't think of a name like that and I don't care much for a matching name.

Hitting the final submit, I take a minute to breathe.

It's starting to kick in, the absurdity of today. My death, and my rebirth. Truthfully, if it weren't for the all encompassing void surrounding me, I would think this a joke.

I glance back at the screen and it's filled with a loading bar. There's a percentage above the bar and a phrase at the bottom.

'Sit back and relax'.

I snort; This void is not exactly the most comforting thing around. I shuffle a bit and change my posture when I notice something.

There is a cobblestone path jutting out of the void. It seems to lead off into the abyss and I can't tell how long it goes on for.

I know for a fact that this did not exist a minute ago.

Taking this as a sign, I pick up the letter and stick it back into its envelope, then I take it and the phone and start traveling down the path.

The journey takes a bit more than a minute and I find myself in a small park.

It seems to be midday; it was autumn just as I remember. There were trees and grass, and I could even hear the chirping of birds.

I don't know if they're real birds or just sounds, but I don't particularly care at this point.

I immediately beeline for a nearby bench and sit down.

It's 20% loaded, so I rest my feet on the other side of the bench and listen to the sounds around me.

Despite being dead, I was feeling exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to sleep.

I closed my eyes and settled in for a nap, safe in the knowledge that when I woke up, I would be alive once more.


It got pretty sad at the beginning. I just think that in this situation, a person wouldn't just immediately get hyped about dropping into DxD. You would absolutely think about everyone you're leaving behind. At least, I think so.

Got the boring bits out of the way though. :) Next time I'll be able to get into where Lucius will fit into the Phenex family dynamic. Also I can start writing actual dialogue, lmao. Pretty scary, but I'm kind of looking forward to it.