Chapter 6: The Past and Present
THE LONG AWAITED CONCLUSION TO THE 'GUARDIAN OF THE TRAUMATIC PAST' ARC IS HERE!
AUTHORS NOTES WILL BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CHAPTER J
(I do not own High School DxD or any of it's characters.)
PART 0.5
As I, Rias Gremory, searched everywhere for my beloved Issei, I began to worry about his well-being.
"Issei…Where did you disappear too?"
I said to myself silently. Every single member of the peerage, excluding the kidnapped Asia, was looking all over the Gremory mansion land for him. Xenovia and Kiba suggested that he went to train somewhere unknown by himself, Which is totally plausible. After hours of searching, we all met up back in the VIP room on the top floor of the mansion to give our reports. But no one had found a single trace of Issei.
"Do you think…it's possible that he abandoned us?"
Gasper said on the verge of tears.
"Absolutely not! Issei wouldn't think about doing that to us. Especially since Asia is still being held captive by that sick clown faced Mazus."
Xenovia shouted with confidence.
"Xenovia's absolutely right. Issei would never abandon any of us. Especially Asia."
Kiba said in agreement.
"Which begs the question, why is he gone?"
Akeno said with a sad face. The room feel silent for a minute until Azazel spoke up.
"Do ya think it's possible that he might have gotten impatient and has already left to save Asia?"
The moment those words had processed in all our brains, we all agreed in unison.
"That's exactly it!"
Everyone shouted. I stood up and made an announcement.
"Time to get prepared everyone. We're leaving early."
"Yes Rias!"
They all shouted. As they all left to prepare themselves I put my hands on my heart and thought to myself.
"We won't let you fight alone Issei, Please be careful until we arrive."
PART 1
After I arrived in the underworld, I, Issei Hyoudou, started my assault on Mazus' headquarters.
"YOU BASTARD! GIVE ASIA BACK RIGHT NOW!"
I shouted as I summoned the Boosted Gear's Balance Breaker.
[Issei, are you sure you want to do this? I won't try to stop you if you do.]
Ddraig said during my charge.
"I have to do this! Asia is waiting for me to save her…"
I then shouted at the top of my lungs
"...And I'm not going to let her down!"
[Boost!]
With that boost, I was now fully charged and ready to fight! After a few minutes of flying, I noticed the Sitri household to my right.
"Okay, there's the Sitri household. That means it should be near here."
I said to myself. Soon afterwards though, I heard an annoyingly familiar voice come from somewhere around me.
"Ho? So you've come early my boy? What a rebel you are."
The voice said. I, however, was not in the mood for fucking around.
"Shut up Mazus Dicks! Give Asia back to me or you're going to be in a world of hurt!"
I said with a clearly angry tone to my voice.
"Oh my, now you're calling me names? Didn't your parents ever teach you that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it?"
Mazus said, obviously toying around with me.
"This isn't a childrens show you bastard! So stop playing around and fight me like a man!"
I shouted in reply to his stupid question.
"You do realise that you don't stand a chance without your friends here, right? Otherwise the word 'Stupid' is an understatement for you."
Mazus then came out of hiding and teleported right behind me.
"But if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get."
Before I could react to his sudden teleportation, he kicked me hard in the back and sent me hurdling towards the ground. The impact of me hitting the ground made quite the crater, but I was so full of determination to save Asia that I barely felt it.
"Ha! Is that all you got?"
I said as I summoned a dragon shot in my hand.
"How about this then, Dragon Shot!"
I aimed my fist and punched the dragon shot with all my might. The beam of destruction shot through the air like a bullet from a sniper rifle and hit Mazus right where I was aiming; His head. I knew for a fact that that would've barely done a number on him but when the smoke cleared he didn't even have a single mark on him.
"I honestly thought that you'd learned at least something from our last encounter, but I guess that was wishful thinking."
Mazus teased as I clenched my fist in anger.
"Grr! I have had enough of your annoying voice!"
I was just about to launch upwards and smash his face in but he once again teleported right beside me.
"You are much too slow to fight me boy. Time to say goodbye to your future children."
He said as he kneed me in the groin with the same strength he used to kick me earlier. I almost vomited from the pain it brought as I fell to the ground.
"Tch, so naïve."
Mazus said as he summoned a sword in his hands.
"I hope you'll be a more worthy opponent in your next life, boy."
He said as he started to bring his sword down upon me.
"No…I refuse to believe that this is the end for me."
I thought to myself as I squeezed my eyes shut.
"I promised Asia that I would always protect her…I can't die until I have."
As Mazus' sword made it's way towards my heart, I prayed.
"Please!...
…I'm begging…!
..Someone…help me!"
As I shouted that in my mind, I heard an explosion in front of me and Mazus was thrusted away from me as well as his sword. I looked at the air in front of me with tears faintly appearing in my eyes, trying to process what had just happened. Until I heard a voice that snapped me out of it.
"So you're here already? I guess I can't say I'm surprised."
I rubbed the tears out of my eyes and looked in the direction that the voice came from. Standing there, a few meters away from me, was none other than Sona Sitri.
"S-Sona."
I stuttered as she walked towards me.
"I heard an explosion while I was preparing to help Rias in my household and came out to see what it was all about."
Sona helped me up as she continued.
"I've notified both Rias and the rest of my peerage so they'll be here soon."
I put my head on her shoulder and poured my heart out.
"Thank you…I really mean it."
She then put her hand on my head like Rias does.
"You looked like you were in quite the pickle. I have no problems with helping someone from Rias' peerage, especially the Sekiryuutei."
I then lifted my head back up and went back into determination mode.
"Sona, I know it's probably best if we wait but I need your help if I'm going to save Asia, if you think it's best to wait for everyone then it's okay, I'll go alone. But I am going now no matter what you-"
"If you want to save Asia that badly then stop talking and lets go."
Sona interrupted me with a smile. After thanking her once more, We turned towards the door in the rocks that Mazus had escaped into and started towards it.
PART 2
When me and Sona got inside the headquarters of Mazus, the door closed shut behind us and locked itself using a powerful magic spell. Sona said she could undo the spell but that it would take over an hour to undo. So we decided it was better, and faster, to continue into the headquartes of Mazus. The farther we went into the building, the more eerie and ominous the atmosphere became. Suddenly, we heard growls. Growls that sounded like very angry wolves.
"Crap!"
Sona said bitterly while trembling.
"W-what is it?"
I asked in confusion and a little bit of worry.
"I'd know that growl anywhere. They belong to a group of monsters called Soulfangs."
"Soulfangs?! Just the name makes them sound scary."
I said, shaken up but still ready to beat the shit out of these Soulfangs.
"They aren't particularily hard to kill, I'd say that one hit from Rias' destructive power would render it unable to fight. But the most deadly part about them, is that they attack in very large groups."
These Soulfang things sound more like an almighty pain in the ass rather than a difficult challenge.
"So, how many are we talking here? Like, ten or twenty?"
I asked her while not separating my eyes from the direction that the growls came from.
"No, more than that, I'd say that a small group of them consists of about fifty to sixty."
FIFTY TO SIXTY!? And that's only a small group!? Just that moment, another, seemingly important, question appeared in my head.
"Sona, How come I've never heard of these Soulfang things? No, more importantly, how do you know them? And why have you been trembling ever since we heard their growls?"
After I asked that, Sona jumped in surprise.
"Y-you noticed?"
"How could I not notice. You're shaking so bad, I would've mistook it for an earthquake. But if these things aren't that strong like you say, then what's wrong? Please, Tell me."
Sona then leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.
"Fine, I'll tell you everything."
I put my ears into listening mode while still staying on alert for a surprise attack.
"You've probably never heard of them because they seemingly went extinct a little over a hundred years ago…"
A hundred years ago, huh? That would definitely explain it. Sona paused for a while before she continued.
"…I know about them because, I had an encounter with them when I was very young."
So Sona has experienced the force of these Soulfangs before then? And when she was young too? Poor Sona.
"Back then, I was too young to know the difference between right and wrong. My father told me not to go outside after dark, but one night some of my old friends convinced me to. Their names were Kiel, Orion, Nora and Shanji. Rias wasn't with us because she was being taught about peerages at the time. Me and my friends played in the forest for what felt like hours, playing games like hide and seek and tag, When we had finally had enough of playing, we decided to go back. That was when we realised that Nora wasn't with us. We decided to split up into groups to look for her. Kiel went with Orion and I went with Shanji. We searched and searched but found nothing of Nora. Until, we saw a trail of blood. We followed to the trail until we came to a body lying face down on the floor. When we turned the body over, we discovered that it was Nora. We turned around to run away but there were a bunch of terrifying looking animals staring us dead in the eye, barely a meter away from us. Those animals were called Soulfangs. It wasn't long until we noticed that we were surrounded. Then we heard a whistle, it made the Soulfangs back off a bit. All of a sudden, a man wearing a smiling mask that covered his whole face came into view. A man who introduced himself…As Mazus Dukes.
[FLASHBACK]
"Well look what we have here, Four beautiful young kids playing in the forest at night time. I'm sure your parents are worried about you. Good evening, my name is Mazus Dukes. I see you've met my own lovely children."
The masked man said with an eerie tone to his voice
"Hey you jerk! I'll have you know that Sona here is a child of the house of Sitri! If you mess with us then you're asking for it!"
Shanji shouted in a fit of rage.
"The house of Sitri, huh? I've been looking for a piece of royalty to add to my collection."
The masked man said with a chuckle
"Don't you even think about laying a hand on her!"
Shanji shouted as he summoned a magic circle in his hands and shot The masked man with his electrical power. However, the masked man hadn't a scratch on him.
"My my, you're quite strong for someone your age. I think you'll grow up to be a wonderful devil my boy."
The masked man said as he took a step towards Shanji.
"Don't take another step! Or I'll-"
"Tell me something boy, have you ever wished for power?"
The masked man interrupted. Shanji froze.
"…I…I…"
Was all that came out of Shanji's mouth.
"Hey! What the hell did you do to him!"
"Leave him alone you stupid jerk!"
Kiel and Orion charged The masked man with their swords and attacked him at the same time. However, The masked man blocked both of the swords with his fingers. He grabbed them both and threw them away, and with the flick of his finger, the Soulfangs ripped them apart. The screams of the two boys was unbearable, Yet Shanji was still frozen, tears rolled down his eyes as the screams died down. The masked man turned back to him.
"I'll ask you again, have you ever wished for power?"
Shanji didn't say a word and instead kept on trembling.
"S-Shanji?"
Sona asked very quietly and cautiously. The masked man heaved a sigh and flicked his fingers. Suddenly, a bunch of Soulfangs started chewing and bitting him and then dragged his body into the night. Sona watched as the Soulfangs dragged away the body of the only other person that could save her. The masked man watched for a bit as Sona broke down into tears. Then, started to walk away with the rest of the Soulfangs. Suddenly, Sona's body moved without her permission, then her vocal chords followed suit.
"Y-you better give Shanji back! Or I'll have to force you to!"
She knew that what she was doing was the definition of suicide but she also knew that it was right thing to do, so she didn't try to stop herself.
"You better be careful, princess…"
The masked man looked at the bodies of Kiel and Orion
"…You'll suffer the same fate if you're not careful."
The Soulfangs growled in her direction but Sona stood her ground like her father taught her to.
"I won't ask you again, give Shanji back."
The masked man heaved another sigh
"I tried to be generous to you Sitri. But my patience for you has disappeared."
The masked man turned and started walking towards her.
"I'll deal with you myself."
The masked man started to gather intense amounts of demonic energy on his hand and a magic circle started to form.
"And because you've been a bad girl, I'll make this as painful as possible!"
The masked man raised his voice as he shot the bolt of demonic energy towards Sona. She wanted to close her eyes and cry but she stood strong and prepared herself to take on the pain of the shot. But suddenly, as the bolt of demonic energy was a mere meter away from her, it was deflected by another bolt of demonic energy, one that she recognised immediately. She cocked her head to the left, the tears that she was holding in started coming out as saw her father with many of his soldiers charging forward.
"DON'T WORRY SONA, I'M HERE!"
Her father said as he fired a massive beam of demonic energy towards The masked man. The masked man barely avoided it but then was so quickly shot with another, more powerful, one that it hit him directly in the chest. He was sent flying into a tree far behind him. A small crack appeared on the mask as he retreated into the night. The Soulfangs tried to follow but the soldiers massacred almost every one they could find. Sona's father embraced her as she cried her heart out.
"I-I'm sorry daddy, h-h-he killed them, he killed them all!"
"I am so sorry my dear Sona, I should've been here sooner."
[FLASHBACK END]
"After that, the Sitri house did everything they could to keep what happened from the entire underworld. Only the people that witnessed it know what happened. And now, you do too."
I was absolutely speechless by what I had just heard.
"No one's seen him since that very day. Until now I thought he was dead. But I guess not."
"Sona."
I moved forward to comfort her but suddenly, the growls of the Soulfangs could be heard again and this time, they were very close. I looked down the corridor and saw many Soulfangs come charging around the corner and set their eyes on their target, us. I internally admitted that these things looked very intimidating…
…But I am not having any of your shit Mazus! Not after what you did to Sona and her friends or how you took Asia from us! I summoned a very powerful Dragon shot on my [Boosted Gear] and as I punched the ball of demonic energy with all my might, I bellowed out at the the top of my lungs.
"YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
That Dragon Shot not only obliterated every single one of the Soulfangs, but it also obliterated every single wall that blocked it's path, revealing what looked like a shortcut through a pipe of sorts. I looked towards Sona who looked at me with a face of admiration, or so I thought
"Let's go, I'm itching to teach this guy a lesson on what happens when he messes with one of my friends."
I said as I jumped into the pipe. Sona was quite frozen for a bit with red cheeks but quickly followed me when I waved her over. The pipe was barely big enough to stand in but at least we didn't have to crawl seen as there was a small trail of black liquid all throughout the pipe. After walking for a while, Sona and I found the end of the pipe which was covered with a vent like opening. I silently removed it and started to climb out but I failed to noticed the massive drop that was right in front of me, so I fell. I hit the ground with a loud thud. Sona, soon afterwards, floated down using her devil wings.
"So much for being quiet. You really need to learn how to use your wings Issei."
"Yeah, I realise that. Sorry."
As I got up, Sona said something that I hadn't actually taken notice of until she said it
"Hey Issei, Doesn't this room seem a little too dark to you?"
I checked my surroundings and sure enough, the room was almost pitch black. Which felt strangely suspicious.
"Yeah, I see what you mean. Be prepared for a fight, don't let your guard down."
"Understood."
Sona answered. However, just that moment I heard a voice that made me forget the words I had just said.
"Issei!"
The voice belonged…to Asia!
"ASIA! IS THAT YOU?! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
Then we heard another voice, the irritating voice that belonged to the Masked asshole.
"Ah, so you've finally arrived. I was starting to get bored."
Mazus said with a chuckle. His stupid laugh just made me angrier
"SHOW YOUR FACE YOU ASSHOLE!"
"Issei!"
Sona attempted to calm me down but I was going past the point of no return.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Not yet at least. I want this to last a little longer. In the meantime…"
The lights were turned on and we realised that we were surrounded by Soulfangs. The unexpected reveal of them caused Sona to go dizzy.
"…You can entertain me by dealing with my children."
Suddenly, we heard someone flick their fingers. The noise made Sona freeze in fright. But suddenly, the Soulfangs were charging towards us from all sides.
"ISSEI!..."
Asia's cry for help slowly faded as the Soulfangs attacked. I quickly summoned my Balance breaker and with the last few seconds left before the Soulfangs reached us, I promoted myself to [Bishop]
[Mode Change!] [Welsh Blaster Bishop!]
I summoned the two cannons on my back and powered them up. The closest Soulfang was inches away from my face and, as if time were moving in slow motion, I said under my breath.
"Payback time."
With that, my cannons blasted away, ripping apart anything and everything in it's path in a matter of seconds. Sona was also blasting away the ones that came from behind me with her demonic abilities and together we absolutely obliterated every last Soulfang in the room. It felt extremely satisfying to take out that many of them since there was an incalculable number of them. But alas, all of them were defeated. I retracted my cannons and made my armour disappear. But right when I did, three more Soulfangs came running from the exit and charged at us. They stopped a couple of meters in front of us and growled. I started charging a Dragon Shot to finish them off.
"Oh, so there's more of you. I guess I'll finish you off with-"
I stopped because Sona had just walked out in front of me and was walking towards the three Soulfangs
"S-Sona?"
She slowly took steps towards the three Soulfangs and as she did, she suddenly started saying names that she'd mentioned before
"Kiel?...Orion?...Nora?...Is…That you?"
As Sona walked towards the three Soulfangs, they growled with killing intent but made no attempt to attack or kill Sona even as she kneeled down right before them.
"I…I can hear them. Like they're calling out to me, asking me to save them."
Tears started rolling down her face as she put her hand out and caressed all three of them.
"All this time, you weren't dead. You're souls were just put inside the bodies of these creatures."
She locked foreheads with the Soulfang that she called Kiel and continued to pet the other two, but as she did, a few questions crossed my mind and I, rather rudely, interrupted their reunion.
"Sorry but there's something I still don't get, I thought you said they were killed by the Soulfangs. So how are they-"
Suddenly, I got a vague idea of the answer before Sona could say it.
"Wait, I may sound crazy here but, does the name Soulfang have any meaning towards stealing ones soul?"
Sona looked at me and smiled
"Actually, i think that's exactly correct."
She looked back at her former friends as she continued
"When a Soulfang kills someone, the victims soul is probably put into that specific Soulfang."
I had another question regarding that but Sona, as if reading my mind (not a good idea), answered it.
"And if you're wondering how a Soulfang is created, they're pretty much just man-made puppets that can only be created with a certain level of puppeteering skills. Until they find a soul to take control of them, They are very easy to destroy and don't have a mind of their own. At least that's what my theory is."
Then, after giving it some thought, I asked her the last question I had.
"If that's so, then where is your fourth friend?"
The moment I said that, the three Soulfangs that comforted Sona started growling again as they high-tailed it around her and jumped at me with their jaws wide open. The sudden change in emotion startled me so I ran out of time to react. The only thing I could do was summon my armor and hope they didn't bite through.
"NO PLEASE! DON'T HURT HIM!"
Sona shouted at the three Soulfangs. They stopped their charge but didn't stray their deadly eyes away from mine.
"He's a new friend of mine! I assure you he's not hostile."
The Soulfangs killing intent slowly faded as Sona came up to me and…Hugged me?!
"He…means just as much to me as you three."
Okay, what the hell is with this change in character. I ain't gonna say anything out loud but this is the most terrifying thing that's happened all day.
"Hey Sona, is it just me or are you able to understand them."
I asked her curiously
"It's not that I can hear them or anything. It's just, it's like I can tell what they're trying to say just by looking at them. I don't really understand it myself."
[Yeah yeah, all's well that ends well, can we hurry up and do something again? We don't want to bore the readers do we?]
Damn it Ddraig, what did I say about breaking the fourth wall?! Nevertheless though…
"You're right. Lets hurry up and save Asia."
Sona nodded and Kielfang, Orionfang and Norafang growled in agreement. They probably don't know what I mean by that though, they're just following Sona. We charged through the massive corridor that was in front of us and kept our eyes open for anything suspicious. When we got to the end of the corridor we entered a big room. In the very middle of the room stood Mazus Dukes, who was holding an unconscious Asia in his hands.
"Asia!"
I shouted but got no reply (obviously)
"Look here my boy, As much as I would love to fight you, I am running out of time and I really need this blondie here to help me return my chrome bomb machine to full power. So…"
Mazus then flicked his fingers and trapped me, Sona, Kielfang, Orionfang and Norafang in an unbreakable cage. Me and Sona tried to destroy the bars while the fang trio tried to bite them but not a scratch was made.
"You coward! Come and fight me like a man!"
"Well now, that should keep them occupied for a few minutes."
Mazus said as he walked over to a humungous machine that had a glass sphere in the middle of it. After making Asia wake up again, Mazus grabbed her hair.
"You see there? You're friends are being harmed over there, and it's all because of you. However, I'll consider releasing them if you use your [Twilight Healing] ability to restart my machine here. Come on, it's a win win situation for everyone!"
He said as he tugged at her hair harder.
"I…Refuse."
Asia said, somehow managing to stand the pain.
"I believe in Issei and Rias as well as all my friends. They'll put a stop to you, because all of them, especially Issei, are more powerful than you will ever be."
Thank you so much for those words Asia. However, Mazus wasn't fazed by what she had said and instead just sighed
"You just love to run your mouth don't you. I wonder what your answer will be after this."
Mazus then grabbed Asia's right hand and snapped the bone in half, breaking her hand immeidately. Asia screamed in agony. I watched her hand dangle in a way that it definitely shouldn't.
"YOU FUCKING PIECE OF TRASH! LAY ONE MORE FINGER ON HER! I FUCKING DARE YOU!"
I shouted curses at the top of my lungs out of pure anger. The small ember that had started when Mazus first kidnapped Asia had now turned into a large blazing flame that could be seen deep in my eyes as I forcefully tried to rip apart the bars of the cage. But to no avail. Asia's tears flooded the floor as Mazus then snapped the bones in her left foot. She cried her eyes out due to the immense pain she was going through. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to watch. I hadn't noticed it but Sona and the Fang trio had backed away from me due to the deadly aura that my body was radiating.
"Issei…"
Was what Sona said under her breath, but I didn't hear it due to the destructive aura. Mazus looked at me with interest
"That is some power you have there. It's actually enough to impress me."
Then with a sadistic voice he said
"If hurting this girl is what it takes to get you to go full power or even Juggernaut Drive then how about I just kill the bitch!"
"Don't…you-"
I tried to persude him, But it was too late. Mazus had already flicked his fingers. As a small pack of Soulfangs made their way towards Asia, I saw her look at me, right in the eye and her mouth said something. I couldn't hear what it was but I made it out using what I saw.
"Goodbye Issei, I love you."
The moment those words processed in my head, my vision went pitch black, and I could only hear the ripping apart of a body and the haunting final screams of Asia. I heard the sounds of the Fang trio cowering and Sona gagging from the sight of Asia's bloody remains. All of a sudden, a chant resonated through the building and beyond.
"I, WHO IS ABOUT TO AWAKEN,…"
…That chant…
"…AM THE HEAVENLY DRAGON WHO HAS STOLEN THE PRINCIPLES OF DOMINATION FROM GOD…"
…Came from me.
"…I LAUGH AT THE "INFINITE", AND I GRIEVE AT THE "DREAM" I SHALL BECOME THE RED DRAGON OF DOMINATION AND I SHALL SINK YOU TO THE DEPTHS OF CRIMSON PURGATORY!"
"JUGGERNAUT DRIVE!"
PART 3
As Issei's transformation into Juggernaut Drive ripped the unbreakable cage that we were stuck in, I –Sona Sitri, obviously ran to a safe place along with the Fangtrio. I watched as the boy I called my friend was transformed into a monster so powerful it could destroy the underworld. However, Mazus Dukes was far from fazed. In fact, he seemed satisfied if anything.
"Yes Yes! The only power capable of putting a stop to me! The true power of the Sekiryuutei! Juggernaut Drive! I love it!"
he shouted sadistically as he summoned his demonic power. An electric aura that almost matched that of Issei's Juggernaut Drive boomed throughout the building. Mazus leaped into the air towards the Sekiryuutei and threw multiple bolts of electric energy at it. But the attack that would've killed normal Issei left not a single scratch on the armor. The Sekiryuutei threw a lightning quick super punch at Mazus and hit all of Mazus' body with precision. Mazus was sent flying into the wall and made a hole big enough to fit a car in. Mazus had no time to move though since the Sekiryuutei grabbed him from the hole and threw him on the ground, it then proceeded to viciously stomp on Mazus multiple times. Mazus tried to evade the next attack but was no where near quick enough. The Sekiryuutei shot Mazus with a supercharged dragon shot that came from the mouth of the dragon. Mazus struggled to move but was actually laughing after all that.
"This is it. I have waited for this moment for so long!"
The Sekiryuutei opened it's chest and revealed the single most powerful known dragon attack, the Longinus Smasher. The Dragon started charging it up as I looked for a way to escape.
"That attack will kill even us if we don't get out of here."
I grabbed the Fangtrio (who were lighter than I thought) and went to fly upwards through the ceiling to get away from the rampaging Issei. I didn't want to leave him behind, I wanted to stay and help him out of that state. But that was as far from possible as you can get. I looked at the rampaging dragon who was almost finished charging up it's Longinus Smasher once more and summoned my wings to fly away. But suddenly, as I looked up towards the roof...
[Divide]
I saw a white dragon with transparent blue wings that shone with the word…
[Divide]
Every time those words were bellowed out from the pure white armor, The Rampaging Dragon's aura slowly got weaker until finally it seemed weak enough to be defeated.
"Issei!"
Suddenly, A familiar face jumped through the hole in the roof and into the room. Her crimson hair flowed beautifully as she went to Issei's aid with tears in her eyes.
"Issei! Issei I'm here!"
She ripped off her top and bra and placed the dragons hands on her bare breasts. But the armor didn't disapear.
"W-why isn't my switch working?"
She said as she pressed the hands against her breasts harder.
"It's because he did a complete Juggernaut Drive transformation."
The White Dragon, Vali, said.
"The reason you could save him before was because he performed an incomplete transformation. A complete transformation can only be undone by the user themselves, but that's unheard of. I'm the only ever wielder of the dragon's [Sacred Gear]'s to be able to not go insane and die after transforming."
Suddenly, Rias noticed me in the corner of the room.
"Sona!"
"Rias!"
I shouted back at her. Suddenly Rias noticed the Soulfangs with me and summoned a magic circle.
"Sona! Look out!"
She threw a bolt of her crimson demonic energy towards the Fangtrio but missed. Because I stopped it with my own magic circle.
"S-sona? Why did you stop my attack. And why aren't those Soulfangs attacking you?"
"It's kinda a long story."
I said with a chuckle. Suddenly, Issei in Juggernaut Drive started roaring again. He took Vali by surprise and grabbed him. Before Vali could use divide on him, Issei crushed the armor of Vali with the squeeze of his hand and ferociously punched him to the floor, Knocking Vali unconscious.
"That's not good. How the hell do we stop him now."
Rias said with worry. The once again rampaging dragon had regained it's strength and started trying to kill us. It was almost impossible to dodge every attack that it threw.
"There's no way to defeat him. We may just have to let Sirzechs deal with him."
I said sadly, Rias hesitated but nodded her head in agreement.
PART 3.5
"Issei…I believe in you."
As I was rampaging throughout the building of Mazus' Headquarters. My unstable and Insane self heard a voice. It sounded like it belonged to…Asia?
"Issei…I believe in you."
Her voice resonated throughout the black void that was my body and a small crimson light entered my vision. Asia's voice faded and another voice, although distorted, could be heard coming from the light.
"Issei…I believe in you!"
The voice didn't belong to Asia though. Could it be…
"R..ias?"
I mumbled, managing to move my mouth.
"Issei! Come back to me Issei!"
With those words, I felt myself drift into the small crimson light which grew brighter until I reached out and touched it.
PART 4
The first thing that I, Issei Hyoudou, saw when my eyes finally opened was the crimson hair of my beloved Rias, who had tears in her eyes.
"Issei?"
"Rias?"
I said as I reached my hand up to wipe the tears off her face. But she embraced me with all her might instead.
"Issei! You're really okay?"
She said with tears of joy
"I'm really okay. Don't worry about me now."
I looked towards Sona who also had watery eyes out of happiness. I decided it was best to apologise to her
"Sona. I'm sorry, for doing something like that right in front of you. I'll never do it again I swear!"
I said as I bowed in apology. Sona just laughed a bit and hugged me again. I must say, Sona has a very nice body to embrace. Now, if only her chest was developed.
"You don't have to apologise at all Issei. Anyone would do what you did in that situation."
I highly doubt that but thanks for comforting me. As we went to leave, I decided to quickly check on Mazus and pray to Asia in heaven to tell her that I defeated him for her. But when I checked the rubble where he was suppose to be. He wasn't there. I summoned my [Boosted Gear] and started charging it up just in case Mazus had a sneak attack planned. Sona and Rias saw what I did and followed suit.
"So he isn't defeated, huh?"
"This time, we'll make sure he pays."
They said with battle ready stances. Suddenly, we heard the masked man's voice.
"So you finally noticed that I was gone? Talk about unobservant. If you're confused, let's just say that a certain phoenix cried over my body."
"Yeah? Well, I'm not crazy with anger this time, So how about a one on one fight between just you and me."
I challenged Mazus to one last duel. He interestingly agreed.
"I accept your challenge. However, you have no chance at beating me without your Juggernaut Drive so it's kinda pointless."
I knew he'd say that, but I just smiled.
"So you say. But I have something even better than Juggernaut Drive. A form that can easily rival the likes of yours."
With that, I started the chant.
"I, WHO IS ABOUT TO AWAKEN,
AM THE RED DRAGON EMPEROR WHO
HOLDS THE TRUTH OF THE KING UP HIGH
HOLDING THE INFINITE HOPES AND
UNBREAKABLE DREAMS AND WALKING
THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
I WILL BECOME AN
EMPEROR OF CRIMSON DRAGON
AND I WILL LEAD YOU
TO THE PATH OF HEAVEN
GLOWING IN DEEP CRIMSON LIGHT!"
"CARDINAL CRIMSON PROMOTION!"
After I finished the chant, I immediately changed modes.
[Mode Change!] [Welsh Sonic Boost Knight!]
I promoted to [Knight] and bolted towards Mazus at a speed that couldn't be seen by the human eye. I sent countless punches, kicks, dragon shots and everything else I had at Mazus. Every few attacks would graze him but I never got a perfect hit on him.
[Mode Change!] [Welsh Blaster Bishop!]
I quickly changed from [Knight] to [Bishop] and fired away at Mazus who managed to avoid most of the attacks. Like before, I got a couple of hits in but no serious damage was dealt. If only I could catch him when he's stopped.
[Dragon Blaster!]
I summoned the two cannons on the back of the armor and unleashed my most powerful [Bishop] attack on him. At one point, it looked like I had hit him so I decided to change to [Rook]. But as I did I was met with an electric sucker-punch by Mazus and because I hadn't changed to [Rook] yet, most of my armor was destroyed and I felt the impact on my actual body. I spat out a bit of blood as I promoted to [Rook]
[Mode Change!] [Welsh Dragonic Rook!]
As I promoted, my armor was replaced and I felt myself get a hell of a lot stronger but at the same time, I felt myself get slower. But instead of telling Mazus my intentions, my actions were enough to make him realise what I wanted. Thus, a man on man, pure, no holds barred fist fight erupted in the middle of the room. I sent my first punch towards his face but Mazus quickly got me in the abdomen. However, I used my upwards momentum from getting back up to uppercut Mazus in the jaw. Blood splattered out of his mouth but he was only enjoying it. He then got me a good one on the face while I nailed him in the groin and a long back and forth game of punches ensued. Constant sucker-punches and dropkicks made us tired and struggling to catch our breaths and by the time we had no energy left, I was dangerously bleeding from all over my face and a could see no less blood dripping out from the bottom of Mazus' mask. I slightly lowered my stance to get a little more air into my lungs and Mazus took the opportunity to end it right then and there with one last punch to the face. Just like I predicted. So as the punch made it's way towards me…
[BoostBoostBoostBoostBoostBoostBoostBoostBoost!]
…We both used what tiny fragments of energy we had left into our final punches. The person who was left standing after this was going to be the winner. So with all my might I deactivated my armour to be fast enough to dodge Mazus fist and as my fist flew towards Mazus face, both Ddraig and I shouted at the top of our lungs
[Penetrate!]
The moment my fist made contact with Mazus' face, his mask shattered into a thousand pieces and Mazus went crashing into the wall behind him. Knocking him unconscious. I fell to the ground and almost lost consciousness myself. But Sona and Rias came to my aid.
"Issei, are you okay?"
"That was amazing Issei! You did it!"
They said as they picked me up.
"It's a shame Asia isn't here to heal you."
Rias said with a sad look on her face. But I just smiled and looked upwards.
"It's okay. Asia is at peace now. I defeated the man who killed her."
I coughed out a little bit of blood and my vision showed signs of blurriness. But I wanted one last thing before I passed out.
"Can you take me over to Mazus? I know I destroyed his mask, so I want to see who was under it."
"Fair enough, the others will be here in a few minutes since they stayed outside to deal with all the minions and Soulfangs so that this fight didn't get distracted."
Rias said with a relieving smile. When we walked over to Mazus' body and saw the face of the man under the mask, me and Rias acknowledged the unfamiliar face's fighting skills. But when I looked at Sona's face, she was utterly shocked.
"S-sona? Do…You know this guy?"
I asked her. She didn't answer me and instead just stuttered the name.
"S-Shanji?"
She said as she let go of me to get a closer look at the man's face.
"It is you, Shanji…"
"Wait, so all this time, Shanji wasn't dead? He had actually taken the Real Mazus' place and inherited the name?"
I was sort of confused for a bit but suddenly I kicked myself.
"Of Course!"
Sona looked at me curiously with watery eyes. Meanwhile Rias was concerned about how I was suddenly fine after losing so much blood.
"…Of course what?"
"It's no wonder that Shanji wasn't apart of the Fangtrio. It's because he wasn't even killed by them."
I suddenly realised yet another thing.
"And didn't you notice? Mazus was using electric like demonic power. Just like how you said that Shanji's demonic energy was electricity in that story about your friends! I can't believe I didn't catch onto that. Speaking of which, it makes even more sense that the building is located near the Sitri Household."
Sona looked back at Shanji and murmured something to him that I couldn't really make out. All I heard was 'So you were….All this time….i never got to say i…..i'm sorry'. Once she was done, she came back to me and helped me stand again. All that energy I had just now was gone and I couldn't even speak anymore. My consciousness faded and I passed out just before everyone else ran into the room.
PART 5
As I, Rias Gremory, and Sona carried a now unconscious Issei from his victorious battle. Everyone from Mine and Sona's peerages finally came into the room. Saji, from Sona's peerage asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"So, did Issei finally defeat Mazus Dukes?"
Out of habit, Sona answered the question before I could since it was someone from her peerage.
"Yes he did, we should all be very proud of what he accomplished here."
Sona said with a happy smile as she looked at Issei who, although unconscious, was smiling too. Everyone cheered with relief when they heard the answer. We all made our way out and congratulated each other on a hard fought victory. But as we left the Mazus Headquarters building, we heard a maniacal laugh. We turned around and saw that Mazus, who was actually Shanji, had brought his machine out from the building and was charging it up. As he spoke, he aimed the machine at the Sitri Household.
"You really think the Sekiryuutei can stop me? Well I've got news for you bastards! This machine of mine is going to destroy the underworld and then the overworld and finally, it'll destroy heaven!"
Judging from the cannon on the machine, it looks like it could very easily take out the whole of the underworld in little more than a few shots. So I went to lightly place Issei on the ground until someone came flying past me.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!"
Kyron shouted as he summoned Cloud Save. Mazus tried to stop him but Kyron is the most agile person I know, so Kyron easily evaded Mazus and used the immense power of his sword to slice the transparent sphere of the machine in half, causing it to blow up the building along with itself.
"You shitty devil! I'll make you suffer for that!"
Shanji then took something that looked like a small red pill out of his pocket and swallowed it. Moments later, he slowly transformed into an insanely large demon that was at least 20 meters tall. Everyone jumped back in surprise but then quickly took a battle ready stance. However, Kyron summoned an unusually strong magic barrier around us and we couldn't break through.
"What the hell are you doing!"
I shouted at my [Guardian]. He just looked at me and smiled, though it wasn't hard to tell that he was somewhat sad as well.
"When I became your [Guardian], I promised to protect you and the rest of the peerage with my life. So, I guess I have to my job now."
It barely took me a second to realise what he meant.
"Don't you dare do it!"
But it was already too late, Kyron had summoned his Sacred Gear [Calculus Fire] and was charging towards the demon. He evaded all the the demons attacks and when he finally close enough to hit the demon, a tear crawled out of his eye as he shouted
[ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!]
The moment the attack landed, a shockwave more intense than I've ever felt before came rushing over us. It was so powerful that it destroyed the magic barrier instantly. Then, a bright light came from where Kyron had Hit the demon and after a few seconds, a massive explosion happened. It wasn't your normal smoke and fire explosion though, it was an air explosion. Wind was sent, at break neck speeds, in every direction. it was so intense that we couldn't open our eyes. Boulders were thrown miles as a result of it but it oddly didn't affect us. When the wind finally died down enough to be able to open our eyes, we saw that the demon had been obliterated, wiped from existence. And Kyron's body was on the ground.
"Kyron!"
I shouted, my peerage followed me as I ran to see If he was okay. When I got to his body, it was just like he said. His arm was completely gone and he had been drained of all his blood. Kyron had sacrificed himself to save us.
PART 6
After many days of being stuck in a hospital room as a result of Asia no longer being with us, I –Issei Hyoudou, was discharged and could finally be in the ORC clubroom with Rias and everyone else. But when I opened the doors to the clubroom, it wasn't just Rias and rest of the peerage in the room. Sona was also there.
"Oh Issei, you're finally back."
"Good to see you again Issei"
Rias and Sona said. Suddenly, they looked at each other and I swore I saw sparks fly in between the two.
"Well anyway, as I was saying, the council has decided to reward both of our peerages for putting a stop to a criminal who has been on the loose for over two hundred years and they're going to do it by holding an underworldwide banquet for us. They also said that they will have a kind of funeral for the people who died in the attack."
Sona and Rias continued their chat about the Banquet until she stood up.
"Well, I think it's time."
Sona said, stretching her arms upwards. Giving me, who was sitting across from her, a good view. Rias leaned back in her chair and asked her something out of curiosity
"Time for what? If I may ask."
Suddenly, Sona grabbed me and pulled me into her chest. The feeling of her developing breasts made my nosebleed.
"Time to spend some alone time with Issei!"
She said. At that moment, as if synchronized, All the girls in the ORC clubroom jumped up in surprise.
"WHAT?!"
They all shouted. Suddenly, a dangerous crimson aura surrounded Rias and she looked at the two of us with killing intent.
"I won't forgive you, nor will I go easy on you if you take him away Sona."
Rias looked very scary to me but Sona was completely unfazed.
"I'd like to see you try Rias."
Sona then turned to me and pulled my face into hers. The moment our lips made contact, she shoved her tongue down my throat. When she finally took it out I managed to force something out of my lucky mouth.
"What…was that all about?"
"Haven't I told you already? I've been thinking about getting myself a boyfriend."
She then started making out with me again. The moment Rias heard that she summoned a deadly ball of destructive demoinic energy and threw it at us. But Sona teleported us away with a magic circle before it could hit us. When I opened my eyes after the teleportation, I noticed that we were in a secluded bath.
"Hey Issei."
Sona said seductively
"W-what is it?"
"Could you use Dress Break on me? It'd take too long to take these clothes off myself."
Sona is not holding back with her newfound obsession with me. But I don't care! My eyes are about to have a great time. I summoned my [Boosted Gear] and, after apologising to Ddraig in advance to myself, I touched Sona with it and flicked my fingers.
EPILOGUE
"So, with that I believe you've seen all there is to see on this floor of Heaven. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
Arch Angel Michaels Ace, Irina Shidou, was giving someone a tour of Heaven.
"Well, yes there is actually."
"Ask away then. Hit me with all the questions you want."
The blonde haired nun summoned her angelic white wings as she asked her last question.
"Will I be able to go back to my original peerage?"
Irina thought for a second and then answered.
"You can definitely go down and spend time with them. Kind of like I do. But now that your apart of Michaels peerage, you aren't allowed to become a devil again. Sorry Asia."
AUTHORS NOTES: Holy cheese and crackers that chapter took SO long to write. But alas, it is finally done. And like I said at the beginning, this chapter concludes the first story arc known as the "Guardian of the Traumatic Past" Arc. I really hope you enjoyed it. The funny thing is that a lot of this chapter was written on the spot. Meaning that I pretty much just wrote down whatever came to my head. The only thing that I was certain about was Kyrons death at the end. I had that planned ever since I started this fanfiction. Damn though, a lot of crap happened in this chapter. It honestly wasn't meant to be this long but I just had so many ideas that I couldn't stop writing. Obviously I had some idea's that I couldn't implement but I won't go into detail about those. Let me just quickly tie up some loose ends for you guys. If your wondering what happened to Vali in the Mazus building, Azazel was there with Rias and took Vali to a safe place once he had been knocked out. If your wondering why Asia is in heaven, When Asia got eaten she turned into a Soulfang. What happened was Michael teleported that soulfang to his place in heaven and turned her back into a human on the condition that she becomes apart of his peerage. So now, Irina and Asia are I the same peerage together. It probably won't affect the time she spends with Issei and stuff since she lives in his house and all but she won't be able to compete in rating game fights and what not. I hope their isn't anything else y'all need to know. Just so you know, THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE FANFICTION! This is only the end of the first arc. But that's all for now. I really hope you enjoyed this though, I really enjoyed writing it since DxD is my favorite anime ever and I hope you enjoyed it too. Until next time fellow perverts. (Please leave a review before leaving :D)
