Chapter 11: The Sleep.
"We have a problem." A figure enter the room where Grayfia, Sirzechs, Lords Gremory and Phoenix and Sona Sitri. Everyone looks to the man.
"What's the problem?" Sirzechs asks on a polite tone.
"We are having a problem with transporting one of the players out of the arena." The man says.
"So? Can't one of you teleport in there to retrieve him then teleport back out again? I mean this has happened before. Transporting a person that far away has proven to be a little...glitchy is some sense." Lord Phoenix requests.
"We have tried that. It seems that we can't transport anyone in or out of the area anymore. The arena is lost to us." The man replies solemnly.
"What?!" Sirzechs yells. "Then open the emergency gate into the dimension!"
"I'm sorry sir, but can't do that either. We can get to the room it leads to, but the doors to the arena won't open. It's like a barrier is preventing us from interfering with the Rating Game."
"Impossible." Lord Gremory says. "When did this start?" He asks.
"A few moments after the player, Issei Hyoudou collapsed and fell unconscious. Rules state that if a play is severely injured or falls unconscious, they will be eliminated once they are off the field. And we can't take him or anyone else out."
Everyone's eyes widen.
"Grayfia, announce that players that this game is over!" Sirzechs orders.
"Yes." She runs over to the mic. "Attention, this Rating Game as been cancelled, repeat the Rating Game has been cancelled." She looks over to the screen. But none of the players react to the message, or even seem to even hear it in the first place. "They're not reacting, my message didn't go through. They can't hear us." She says to the group without taking her eyes off the screen.
"Impossible." Lord Phoenix says. "This best not be your doing Gremory!" He yells.
"It isn't. My daughter is stuck in there, for all I know, is that it's your sons doing Phoenix." Lord Gremory replays.
"Calm down you two." Sona orders. "If you were looking and paying attention closely, you'd find that this event started to happen when Issei fell. This means that whatever is happening, is because someone doesn't want Issei to leave that arena. I know for a fact that Rias isn't capable of doing this and that Riser is to prideful to cheat. So that means that an outside force is now in control of the game." She says. "All we can do now is sit and wait for that person or group to appear, or till the end of the game."
They all take in what she had said.
"Then no matter what happens, our bet is off, and the decision for Rias marrying my son will be put on hold." Lord Phoenix sits back down.
"I'd advise not to do that. There is a reason that Issei isn't leaving the area, and if that reason is because of the Rating Game in the first place, then that might anger the person behind this and seeing as they can prevent us from reaching then they must be very powerful. So whatever the outcome, it must, sadly be upheld." She says.
"Very well. The game will go on as it should, but that doesn't mean we will stop trying. If anyone needs to taken out, try to. Other than that, this game will continue." Sirzechs orders the man.
"Yes, sir." The man replies before running off.
Sona looks into the screen where Issei is shown laying on the couch in the OCR and Rias and the rest of her peerage watching over him. 'I hope you know what you're doing Rias.'
Issei rests on the couches as the test of the group stand around.
"What are we going to do?" Yuuto asks.
"I don't know. But what I'm wondering most, is why Issei hadn't been announced eliminated and taken out of them game because he's unconscious." Rias sits at her fake desk.
"Well it's a good thing that Akeno can put up and strong barrier, but what are we going to do once it falls?" Asia says.
"I'm not sure." Rias answers.
They all stand around silent, until Koneko speaks up.
"We fight." Koneko points at Issei. "Their numbers are down. We can win."
They all look at her.
"I'm sure we can. But what about Issei? We can leave him here." Asia retaliates.
"I'll stay her and watch over him. The rest of you should be ready to fight if Akeno's barrier falls." Rias orders.
*BOOM*
They look out the window to see Riser's Queen pelting the barrier with gigantic fire balls.
"I don't know how long it'll stay up. And if too much time passes, I'm afraid that Riser himself might show and break the barrier." Akeno frowns. 'Please wake up Issei.' She looks over to him and remembers what he said to her the night his was training. 'You promised to protect us.'
"Anyway, let's go. We leave Issei I your hand, Prez." Yuuto says as he summons a sword to his hand.
"Be careful Yuuto." Rias says to him with a nod.
"Be back soon." Koneko nods as she and Yuuto open the door and walk out of the room.
Akeno pats Asia's shoulder. "You say here with Rias. I'll be going along with them."
Asia gives a faint smile.
"Good luck Akeno."
"You too, Rias." She then walks out of the door after the others.
Rias looks down at Issei and sits down, placing his head on her lap. She whispers, "Please wake up soon." She leans down and kisses his forehead.
Asia looks outside and starts to pray. 'Please god, let Issei why up soon. Amen.' "Owie!" She yells and winces from the pain.
Rias looks over to her and smiles a little. She then looks back down to Issei. "What the?" She noticed a faint purple and gray glow under Issei's shirt. As she unbuttons his shirt, the glow get brighter.
"W-what are you doing, President?" Asia blushes and covers her eyes a little.
Rias finally get to the point where Issei's bare chest. Her blush fades with the sight that is not his chest. Asia looks over her shoulder and her eyes widen at what's there. Going across his chest is a purple and gray, glowing infinity symbol. But that shocked them the most; it's that it's looked like its moving. The symbol looks like a river of purple and black aura, moving along the figure eight shape.
"What is that?" Asia asks.
"I-I don't know." Rias, hesitantly put her hand over the mark. 'It's warm...' A light pink blush appears in her face. "What's going on here?"
Riser looks out the window to see fire ball after fire ball being cast by his Queen. "What the hell is going on out there?" He looks closer to see some of Rias's peerage stands behind a big barrier waiting from it to break and a battle to start. "Where is that brat?" He looks around the arena that he can see and finds no senses anything for the boy. "Hmmmm. Risers going to end this now." He steps back and blasts a hole into the window, spreads his flame wings and flies to his peerage.
"Master Riser!?" His Queen yells as she throws another fire ball it the barrier.
"All of you! Riser is not happy! Being stopped by a mere barrier and Riser has to break it for you!" He yells as his hand gets engulfed in flame. He flies to the barrier and give is a punch, shattering in completely.
"You ready?" Yuuto says as he summons a sword to his hand.
"Yeah" "Of course." Both Akeno and Koneko say.
"You to get Riser and his Queen, I'll join you in a few, after I deal with his second Knight." He looks to the girl with a cloth wrapped loosely around her head. The girls nods and head up to Riser and his Queen.
"You're brave to take on a Knight and a Bishop on by yourself." A girl with blond hair and twin tails that look like drills says.
"I can manage." Yuuto says. Suddenly, blades start rising from the ground, circling the three.
"What is this?" The knight asks.
"It's my Sacred Gear, Sword Birth. I can create any number of swords for me to use." Another sword rises next to him and takes it so he now welds two swords.
"A Sacred Gear?!" The knight yells as Yuuto charges at her and the Bishop. Both are shocked at his speed and the Bishop gets cut getting out of the way.
"Lady Phoenix!" The Knight yells.
"Phoenix?" Yuuto looks over to the girl with the blond hair and find the cut I made into arm is surrounded my flames and is healing. "He has his own sister in his peerage?" Yuuto lifts his hand to his ear. "Guys, we might have another problem?"
"What is it?" "What?" Rias and Koneko say back.
"Risers Bishop is his own sister." Yuuto's tone changes.
"W-what? So there's another Phoenix in here?" Akeno's asks.
"Yes, I watched her wound heal in flames in front of me."
Rias looks down at Issei again.
"Please wake up." She kisses his forehead.
-Issei's Dream-
Issei jolts up from his place on the ground. "What the?" Sitting up, he looks around to anyone, anything at that. But all that surrounds his is nothingness.
"Ddraig!?" He yells. But nothing responds. "Where am I?" He walks around the blank space.
"I guess it's his time too." A soft echo says.
"What?" Issei looks around.
"It didn't seem that long ago when I was going through it too." Another echo, this time, female says.
"Who's there?!" Issei yells.
"Shhh. He might here us." The first voice says.
"Yeah right! Your loud voice was probably the first thing he heard!" The female yells.
"Quiet, quiet. He'll hear us." The man says in fear."
"Will you two stop arguing?!" Issei yells.
""NO!"" They both yell.
"Uh oh." The am whispers.
"That's it!" Issei stomps to where he heard the voices, only to be stopped by an invisible wall. "What the?"
"Ha ha, you can dare get past the barrier!" The ma yells happily.
"Shut-up! He'll know where we are!" The female yells.
"He already does, thanks to your loud mouth!" He yells back.
A vain in Issei's head twitches. "That's it?!" Issei summons a black light spear and jabs it into the invisible wall.
""Eeeee!"" Both of the people jump back.
"What!" Issei jabs again, making a hole. "Are you two?" He jabs again, making the hole bigger. "IN MY HEAD!?" Issei's at the top of his lunges and shatters the glass like barriers down. Looking inside, Issei finds a man and women standing next to each other and a table filled with people with blank looks on their faces inside a blank white room.
"Well...he made it." The man says.
"Who the hell are you?!" Issei points at them angrily.
The man puts his hand up to his chest and sways from side to side. "Hey, hey. No need to get hostile."
The girl finally steps up. "This is Belzard, and I'm Elsha." She bows.
Issei is taken back by her sudden niceness, after what he just heard. "Ahhhhh. Hello...I guess...so who are they?" Issei points to the others at the table.
Both Belzard and Elsha look at each other sadly, before answering. "They are the past wielder of the Boosted Gear, as are we." Belzard answers.
Issei looks at them. "Oh, so they're...WHAT!?" Issei jumps back a few feet. Belzard and Elsha put on an 'unbelievable' expression.
"He took it well." Belzard says to her sarcastically.
"Yeah, at least I had the decency to kick you." She replies.
"Hey!" He yells back.
[Silence you two! It's not time to be arguing!] A loud gruff voice yells from the sky. They all look up to see a large dragons head leaning over the top of the white wall.
"""Ddraig!?""" The three yell in disbelief.
[Yo.]
A small girl with long black hair and a Gothic Lolita outfit looks up for her place, standing on the top of the tallest tower of a castle. "He's hurt."
"Who is?" A young man says. This man had short black hair, wearing a Japanese schoolboy's uniform and part if an ancient Chinese attar.
She looks down at him and narrows her eyes. "No one." She says before he gets covered in black snakes and disappears.
He also narrows he eyes. "This isn't like Ophis. Who is he?"
-On the Outside-
The same man from before runs into the room with everyone in it. "I have news."
"Report." Sirzechs orders.
"We were successful in pulling four playing from the game."
All their eyes widen. "How?" Sona asks.
"Well, we were targeting player that were about to faint, and the barrier opened only for those four that were about to faint. They are, Yubelluma, and Karlamine, Risers Queen and Knight. As well as Yuuto Kida and Koneko Toujou, Rias's Knight and Rook. But we are still unable to take Issei Hyoudou out of the game."
To this, everyone's eyes widen again.
"So it's just Riser and Ravel versus Rias, her Queen, Bishop, and unusable Pawn..." Lord Phoenix says. "What's so special about her Pawn anyway?"
Grayfia looks to Sirzechs, who nods yes. "Her Pawn, Issei Hyoudou, took up all of Rias's eight Pawn pieces, four of which, were mutations." Both Lords look at her in disbelief.
"All eight?" Lord Gremory questions.
"Even the mutations...what is he?" Lord Phoenix asks.
"He is the current Red Dragon Emperor." She says bluntly.
"THAT BOY IS THEN WHAT?!" Lord Phoenix yells.
"The Red Dragon Emperor...good job my daughter." Lord Gremory whispers. He looks to the screen where he daughter is shown.
"There is also one more thing. When the barrier opened, we were able to pick up some strange auras. One of a very dragon...the other..." He pauses for a while.
"Just spit it out." Lord Phoenix orders.
"It's ok, say it." Sirzechs tells him gently.
"Ok, the second aura, was that...it was h-holy."
Everyone, except Sona, puts on a horrified expression.
"What did you just say?" Lord Gremory asks.
"There is a Holy entity in the arena."
-Back in Issei's Head-
Issei sits at a small table with Belzard and Elsha, with Ddraig's head, leaning over the wall, and into the room.
"Soooo...you're the memories of the past wielders of the Boosted Gear?" Issei asks.
""Yup, all of us.""
"Even them over there?" Issei points to the blank people at the thee table.
""Yup.""
"So why are they different?"
Both of them look at each other, then Belzard was about to say something, until Ddraig interrupted.
[I may not understand completely why, but a difference between these two, and them, are that Belzard and Elsha were the two most powerful Sekiryuuteis to exist.]
Issei jumps up. "What! These two?"
They both nod.
"But soon, it might not be just the two of us." Elsha looks to Belzard.
[Hmm...]
"What do you mean?" Issei asks.
"You are very powerful, only a couple of them have ever come into the Boosted Gear and talk with us. But they also turned into them." Belzard says.
"Except me." Elsha gloats.
"Anyway, you hate heading on the path that we have walked, but at a sooner start. You may surpass us in time." He says.
Issei thinks about this for a second. "Wait...we have that much of a gap?" Issei asks.
Elsha looks serious. "A far wider gap then you think, you may be part Angel and Devil, and are going through the evolution now, but after, you'll still be weaker than us. And you have yet to really fight him."
"Remember, I killed two of them in my life time, she had killed one, but also one of the most powerful of them." Belzard puts a hand on her shoulder. "But we are now just memories. Our hunger for power led us to our own deaths. I'm sure you know what I mean." He says sullenly.
'Juggernaut Drive.' Issei thinks.
"Don't become like them." Elsha points to the ones at the table. "But don't die for more power."
Issei stands up from his chair. "I promise. I'll become the strongest of the Sekiryuusie! But I'll not become consumed by the power. It would be a shame of the Harem King died to own stupidity." Issei says happily.
Unknown to the lively group, the one sitting at the other table, all look at Issei.
"Haha, that the spirit!" Belzard tells him.
"Idiot." Elsha smiles.
Issei snickers happily, but stops when something purple glows on his chest. "Wha?"
"It seems your time here is up." Belzard smiles.
"That was very quick, a few minutes here is like weeks in the real world." Elsha informs.
"What?!"
[Don't worry...someone is speeding you up.] Ddraig informs.
""What?!"" Elsha and Belzard yell.
"Someone is..." Issei thinks and smiles and puts his hand on his chest. "So she helped after all."
Belzard looks at Issei as if he knows as well. "Well, we'll see you later Issei."
Elsha looks to him, then to Issei. "Yeah. We'll talk again."
[Ah.]
Issei starts to glow a crimson and purple mix. "Yeah, this is t the last time and next time, I won't be staying."
"Good luck, boy." Belzard says.
"See you soon." Elsha smiles and waves.
"Yeah." In a bright flash of crimson and purple, Issei disappears.
Everyone sits back down. "He is an interesting one." Elsha puts her feet on the table.
"I have a feeling that this place is going to be a bit livelier." Belzard stands up. And looks over to the others and freezes. "Aaaaaahhhhhh." He says silently.
"What's wrong?" Elsha turns her head and looks at him, the latter points to the others. Curiously, she puts her feet down and turns to face them completely and is shocked to see that all of them no longer have a blank expression, but have a smile painted I their faces.
Ddraig huffs. [Interesting indeed.]
-End Dream-
Issei's eyes shoot wide open and joints up from his position on the couch.
"Eep!" A high pitch voice makes and frightened sound. Issei turns around to finds Asia, wide eyed and hiding behind the other couch, shacking. "Issei?" She says nervously.
"ASIA!" Issei quickly gets off the couch and rushes to her.
"Eep!" Issei hugs her tightly.
"Oh Asia! I missed you." Issei leans back from her and looks around. "Where is everyone else?"
Asia looks down. "They're outside, but Yuuto and Koneko are gone."
"What?! Where's Rias and Akeno?!" He asks.
"They went to fight Riser himself.." She sniffles. "They have been gone for a while and though you'd never wake up!" She quickly hugs Issei.
Issei rubs her head, "It's ok Asia, I'm back now."
*BOOM*
They look over to the window. "I'm sorry Asia, but I have to go."
"Issei..." Asia get cut off when Issei hugs you tightly.
"I'll be back real soon, I need to fry a piece of chicken." He let's go of her and kisses her forehead. She falls over in a sleep. "I'm sorry, but you might get hurt." In the matter of seconds, get body get teleported out f the Arena, but Grayfia didn't announce it. "Hmmm... I'll worry about it later." Issei moves to the window and summons his Boosted Gear, it looks the same, but it feels lighter, had a few extra yellows spikes, and glows a crimson hew. "Let's make this flashy."
[Dragon Shot]
*BOOM*
He puts on a maniacal grin as he blasts a hole in the wall to jumps through it. "Here chicky, chicky, chicky. Where are you?"
"Aahhhh!" A feminine voice yells.
Issei looks to the roof of the building. "Found you!" He bends his knees and folds out his Devil wings, and flies to the top of the ORC building.
"Is that the best you got, Rias? Riser isn't even breaking a sweat!" Riser yells at a tore up and exhausted Rias.
"This game is over!" Riser puts his hands above his head and a giant fire ball forms. "Riser wins!" With the flick of his hands, the ball of fire rushes at Rias like a meteor.
Rias looks down and a tear forms in her eye. "I'm sorry guys." She whispers. She looks up at the ball and as it's nears, another blast of a green beam moves the fire ball well away from her and explodes.
"Ah, ah, aah. Bad chicken. You shouldn't hurt a girl." Someone yells from the distance.
"What?!" Riser yells and looks to the side of the building were to bean came from. "You..."
Rias looks over there too, and finds something that puts a smile on her face. "ISSEI!" 'She did it.'
Issei floats over the edge with his Devil wings out and an evil grin on his face.
"Sorry I'm late, Rias. But now it's time to fry some chicken."