R3hmix - Thanks for reading!
Ghost - I'll do my best with Jack, so I hope you like it.
Guest - Oh yeah, I am definitely going to introduce Jack in a spectacular fashion. And Jack will be by himself, I am not planning on making him join any team. I might make Xenovia and Irina for Ryusei, since Issei''s harem isn't really what I'm focusing on in this story. Yeah, Serafall and Falbi will definitely be more reasonable, as well as Ajuka.
Guest - Their encounter will be a mixture of both fighting and talking.
Guest - Yes, he will learn about what happened to Issei.
Storm Master - Ryusei's harem will consist of Kuroka, Ravel, Xenovia, and Irina, though I may add characters like Le Fay or Jeanne. Issei's harem will mostly be the same, but I'm not too focused on Issei's harem in this story, mostly Ryusei's story. Thanks for reading!
10For the first few minutes of the battle, Ryusei thought Issei had the advantage, but then the flames erupted from the ground and ash darkened the skies.
Ryusei, along with the rest of the patrons of the party. Everyone was either excited to see Riser and Issei fight, or they were anxious to see Riser win. Either way, Ryusei looked at this fight from a logical standpoint. He knew Riser's power, Dulio and Griselda haven't shut up, talking about how powerful the Phoenixes were. Issei on the other hand, barely had control of his Sacred Gear. It was clear who the underdog was in this battle, but Ryusei didn't want to give up hope just yet.
"So we have a problem," Dulio said, walking up to the open porch, where everyone in the party gathered to watch, looking up at the great arena in the sky. "We just killed like…" Dulio counted his fingers. "twenty different reincarnated devils. Whether or not we save Rias doesn't matter anymore. Lord Micheal will have our heads one way or another. Or worse, Lady Gabriel." He shivered, as if a cold draft had blew in.
Griselda sighed. "I had finally thought I could let loose and have some fun. I didn't realize they would break so easily."
"Are you guys going to go back?" Ryusei asked. "I can take responsibility here, say that I coerced you into going."
Dulio shook his head. "We're this far in, might as well see it through to the end."
"Are you sure your brother can fight Riser Phoenix?" Griselda asked. "The Phoenix Clan has the tears of the phoenix, the immortal powers of the bird itself. They are never truly dead."
"I know," Ryusei said. "He can do this."
The three angels watched the monitor come to life, with Rias and her peerage. Ryusei could see the girl shaking, she was just as worried about him as Ryusei was. Issei and Riser burst into existence through flames. Riser was dressed in his formal wear, yet Issei had taken of his jacket, revealing his Sacred Gear on his forearm. The Sacred Gear, Boosted Gear, with the spirit of Ddraig inside it.
Ryusei watched, helplessly, as his brother entered mortal combat with the immortal phoenix. Riser built up a massive amount of flames in his left hand, which was behind his back. With his right, he was pelting Issei with a barrage of fire bullets. Issei dodged most of them, but some burnt his clothes.
Riser unleashed the fireball behind. Issei stood still, Ryusei began to think that Issei was going to wait for the last second before moving, but he was wrong. The fire consumed Issei, and Ryusei forgot to scream. However, a green glow caught his attention. The glow grew brighter and brighter, until the flames broke apart, and a figure clad in shining red armor stood confidently with his back turned to the crowd below. It took Ryusei a few seconds to realize that it was Issei.
"So that's the Boosted Gear's Balance Breaker." Griselda said. "It has been a long time since I have seen it, and in such a fragile state."
"What do you mean?" Ryusei asked. "And what's a Balance Breaker?"
"Oh how the angels have fallen," A voice said to them from behind. The three only glanced as a small girl, maybe half Ryusei's height, strolled by them, wearing an elaborate pink floral dress and carrying a fan. She had long blonde hair in drills, and clear blue eyes. She was a perfect image of Riser, y'know…if he wasn't a dick and a girl.
"A Balance Breaker," She explained. "is the evolved form of a very small selected groups of Sacred Gears. In their Balance Breaker form, said Sacred Gear has the ability to tip the balance of power in the world. Thus, the Balance Breaker. That little toy up there really should be trained before going into a fight with dear brother."
"Brother?" Ryusei gulped. "You mean that chicken wing has an adorable little sister like you? Who would've thought?"
"A-A-Adorable?" She seemed to be flustered by his comment, but retained her composure by placing her fan in front of her mouth. "Anyways, know that your brother will not win this. He may be the Red Dragon Emperor, but the flames of the Phoenix can never be extinguished."
Ryusei looked back up at the battle. Indeed it was looking grim. To ordinary eyes, like Rias or Kiba, it would seem like Issei has the upper hand now. He was giving Riser everything he had, punching and kicking with all his might, but that was it. He wasn't doing any real damage, at least not enough.
Riser bared his teeth. "That is enough! I am done playing around with you, child." His phoenix wings burst to life, as he charged for Issei with full force. Issei didn't have time to dodge, so he took the attack head on. It was then that the balance of the battle was tipped…in Riser's favor. The phoenix began to pound on Issei, who was pinned against the ground. Every strike Riser gave him was amplified with phoenix flames, more and more and more, with each strike. Issei's armor shattered, leaving him a broken shell.
Ryusei balled his fist, as he felt the air around him get colder. Slowly, his eyes began to change. Normally they were a cool gray, however they morphed into a dark, golden amber color, with vertical pupils. The air around him began to freeze, slowly, as Dulio and Griselda realized it. "Ryusei, whatever you're thinking, don't do it." Dulio and Griselda backed away, slowly.
"Please," Griselda said, reaching her arm to touch his shoulder, but the furry of the ice froze her finger tips as she got close. She flinched away, into Dulio's arms. "Please Ryusei, don't do this. You'll only make it worse."
"W-What is he?" The girl with the blonde drills asked, staring at him with a mix of horror and fear.
Ryusei ignored her. The cold air began to surround him, slowly vanishing him like the finale to a magician's act. To the amusement, and horror, of the crowd, Ryusei re-emerged in front of Riser and Issei, standing over the two as Riser prepared another strike. "What? Do you want some-" But Ryusei fist made contact with his face before he could even finish his sentence.
Riser went flying through the air, and hitting the opposite wall of the arena. Ryusei looked at Issei, as a tear fell from his eyes. His brother was beaten and bloodied, if left here he would've bled out and died. Issei dying. The thought was scary, it frightened him to his core. As much as he loved his brother, Issei also acted as an anchor, tethering him to his humanity and not letting him stray down the path of evil.
Ryusei got down and touched Issei's forehead and concentrated. He wasn't as powerful as Dulio or Griselda in terms of magic, but he could still heal his brother. Issei was encased, slowly, in a cocoon of ice, and his body began to heal.
"You insolent little brat!" Riser emerged from the attack, bloodied yet his injuries began to heal. He was flying up in the air, flames at his hands. "Have you any idea who I am, boy! I will make you fee the wrath of a thousand suns!"
Time seemed to slow down from the time Riser's attack left his hands and the time it came in contact with Ryusei. He stood there, lifelessly, and closed his yes. Do you feel it? The power surging through your veins. The unimaginable power that we possess?
"Yes."
Show them, show them all. Let them have a glimpse of what we can do, of the power we hold. I, Ezreal of the Ice Barrier, stand by you. And as much as my sibling hates it, he is excited as well. Let loose, Hyoudou Ryusei. Let go of the anger, of the torment, of the five years you spent in hell. Let go o those feelings, and show this Devil what it means to be a dragon!
"Yes!"
Time resumed. Ryusei's body shattered into ice, and reappeared behind Riser in the skies. On his back, Ryusei had sprouted wings. They were dragon like wings that extended the length of his arms, maybe longer. They were dark, navy blue, with scales as hard as diamond. On Ryusei's shoulder blades, were a pair of weird, dragon head looking armor. The encompassed his entire shoulder blade, and both had matching designs, however the one on the right was darker in color, a darker shade of blue, then the one on the left, which was brighter. Ryusei's eyes had changed completely, they were like the eyes of a monster, of a dragon. Underneath his eyes, scales began to form, all over his body. They matched his skin, so it was almost undetectable, but he could feel them. The scales of a dragon.
Ryusei twisted and drop kicked Rise to the ground, however the Phoenix regained his balance an flew right towards Ryusei. Dodging, Ryusei amassed a massive amount of lightning in his hand, his left hand. He figured it out. The left dragon's head was Ezreal, the dragon of storms, and the right was Akiva, the dragon of ice.
The lightning snapped, and mimicked the sound of birds chirping. Before Riser could dodge of block, Ryusei flew straight for him, and pierced his heart with the lightning. Riser screamed in agony, but it soon tuned to laughter. "Did you think that could kill me, monster? The Phoenix never dies!" He kicked Ryusei back, and flipped, blasting him with a beam of searing hot flames.
Ryusei thought he was done for, and yet he was fine. To his, and Riser's surprise, he was fine. His clothes began to singe, but his body was fine, not even burnt. Rusei looked at his hands. The scales. The dragon scales, they protected them. They acted like armor against all attacks. He smirked, and glared up at Riser. "Apparently, neither can I."
Ryusei clapped his hands together and pressed them to the ground. He amassed a massive amount of air at the palms of his hands, and released them all at once, giving him a huge boost of speed as he crashed into Riser. "I have had enough of this." Ryusei grabbed Riser's wrists and glared right into his eyes with his own, and smiled. "You called me a monster. If it's a monster that you want, it's a monster you will get."
Ryusei, using his whole force, threw Riser to the floor of the arena. It was such a hard throw, he heard the arena tremble and shake, like it was going to fall out of the sky. Ryusei clapped his hands, as four huge icicles formed in the air. The shot down at Riser and pinned him to the ground at the hands and feet.
He fell gently, and stared down at Riser, who was trying to melt the ice with his flames. "Sorry, phoenix," Ryusei said. "Akiva's ice can't be melted."
"You little-" Riser said, but Ryusei shut him up.
"Listen here, you arrogant little phoenix," Ryusei said with cold eyes. "My family means everything to me. If you dare to attack them, I will kill you a hundred times over."
Ryusei amassed a huge icicle in his hand. Suddenly, he stabbed Riser in the stomach. It wasn't the textbook form, but this was Ryusei's own version of being crucified. Ryusei raised his hand, and a large icicle formed around his hand. It twisted like a drill, and spun like it was about to pierce his heart. His eyes were filled with nothing but blood lust, and he could feel his humanity slipping away. Suddenly, before he could pierce Riser's body, a pair of hands wrapped around his body.
"No! Stop it! Don't hurt my brother!"
Ryusei's eyes slowly adjusted, and returned to normal. The icicle in his hand, and the ones pinning Riser, shattered. Ryusei could only stare at horror at Riser, and at his hands. "W-What did I-"
"Please don't hurt my brother anymore!" It was the girl with blonde drills, Riser's kid sister.
Ryusei calmed down, as the girl's grip loosened. He turned to face her, her eyes tearing up with fear of imagining the worse. Ryusei ruffled her hair, and smiled. "Don't worry, I think I proved my point."
"Y-You won't hurt him anymore?" She asked.
"No," Ryusei walked to Riser and glared down at his body. He knew Riser was still conscious and awake. "Remember my name, and remember what I am capable of, when you dare to do this again."
Riser said nothing, but only shook in fear. Ryusei walked past the girl, but stopped when he stooped down next to Issei. "I never got your name."
"R-Ravel." She said. "Ravel Phoenix."
"I'll see you again, Ravel."
…
Issei felt like his insides were seared and torched by flames. He woke up, on Ryusei's back, floating down to the Phoenix mansion below. His memories were slowly returning. He had arrogantly crashed the party and thought he could save Rias, that if he could, maybe a small part of him could finally be at peace. So that he could finally put what happened between them behind him, and all he did was cause more trouble.
"W-What happened?" Issei asked, barely conscious. He remembered the fight. Issei remembered the deal he made with Ddraig before he arrived at the party, the deal to give up his arm in exchange for power. He had thought that he could win with Ddraig's power, but it wasn't enough.
"You did good, brother." Was all Ryusei said, as they landed.
Issei could barely stand, only up because Ryusei helped him up. All eyes were on him, especially Rias. She was crying and holding her breath as she walked over to Issei. Right about this time, Issei was glad that Asia was at home and not here.
"Ryusei," Dulio said. "We should leave. It won't be long until Lord Micheal hears of this, and if he does, he'll send-"
The sound of flapping wings. "Who? You couldn't possibly mean me, do you?" It was a beautiful, blonde haired woman, wearing a tight red dress that hugged her curvaceous body. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. "You crash a party hosted by a high ranking Devil family, killed over twenty reincarnated devils, and you didn't think Micheal would send someone to clean up your mess?"
"L-Lady Gabriel, I can explain-" Griselda tried to plead with the woman, but she burst out laughing.
"Oh this is too good." Lady Gabriel could barely contain her laughter. "Don't worry Grissy, I'm not here to yell at your or anything. You guys did good work, I'm just here to sort of things out."
"Gabriel," It was Sirzechs Lucifer walking through the crowd. "Pleasure to see you again. How may I help you?"
Gabriel looked at Issei. She walked over to him and tapped her two fingers to his forehead. Suddenly, his injuries were healed. His bruising and scars, burned marks and everything, were all healed. The only thing that wasn't healed was his arm. The dragon's arm was still there.
"You two are something unique," Gabriel said, ruffling both of their heads. "One brother, gone through hell and trying to regain his humanity. The other brother trying desperately to cling onto the last glimmer of hope left in his brother. You two remind me of my brothers, Micheal and Lucifer. I hope your fates will not be the same as theirs."
Sirzechs stepped in. "What is it that you want, Gabriel?"
"Brother, please-" Rias tried to stop her brother, but he wouldn't listen.
Gabriel sighed and turned to the Satan. "You have some nerve, Sirzechs. To act all high and mighty, when only one week ago you broke the Accords."
"I did no such thing." Sirzechs protested.
"You wrongly arrested and tortured a human, a mundane, for the sake of obtaining a weapon of war." Gabriel said. "As noble as you think your actions were, you still broke the Accords, signed to protect the very humans who were slaughtered in the war."
"Your new angel, and his little friends," Sirzechs said. "killed many of the Phoenix family's reincarnated devils. How do you plan to pay for that?"
"Consider that a small, very generous, substitute for what I had in mind for your punishment." Gabriel said, in a sudden and cold voice. "You are lucky, Sirzechs, that my brother is a compassionate one. If it were up to me, your entire existence would have been erased, your body so disintegrated that not even a single atom remains." She walked closer to Sirzechs, eyeing with a cold fury. "Never forget, Sirzechs or any of you who think you are above us. Heaven and it's guardians have existed long before your kind, and we will be here when the last of you dies. Do not think, even for a second, that you are on equal grounds as us."
Sirzechs looked like he was about to burst with rage. Gabriel walked back to Issei and the others. "Rias Gremory, you will spared, however slightly, due to your brother coercing you."
She nodded. Gabriel snapped her fingers, and they were all teleported back to their house. Issei heard a loud CLANK, and turned to see Asia, startled and shocked. "I-Issei-San! Ryusei-Kun!" Asia charged for the two and jumped on them. "You're okay! I'm so happy you're okay!"
Issei smiled and ruffled her hair, before she let go. Issei turned to Gabriel, and bowed. "Thank you, I can't thank you enough."
"Don't thank me, Hyoudou Issei," Gabriel smiled. "I do apologize about your arm. I had intended to heal that too, however Ddraig's magic is blocking even Archangel magic. I cannot restore it."
"Your hand?" Ryusei asked. "What's wrong with your hand?"
Issei smiled, awkwardly, before explaining about the deal he made with Ddraig. "You did what! H-How can you be so stupid!"
Issei didn't reply. Issei knew what he did was just, he knew that. "We'll talk later, I promise."
"Stay at home, Ryusei," Gabriel said. "Rest, spend time with your family. I hear school starts in a few days, might be good to go back to being a normal human. We'll call you, whenever we need you. And I'll make sure either Dulio or Griselda drop by to make sure you're okay, and to train to control the dragons. For the time being, good-bye." And just like that, the three angels were gone with the sound of wings.
…
Lian-Yu, Five Years Ago
Ryusei and Jin were standing outside of a make-shift cave hideout the three of them had built when the other cave exploded. While Kaito was off hunting food, Jin was training Ryusei. It's only been a week since they washed up on Lian-Yu, yet life on this island was becoming more and more…mundane.
Ryusei and Jin spared with bamboo sticks, small and fragile, in the shape of short katanas. It was the same basic motion, but they repeated it over and over and over again, until the same basic motions became a simple part of Ryusei's body. It was almost instinct to strike.
The two spared, as a cold wind blew by. Tonight, after they eat and prepare, the three would head off to scout this Valper Galilei. According to Kaito, Valper was a rogue priest from the church. He was doing forbidden experiments that involved the Holy Swords and came to this island to harness the energy from Purgatory, using it to enhance Holy swords. Valper had brainwashed Naomi, she was practically a different person. Ryusei was beginning to worry about Krissy and Lyon. They could be in serious danger.
"All right," Jin said. "Let's start practicing your spear work."
Ryusei suggested that he learn archery, seeing as his height might work against him in a fight, but Jin said that not until Ryusei gained more strength and muscle. For now, he was stuck with the spear. But it wasn't like he didn't enjoy it. The spear provided him with some distance between him and his enemy. He was particularly good at it, but it felt like he was naturally drawn to the bow.
"I'm back," Kaito jumped down from the cliff above, and removed his hood. He was holding some fish, but also some fresh game. "C'mon, let's eat before we head off."
Author's Notes - I know this was rather anticlimatic, but I just wanted to get the Riser Arc over with. Next chapter I'll introduce either Jack or the new OC, and then Irina and Xenovia later. I know this chapter was really late so thanks for being patient everyone. Tell me what you think and thanks for reading :)