I awoke inside the ruins of that old church, the one that Makoto made a large opening in the first time he fought Halja.

I tried to walk out, but I noticed there was a red forcefield preventing me from getting out.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you, Rias Gremory." Milcom said, who was out in the front of the church with his Knight and Queen. "My master's barrier is even stronger than the armor of that Stray."

I looked behind me. Along with the rest of my peerage, along with Makoto's mother, was Milcom's Rook, Hagane Sasaki.

"I'm sorry. After the kindness Makoto Fujiwara showed me, I didn't want to serve the Goddess of Death anymore. So, I ran away."

"What is your deal, Milcom!?"

"All of you are bait for young Makoto. Lady Halja isn't going let him escape from the jaws of death again."

"I want to thank you for coming to Lord Makoto's aid. If it wasn't for you, he would be dead."

"Don't get the wrong idea. This doesn't mean I've come to your side. I'll be dead before I join the likes of you."

That was the conversation I overheard when I woke up.

Wait. I was about to die. How the hell am I still alive!?

I checked for my halo. I still had it.

Okay. Good. They didn't have to turn me into a devil.

More importantly, what happened to my right arm? Or rather, what happened to me not having it?

"Hey. You're finally awake."

My right arm is talking again. This is one hell of a dream.

"Okay. Who are you?" I asked my right hand.

"My name is Albion – The dragon that is sealed in your right hand."

"Glad to see you have a name. What happened to my arm?"

"Your right arm is now that of a dragon. I was forced to replace it before you bled out to death."

"It looks like a normal arm."

"That's because the the Himejima woman used her magic to transform the arm into a human arm."

Grayfia entered my bedroom, followed by Suzaku and a man with red hair that was not unlike Rias'.

"Oh, Suzaku! You survived that fight with Enrico?"

"It was hardly a fight. He didn't want to fight me after the two of you got away."

"Figures."

"My name is Sirzechs Lucifer." the red-haired man said. "The older brother of Rias Gremory."

"Do you have any idea what just happened to me?"

"The Goddess of Death trapped you in a Mirror Dimension and tried to kill you," Grayfia explained. "She also had Milcom Amon capture Rias Gremory along with her peerage, as well as your mother. We managed to find you before she was able to finish off you and the fallen angel. We did have some help, though, from someone who managed to escape…"

Asia ran into to the room and embraced me.

"Thank God you're alright!" she said, in tears.

"It's okay, Asia." I said, hugging her in return.

"She's holding them in the abandoned church," Sirzechs explained. "If we work together, we may have a chance of beating her."

I was preoccupied looking out the window. Raynare had walked outside.

"Excuse me for one second."

I walked out the front door and Asia followed.

"Raynare!" I called out.

She chuckled. "I told you, Makoto. I don't want to be called by that name anymore."

"Okay, Yuma," I corrected myself. "About that date I promised you…"

"You have to rescue your friends. Plus, I'm still very much a fugitive, especially now. We'll go on a proper date some other time."

"And you'll promise not to kill me this time?"

"Perhaps… I need to go now. Take good care of little Asia for me."

She then flew off. That fallen angel is such an enigma. Even now, I don't really know if she's truly on my side.

"Hey, Dragon," I asked my right hand.

"What is it, partner?"

"Do you think I'll be able to take on Halja by myself?"

"The chances are very slim, especially if she puts in any effort. But with your new arm and if you can manage to Divide some of her power, we may be able to achieve Balance Breaker."

"I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds powerful enough to be our best chance."

"We're ready when you are, Makoto," said Sirzechs.

"It's too risky for you to come. You'll attract too much attention, especially since she has them as hostages." I said. "If it's a duel Halja wants, it's a duel she's gonna get. I believe I have a newfound trick up my sleeve."

"Very well, Makoto."

"Be careful!" Asia said.

"I will," I replied. "Be safe, Asia."

As I approached the church, I could see Rias and Akeno through the crumbled front wall.

Halja was already there waiting for me.

"Don't do it, Makoto! It's a trap!" Akeno exclaimed.

"Then I'll just have to spring it, won't I?"

"Look what we have here," said Halja. "Makoto Fujiwara, back from the dead. I shall soon remedy that."

"I wouldn't bet on it."

She then launched dark magic at me that I managed to cut through with my Power of Retribution.

I could hear my mom saying, "That's my son!"

I needed to close the distance between me and Halja in order to get a Divide off.

It doesn't help that she has the high ground…

I fired off a second round of my Retribution magic at her that she dodged, before she fired off several shots of red-colored energy that I narrowly managed to avoid.

She seems to be gradually increasing her power. I'm gonna have to finish this quickly before she can put too much effort in.

I charged at Halja but she countered with a shockwave that knocked me right back.

I managed to avoid another blast before firing off another one of my own, still trying to gradually climb up to get within range of her.

However, she then finally managed to hit me with an attack.

This is bad. I'm not gonna be able to get up to her at this rate. She keeps knocking me back.

I went for broke and whipped out a light sword in my left arm. I almost forgot I had these. I've been using magic ever since.

I charged at her with my sword and she parried it with her bare arm.

Now's my chance! I began reaching for her with my Dividing Gear.

"You must be foolish if those pathetic weapons could stand a chance against me!"

After she said that, she fired her magic point blank into my stomach, knocking me to the ground.

I am about at my limit. I need a miracle for me to get the upper hand.

As I was on the ground, she walked towards me, grabbed my shirt, and hoisted me up in the air.

"I don't know if you're incredibly brave, or really, really stupid. Not even your mother stood a chance against me in her prime! That's not even beginning to describe the fate the Michael and Azazel faced. What makes you think that you, a human, could even begin to stand a chance against me, the GODDESS OF DEATH!"

I began laughing. Almost as hard as she was earlier.

"What's so funny? Or are you going delirious in the face of your impending death?"

"No. I am not delirious. You got two things wrong. One – I am no mere human. I am a Nephilim, part angel! That's not even mentioning the dragon spirit within me!"

She seems amused by my heroic speech. This next part's gonna get her, though.

"And two – you are so amused at how you lured me into this trap, but in reality you just fell for my trap!"

I had managed to grab ahold of her with my Dividing Gear.

Her look of amusement suddenly shifted to a look of dread.

"DIVIDE!"

Yes! I divided her power!

The shock of the sheer amount of power that I transferred knocked us both back, but unlike her, I managed to stay on my feet.

"You ready?" I asked Albion, raising my dragon arm.

"Ready when you are!"

I began to glow as Halja recovered and fired a massive burst of dark energy at me, much greater than what she was firing off earlier. It was obvious she was holding back earlier.

However the sheer amount of energy I gave off caused her attack to dissipate as I transformed into a white suit of draconic armor.

"VANISHING DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER – SCALE MAIL"

"Balance Breaker!?" I heard Rias exclaim.

"Kick her butt, Makoto!" yelled Mom.

I fired off my Power of Retribution, which at this point has escalated to the scale of your typical shonen ultimate technique and Halja followed suit.

I never knew I would be in a beam struggle with the Goddess of Death, but here I am.

She fired off her attack later than I did, but her attack was starting to overtake mine.

However, I was going to persevere. I'm going to rescue my friends!

I managed to start cutting through Halja's attack. Before I managed to hit her with my attack, though she began to take flight with bright red wings.

"Go after her, Makoto!" Mom said. "She's trying to activate her Balance Breaker!"

I took flight to pursue Halja.

I could hear a voice yelling "BOOST" from Halja's direction.

"Makoto! The Balance Breaker is only active for a short time!" Albion told me. "You won't have enough energy at this rate!"

"Keep going!"

She seemed to be increasing in speed with Boosts, but I was still managing to catch up with her, until I managed to grab ahold of her leg!

"DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE!..."

She gazed at me in fear.

"You aren't getting away!" I exclaimed as I sent her pummeling to the ground with a well-placed punch.

However, I wasn't out of the hole yet because, as Albion warned me, I had ran out of energy and the Scale Mail had fizzled out mere moments after creating a crater with the Goddess of Death

To add insult to injury, I didn't have enough strength to summon my angel wings to get me out of this. I'm gonna need a miracle to save me here.

Though, then again, who needs a miracle when you have Koneko to catch my fall at the last minute?

After the two of us hit the ground, she told me, "That was kickass, dude"

"Glad to see you're calling me something other than 'Delinquent,'"

Even she got a chuckle.

Everyone was congregating around me. Looks like me beating the shit out Halja managed to break the barrier.

However, Halja was still going, as she was getting up from being sent to the ground.

"Don't think you've defeated me, Fujiwara. I'll be back… and you'll regret ever crossing me!"

She then faded away in a flash of red.

The next thing I knew, I was in bed.

What a bizarre dream. Me? The White Dragon Emperor? Get real…

Agh. Who am I kidding!? Of course it was real!

Asia came into my room with tray with teacups on it.

"Glad to see you're finally awake," she said, handing me one of the teacups. "Akeno specifically made this tea for you."

"Did she now?"

I took a sip of the tea.

"Oh. She did get those herbs that Suzaku promised. This is good!"

"I'm glad you like it. Your mother wanted you to make sure the President was up as well."

"Okay. I will."

I drank my tea and walked over to Rias' door. I gave a courtesy knock and opened it.

She slowly got herself up. It appears that what she wears to bed hasn't changed since the first time we met.

She yawned, "Good morning, Makoto."

"… Good morning, Rias."

"I'll get dressed and get down to breakfast shortly."

"That's great. Thank you," I said as I closed the door.

"My my. You seem to be a lot more comfortable around Rias than you were the first time."

Akeno was behind me. This situation is getting oddly familiar.

"I'm just getting used to it, that's all."

"How was the tea?"

"It was very good."

"Thank you. I do believe I owe you something from earlier that got rudely interrupted."

I had to think for a second. "Oh! Yeah, go ahead."

I moved my head to the side, but she shifted it back forward.

"Though, I do believe an upgrade is in order for your performance against Halja."

And that was a kiss on the lips.

Okay, that was surprising. Not unexpected, but surprising.

Plus, unless I'm mistaken, wasn't that just my first kiss from a girl!?

She giggled. "I'll see you around."

"Is there something you want to tell me, Makoto?"

Rias, who had, thankfully, put on a bathrobe, was looking at me either smugly or menacingly from the side of you bedroom door.

"Nothing at all…"

"Hmm. Alright then," she said, walking towards the bath. "Just letting you know, just because she's given her first kiss to you doesn't mean I'm giving up just yet. I'm not losing to Akeno."

Good grief. I really am in a harem.

I went down and had my breakfast.

"Hey, Makoto. Let's go to school together," Aika said with Asia.

"Sure, why not?"

As we were heading out the door, I heard a voice rushing out the door.

"Hey, wait for me!"

"Hagane?" I exclaimed.

She tossed me my jacket back.

I was actually wondering about that. I was gonna have to wear the Spring uniform until I could get that replaced.

"You defected just to return my jacket?"

"You got a hang of the uniform?" Asia asked her.

"Yes, I have," Hagane replied. "I just had some troubling finding a pair of tights I liked."

"Hey, Makoto," Aika said. "Try not to strip her uniform off during class."

"Well, you can tell Koneko to stop bringing that up!"

"No. Akeno brought that up."

"Of course she did."

"Makoto is a gentleman!" Asia said. "He would never do anything like that!"

Me and Hagane chuckled nervously.

Just like any good shonen hero worth his salt, no amount of broken powerups can get you out of attending High School.

However, they can make it just a little more interesting.

I may have sent the Goddess of Death running, but the fight is far from over.