The sound of wet meat tearing echoed through the alleyway. This had been the 10th Stray Exorcist she had killed since entering this town. A nostalgic feeling washed over her. Memories of a time she had long since forgotten. The woman clutched a small pendant hanging on her necklace. Her dull red eyes stared at the blue skies.
How long had it been since she had felt this peaceful? A sardonic smile graced her beautiful features. She couldn't remember. The memories she had of everyone had all but faded into the sands of time.
Yet, even as time eroded her memories, she refused to let one person go.
"It's almost that time… again, isn't it? But, knowing how Neshamot works, I doubt she'll be here," she said. "But still… I can't believe that I get to see you again… Issei."
A small breeze blew past her, causing her white and red hair to flutter slightly in the breeze. And with that, she walked past the carcasses of her quarry and vanished in a flash of red light.
Issei awoke to find himself in another one of his dreams.
He had been having pleasant dreams recently. One of him getting married to Rias. Mitsuki and Shin were there to serve as the maid of honor and the best man respectively.
But now, Issei found himself in that wasteland again. Flames burned around him yet he couldn't feel the heat. Ruined skyscrapers burned in the distance. Humans fought uselessly against the tide of shadows that poured forth from the stars above and the ground below.
Even the Gods he didn't recognize fought valiantly but there was no hope.
A winged shadow cackled as she unleashed shadowy arms, tearing the world apart and leaving only tv static.
"Are you going to let it happen again?"
Issei's eyes widened. He turned around, finding himself in a pitch-black void. The flames. The apocalypse. The shadowy beings. They had all vanished.
"I've watched… the burden of countless worlds falls upon you…"
He turned around and saw a woman standing behind him.
Her appearance. It was an amalgam of every woman he had ever met. Her black hair was dark violet, almost black like Mitsuki and Akane's while her face resembled Yozora's. Her pink-violet eyes glowed in the darkness. The red star designs within them rotated ominously. Her flowing white dress and eyes were the only source of light in this infinite void.
"You cannot fail again. Neshamot will continue until they snuff out every light. So…" her mouth moved but Issei couldn't make out the words.
Rather, he could hear them but the contents of her speech felt like an agonizing violation on his sense of hearing and soul.
He gripped his ears, causing the woman to go silent.
"You're not ready…."
Her tone sounded disappointed.
"Get strong, Issei. Keep moving forward no matter what. The gap between you and tomorrow grows ever larger so go and take hold of it, before…," she said,
"Before?" Issei asked.
"Before the Epilogue arrives. I'll help you a little for now… but you cannot handle the thing she put in you just yet. So I'll allow you to be able to talk to him. You two weren't supposed to meet just yet," the woman said.
She walked forward and placed her forehead against his.
Issei felt a familiar sensation of warmth pulse through him.
And then, the woman pushed him.
He felt himself falling over, falling into the blackness.
"W- Wait!" Issei reached out to her as she grew more and more distant. Yet, as the gap between them grew, he heard her final words clearly.
"You'll wake up and think of this as a bygone phantasm of your mind. But… he should be able to talk to you now…"
"Wait! Who!? Who do I have to talk to!?" Issei yelled.
As he fell deeper into the darkness, he felt heat. He looked down and saw a surge of crimson-orange flames fill the entire space, overtaking the darkness and filling it with light.
[So you're my partner. I've been speaking to you for ages but it seems that you were not able to hear me. By the looks of it, you're too weak to hear anything I said, Partner.] the dragon said.
He knew who this was. They had been together for the longest time. But…
When did they meet again? No, this was the first time they met so why did Issei feel like they had met before?
"Ddraig," he whispered.
[You know who I am? Heh… then, I look forward to fighting alongside you from now on, Partner… once again. Let's talk later, Partner.]
"Wait… once again? What do you mean by once again!?" Issei reached out to grab Ddraig when-
Issei felt an intense pain shoot through his head. He groaned, hearing the blaring of his alarm clock floating into his ears. Sitting up, he rubbed the back of his head. They had gotten home late last night. Issei looked at the clock.
10 AM.
"Good thing, it's the weekend," he said, getting up. Issei looked down at his left hand, curling and uncurling it repeatedly.
He could only bits and pieces of what happened before he woke up on the floor. The flames. Ddraig…
Ddraig.
Issei closed his eyes. A faint green glow appeared on his left hand. "Ddraig…"
"Ddraig?" Issei said.
There was still no response.
"Oi! Ddraig!" Issei
"Issei. Are you talking to someone?"
S- Sora-nee?
The door opened. A woman with shoulder-length snow-white hair peeked her head inside. She had a perpetually sleepy look on her face. She was wearing a beige turtleneck ribbed sweater that accentuated her rather curvy body. Not that Issei stared at her with any form of lust. This woman had raised him and any attraction he had to her had died. But still, he knew that she was very beautiful.
She was his caretaker, Yozora Izayoi. And she was a teacher at Kuoh Academy.
He had known her since he was a little boy. The girl had looked after him per the recommendation of Shin's parents to his own. And so, whenever his parents went on vacation, Yozora would be the one to stay with him. To anyone else, this girl was just another babysitter hired by his parents, however, to Issei, this woman was family to him. Someone who held the same status as an older sister.
"Issei?" she asked. "You okay?"
"Y- Yeah! I just fell off the bed, Sora-nee. Nothing to worry about!" Issei laughed a little, rubbing the back of his head.
Yozora narrowed her eyes and looked around the room. "Looks like… you were out late with Mii and Shin last night. Anyway, I'm going to be heading out somewhere so I need you to go do groceries today. Your Mom and Dad went out early this morning so they asked me to come check on you."
"E- Eh? Groceries?" Issei asked.
Yozora walked into his room and handed him a list.
"Make sure to get everything on here. Aunt Miki is cooking tonight," Yozora said.
"W- Wait! Sora-nee… I… Do you know?" Issei asked.
"About?" she raised an eyebrow.
"The…"
"Devil thing? Yeah. What about it?" Yozora asked.
"So… aren't you surprised?" Issei asked.
"No. Mitsuki already told me about it and I chewed her out on it. But… this is something I wished never happened. You don't deserve to be pulled into this kind of situation, Issei," Yozora said, smiling sadly.
"S- Sora-nee…"
"Now, cut it with the sappy talk. We can talk about this later. I have to get to a faculty meeting so go do the groceries for me. Kay? Good. Bye!"
"W- Wait… and she's gone."
Issei sighed, seeing her disappear in the blink of an eye. He closed his eyes and nodded. They were going to have a talk after this. Granted, it would be him asking questions but any talk with Yozora made Issei nervous. He sighed and looked down at the list.
Issei looked down at his left hand. After trying to talk to the Dragon from his dreams, Issei sighed and left his room.
"The murders are becoming more sporadic. And they're still continuing even after we took care of the Stray."
Rias massaged her temples as she sat behind her desk. A holographic map of Kuoh was projected in front of her, all with reports she had gathered of gruesome deaths that happened in town. She heard the clinking of a teacup.
"Thanks, Akeno," Rias said.
"It seems that the murders continued even after the Stray Devil was eliminated. Perhaps there was another factor we weren't aware of?" Akeno asked.
"Or… it's not the Stray Devil. At least… not entirely. Damn, I hate playing detective. This is Mii's job not mine!" Rias complained, swiping through the map data.
Data analysis was never her forte. She could do it. She just wasn't as well versed in it as she'd like to be. Hence, why she had a bishop that did it for her. Either that or she would just have Sona or Mitsuki decipher the data for her.
"Ugh, what a great time to go on a trip, Sona," Rias grumbled.
She placed her hand on her cheek.
"There has to be a pattern. We know that the murders in this town were being committed by two factors. The Stray Devil and that Rogue Priest Koneko and Issei took care of the other night. With both factors removed, why are the killings still happening?" Rias wondered.
She squinted trying to deduce what each marker meant.
The markers were all sporadically spread around a certain area. Each of the victims had no relation to each other to the point where Rias believed they never even saw each other on the street. So why? Why were these random killings still happening?
"Hah… Akeno… throw me a bone here. Take a look and tell me what you see," Rias said, leaning back in her chair exhaustedly.
"Lady Rias, you and I both know that I am hopeless when it comes to analyzing data," Akeno said, smiling apologetically.
"Humor me."
Akeno nodded and stared at the map.
"Well, it looks like they're all happening randomly."
"I know that much."
"Mmm?" Akeno raised an eyebrow. She eyed the markings and noticed one thing they all shared. "Well, they all seem to happen in one part of town and not a street over more."
"Eh?" Rias shot forward and looked at the map once more. She zoomed in, tracing her finger in a circle around the area where the marks were. The radius was large but it was still there. There were multiple districts involved and the victims had nothing in common. And so, she couldn't figure out who. But… Akeno's off-handed observation was right.
"It's… all within a certain distance to the Abandoned Church," Rias said. She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a chuckle. "Ahh… so… I should've known. Abandoned Church. That means there's probably… Rogue Exorcists or that Fallen Angel that targeted Issei must still be there. Or at least her allies are. Mitsuki did say one managed to escape."
Akeno clenched her fist. Lightning crackled around her hand.
"Unfortunately, Akeno, we can't do anything," Rias said.
"That's right. The ceasefire," she replied.
"Sona can't either," Rias added. "Our hands are tied… or… are they?" Rias pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She clicked the call button and held the phone up to her ear.
"President? What's wrong?" Akeno asked.
"I'm calling in a favor."
"Ddraig…" Issei kept muttering.
He was pushing a shopping cart through the supermarket, filled to the brim with everything they needed for dinner and the week that followed. Yozora always listed ingredients to last the week.
"Ddraig," Issei kept saying, staring at the fresh produce in the produce aisle.
He heard muttering behind him and saw a few older women whispering as they passed by.
"He's talking to himself."
"Maybe he's repeating the name of someone he once dated?"
"No, look at him, he's that Hyoudou boy…"
Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. Your son is gonna remain a virgin in the eyes of society forever, Issei thought.
He went to grab a head of cabbage, inspecting it for a few seconds before putting it back and grabbing another. He weaved up and down the remaining aisles, grabbing whatever was left on the list before making his way to the cash register.
Issei sighed as he made his way out of the supermarket with several bags in tow. He should have asked someone to drive him here. Now he had to walk all the way home with these heavy bags. Granted, now that he was a Devil, it wasn't so bad. And he thanked the fact that he lived close to the supermarket.
"But still… Sora-nee, why did you have to get this much food? Is your husband coming over today or something?" Issei wondered.
[Partner.]
Issei's body stiffened. After trying to reach this idiot dragon all day, now he decided to reach out to him.
"Oi-"
[Don't talk. Just think. It was hard enough getting this established. Even if we have established contact, the channel is still weak and I can only talk to you if you maintain absolute focus.] Ddraig said.
Oi! You big red idiot! I've been trying to contact you all morning! Issei yelled.
[And I just told you! The channel is still weak. Something changed inside your Sacred Gear… like someone forced a channel open. But your body can't handle it as it is right now so the channel between us isn't that strong yet.]
"..."
So what now?
[Keep walking. You're being followed.]
Issei's eyes widened slightly. He tightened his grip on his grocery bags and continued to walk down the street.
What do we do? Issei asked.
[Lead them somewhere no one is watching. If you fight right now, they'll use everyone as a shield and then you won't be able to fight at full capacity if you have people you don't want getting caught up in this situation.]
Issei gulped and nodded.
He walked a few paces before turning around into a corner. It wasn't the short way home. It was the long way that took him to the opposite end of the residential area. An area that had more open space and was generally devoid of people. It was a popular hangout spot for troublemakers and people often avoided it due to fear of being held up or robbed.
"Ddraig… how far is she?"
There was no response.
"Ddraig?" Issei whispered.
Shit, he thought.
The channel had fizzled out. He needed to find some way to maintain a clear-cut connection with him.
He slowed to a stop in one of the playgrounds. The air. It had unmistakably changed. It was like that day he ran into Raynare. That familiar sensation, which now stung and irritated his skin even more.
Issei slowed to face his stalker.
It was a girl. A girl that looked to be older than Koneko. She had medium-length blonde hair styled in pigtails and wore a frilly gothic lolita dress, complete with a headband. Her blue eyes looked straight into his.
"You… Aren't you that boy Raynare was going to kill?" the girl asked.
Issei clenched the bags even harder, saying nothing. He took a few steps back.
The girl, not having noticed his apprehension, took a step forward.
"You are. That's great! Finally, I found you after- Hey!?"
The moment she had gotten closer, Issei had swung his groceries at her with full force. The girl leaned her head back at the last second. She clenched her jaw and jumped back.
"What the hell was that for!?" the girl yelled.
"Did they send you to finish the job? Because I'm not going down without a fight," Issei said, dropping his groceries on the ground. He raised his fists in front of him, manifesting his sacred gear on his left arm.
"Sacred… Gear? And it's the…," her eyebrows furrowed as she spotted the red gauntlet.
Issei charged forward while she was distracted by his Sacred Gear. He threw a punch directed at her jaw.
However, the girl clearly had more combat experience than he did. She easily dodged his attack and slammed her palm into his chest, sending him sliding back.
"I said stop that! I'm not here to-" she ducked underneath a kick.
"I'm not dying a second time so you can go back to whatever hole you crawled out of and go fuck yourself!" Issei unleashed a volley of jabs at her.
The girl did her best, weaving in and around his hits. She knocked his arm out of the way. Her frustration was bubbling over.
First, the situation at their base. Rogue Priests and no one seemed to care enough to control them. Not Kalawarna. Or Raynare. She had been left to pick up the pieces of their broken operation now and she had swallowed her pride to go ask some devils for help.
And now, this Devil—who was barely two weeks old—was now fighting her. After she made it clear that she wasn't going to fight? She couldn't handle it.
And so, Issei found himself being thrown back. Pain shot through his torso, starting from his left and radiating everywhere else. He propped himself up and coughed up a considerable amount of blood.
The girl walked forward, eyes glowing with fury. Her wings were spread in full and a pink aura had surrounded her entire body.
The aura. It made Issei feel dizzy and weak. Mitsuki had explained to him that Angels possessed abilities that were poisonous to Devils. Was this what she meant? The girl kept walking forward. She held her hand out and a pink barbed spear appeared in her right hand.
Issei began to sweat. He was going to die. Again. He shook his head. There was no way he was going to die again.
[Get up. We're not done yet, Partner.]
Ddraig!? Where the hell were you!? Issei yelled.
[I told you. The time we can connect is limited because of your current strength. Right now, I only have you for 3 minutes so I'll explain this fast. With your current strength, you cannot defeat this girl. However, I can give you a crash course on how this weapon works.]
You gotta talk fast because she's getting closer, Issei said, getting up.
[This gear has the ability to double your abilities every 10 seconds as much as your body can allow. As you are right now, I estimate that you can only handle five boosts before your body will begin to give out from strain. Five boosts means that you will be at 36x your own strength.] Ddraig explained.
36 times my strength? That's fine! As long as we can get out of this! Issei said.
"You're really pissing me off. I didn't even come here looking for a fight but… if you want one. Then, I'll beat you until you calm down." The girl began to levitate off the ground. A pink broken halo appeared above her head.
[Be careful. Angels, Fallen or not, are capable of casting Miracles. Best you avoid them.] Ddraig warned.
What the hell is a Miracle!? Issei yelled.
[Miracles are a form of semantic magic practiced by Heaven. While I'm not overly familiar with the mechanics myself, it uses Holy Power to create phenomena.]
[Boost.]
Issei felt strength rush through his body. He shifted his heel before shooting forward with greater speed than earlier.
The girl's eyes widened in surprise. She clenched her jaw and thrust her spear forward, almost running Issei through. However, the spear's sliced into his side. Issei clenched his jaw and fought through the pain.
"Just give up will you!" she yelled.
[Boost]
Issei dodged once more, this time being able to avoid it completely.
The girl twirled her spear and swung it in an arcing sweep.
Issei jumped over the weapon and landed a solid blow to the side of her face.
The girl stumbled back, stunned by the turn of events. The blow… hurt. It hurt. This measly devil managed to hurt her. She clenched her fists. Nothing was going to plan. If he wasn't going to listen, then she was going to make him listen.
"You prick…"
Issei raised an eyebrow.
Her blue eyes shone dangerously. She jumped back, gaining some distance from Issei.
"Oh, God… oh Heaven… lend me the strength…"
Issei jumped back instinctively.
Foreign script he did not recognize began to circle around her. She held her hand up.
[Partner!... She's about to cast a Mirac-] Ddraig's voice cut off.
"To deliver justice upon this demon…"
The letters circled faster and began to glow brightly.
Issei rushed forward. He needed to stop her. If she was going to use that Miracle thing Ddraig mentioned, then he was rightfully screwed.
"Bind Azazel hand and foot… and cast him unto the darkness. Therein, thy shall bind him to jagged rocks and cover his eyes so that he may never see the light."
"As if I'll let you finish!" Issei jumped up and threw a high-speed punch at her.
"Dudael."
Violet-silver barbed chains erupted from the ground. They were coated in an ominous aura. The chains snaked their way to Issei at blinding speeds.
The chains wrapped around Issei, digging into his flesh and causing an intense burning pain to engulf his entire body.
Issei howled in pain as he was pinned to the ground. The chains bound his hands and legs, preventing any meaningful movement. Every motion he made to struggle uselessly only made the barbs in the chains dig into his flesh even more.
He looked up at the girl, who looked down on him with an annoyed look on her face.
"Now… then. Let's talk, Mister Ex-Boyfriend," she said, squatting in front of him. "Like I said, I'm not here to fight."
Issei floundered and tried to break the chains once more. He ceased his movements for a few seconds and decided to humor her.
"Then, why were you following me?" Issei asked.
"Because I needed to talk. There's something I need help with."
Issei almost wanted to laugh in her face. "Help?"
"That's right. Let me undo the chains and we can speak more comfortably." The girl held her hand out and the chains vanished, much to Issei's relief. He looked up and saw she had stood up and was holding her hand out.
Issei hesitantly reached out to grab her hand. As she was about to pull him up, a red wave of energy forced the two to move.
"What the hell? I thought you said you wanted to talk!" Issei yelled.
"That's not me… it's-" the girl's words were cut off.
A red blur slammed into her, knocking the air completely out of her body and breaking a few ribs. She flew through several trees before landing violently in the distance.
Issei took a step back. That Fallen that had kicked his ass easily. She was being thrown around by the newcomer.
The newcomer had an unmistakable pressure about her. Her long, white hair which faded into crimson near the tips flowed gently in the breeze she created. She had a slender buxom figure with a bust that was slightly larger than Rias's. She wore a white sweater with puffy sleeves and black gauntlets at the end. Around her torso was segmented armor and she wore black, form-fitting pants and high-heeled boots.
"You…"
The woman appeared to have heard him. She turned her gaze toward Issei. Her eyes were a distinct shade of red. And her face… it looked so familiar. He knew who she was but he couldn't say her name no matter how hard he tried. It was as if something was blocking his knowledge of her or rather, she was doing it.
"..." The woman remained silent as she stared at Issei.
A flash of pink caught Issei's attention. Like a bullet, the girl's light spear flew toward the newcomer.
She raised her hand and easily caught it, crushing it with her bare hands.
The blonde girl landed in front of Issei, holding two spears and glaring at the woman. "You bitch… you almost killed me!"
"That was the point." The woman's frigid tone sent shivers down their spines.
"Tch… you're a Devil, aren't you?" the girl said.
"...I have no reason to answer the questions of someone who won't be there to listen." She began walking toward them.
"Oi, Mr. Ex-Boyfriend. On my count-"
"Before you can ruin everything, I'll end your life before you can end his."
Her words caught them by surprise. She wasn't here for Issei? Before they could formulate a plan to pacify the woman, she rushed forward, grabbing the girl by the skull. In one brutal motion, she slammed her into the ground, rupturing it and dragging her across.
The girl let out a scream of agony as the ground tore up the skin on her back and ripped several feathers off her wings. Her screams became even louder when one of her wings snapped and the woman finally drove her knee into her stomach.
She coughed and fell to the ground, vomiting up some blood and saliva.
"It'll be just like before, Fallen. Disappear."
A red light gathered in her palm. The light stretched and twisted until it formed a sword with a bright crimson blade. It had an odd grip and there was an oddly designed crossguard that resembled that of a burning feathers.
It gave off an insurmountable amount of divine aura.
A Holy Sword!? On a Devil! the fallen angel girl was surprised and horrified at the thought of it.
What the hell kind of sword is that!? Wait, no time for that. She's going to kill her! Issei thought.
He rushed forward, intent on stopping the girl's death, despite their fight earlier.
The woman raised her blade and brought it down.
"Wait!"
However, before her blade could eradicate the Fallen Angel's existence, Issei appeared in between them, holding his arms out. The blade came to a grinding halt, stopping mere centimeters from Issei's face.
The girl stared at Issei's back in shock.
The woman had an almost similar expression on her face. It was brief but Issei managed to see it before it returned to its usual nigh-emotionless face.
"What are you doing?" the woman asked, almost angry that Issei had stopped her.
"I… I won't let you kill her!" Issei could barely believe what he was saying. A few days ago, he wouldn't have minded if these crow-winged bastards were killed but now, seeing one so helpless. He just couldn't stand by. Maybe it was because this girl had no intent on killing him in the first place and that it was his fault for misunderstanding.
"... She tried to kill you," the woman said.
"N- No! I… I misunderstood her intentions! At least, let me hear her out!" he argued.
The woman remained silent for a few seconds. Issei could feel the aura of her blade beginning to singe his skin.
She closed her eyes and pulled the sword back. With an audible crunch, the woman stabbed the blade into the ground and gestured toward the girl.
"Kch…" the Fallen Angel girl sat up, gripping her shoulder. She could feel trickles of blood flowing freely down her back; the agonizing pain of her broken wing almost made her want to pass out.
"Hey, you okay?" Issei asked.
"Define okay."
"R- Right. Look, depending on what you're going to do next-"
"I know. That monster will kill me." She stood up, holding her arm.
"So, what did you want to talk about, Miss…"
"Mittelt."
"Mittelt. You said you wanted to talk about getting help?" Issei asked.
"R- Right…" she winced as she took a step forward. "I need you to get me to your master."
"My master?" Issei asked.
"The Devil who reincarnated you. I need to talk to her."
"W- Why?"
"Because I need your help dealing with a… personal problem," she said.
"Personal problem?" the woman asked, now raising an eyebrow in slight interest.
"Mmm. I couldn't handle her and all those stray priests alone then and I can't do it now. So I need you and your master to help me handle her," Mittelt said.
"Handle… who, exactly?" Issei asked.
"We need to deal with them."
"E- Eh? Them?" Issei's eyes widened.
"That's right. We need to cut the head off the snake before it bites. We need to deal with the Fallen Angels."
Unknown Devil α
A mysterious devil who has been in the background of things.
Powerful and mercurial.
She has displayed an interest in Issei Hyoudou for unknown reasons.
Sorry for getting this out so late. I've been running around updating stories so this chapter's just been sitting here for a month. I'll try to update this a little more often. However, it most likely won't be as consistent as the other two as... I am running like 4 stories at the same time and balancing time to prevent burn out is a chore in and of itself. Anyway, a friend of mine published his new fic so please go check it out. It's called Take Me Back To Eden by NecroGodYami!