Here I present myself with another translated chapter!
This time we are in front of the last fixed chapter. As I said several times, these were the chapters that presented more errors and that's why I did a remake of them, but this doesn't mean that the next ones will be perfect. In fact, I think the experimentation lasted about 10 chapters, but it is evident that these first 4 were the ones that showed the weakest point.
From now on I tell you that I am not going to correct the next chapters as it is a matter of time, time that I prefer to spend on catching up with the translation and I still have more than 20 chapters to do it.
I hope you understand my reasons, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Let's start right now!
CHAPTER 3: ASIA'S SALVATION, OR HER DOOM? TRAPPED IN THE FAMILY REALM!
Issei walked in the middle of a grove of trees to reach his destination, the church.
The young man had his gaze shadowed as the gem on his gauntlet glowed every so often.
"Mate, try to control your emotions. It's dangerous for you to use so much Boost. It's no use increasing your strength so much if you reach OverBoost." Ddraig had a worried tone in his words.
Issei looked up with a completely serene expression on his face. He stopped clenching his gauntlet tightly and paused as he saw that he was already relatively close to the Church.
"Relax, Ddraig. I'm perfectly fine. I just want to go in with all my power and try to bust them all without them noticing my presence."
"Sorry to disappoint you, boy. But we're not idiots enough not to patrol the area when we're about to do something very important."
Issei could feel his skin crawl as he saw three Fallen Angels appear through the trees. Two of them were already familiar to him.
"I appreciate if you would turn around and leave the place. We don't want to get in trouble with the Gremory family, but not for that reason will we allow you to screw up Raynare's plans." Clarified the Fallen Angel known as Dohnaseek.
Issei raised his gauntlet at the same time as he gave him a piercing look. "Why are you doing this to Asia?! All she wanted was to serve God and have friends!"
The three Fallen Angels looked at each other and smirked arrogantly.
"I can see that you have become much stronger than in our first encounter. But you still have a ways to go before you can beat one of us. So what makes you think you can take the three of us together?" Kalawarner questioned, holding a clear air of superiority in her words.
Issei just gritted his teeth as a Boost could be heard.
He may have been a fool, but not even a mental moron would answer that he could take all three of them no problem. The only thing pushing him to battle was Asia.
After all, he said so himself. He could never forgive himself if he didn't do something about it.
"Are you still here? Apparently you want to die, don't you?" The fallen Angel Blonde spoke with a slightly macabre smile on her features, though it didn't look very good with how small her body was.
"He never mentioned it would be a 3-on-1."
A muffled, apathetic voice was heard from behind the Fallen Angels, causing them to turn around with a raised eyebrow.
Issei recognized that voice immediately, so he was slightly surprised.
"What's more, he never mentioned that he was going to fight you guys."
A distinctly male voice echoed through the trees, only to be followed by the appearance of four figures very familiar to Issei.
"Buchou!" Issei exclaimed in great surprise at the sight of the complete Gremory peerage.
Rias directed a friendly smile at his pawn. "Issei, you can continue on your way along with Kiba and Koneko. Akeno and I will take care of this problem."
At the president's statement, Akeno licked one of her fingers with a sadistic and seductive expression, causing Issei to blush a little. But thanks to his recent hormonal control, he downplayed it almost instantly.
"Okay, Buchou, thank you very much!" Rias just nodded with a confident smile as Issei ran past her and his two companions followed shortly after, first giving a satisfied nod to their mistress.
"Well, this will be an easy enough job!" Exclaimed the blonde girl fully confident of her victory.
"Don't get overconfident, Mittelt. Remember, this is the Gremory family we're talking about, and their power of Destruction can be devastating." Kalawarner warned with a slight frown.
Dohnaseek laughed loudly. "I don't care if that brat is from the Gremory family, or some high-class family." This last, he said with a distinctly sarcastic and mocking tone, then adjusted his hat with a superior smile. "There's 3 of us and 2 of them, plus she's a mere brat. She must not even have awakened the power of Destruction yet."
"We'll see about that." Rias replied with a confident smile, then looked at Akeno.
The woman just laughed in a somewhat strange way and looked at her opponents lewdly as she raised her hand. A large lightning bolt began to form along her palm.
At the sight, the three Fallen Angels widened their eyes slightly in surprise.
Issei burst loudly into the doors of the church, giving them a big kick and sending them flying. From behind him followed Kiba and Koneko, who were on the lookout for any dangerous situation that might arise.
Issei ran along with his companions as they looked in various directions, not understanding why the place was completely empty. Asia and Raynare were supposed to be here. The two of them, and besides-
"Oe, oe, oe. Look who we have here."
The three companions stopped dead in their tracks as Freed appeared from behind a wall as he turned his distinguished psychopathic grin on them.
"I still have yet to repay you for what you did to me last time, Fucking Demon." Freed declared, licking the tip of his sword in a grim manner.
"Where's Asia?"
Freed was a bit surprised by Issei's question, because he didn't seem to be paying the slightest bit of attention to him. The white-haired man looked back and pointed to an entrance leading down.
"There's ritual going on down there. There's also a lot of priests, but I don't like crowds. You know..." He clarified with his typical psychotic tone.
Issei started to advance at a fast pace towards the entrance, not caring that Freed was in front of the entrance. Kiba and Koneko watched this seriously as they prepared to battle Freed in the worst case situation.
Freed raised an amused eyebrow. "Are you ignoring me? Remember I owe you one for last time. This time I'll be sure to cut you into a thousand pieces, and you'll be reduced to little pieces of shit, as it should be!~" Freed exclaimed with a sing-song tone at the end as he wagged his tongue wildly.
Freed quickly stepped into the middle of the road, causing Issei to clench his teeth and his fists tightly.
"I don't have time for this!" Shouted Issei, pouncing at a speed Freed couldn't keep up with.
A strong red light burst from the gauntlet as Issei's fist sank into Freed's cheek, causing the subject to let out a scream of pain and fly off with a spray of blood on his nose and face. His flight ended when he crashed hard against the benches in the area, knocking him unconscious.
Issei wasted no time and went down with his two companions, only to be shocked by the sight. Or at least, Issei was shocked.
There were about 40 priests in the place who seemed to be praying to Raynare, while the woman was a few stairs up, next to a cross.
Worst of all, was what was hanging on that cross.
"Asia!" Issei shouted loudly, watching helplessly as the blonde was hanging on the cross.
Seeing it, Raynare gave a somewhat ghoulish grin as she played with the gift Issei had bestowed upon her. "Oh, so you came to witness the nun's death?"
In a slightly more normal moment, Issei would have asked Raynare why she was still wearing the bracelet he had given her on their date. But it wasn't a very "normal" situation to say the least.
"Why are you doing this to her?!" Issei stepped forward in great anger, causing the priests to step in front of him.
Raynare looked at him graciously. "What why am I doing this? You know she possesses a very strong Sacred Gear, right? My boss ordered me to take it to keep for myself, because dark but fun times will begin to arise before too long. And he wants to make sure we're in the top spot when it happens."
"Boss? What the fuck are you talking about? You know...whatever." Issei thought as he looked at Asia with great concern.
Before Issei could act, a loud scream rang through the place.
"Asia!" Issei shouted loudly as he watched the nun scream in pain, being surrounded by a green aura. Raynare watched all this in fascination.
Issei tried to run again, but the priests blocked his way again. Before any of them could attack the brown-haired man, Kiba and Koneko rushed towards the priests, swinging swords and punches at them, respectively. Seeing this, the corrupted priests took several steps back, impressed at the strength Kiba and Koneko had, creating a path for Issei.
"Go, Hyoudou. We'll take care of them." Kiba commented with a smile.
"We've got your back, Hyoudou." Koneko backed up the blond's words with her typical apathetic tone.
Issei looked at the two of them as his eyes glistened from being on the verge of tears.
"Okay! But when we get out of here, I want you both to call me by my name!" Issei shouted loudly as he wiped his eyes and ran to where Raynare was.
Koneko and Kiba just nodded at Issei's proposal and continued to battle against the corrupted priests.
Issei stopped in his tracks and watched in horror as the green light began to fade, and with it, Asia's screams.
"It's already too late..." Raynare declared reaching out his hands to take a ring that glowed a green color. "The Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing, is mine! With it, I will be invincible!" Raynare exclaimed, spreading her wings and beginning to laugh like mad.
Issei didn't give a damn about what the woman who tricked him said and rushed over to let go of Asia with the intention of carrying her in his arms. The blonde looked at him and smiled weakly.
Issei's eyes started to get watery again, but not a tear fell. "Asia... I'm so sorry... if I had come earlier, I..." Issei lowered his head a little and closed his eyes tightly, causing a small tear to escape from his right eye.
Issei was surprised when Asia brushed the tear away, then positioned her hand on Issei's cheek affectionately. "I'm glad. I'm glad I had a friend, Issei." Issei watched in shock as a tear began to run down the side of her eyes. "...Thank you so much...for making me feel so happy in just one day..."
Asia's tear fell and she closed her eyes, causing Issei to hug her tightly in great pain.
In the end, he had been unable to do anything...
But he could still avenge her.
A small violet spark flashed within Issei's soul, causing Ddraig to become alarmed at the sight.
Issei looked back with great hatred to see if Raynare was still there, but saw no one. He could only see a large amount of black feathers leading to the upper floor.
"I'm sorry, Issei. We couldn't stop her at first. But she must still be upstairs, confident of her victory thanks to her new power." Kiba commented, a little worried about the great hatred that was emanating from his new friend. It was so weird, even Koneko was surprised. He wasn't supposed to have Demonic Corruption, so it's not normal for a human to have so much hatred.
"Take care of Asia."
Koneko and Kiba looked at him in surprise.
"But-"
"I'll personally take care of her." Koneko was interrupted by Issei, causing them both to look at him even more surprised.
"Issei, she is a Fallen Angel and now possesses a Sacred Gear. She's much stronger than the priest you faced." Kiba tried to talk some sense into Issei to no avail.
"I know." Was all he replied as he left Asia in Kiba's hands and began to move forward with great hatred in every step he took.
Raynare was quietly waiting for Rias Gremory's arrival, as she was very confident of her new power.
In fact, too confident.
"It's beautiful..." Raynare commented in a low voice as she looked at the ring on her finger in admiration.
Her close study of the ring was interrupted when Issei appeared through the door, causing Raynare to look at him superiorly.
"Oh, you still feel like fighting? I'd rather take the Gremory as proof of my victory. I'm giving you a chance to save yourself from the Demons, and you still want to die?"
Issei lowered his head a little, not really paying attention to Raynare's words. Even if he had only known her for a day, Raynare had been his "girlfriend". Even if it had been for one day, he had really had a good time, and had even considered giving up seeing other women by having Yuuma with him. After all, would he really need to see many women, if he could see his lover's beautiful eyes every day? That's what he had thought. He just wanted to give love to her, and receive that love in return. Issei really appreciated her.
And now it turns out that she not only cheated, hurt, betrayed, and killed him. But she also killed someone he could call a friend, never mind that he didn't have much time to get to know her.
"You were my first girlfriend..."
Raynare looked at his bracelet with mock tenderness. "Yeah, from what I could tell, you were incredibly 'new' at it. A guy who has yet to 'meet' a woman, I'll admit it was all in good fun.
Issei clenched his fists tightly as his gaze darkened.
"I was going to treat you like a queen..."
"Yes, that much was clear to me. For that very reason it was so entertaining to see your panicked face when that dream was shattered." Raynare replied in a distinctly mocking tone, mimicking Yuuma's voice.
Issei clenched his fists even tighter, causing blood to start oozing out on his free hand.
"I thought our thing would be something special..."
Raynare laughed loudly. "That's right, it was something very special. I kept your gift for myself to remember the day you died." Raynare played with the bracelet Issei had given her, emphasizing her words. "It really was something special, don't you think?"
"RAYNARE!" Issei raised his gaze in great anger.
"DON'T SCREAM MY REAL NAME BECAUSE YOU RUIN THE MOMENT!" Raynare shouted with a psychotic grin on her face as she created a spear of light.
Issei dodged the spear of light with great difficulty, causing Raynare to laugh loudly.
"Looks like you'll be making this a bit interesting. That pleases me, I won't be bored until your mistress arrives." Raynare added, creating another spear of light.
"She just wanted to have a peaceful life!"
Raynare looked at him somewhat disgusted. It was amusing when they talked about them, but not when he would bring that blonde girl in.
"Do you really think she would have lived a happy life? Having ended up dead is the best option. You still don't understand how the supernatural world really works... And you'll never have time to understand it!"
Raynare threw her spear in hopes of hitting Issei.
The brown-haired man used his gauntlet when he saw that he had no chance of dodging it. He managed to block the attack, but it seemed that the gauntlet would not hold another blow.
"I will avenge her!" Issei shouted loudly, making Raynare laugh even louder.
She was having a lot of fun with the current situation. Teasing and making her victims suffer was something she loved, those were her sins. That was her nature.
"Avenge her? If you could do that, what good would it do you?" Raynare created another spear as she delighted in the broken expression Issei had. "Avenging you won't bring her back to life, you idiot!" Those were Raynare's last words before throwing her spear.
Everything became slow for Issei as he had a look of complete shock from Raynare's last words.
That's right, what good was it for him to take revenge, if that doesn't bring her back? That didn't mean he would stop hating her or forgive her for what she did. He just didn't want to stoop to Raynare's level. Asia wouldn't want it to be that way, and he knew he was more than that.
Ddraig watched as the little violet spark fused with Issei's soul, causing him to go into complete shock.
He would kill her anyway, but not for revenge...
He would do it to make sure no one else fell into the fangs of such a viper.
"If you can't give her back to me..." He thought.
Ddraig felt like a lot of emotions were running through his bearer. But at first, it was only hatred. Now, he wasn't sure how many emotions were involved at the moment.
But the vast majority of them were not pleasant...
"If you can't give her back to me..."
Issei's eyes widened as a great red glow surrounded him completely. Raynare watched in shock as the spear of light shattered into a thousand pieces upon contact with the blinding light.
"DRAGON BOOSTER!"
The gauntlet had undergone a small transformation, growing larger.
"IF YOU CAN'T GIVE HER BACK TO ME, I'LL MAKE SURE NO ONE ELSE HAS TO GO THROUGH THE SAME THING!"
Raynare took a step back in complete shock at the sound of the Boosted Gear's voice.
"AAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"BOOST!"
"BOOST!"
"BOOST!"
"BOOST!"
"BOOST!"
"BOOST!"
"BOOST!"
"BOOST!"
Issei shouted loudly and lunged at Raynare at an incredible speed, landing a heavy blow to her stomach that made her spit out a large amount of blood.
Issei spat out a small amount of blood, because a light spear had pierced his leg. The protagonist staggered backwards, causing Raynare to fall to her knees on the ground while coughing up blood.
Raynare looked up with a faint psychopathic smile as he began to heal. "I never imagined you had one of the 13 Longinus. But that doesn't save you from the great pain that runs through your entire body when you come in contact with a spear of light."
"What are you talking about?"
Raynare was shocked as she watched Issei remove the spear like it was nothing and a great gush of blood spurted out of the hole.
"The only thing that hurts is the gaping hole in my leg. It's exactly the same pain as when you pierced my stomach. Well, it's even a little more painful" Issei commented with a somewhat grim smile, making Raynare panic.
"But how is that possible, you're a low class Demon, you shouldn't be able to move!" Raynare widened her eyes in shock. "Wait a minute, just a little more pain?! Your body is supposed to be that of a demon now! How is it that you only feel a little more pain than last time?! That's impossible!"
"It's not that it's insignificant pain, but the desire to stop you is even greater than all the pain I'm feeling right now."
"EXPLOSION!"
Issei's gauntlet grew even larger again, now covering his fingers and forearm completely, causing a second green gem to appear on the gauntlet.
Issei took a step forward, not really caring what Raynare was babbling about, causing the woman to look at him in terror and barely get up from the ground.
Raynare could only watch in shock. "He released the Boosted Gear's second form and final form in just seconds?! What kind of Demon is he?!" Raynare thought in alarm as she created a spear and threw it at him with all her might.
Issei just continued to advance and deflected the spear of light with his gauntlet as if it was a simple fly, making Raynare look at him in complete terror.
Kiba and Koneko were about to leave with Asia's body, but they saw Issei fighting. Just as they were about to join in, they could both see Rias and Akeno at one of the windows as the redhead shook her head. The two got the message and turned to hide in the shadows, watching the fight.
Raynare turned around and began to fly away in fear, in an attempt to escape.
"Don't think you'll escape."
Raynare looked back in horror, due to the fact that Issei had grabbed her by the foot. The problem wasn't that he had caught her, but how quickly he had done it.
"I don't understand... I should be superior to you with my Sacred Gear."
"You're an Angel, so fly!" Issei exclaimed with anger contained in his words, directing a strong punch at her that made her spit out a large amount of blood.
Raynare bolted towards one of the windows and broke it in the process, being outside of the Church. Issei wasted no time and jumped through the same window, only to find Raynare lying on the floor with a very sore face while the ring was a couple of meters away from her.
Issei grabbed the ring and began to slowly move forward until he was in front of Raynare. The woman's eyes widened in terror.
Raynare decided to use her last escape card. It was too low, even for her. But it was the only possible escape route.
Issei's eyes widened when he saw how Raynare had transformed into a different person.
"Issei, please forgive me. I swear I didn't mean to do it. Please give me another chance." Yuuma declared as tears began to flow from her face.
Raynare suddenly returned to her original form, courtesy of Issei, as he grabbed her neck tightly with one hand and slammed her head into the ground, causing Raynare to gasp in pain. Issei sat on top of her legs with a dismayed look on his face.
"Raynare, I really, really liked you, I really liked you a lot. I would have done everything I could to make you the happiest woman in the world, not because you were my girlfriend, but because you were charming, shy, attractive, cheerful... you were an amazing woman..." Issei tightened his grip on Raynare's neck even more, making her spit out some saliva. Issei raised his arm that held the gauntlet, pointing at the woman's face.
"But that wasn't you."
"Boost!"
A treacherous tear escaped Issei as he watched Raynare try her best to break free from Issei's grip, as the pain was killing her. She couldn't even think rationally to create a spear.
Issei's right arm reached the highest possible altitude. The protagonist looked up at the night sky with a broken smile on his face at a sweet memory...
"Please, let's go on a date!"
"I guess I'll always be a loser with women. At least, I know Matsuda and Motohama will always be with me on it."
"Boost!"
The sound of the Boosted Gear was the only thing heard for a second. After that, a frightening female scream was heard followed by multiple booms that echoed in a sickening manner.
A few minutes later...
"So, this is the girl?" Rias looked at Asia's corpse with a smile.
"That's right, Buchou. But it won't do any good to reincarnate her if she doesn't possess her Sacred Gear." Kiba answered seriously, causing the redhead to nod with a smile.
"Don't you think it wasn't necessary to let her die? Considering we could have created the magic circle in the Church, we would have arrived in time..." Koneko commented as she looked at the blonde's corpse with her typical apathetic expression.
"It's something that was necessary. I knew Issei would release a new power through his feelings because of it." Rias clarified, then gave a satisfied smile. "Though I never expected him to awaken so much power. He gave the Fallen Angel a complete beating."
"Besides that, remember she might not have wanted to be reincarnated as a Demon if we rescued her. This was the most viable option." Kiba added with his typical kind smile.
Koneko nodded in compression. "Now, we just need to bring the Sacred Gear to revive her."
"I don't think that's necessary." Akeno replied as she watched Issei enter through the shattered doors of the Church. The queen licked her lips as she saw how Issei had the gauntlet covered in blood, along with part of his upper garment.
Having heard the last words, Issei clenched the ring tightly in shock as he watched his friends.
Issei quickly observed Rias with a big hopeful smile. "Buchou, does that mean you can reincarnate Asia if she has her Sacred Gear?"
Rias nodded with a smile as she folded her arms. "That's right, or did you already forget how we reincarnated you?"
Issei clenched his fists tightly and gave a big jump of joy. Quickly his joy diminished as his vision became blurry, along with a great dizziness suddenly hitting him.
"Mate, deactivate the Boosted Gear. I congratulate you on reaching the last release, but you still have a long way to go before you can control it without passing out from exhaustion." Issei just nodded and heeded immediately, deactivating his gauntlet.
"Issei, you did an amazing job. I must say I was very impressed by your performance." Rias congratulated him.
Issei dropped his butt to the ground from exhaustion as he gave a thumbs up to Rias, causing everyone to smile at how the brown-haired man acted.
Everyone thought he would be much more down about killing his ex-girlfriend, but he seemed to be more concerned about Asia's recovery right now.
In fact, it wasn't quite like that.
Simply put, Issei had made his point between him and the women when the fight against Raynare was over.
But he was much more wrong than he thought, and he was going to discover in the future...
One minute later...
Issei watched in astonishment as the Rias Bishop entered Asia's body.
"As your new mistress, I will grant you a new life!" Rias finished her conjuration, causing the magic circle beneath Asia to disappear.
Issei watched impatiently, waiting for Asia to wake up.
"Huh?" Asia opened her eyes in confusion as a red glow flashed across her eyes for a second.
Issei quickly rushed to Asia and hugged her tightly as he started to cry. "Asia,...!" Issei suddenly broke away a little. "Do you recognize me?" He asked rather worriedly.
"Issei?" The now demoness asked in confusion.
Issei hugged her tightly again, causing Asia to smile and return the hug.
The hug lasted a few seconds as the young woman quickly pulled away from Issei, something that confused the young man.
"Who are they?" Asia asked, looking at the others.
Rias pointed to herself with a smile. "I am Rias Gremory. They are all my demon servants. I was the one who reincarnated you so you could have a second life. You should know that I am your mistress from now on, and you are a Demon."
At that statement, Asia grabbed her head somewhat confused, but her confused expression changed to a disgusted one quickly. Issei felt a little bad knowing that Asia was devoted to God even though she had been considered a heretic for curing a Demon. He quickly tried to remedy the situation.
"Buchou, is there any way Asia can still perform prayers to God?" At Issei's question, everyone present twitched a little, though the brown-haired man didn't notice. Well, he didn't notice it for a reason.
"Issei, are you crazy? I'm never praying to that idiot again, ever!"
Issei looked in shock at Asia for the out of character response she had given.
Asia looked around in clear disgust. "Besides, why did they have to revive me in a church? This place is disgusting..."
Before Asia could say or do anything else, Rias quickly went over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
"That's okay. I'd like to give you some control lessons before you continue living in the mortal world." Rias looked back seriously. "We'll be at the Club. I probably won't be attending the Academy for a couple of days."
Before Issei could protest for an answer, Rias and Asia disappeared through a magic circle.
Issei looked at his companions, waiting for an answer.
A rather awkward silence ensued for several seconds.
"It's the Demonic Corruption..." Kiba replied, breaking the silence.
The week progressed quickly. Issei resumed his morning training without many problems, although things were very complicated when it came to practice with his Boosted Gear. According to Ddraig's explanation, he had evolved the Boosted Gear too fast without mastering it completely, and that made his body get exhausted very fast, and the only way to improve that situation was with a personalized training by someone who knew about Sacred Gear, oh that they understood how the dragon power worked, since technically the Boosted Gear is pure dragon power. He tried to seek help from his teammates, but Rias said she could help him in magical aspects, but not when it came to improving his control with the Sacred Gear. He also tried to ask Kiba for help, but the blond said that when he awakened his Sacred Gear he had never had any problem using it. In the end, Ddraig and Issei concluded to keep improving his physical condition, since that was what was stopping the improvement process at the moment. With Rias' help, Issei followed a training plan throughout the week.
Regarding Asia, Issei had barely been able to visit her at the Club these days. Although he was glad that she was well, her change of attitude made the brown-haired man cool his relationship with the blonde. Now, Asia had a much more direct and abrasive personality. There were even times when her attitude looked a bit sinister. The only sure thing for Issei was that she would never go back to the way she was before, and that was something that bothered him a little. Finally, he came to the conclusion that he would try to convince and warn all the people who wanted to become Demons what they were exposing themselves to, unless there was no other alternative. If Asia had changed so drastically being such a kind and timid person, he could not imagine what would happen to a person with a stronger attitude.
In these few days that had passed, "normal" things also happened. Like Kiba's fan club. The ones branded as the "Pervert Duo", along with "The Pervert's Friend", something that played negatively on Issei's reputation, but that was nothing compared to how all the women viewed Matsuda and Motohama.
The only really important thing this week was that Issei discovered that there was more than one heir to a large family at the school. This heir was a woman and her name was Sona Sitri. He also discovered that his pawn was Saji had recently joined their ranks, just before the start of school. He had not liked the boy very much because of his cocky and stupid attitude. But he quickly assumed that the Demonic Corruption had corrupted his soul, so in the end he ended up pitying him. He only hoped that in time he would learn to "control" it, so to speak.
After this summary, we finally get to the present day. Although there wasn't really anything interesting going on.
For now...
Issei was leaning on his desk with a completely bored look on his face. At his side, there was a backpack much larger than what would be considered normal.
"Hmmm, Matsuda and Motohama left me again to spy on the locker room. Ahhhh, I'd like to go too..." Issei thought, not really giving his thoughts any importance as he was watching as the girls were gathered at a table and talking about the Prince.
The women all turned and shouted out of nowhere, causing Issei to cover his ears in annoyance. He decided to turn his gaze to see what or who had caused such a fuss.
"Speaking of Rome..." Issei thought as he watched Kiba walk in, giving him a completely emotionless look.
The women started whispering to each other as they saw Kiba sit down right in front of Issei's bench.
"What's wrong, Prince Charming?" Issei questioned raising his gaze slightly, with a definite teasing tone in his voice.
Kiba shot him a nervous smile at his friend's attitude. "The Buchou wants to see you." At this, Issei straightened up and looked at him very carefully. Kiba looked around and began to whisper very low. "Once a month, a recognized Family from Hell gets a chance to visit the Family Realm. Luckily, the Buchou and Sona came to an agreement where the Sitri Family entered the previous month, and we in this one. She will give you more details."
Issei simply nodded in a somewhat distracted manner as he glanced sideways at the girls in the back, to make sure they couldn't overhear his conversation.
"What time?" He whispered.
"In 25 minutes."
"¿25?"
"Is there a problem?"
"No, it's just that number seems kind of curious to me..."
Kiba just shook his head at his friend's ramblings and left the place.
"Did he say Family Realm?"
Issei raised an eyebrow internally upon hearing Ddraig's hesitant tone. "Yeah, is there something wrong with that?" He asked very curiously.
"Something weird? No, not at all. I was just asking. I've never been to that place before, but I've always heard some... things."
The fact that Ddraig was trying to correct his voice made Issei realize that he was hiding something from him. But he finally downplayed it. Lately, his trust with Ddraig had increased by astronomical levels, and he knew that if the dragon wasn't telling him something, it was for a reason. And many times, those reasons were personal. A clear example is when he wanted to know why Ddraig and Albion started their eternal rivalry. The dragon simply replied that some things were better left unearthed. Although he promised he would tell him when he was much stronger.
Several minutes later...
"I see... so that woman was your familiar." Issei commented as he listened attentively to Rias' explanation.
The familiar left her female form and turned into a small strange animal with bat-like wings, then perched on Rias' shoulder.
They were all gathered in the Occult room, where Rias had finished her explanation of what a familiar was.
"My idea is to take you two to get a familiar. Besides that, this will be a good experience for you to begin to relate with atypical worlds."
"It will be a good experience." Asia said with a sideways smile.
Rias raised her index finger with a small smile. "By the way, Asia, you're already enrolling in Kuoh Academy tomorrow. I think you're already ready to enter, but be careful with your actions. I would hate to have to erase everyone's memory because you attacked a follower of God in the middle of a class."
Asia just nodded with an enthusiastic smile. She was already looking forward to entering the Academy ever since she had come to this place.
Rias looked at her two most resentful acquisitions with a smile. "Well, do you have any last questions?"
Issei raised his hand, and Rias quickly gave him the word. "How different will this... Realm?"
Rias directed a sly smile at her. "It is not something I can explain with my words. You'd better describe it with your own point of view."
Issei just nodded in understanding.
Rias called everyone to perch inside the magic circle, then disappeared.
Issei and Asia looked around them in mild surprise. The sky was green, they were surrounded by trees and more trees (not to mention that they were ridiculously huge). They could also hear the sound of flowing water, implying that there were a lot of streams in the area. To top it all off, an extremely humid climate reigned over the place.
"It's like a forest." Issei thought, looking in all directions, omitting the fact that the trees were an ash-white color, along with leaves that appeared to be made of green tea.
"GUAWD."
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR."
"The only thing its inhabitants aren't the usual animals." Issei thought with a roll of his eyes.
"This place is quite nice." Asia commented as she looked around with a bright smile.
"Oh, so we meet again, Gremory girl."
Everyone looked up to see a sort of version of Ash Ketchum, but much more grown up.
"Buchou?" Issei asked with a confused tone.
"He's the one in charge of keeping order in this realm. He makes sure that the Demons don't harm the small ecosystem of this place, along with keeping order among the species that live here, as some are very territorial." Rias explained wisely.
"That's right, brat. This place seems infinitely vast, but it's much smaller than you might imagine. I need to make sure everything is kept in order. Especially since there's no other place in Hell for these folks to move to if their home were to be damaged." Stated the man in the tree.
"Hell?" Asia wondered in disbelief.
Rias nodded with a proud smile on her face. "That's right. The Family Realm is located in an extremely hidden place in Hell. For that very reason, only high-ranking families know the location of this forest."
Before they could continue their talk, a small dragon descended from the air and stared at Asia, causing everyone to be surprised. But the one who was most surprised was undoubtedly the Family Caretaker.
Asia just watched him for a few seconds with a slightly surprised gesture. The little Dragon finally stopped studying her closely and leaned his head forward, indicating that he wanted to be petted.
Asia didn't hesitate and stroked the little blue and white dragon's back, causing the little one to become happy and start circling around her. Finally, the little dragon landed in Asia's arms with great tranquility and a small glow covered it for a few seconds, causing a small seal to appear on his abdomen.
"I can't believe what I'm seeing. We barely got here and the lady tames a Sprite Dragon instantly, being a race quite known for being considered a rather surly, territorial, and highly untamed spice. I see you have a truly remarkable touch, young lady." Declared the keeper, with great awe in his tone of voice.
Everyone approached Asia and began to congratulate her, with the exception of Issei who was going crazy about the place.
"Ddraig, what the hell is going on? I don't know if I'm going crazy, but I feel a lot of presences in this place..." Issei widened his eyes to the widest extent possible and quickly looked back, having felt a disturbingly strong, but dormant energy.
"Mate, calm down. This is completely normal. As you are in a small part dragon, you can sense the presence and power of other dragons for miles. This is an ability that only our species possesses, as others cannot sense presence, they can only sense the expulsion of magic and power. Although we can only locate us among the species. In addition, it not only allows you to know their presence, but also allows you to study their mood. Although that is already a very advanced level that you may not be able to reach, due to the fact that you are not a hundred percent dragon." Ddraig explained very seriously.
A big cold sweat ran down Issei's face. "I understand, Ddraig. But..." Issei continued to stare back at him as a large icy colored aura rose from behind him.
"Is normal that a dragon can possess such a suffocating aura and power?"
"..."
"Ddraig?"
"I'll call him Rassei!"
Issei abandoned his worry to concentrate on Asia. He had yet to congratulate her properly.
Besides, he had nothing to worry about. After all, he hadn't done anything to that dragon for her to be angry with him...
Hadn't he?
"Rassei... That's a nice name." Issei commented as he approached with a friendly smile.
Rassei opened one of his eyes and then a large electric shock shot out of his body and hit Issei hard, making the brown man dance in a funny way.
"Hey Rassei, that's not cool." Asia scolded her pet, though it didn't have much effect as she was holding in her laughter.
"What the hell?!" Issei asked, already rid of the electric dance.
The caretaker directed a smirk at him. "Remember what I said? Those dragons are extremely territorial, and you just so happen to 'be a dragon'."
A moment later...
"Kyaaaaaaa! Get it off me!"
"Wait, let's not use magic or all our clothes will be torn to pieces!"
"These things are disgusting..."
"Ara Ara, how naughty."
Issei found himself turned around facing a tree fixedly as he listened to the whole party going on behind him.
"I don't have to see, I don't have to see... Resist the temptation!"
Kiba swung a strong sword at one of the many slimes in the place, ridding Koneko of the creepy creatures. "Issei, could you help me? Doing all this alone is a bit complicated..."
Issei turned his head for a second and could see how Rias and Akeno's breasts were almost exposed. Both women jiggled, making the breasts vote in a sensual way, and if you add the fact that they were covered in the slimes' drool, it gave the scene a rather lewd touch.
"I can't!" Issei quickly turned around and positioned his hands on his face to cover the large blush.
"Come on..." Kiba replied with a nervous smile.
"He's a pervert..." Koneko scolded with a frown.
Kiba continued to eliminate slimes alongside Koneko, but when the situation seemed under control, a small amount of them appeared through the trees, falling on top of the women and stripping them completely naked.
"Kyaaaaaaa!"
"I thought we wiped them all out..." Kiba mused as he rubbed his cheek with a nervous smile.
Issei was about to give in to his sexual instincts and turn his gaze away, but just appeared the caretaker in front of him.
"Hahahahahaha! These creatures feed on clothes, especially women's clothes, so it's normal that they're attacking them like that." The man looked at Issei with a smirk. "Though usually, the amount of slimes reflect a man's sexual appetite, and it's more than obvious who he's dealing with."
Issei removed his hands from his face in shock. "Are you saying it's my fault?"
The caretaker placed one of his hands on top of Issei's shoulder. "It's not that I'm blaming you, brat. You're just unlucky to have a libido 15 times higher than normal. I hope in the future you'll be able to control it without any trouble." The man looked amusedly at the women pulling out the drool. "Because at the moment, you haven't done a very good job at hiding it if the naughty little ones became aware of your presence."
The man turned away from Issei, causing the brown to give the man's words some thought. He finally nodded to himself decisively. He had to learn to control his voracious sexual appetite, more than anything else so as not to end the reputation of his two best friends. He knew he couldn't get lucky with any women because of his past scars, but that didn't mean that women couldn't have a good impression of him outside of the love arena.
Although by now you knew what Issei's biggest motivation to stop being a perverted beast was.
"Issei..."
Issei changed his determined expression to a slightly frightened one after hearing Rias' repressive tone.
Assuming that the girls were already dressed, Issei turned his head slowly and began to sweat profusely when he saw the suffocating aura surrounding Rias.
"Yes, Buchou?"
"I understand that you can't control your sexual appetite and have attracted all those slimes as a result. But it was very wrong of you to stand by and do nothing, just to see us naked." Rias stated with a frown.
"That was very wrong, Issei." Akeno supported Rias with a seductive smile.
"Now my whole body feels sticky, silly." Issei said as she rubbed her uniform uncomfortably.
"Pervert." Was Koneko's simple reply.
Kiba would only get a bead of sweat from what was happening.
"As your mistress, this is something I cannot forgive. If you see us in danger, any kind of danger, you must always help us. Now it was stupid, but what's to assure me that you won't run away when there's a really messy fight?"
"Buchou!"
Rias waved her hand dismissively. "Yes, yes. I know you would never do that, but you have to keep in mind that I need to show you my authority so that something like this doesn't happen again." Rias narrowed her eyes at the last words, making Issei swallow hard.
"Kiba, you're a man too, help me..." Issei commented, giving him a pleading look.
Kiba rubbed his hair with a nervous smile. "I'm sorry, Issei. But I can't disobey Rias."
Issei just looked down completely dejected by his friend's response.
Rias folded her arms with great seriousness. "From what I've learned about you, I know that a punishment based on physical training would only make you happier. And the action you took today is not serious enough to whip your ass."
"Buchou..." Issei looked up with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
"So your punishment will be to stay here for three days."
"WHAT?!" Issei shouted loudly over what he heard.
A magic circle formed under Rias' feet. Her other servants gathered around her, with a somewhat confused look on their faces. Apparently, they weren't too sure about this punishment.
"We'll see you on Thursday, Issei. Try not to move around too much in this place, or you might get in trouble with the dragons. It's the only territory they have left after the war, and they're excessively territorial for that reason."
"Wait a second!" Issei tried to throw himself into the magic circle, but they all disappeared in his face. "I think I prefer lashes..." He finally said as he looked around with some fear.
One hour later...
"Hahahahahahahaha! So, here alone for three days, huh?"
"That's right..."
Issei and the caretaker were eating a large amount of berries and other fruits. It was obvious to say that those kinds of fruits were not common in the land, but their taste was still similar.
"Thank you for giving me some food." Issei gave the man a smile to indicate his thanks.
"No problem, boy. I know you're not someone who possesses bad intentions, just by looking at you I can tell that."
Issei opened his briefcase and tossed all his books and notebooks on the floor to begin stuffing in the fruits. "By the way, do you know any place where it's not dangerous to sleep?"
The man looked up with a thoughtful face. "Hmmmmm, not really. There are no places here that aren't dangerous, although there are places that are less dangerous than others." The man lowered his gaze with a serious expression. "I recommend you stay around these areas, as they are the least dangerous." The man watched curiously as Issei closed his suitcase and adjusted the position of the backpack they carried on their backs. "By the way, what do you carry in the backpack?"
Issei slung the briefcase over his shoulder as he directed a smile at him. "I never go home after the Academy, so I always take a backpack with me to have a large amount of water and food. Luckily, I'll get a lot of help today."
The man gave him a worried look. "Don't your parents worry about you being away for so long?"
Issei gave a derisive snort, causing the man to look at him quizzically. Issei would turn around and began to walk, raising his hand as a gesture of greeting.
"They sure will be glad not to see a hair of me for three days."
The man gave him a somewhat confused look, but decided not to press the issue any further, as it seemed somewhat delicate.
The man snapped his fingers with a smile. "I almost forgot to tell you something. North of here is a cave that is quite safe. No one dares to go in there because of the freezing temperatures."
Issei changed his direction a bit to head north as he pointed to his giant backpack. "Luckily, my blankets were very torn and I had to buy new ones."
The man continued to watch Issei, until he finally disappeared into the trees.
"Anyway, I wonder what that place has to generate such a low temperature?" Thought the man cupping his chin.
Issei continued to move forward through the trees. He could hear the sound of lots of water and animals to his right, so surely there was some kind of lake in that direction.
Issei put a goofy look on his face. "I'm lucky to have a lake nearby, along with such vegetation. This will do me a lot of good to sustain me for three days." Issei put on his serious face again. "I just hope my 'dragon sensor' doesn't make an appearance again in these three days. I'd hate to have to worry about the auras found in the forest at nap time."
"Mate, I don't think it's as safe in the cave as that wanderer told us."
Issei would raise an eyebrow at Ddraig's hesitant and frightened tone.
"Ddraig, do you have something wrong with this place? Ever since we got here, you've been acting like you've been afraid of something or someone."
"*Me? Scared? Ha! You have no idea what you're talking about, brat.*" Ddraig replied with a clear tone of superiority.
Issei gave a small smile as he looked at his right hand. "So, what's bothering you?"
"It's nothing, mate. It's just something insignificant. Don't worry." Ddraig replied with a clear confident tone.
Issei looked straight ahead with a smile and continued to move forward. "In that case, then there's nothing to worry about."
"Wait! Anywhere but there!*" Ddraig shouted with a clearly frightened tone.
Issei stopped in his tracks and a small twitch in his eye showed the annoyance he was currently in.
"You know? If you're not going to tell me WHY I shouldn't advance TOWARD the cave...STOP FASTING ME AND SHUT YOUR BEEP!"
"..."
Issei frowned and continued to move forward faster. "Okay, if you don't want to tell me, that's your problem."
Issei was advancing for a few more minutes, until he finally broke through a tree and saw with great astonishment how the cave hovered about 40 meters away from him, showing that the surrounding vegetation was completely flattened by the weather of the place. The cave had a large hole in it and everything around it was adorned with ice.
Before Issei could take a step onto the ice, Ddraig finally spoke.
"It's something from my past, for that very reason I don't want you to go there. Please, mate listen to me. My bearers usually die from the battle against Albion for the most part, but they also die because of two other factors. One is because of the Dragon Slayer, and the other is in this cave. This misfortune is something that has been haunting me since the beginning of my battle against Albion. I don't like to remember and talk about my past, but I would hate for you to die, being the best bearer who has treated me in this millennium. Everyone has treated me as a source of power, but you are the first one who treats me as his mate. So please, I promise I will tell you everything, but I beg you for a little more time, as these are hard memories for me, because they are things that will never come back."
Ddraig's genuinely sincere and concerned tone caused Issei to give a very pleased smile at his response.
"Alright, mate. I understand that your memories of when you were still alive are hard, but I just want there to be true trust between us. After all, we might get to live a great many millennia together."
"You're right. Thanks for not pushing me, mate." Ddraig thanked with a clear grateful tone in his words.
"Now, let's get the hell out of here."
Issei lowered his raised foot, stepping onto the edge of the ice. The brown-haired man watched in mild surprise as the ice magically moved away from his foot.
Inside the cave, giant eyes of a deep sky-blue color would pop open.
"Shit..."
Issei was abruptly pulled into the ice sector by a huge icy dome that surrounded the entire surrounding area, being trapped inside the place.
"But what kind of witchcraft is this!" Shouted Issei in shock, seeing the huge dome that was surrounding him.
Issei quickly materialized his gauntlet and gave the ice pillar a heavy blow, and didn't even get a scratch on it.
"But what is this shit?" Issei questioned with narrowed eyes as he began to shiver from the cold.
"*We're lost. We went too far in, and she noticed our presence*" Ddraig replied in a very serious tone.
Issei blinked twice in surprise. "'She'?"
"*The last factor that doomed my bearers is a dragoness named Tiamat. She's completely insane. It's useless for you to stay here. If you don't go, she'll come for us."
"Wait, what did you do to her to make her hate you so much?"
"..."
Issei put on a bored look. "More personal issues...I guess I'll ask her."
"You'll be very lucky if she lets you say more than two words that aren't part of your introduction. It was an honor to have been your mate for over two weeks."
"Hey, don't leave me for dead yet." Issei stated with a twitch in his eye.
He didn't understand why he had to deal with his personal problems, but if he died because of this stupidity, his soul would enter the Sacred Gear just to kick his ass.
Issei entered the cave, where he could only see darkness. He continued to advance a little recklessly through the cave, until he ran into a stream of air that seemed to be a breath.
Issei took a big leap backwards as huge beautiful eyes of a deep light blue color opened before him.
"I never thought you would come willingly to your death, Ddraig." Declared the figure as it stood up and spread its wings, having such a gigantic size that it spanned the entire cave.
Issei would be much more frightened right now, were it not for the melodious and beautiful voice that came from a huge dragon (omitting the fact that the tone described her hatred). The dragoness' first word sent a slight shiver down his spine.
After a few seconds, Issei watched in amazement as the entire cave lit up thanks to the ice that adorned it. He was even more amazed when he saw the huge 9-meter dragon standing in front of him. Her scales were completely white, except for her abdomen and wings which were a light blue color, almost as strong and deep as her eyes.
"Then I hope you are prepared for your death, Ddraig. And if you're not, it's not my problem." The dragoness's clearly annoyed tone snapped Issei out of his shock.
Issei waved his hands in defense with some fear. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! I'm not Ddraig, I'm his bearer!" Tiamat narrowed her eyes, making Issei even more nervous.
"That's right. Now that idiot is a mere Sacred Gear, but you're both the same scum. After all, you are the Sekiryuutei." Said the dragoness with a clear mocking tone at the end.
"Scum? What am I missing?" thought Issei carefully. "Don't call me that, my name is Issei, not Sekiryuutei. That's just a silly honorary title I get for having Ddraig."
Tiamat's eyes flashed with a glint of intrigue for a second. "How curious... all the previous bearers I kill were rejoicing in their title like assholes."
Seeing that the dragoness had some interest in a chat, Issei didn't miss the opportunity and pointed a finger at her. "Besides, I don't know what Ddraig must have done to you to make you call him scum, but I had nothing to do with his problems!"
Tiamat glared at him, implying that he had touched a very sensitive spot. "So that idiot only rejoices in stories where he achieved great accomplishments, huh?"
"In fact, he didn't even tell me anything about his life. But I don't plan to answer so as not to lose the chance to get out alive." Issei thought, feeling the sweat begin to break out on his face, indicating that his surface calm was slowly beginning to give way.
Tiamat brought her face menacingly close to Issei's, causing the brown-haired man to panic a little. Not because of her closeness, but because of the pain and hatred her eyes gave off.
"I was completely in love with a dragon, along with two other females. In our species, its normal to see males practice polygamy, so I didn't mind sharing him. But soon after, I discovered that he only wanted the other two, and I was just seen as a trophy for my position. That caused me to fall into 'Dragonfall', a lethal disease that consumes you in a single week, and all it needs to sprout in your body is for your lover to betray you. It's an almost incurable disease, but if you overcome it, you'll never have to go through it again. Obviously, I wasn't emotionally strong enough to overcome it myself, but this is where Ddraig comes in. He took care of me for days on end to make sure I was okay. As I healed, I just couldn't help but fall in love with him, and I felt our connection was very special. But when I finally healed, he left me. I kept tracking him for a whole week, until I finally found him..." Tiamat's eyes became a little teary. "In the arms of another! And again, I was rejected!"
At this moment, Issei's fear had dissipated into empathy. In fact, he felt a great pity for Tiamat, because he had experienced something similar first hand, referring to the first part of the story.
Tiamat turned her face away from Issei and her tears crystallized and broke, so that she then gave off an aura of death around her. "For that very reason, I vowed revenge. I took revenge on my former lover, and took possession of this cave in the last millennium, to leave only when I feel Ddraig's presence, only to go kill him."
Tiamat only waited for Issei's answer to kill him. She only waited for him to reply like everyone else, "You are crazy." "You're unhinged." "For being that way, no one will ever love you or want you."
"Aren't you lonely?"
Tiamat changed her angry expression to a very confused one.
"What?"
Issei rubbed his cheek with a nervous smile. "I'm just saying, you know. If you wait here for so long to kill Ddraig, that means you didn't talk to hardly anyone for a millennium."
Tiamat looked at Issei with great surprise. "Well... I suppose. But I never really thought about it. I only had one goal in mind."
Issei stopped rubbing his cheek and looked down with a slightly downcast expression. "I know it can be really hard everything you went through, but it's always good to try to get through it. And talking to people can help you with that."
"You know?! Don't make me laugh! Don't try to pity me, when you don't even have any idea what it feels like!" Tiamat roared with great anger in her words.
"Why do you think I'm a Demon?! Don't take hasty assertions!"
Tiamat looked shocked again as Issei raised his gaze with great seriousness, plus he had yelled at her.
How long had passed since someone had shouted at her?
Actually, had anyone even shouted at her?
That wasn't what was really on her mind right now. All she was thinking about, was Issei's piercing gaze. No doubt the boy had gone through a similar experience to hers.
That meant he understood her pain.
"Don't compare one thing to the other, mate. Your experience was far worse than that dragoness'."
Tiamat's scales bristled, indicating that she didn't feel like listening to that voice at all.
"How dare you?...HOW DARE YOU!" The dragoness roared loudly, causing Issei to be dragged a few feet.
Issei clashed his hand with his face internally. At this moment, he was very angry with Ddraig. Just when he had a possibility to live, his own mate ruined his chance.
A great amount of power that materialized as ice began to surround her, giving her a very imposing and threatening image.
But Issei had his head elsewhere at the moment...
"Why are you getting angry?! You don't know what my-"
Issei was so angry, he didn't even think his words.
Only, they came out of him.
They came from his soul.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU FUCKING UNDERDEVELOPED LIZARD!"
The suffocating atmosphere caused by Tiamat instantly disappeared, causing everything to go completely silent as the dragoness had her eyes widened beyond belief.
"*Hey, I'm defending you! Watch how you address me, brat!" Ddraig whispered under his breath in a very offended tone. Obviously, his whisper was of little use, as everything was completely silent.
Issei just stood motionless watching Tiamat. A small icy stream was the only thing heard in the agonizingly silent seconds.
After that, Tiamat's expression of complete surprise slowly began to soften.
In fact, it looked like she was beginning to smile...
"hm hm hm hm, ha ha ha ha ha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Tiamat rolled over on the ground as she laughed nonstop and grabbed her stomach with her four paws.
Tiamat began to hit the ground hard, making the whole place rumble.
Issei couldn't stay surprised by Tiamat's reaction for long, because her voice and laugh was so beautiful when she wasn't threatening you with death that it was simply too easy to get carried away by her.
For that reason, he too began to guffaw along with her.
"...I don't like where this could be going." Thought Ddraig very offended by what was happening.
END OF CHAPTER!
This was the last corrected chapter, and I really must say it was exhausting. Not because of the translation itself, but because of the factor that these chapters also have a lot of writing errors in my own language. In other words, I had to do a pretty thorough cleanup.
Still, I'm not good with English and I use a translator to help me. Remember that there may be mistakes even after correction, but I assure you that they are much less compared to the first time.
With nothing more to add, I'll be on my way.
Thank you very much for reading!