Kei-Kei Yuki: Okay, so instead of doing the whole oppai jewel thing like in canon, I went a whole new route. Such as the cliche shounen route as I couldn't think of anything else and to answer ZxZ. I have read some of the Highschool DxD Ex novel but I never did finish it.
A/N: Should I add M!Ophir, Chrom Cruach, and M!Gaberiel to Issei harem? Also, Issei Knight Mode Outfit Inspiration: Is Erza Rabbit Armor!
Hero-Faction Debut
The guy who called himself Cao-Cao, a descendant of the famous Cao-Cao of the Three Kingdoms, suddenly appeared, the leader of the Hero Faction of the Khaos Brigade and the ones behind Kurama's mother's kidnapping. Without the full strength of their team, Richard's peerage had to make due with the members they had as it was up to Issei to step up and take control of the situation. Azazel made a remark, calling it her training for when she would become an independent devil which was her goal.
Issei did not want to become some flimsy damsel in distress; she wanted to fight with her own hands. She wanted to stand beside her beloved Buchou as his equal so that everyone could recognize her strength. Yeah, she wanted to be a Harem Queen, but more than that, she wanted to protect the people most precious to her. So anybody who was a threat to them was going to be taken down!
"Prepare yourself, Red Dragon Empress!" shouted three girls in school uniforms who came rushing up to Issei. Gripping the sword in her hand, Issei used the Heart-Seeking-Truth on them, a spell which revealed the truth of a person's nature and thoughts. With this move in play, Issei knew each of the girls' plans of attack and was able to launch a counter-attack.
"Wind Break!" Issei snapped her fingers, summoning a gush of powerful wind that tore through the girls' clothes and left scratches on their skin, leaving them defenseless and knocked unconscious as their bodies lay resting on the ground. In the background, Kurama, who was being guarded by Aster, was amazed by Issei's display of power.
"She's... so strong."
"Ah, that's our Issei-chan!" smiled Aster, eyes on nothing but Issei. Pride consumed his soul when he heard Kurama recognize Issei's strength. From there the battle in Kyoto began to progress, not to mention the surprise appearance of a cute blonde haired boy dressed like a wizard, holding a spellbook and a wand.
"Hello, I'm Merlin, Vali-sama wizard! Vali-sama told me to deliver a message: I told you not to get in my way." Merlin tried to mimic Vali's tone of voice, directing his gaze toward Cao-Cao before turning towards Issei. "Vali also left a message to you as well Ise-sama~! The message is: Since I have declared Issei Hyudou as my mate, she is not allowed to lose to anyone except me. That is all!"
"What kind of message is that?!" angrily exclaimed Issei.
"Hmm, so the Red Dragon Empress and the White Dragon Emperor share a relationship in this life." For some reason, Cao-Cao found this small piece of information more interesting than his own message while Issei was silently vowing to have a private conversation with Vali the next time she saw him. The battle on the bridge did not last for long as before Merlin left, the blushing boy stood in front of Issei with stars shining in his big blue eyes.
"Wow, I finally get to meet Ise-sama!" exclaimed the boy, before reaching out to grasp hold of Issei's hand. "I'm a huge fan of Harem Queen Ise-chan! I even brought all of the collectible cards and most of the merchandise! I'm also a big fan of Hell-Girls and consider you my number one idol! C-Can... Can I please have your autograph!?" He held out a pen and paper to Issei; despite the recent battle, the focus of his attention was solely on Issei.
Feeling the urge to sweatdrop, Issei, in the end, found the boy's admiration of her adorable. Reaching out, she patted him on the head. "Adorable," she muttered, causing the poor fanboy to squeal with happiness. In the background, Aster pouted, thinking there was a place for only one cute blonde in Issei's heart and that was him!
Later that night after the whole encounter with the Hero Faction, Issei, along with the church trio and Akio, were inside Matsuyo and Motoe's room, showing the slideshow of pictures everyone had taken. When Motoe saw that Akio had taken a picture of her with ice cream smudged on her cheek, she asked,
"Oi, why did you take this picture of me?"
"Because I found it interesting," smirked Akio, who seemed to always have a knack for riling up Motoe.
"You couldn't have taken a sexier picture of me?!"
Akio sighed and shot the petite girl a look and said, "Motoe... you're asking for the impossible."
"You bastard!"
Sitting beside Issei on the bed, Matsuyo smirked as she watched the two argue and muttered over to Issei, "Those two have been like this since grade-school. When are they finally going to grow up and just confess?" Issei wondered the same thing, finding this whole pulling her pigtails routine old. Suddenly everyone's attention was stolen by a picture of Issei, holding an ice-cream cone which must've smeared on her cheeks as Xenos elected himself to be the one to lick it off her.
"When the heck was this picture taken?!" exclaimed Ivan, shooting his friend a glare that the blue-haired swordsman looked away from.
"Hold up, Ivan-kun, I don't think you're one to talk," said Motoe, showing a picture of the handsome chestnut-haired teen holding a blushing Issei's hand, licking off the cream that came from the crepe she was eating. Seeing this, Xenos was now the one glaring at Ivan who sheepishly scratched his cheek.
"Ah, Aster is so bold!" remarked Akio shooting the blushing blonde a smirk. The picture was taken at a temple; standing under a branch of wisteria flowers was Issei who was admiring the view with Aster next to her. Only in this picture, his head was bent down, kissing Issei's cheek.
"It's so romantic!" Matsuyo and Motoe fawned over the picture and began teasing Issei while Ivan and Xenos were now glaring at Aster. When the rest of the Gremory group received a copy of the pictures, everyone knew that the rivalry for Issei's affection just got upgraded to a whole new level.
After regrouping and coming up with a plan for how to deal with the Hero Faction and to take back Kurama's mom, Issei was assigned to guard the young prince who, despite their sincere intentions, kept debating with them that he could take care of himself. "Look, I know that you are a prince and you have been raised to be independent and rely on your own power, but these guys are dangerous," said Issei, easing the tension in the air as it was obvious Kurama did not like the thought of others protecting him.
"So just this once, allow us to be the ones to protect you. Trust me, I know how it feels to be weak and defenseless. It sucks, but you must prioritize the situation, which is?" Issei asked the younger one who answered without hesitation.
"Okaa-sama! Rescuing okaa-sama is our top priority."
Ruffling his head, Issei shot the young youkai a smile. "See, you do understand. Don't worry, we'll definitely rescue your kaa-sama! You have my word," Issei swore to him. The absolute sincerity in her eyes left Kurama breathless, aware that those eyes spoke the absolute truth to him.
"I put my trust in you, Hyoudou Issei," said Kurama, wondering why his heart for some reason was pounding hard against his ribcage when Issei smiled at him. Once again, back at the Hyoudou Residence, Kaby felt that same premonition from earlier.
"Issei-senpai is mine," swore the short Nekomata, unwilling to allow anyone to take his place in Issei's heart. Especially since that young Rook was still determined to make Issei see him as not just her cute kouhai but as a man. Issei, on the other hand, had no clue what was taking place with these two cute shotas.
Issei was facing off against Cao-Cao; everyone else had their own opponents. Yumi and Xenos were fighting against Siegfried, Ivan was facing off against Jeanne, and Rosswald was against Heracles. Sona was handling the nine-tails fox form of Kurama's mother.
"Hmm, so this is the mighty 'Empress of Dragons' strength. Not bad, but also not enough!" he said, slicing through Issei's armor, though he had to hand it to her, the girl was quite agile as landing hits on her was not easy.
Issei winced at the pain that came from Cao-Cao's holy-spear, blood dripping from her wounds as she heard Aster worriedly call out her name, immediately using his Twilight Healing as Issei used the Phoenix Tears to help with her blood loss. "Even though you're a devil, you can die just as easily as any human. The power of my holy-spear is something you should not underestimate, especially a devil."
Staring up at the man standing across from her, Issei sighed. "You know it's a pity..."
"Ara, why do say that?"
"You're hot... but you're also a major asshole. Not even Vali is worse than you. Your spear may be able to kill me, but... I won't give you that chance!" Issei came rushing at Cao-Cao, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks. The spear-wielding hero's feelings towards Issei's words was honestly a mixture of confusion.
"Hmm, why bring up the White Dragon Emperor? This is a battle between you and me," said Cao-Cao, dodging a kick that Issei aimed at his gut.
"Because even though Vali is a battle-loving-maniac, he would never resort to kidnapping someone's mother!" Stretching out her hand, Issei yelled out, "Dragon Shot!" She aimed a glowing orb of green energy at Cao-Cao who deflected it with his spear.
"It seems you two are close, despite being each other's rivals," smirked Cao-Cao to which Issei responded by saying,
"I am not his rival! Not in this lifetime! I have other things to worry about than being that guy's eternal rival!" Doing a backflip when Cao-Cao tried to decapitate her with his spear, before finding an opening, she summoned forth Ascalon to her hand which she used to slash off his arm. Only to be shocked to see him use a vial of Phoenix Tears to reattach his arm, which she learned he obtained through illegal trade.
"I'm starting to see why Vali values you so highly. You may just be the strongest Empress of Dragons to inherit the Red Dragon Empress's powers." Despite being so deeply engaged in battle with each other, Cao-Cao couldn't help but marvel Issei's strength. Usually, Issei would love being complimented by such an attractive looking guy, but this time she could not, seeing how not only did he kidnap Kurama's mother but he had caused harm to befall her friends.
The sight of her fallen comrades being so rudely tossed at her feet by the three members of the Hero Faction caused something inside Issei to snap. This caused Issei to yell out as her mind suddenly blacked out and next she saw herself standing inside a crimson chamber. Sitting upon a gold tower platform was a throne.
"So you have finally arrived." She heard Ddraig's voice and from her position below she could make out a stunningly beautiful woman with floor-length flowing burgundy hair standing in front of the gold throne encrusted with rubies. The woman had sharp emerald eyes, and the only thing that covered her voluptuous body was a thin, sleeveless short white dress.
"Ddraig?!"
"Ah, this is your first time seeing me in my human form. In my past, I was known as the Empress of Dragons. Barely anyone was my foe and I bowed to no one." Ddraig's voice echoed throughout the chamber as she descended down the gold platform. Her mighty presence caused Issei to be in awe of such a graceful and strong beauty. Once she was in front of her, Ddraig's height towered over Issei, smirking at the speechless look her host was giving her.
"You are truly unlike any host I have ever encountered. Never have I had a host that lusted for men the way you do, but... you are true to yourself. No matter what obstacle you must face, you face it with grace. You acknowledge your own weaknesses and strive to become stronger. You have unlimited potential in you... and it's now time that you unlock that potential." Snapping her fingers, Issei saw a chest floating in front of her.
"Instead of letting your emotions get the best of you, remember what you wish to protect, Hyoudou Issei," said Ddraig, pointing out Issei's own flaw to her of losing control last time because her emotions were out of control.
"Only you can control your own emotions. Now tell... what is it that you wish to protect? Shout it out loud and unleash your true potential!"
"What I wish to protect are my friends... my beloved Buchou... and everyone else who is precious to me!" shouted Issei, causing the chest to fly open and a red orb of energy merged itself with Issei. Seeing this, Ddraig poked Issei's forehead, a smirk graced her beautiful face.
"Go out there and show them the real power of the Empress of Dragons." She parted with these last words.
Back in the real world, a ripple of powerful energy was emitted from Issei who was shielded inside a glowing red orb. She shook the sky when, from within the orb, a powerful roar of a dragon could be heard from miles away.
"A d-dragon roar?" stuttered Heracles, bracing himself against the powerful windstorms.
"Such terrifying power! Is this really the Empress of Dragons?!" fretfully exclaimed Jeanne.
"She really is interesting..." The only one who remained calm was Cao-Cao, though even he was shot with fear when within the orb of energy, he could sense a dreadful pair of dragon eyes that pierced him with a glare. Staring at his hand, he saw it shaking and his heartbeat had increased.
From within the orb a shout of, "Mode Change: Welsh Bishop!" could be heard as the orb dispersed into tiny fragments, showing Issei in her red dragon armor. The only difference was her aura was more fearsome, eyes emerald just like Ddraig's human form.
"For hurting my precious friends, I'll pay you back ten times fold! Take this, Dragon Blast!" Holding out her right hand, a large green magic spell appeared and a blast of powerful energy shot out of it. It pierced through the landscape; even the members of the Hero Faction were amazed by the destructive power she had just displayed.
"I'm not done just yet! I'm coming for you, Cao-Cao! Mode Change: Welsh Sonic Knight!" The armor that concealed Issei's breasts and groin changed into a two-toned dress with a collar that was mostly red and lined with fancy gold details. It was sleeveless with a gold breastplate and left open in the middle. She gripped Ascalon in her hand.
Issei shot off like a crimson comet, and with a slash of her sword, she sent Cao-Cao flying miles away. But this didn't keep the hero down for long. Rushing forth with his holy-spear, he aimed it at Issei, who yelled out, "Mode Change: Welsh Dragonic Rook!" Once again Issei's armor transformed, becoming bulkier in appearance with massive arm gauntlets that she used to block Cao-Cao's spear.
"Your first mistake was hurting the people I love! Your second mistake..." Issei swung back her fist before bringing it forward. "Was underestimating me!" She swung it forward, knocking Cao-Cao off his feet, pummeling him into the ground.
"I, the Empress of Dragons who you shall bow down before; Cao-Cao, prepare to face my wrath!" Issei was about ready to charge towards Cao-Cao when the appearance of a green Chinese dragon with an old man riding on his back interfered.
"Oh, so this is the might of the Empress of Dragons. Terrifying!" remarked the old man, holding a pipe in his hand as he looked Issei up and down. Then he looked towards Cao-Cao and began scolding him, offering his assistance to join the battle on her side. After agreeing, Issei watched the man easily take out Siegfried and effortlessly defended himself against Cao-Cao.
Seeing the situation was lost in their favor, the Hero Faction decided to make a quick retreat, something which Issei was not going to allow happen! "Just one shot! All I need is one!" Hand outstretched, Issei shot forth a Dragon Blast, hitting Cao-Cao dead in his eye.
"Hyoudou... Issei!"
Issei merely responded to Cao-Cao's enraged look with a smile and a wink, shooting a finger gun straight at him. Such actions only fueled Cao-Cao's rage, ready to activate his Truth Idea, until Siegfried stopped him. "Hyoudou Issei... I will not forget this injury you left on me! I'm interested to see just how strong you'll be the next time we meet!" Cao-Cao parted with these words, and his feelings towards his powerful opponent roused forth complicated feelings from within him. He wielded a strong desire to battle against Issei once again.
After the Hero Faction left, Issei placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "That guy is definitely worse than Vali. Something tells me he's not going to leave me alone."
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