1 gsh

A sudden rift in the black void opened up before Issei and a large western dragon appeared from it. It's red scales and glowing golden eyes bore into Issei's, scaring the brunette half to death. Stretching at one hundred meters, the brunette paled in comparison to the dragon. He was just a little insect to the large reptile.

"G-Great Red!? Aren't you suppose to be in the Dimensional Gap!?" Issei shouted up at the large beast. He looked down at him, still having his usual monotone expression. He then showed his fangs, the corner of his lips moving up in what Issei thought was the dragon grinning.

[I am still in the Dimensional Gap. However, I am communicating to you through your dreams at the same time.]

Issei blinked twice, looking up at the large apocalyptic dragon. With the way the brunette's life had been the past sevaral months, this didn't surprise him at all. It fact, this was becoming his everyday.

"So, Great Red, what is it that you want with me? Kinda trying to die here, you know?" Issei said, folding his arms. He didn't want to die but he didn't want to waste his time on idle chatter with the True Dragon either.

[That's just it, Hyoudou. I saw you reaching your last moments of life but also noticed that you had a lot of things on your mind. Your pain and anger against a certain someone.]

Issei's grip tightened on his shirt as he leaned his weight onto one leg. "And how do you know that?" He asked with narrowed eyes and a deep scowl.

[I have the power of dreams, duh! Ahem... Anyways, I want to help you with your "distress". So, I have a little proposition for you, if you're interested in hearing it.]

Issei looked up at the dragon, seeing no hints of lying or hidden tricks. He was still skeptical though, with some of the people he's met in his life.

'Will you die for me?'

'Strive to be the mightiest [Pawn]. Issie-kun.'

"What do you think, Ddraig?" The brunette asked his partner, trying to calm his anger.

[He actually noticed you, Issei, on your last few seconds. That's more than a lot of people can say. The least you can do is hear him out.]

Issei looked at the back of his hand before glancing up to Great Red, back at his hand, and up to Great Red again.

He released a sigh and scratched the back of his head. "Alright. What do you propose?"

-XOXOXOXOX-

It had been an utter defeat.

Rias now stood alone, on the battlefield, standing right across from her cousin, Sairaorg Bael.

When the group learned of Issei's disappearance, the entire group lost their will to fight. They lost their spirit and the energy to do much of anything. All they felt was hurt and betrayed.

Rias never told them the reason he left. She was too scared to tell them, not even Akeno, her trusted [Queen], knew of Rias' affairs. Just the way Issei looked at her when he left, it still haunted her, and she didn't want the others to look at her the same.

Issei was the person that brought the group together. He was the one that empowered them and encouraged them to do their best and to strive to win. He was the glue that bonded them together and made them who they were. He was the most important piece on the board and now...he was gone.

No one knew where he was and Sirzechs couldn't even search for him. Expelling the Evil Pieces didn't even make him a devil any longer. It was a death sentence, taking away someone's life force if forcefully extracted. No one was known to be able to survive it.

It actually lead to the rumor that he was already dead. It had been so long since he left that there was no logical explanation that he could say he was still alive.

Once word spread, many began to mourn at the lost of their beloved "Oppai Dragon". The kids were devastated at the lost of their hero and many higher up devils were upset at the lost of one of their mightiest of soldiers. A lot of people lost a rival, a future king, and possibly even a future love interest.

Rias and her peerage had been the most devastated by the events though and couldn't even focus on the Rating Game. They stood across from Sairaorg and his peerage, the energy of both sides looking one sided. Rias and her peerage had no will to even fight the battle.

Kiba was first, standing against Beruka Furcas, a devil of the Furcas household, the clan known to tame horses.

The blonde knight put some effort into the fight against the knight of Sairaorg Bael, but in the end fell leaving the knight to look at him in disappointment.

Koneko and Rossweisse followed shortly after. Their opponents was one of the rooks of Sairaorg, Gandoma Balam, and his second knight, Liban Crocell.

It was an even battle between the two sides and both rooks of Rias fought with all of their strength. But with the lack of heart that Issei usually gave them, Koneko fell first, leaving Rossweisse outnumbered and overwhelmed, easily retired with the combined duo of strength and speed.

Xenovia and Gasper took to the grounds next, just as equally upset and unenergized as the three before them. Their opponents were Sairaorg's second rook, Ladora Buné, and his bishop, Misteeta Sabnock.

The battle was a game of cat and mouse at first as the servants of the Bael hunted the servants of Gremory.

The bishop cursed Xenovia, not allowing her to use any holy swords, which was a huge disadvantage. Gasper helped her hide and bought as much time as he could for the former church maiden, just enough for the curse to wear off.

Once it was gone, Xenovia summoned Ex-Durandaland one the match, barely, providing some form of momentum for the group.

It was quickly crushed, however, once the fourth round began. It was Akeno against Kuisha Abaddon, queen against queen.

They took to the skies at the start of the match and engaged in a battle of spells. Akeno's lack of spirit in her spells allowed them to easily be overpowered by Kuisha's and it wasn't long before she was knocked out of the sky and hit the ground with a hard impact.

Finally, following Akeno's match, Sairaorg stepped onto the battlefield. Xenovia was the one to meet him, where the young devil began to speak with her.

"Before we begin, my apologies for your loss of the Red Dragon Emperor," he said with a small bow.

Xenovia just looked at the ground, lowering Ex-Durandal to the floor. "It is fine. I don't know what made him do what he did but it must be our faults and now we must pay for it."

Sairaorg looked at her with a hard face. This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted a battle that he would forever remember, that all the people would remember. But as a glorious fight and not one of embarrassment and depression.

This was a fight that was suppose be remembered as the greatest fight between the upcoming devils. But instead, it was going to be seen as the Gremory's worst blunder and defeat. He couldn't stand his brother clan being looked at as weak and an emotionless wreck when he knew their was so much more. There was something hiding underneath the surface and he would be sure to find out what.

But, for now, he had to get some energy, some adrenaline rushing. Anything to spark up this dull match.

"You can start by trying again," he stated.

"What?" Xenovia replied, looking up at him with confusion.

"Issei Hyoudou wouldn't want you to be so depressed and upset over him leaving. He would want you to fight to the best your abilities just as you always have. To fight with heart and spirit and to put your everything on the line, with or without him," he claimed with such passion and energy.

Xenovia heard his words clearly and imagined Issei saying things along the very same line. She could feel his words pushing her to do her best, just as Sairaorg said, whether he was there or not. It's how she's always been and she wasn't going to let his death be in vain.

She charged with new vigor, prepared to fight for Issei, and herself. She wouldn't be told that she hadn't done her best. She wouldn't let Issei down.

"Come on!"

"Thats the spirit! Show me your resolve!"

In the end, the bluenette still lost against the number one young devil. But no one could say that she hadn't tried her hardest and that was more than enough.

Now, it was Rias standing against him, and she looked the most affected by the lost of her faithful pawn.

Up in the announcer box, the governor and general of the fallen angels, Azazel, was watching over the match.

"Governor Azazel, can you explain to me what has happened today? It has been a full landslide in favor of the Bael heir. Any words?" The announcer asked.

The fallen angel leader sat back in his chair, looking down onto the battlefield with unreadable eyes. He didn't answer for some time, just settling for watching.

"...There are things that people regret. And consequences people have to pay. I see today that someone has many of those consequences on their mind. And it's spread like a plague," he answered monotone. The Seraph received a look of confusion from the announcer who rose a brow.

"And what of the rumored death of the Sekiryuutei? Do you think it's true or not? Do you think this match could have been any different if he was here?"

"I know that they would have won if he was. And as for that idiotic rumor that these people spread, I know it's not true and that a lot of people will regret believing it," Azazel answered swiftly. The way he said "people" made it seem as if it was focused on someone specifically.

It didn't go unnoticed by the announcer and he furrowed his brows at the Grigori leader.

"Wait, what do you-"

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

The entire stadium began to rubble and shake violently. The people began to scream and grab things to try and stay in their seats. Cracks formed in the middle of the stadium, directly between Sairaorg and Rias, and both devils were thrown to their knees.

It then suddenly stopped and everyone began to recover from their moment of panic. It barely lasted ten seconds and no one seemed hurt or harmed.

That had never happened before. What caused the sudden earthquake?

"What was that...?" Sairaorg questioned as he rose to his feet.

*Crash*

The barrier to the stadium shattered like glass and a red figure slammed down into the ground, kicking up a large amount of dust and debri.

"What is going on down on the battlefield!? There was a sudden earthquake and now the stadiums barrier has shattered with a mystery figure crashing between the two young devils!" The announcer yelled into the mic.

Everyone else in the stands was also trying to figure out what was happening. They were all leaning forward, looking over each other, and trying to find the slightest signs of the whatever the red figure was.

"Heh..."

Azazel had released a small chuckle and smiled for the first time during the entire event. The announcer saw this and shot over to the angel.

"Governor Azazel, what is the meaning of this!? Do you know what's going on!?" He asked, slamming his hand on the table. The Seraph turned to him, a toothy grin and relaxed eyes being his response.

The angel rose a finger to his lips and grinned wider.

"I'm not going to spoil the surprise. Just wait and see," the leader responded before turning back to the battlefield.

The announcer turned back as well and his eyes widened, seeing the dust begin to settle.

Everyone watched with intensity as a shadow could be seen from within the dust. It looked somewhat human but was still slightly unclear.

Slowly, as it settled, people could make out the details of the invader.

It was a male. He was tall and built with pure muscle. He wore a black assassin's vest with a bright crimson trenchcoat, black pants and combat boots.

His eyes were a bright golden with sharp black slits. He had long, wild, spiky hair that was brown from the bangs down to his shoulders, the rest a crimson red, flowing down to the middle of his shoulder blades.

His claws looked to be an inch long and sharper than knives and signs of red scales could be seen on his forearm and neck. Then, resting on his back, four large wings were fully extended for everyone to see.

They looked draconic-like but had black feathers instead of the usual skin a dragon would have. The feathers were also constantly falling off his wings, forming a ring around him, and looked to be endless.

It was the sign of a fallen angel. But that didn't make sense due to the dragon parts also on him.

"Who are you?" Sairaorg demanded as the dust cleared and allowed him to see once more.

The male turned to face him, grinning slightly, revealing parts of his sharp fangs.

"Have you forgotten me already, Sairaorg?" The male asked. "You looked forward to fighting me, when I was apart of your cousin's peerage, today, in fact. When I was filled with lies and empty promises and strived to fight for her."

Upon closer inspection, the Bael's eyes widened and his jaw dropped at the sudden realization.

"Issei...Hyoudou...?"

The boys grin grew as he flexed his claw and summoned his Boosted Gear, catching the entire stadiums eye.

"Glad you remembered me."