Prologue: Start

Darkness.

Complete and utter darkness filled his surroundings.

"Is this what happens after death?" He couldn't help but wonder aloud. What did it matter if he did? There was no one else there to hear it anyway.

[89%]

Idly, he looked at the loading bar that had appeared some time ago in front of his eyes, a resigned sigh escaping from his mouth.

"...As if it were that simple," he muttered, lost in his memories.

He wasn't someone particularly sociable, but you could tell he had a decent amount of friends. He wasn't someone outstanding; his grades were average, his appearance at best was slightly above average, and his physical condition was about the same considering how much time he spent working out.

Heck, even when it came to hobbies, you could tell he liked manga as much as anime and video games, just to a fairly minor extent compared to people who were truly into them.

He was just a random Joe that you could find anywhere.

So why?

Was it maybe because he obeyed his stupid instinct?

Would he have been saved if he had done things differently?

...

He could still remember it, and he could still feel it.

The cold feeling that enveloped his body, while in the distance he saw that bus lose control and overturn after slamming on the brakes because some idiot teenager on his motorcycle had decided to record himself doing that stupid challenge of speeding while driving with no hands.

Stupid social media, stupid death challenges.

He was standing there in the nearby store buying the mayonnaise his sister had asked for when he saw the whole thing.

The bus was headed right where he was. What did he do? He took out his phone and made sure to finish the battle he had left there.

"Fuck it," he cursed and made sure to defeat the damn Beldr for the 5th time.

If he was going to die, he would take the bastard with him.

...

"...Maybe I should have run then," he muttered, covering his face with his hands.

But if someone asked him if he would do it again, he would have only one answer to the question.

YES!

Hell, anyone who had ever played Devil Survivor knew perfectly well how frustrating Beldr was.

As he was thinking about useless things, the loading screen reached 100%.

[Installing...

Devil Survivor System in operation.

Available options:

- Demonic summoning

- Compendium (Locked)

- Groups

- Fate

- Mails

- Demon Fusion (Locked)

- Auction (Locked)

- Gacha

Please select an avatar]

[Kazuya Minegishi (Protagonist Devil Survivor 1)]

[St: 2.5]

[Ma: 4.0]

[Vi: 3.1]

[Ag: 1.5]

[Hibiki Kuze (Protagonist Devil Survivor 2)]

[St: 1.1]

[Ma: 6.2]

[Vi: 2.3]

[Ag: 1.1]

[Note: The statistics of normal people in most worlds vary between 1-1.5].

...

"What the hell?!" he shouted before a glowing portal appeared behind him, exerting a great suction force.

[Please select your avatar]

"Kazuyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" he managed to blurt out while being swallowed.

Yeah, no, there was no way I was going to choose Hibiki's appearance.

....

Sitting on his golden throne while drinking the coffee his secretary had brought him, Hist smiled as he looked at the screen in front of him.

"Another day's work well done!" he commented before turning his gaze to another screen on the side.

There he could see a white-haired guy running away in a hurry from a group of women led by Wonder Woman, who was covered from head to toe in garbage.

He couldn't help but praise himself for selecting such great sub-missions for those nincompoops.

[Kicking Flash in the nether regions]

[Covering Wonder Woman and her army of feminazis in trash]

Etc.

"Tch. Hopefully, the new guy is more efficient than them," he muttered while rubbing his aching head. Those idiots still hadn't finished the task he had given them.

Why was it so hard to get reliable subordinates nowadays?

While one was running for his life, the others were fighting with a pizzeria owner for charging too much for food that tasted like shit.

""""""""""""""""

Where did it all start to go wrong?

Oh yeah, it was the moment he decided to agree to go on a date with a complete stranger just because she was beautiful and had big breasts.

Very big breasts, the good things had to be emphasized.

"Would you die for me~?" she asked in a playful tone, though from the look in her eyes it was obvious she wasn't playing.

Issei sighed as he looked down at the ground.

Kazuya was right; maybe he was too naive.

"Terrified? Mmm~ well, not that it matters much if you are," she said as she approached, the sweet smile on her face twisted into one full of sadism. "If anything, it just makes it more fun."

A sigh escaped his mouth as he tried to swallow the bitterness he was feeling.

Even if the broad was crazy (and really hot), this was still his first date.

And the first girlfriend he'd ever had in his damn life.

He couldn't help but slap his face as he noticed something.

Damn, looks like I'm gonna need a shrink after this.

"You know, if you want to blame someone," he said as he pointed his light spear at her.

Ah, had he already mentioned that she was a Fallen Angel in a BDSM outfit that left little to the imagination?

"Blame God for putting that thing on you."

And leaving those words, the spear of light was thrown at him. She didn't even give him a single glance. She seemed to have great certainty that there was no escape.

Maybe that would have been the case if he were still the same kind of person he was during the previous year.

He couldn't help but feel a shiver run through his body as he recalled the traumatic experience under that evil method of torture that his friend passed off as "training."

With the lazy way she had thrown it, it wasn't that hard to dodge.

Mmm, did she think the shock would leave him frozen there?

[BOOST]

A voice was heard. She looked at him again, this time with a mixture of surprise and annoyance.

A red gauntlet with a green gem was on his left arm.

"Told you," he muttered in an annoyed voice from behind her back. He didn't even need to look at the bastard to know she was looking at him with a smug expression.

"Yeah, well, I may have been wrong, but it's no big deal!" Issei refused to acknowledge his friend's words as true, so he could only get defensive.

He knew that if he agreed with him, the guy wouldn't stop rubbing his face in it, like that time when he decided he wanted to try what the mixture of fruit juice, yogurt, and alcohol tasted like.

His mother still had nightmares about how the bathroom had turned out, and he had one more dark story to add to his collection of embarrassing moments.

Ugh, it was still embarrassing to remember the attitude he had taken after it was revealed to him that he had a Sacred Gear.

Calm down, my hand.

He could feel goosebumps rise on his skin just remembering those dark days.

"...Was it because she was a pretty girl with big breasts?" he asked in exasperation, giving her a blank stare.

"...That might have had a little to do with my decision."

"Just a little?"

"Tsk. I just wanted a nice big-breasted girlfriend! Is that a sin?!" I shouted in aggravation.

The boy blinked in surprise for a few moments before placing a hand on his chin with a thoughtful face.

"Mmm no, I guess not."

"Hmph, it's good that you understand."

Raynare's eyebrows twitched as she watched the two guys arguing with each other as if they had completely forgotten about her existence.

[BOOST]

Her teeth gnashed as she clenched them tightly; the mere action of those two vermin was a great insult to her.

"You miserable bastard," she growled. They were supposed to be looking at her with horror and resignation, they were supposed to be accepting that they would die by her hands and trembling with fear like the miserable maggots they were.

Then why were they looking at her like she was a nuisance?

"Do you know it's rude to interrupt other people's conversations?" asked the strange blue-haired guy, looking at her with a raised eyebrow, his eyes containing a certain hint of... amusement and mockery?

It almost seemed like the look one would give a clown whose act was particularly bad.

"People are getting more and more inconsiderate these days," Issei commented as he shook his head sadly. "And rude."

"Indecent too."

"Hey, but that's not so bad!"

"You're only saying that because you're a hopeless pervert."

"...No comment."

Enough of this.

"Die at once, you insignificant humans!" she screamed, releasing all her rage in the form of a massive attack.

[BOOST]

"I bet you a four-cheese burger and a chocolate dessert that I can beat her before you," Issei muttered while watching the rain of light spears heading towards them.

"We'll see, Ise, we'll see."

""""""""""""""""""

And so all hell broke loose in the park.

With a frown on her face, Rias Gremory read the report her familiar handed her.

Issei Hyoudou was a person of interest to her, mainly because of his possession of a powerful Sacred Gear and the possibility that she could recruit him into her nobility.

Some time ago, they had detected a Fallen Angel near him, and after a little investigation, they found out what it was.

Morale aside, this was a hard-to-refuse opportunity to obtain a new pawn. He just had to show up at the right time after the Fallen made its move on him.

Of course, such an opportunity never came.

The bad thing was that her plan hadn't worked out.

Even worse if she took into account what Kiba and Koneko had written in the report.

Issei's corpse or that of the Fallen Angel had not been found, negating the hypothetical case that with the awakening of his Sacred Gear he would have been able to defeat her.

So... What happened?

How did the park get into such a bad state?

Her hand rubbed her head as she began to feel the beginnings of a possible headache as she imagined how Sona would scold her for letting a group of Fallen roam free in Kuoh without informing her, not to mention that she may or may not have put aside her work hunting strays to watch the seasonal anime, and for letting them attack a student just to make it easier for her to recruit him.

Yes, Sona would definitely be very upset with her.

That aside.

This time they had to work hard to erase several people's memories, not to mention the fact that they had to contact and help her family's workers to quickly restore the park. She found it reasonable that they asked for a break from their club activities, so she approved their request with ease as her eyes wandered elsewhere in the report.

"...A strong smell of dragon and a power of demonic nature," she muttered with a contemplative expression.

The situation is getting complicated, but maybe I could use this to my advantage?