Great Red

Dimensional Gap, Team DxD Base.

After Vali fell to the ground, unmoving, both Scathach and Chiron raised a hand into the air.

"James Sataniel is the winner." Scathach and Chiron said simultaneously. "With that, the winner of this challenge is the Sataniel peerage."

While most of the people surrounding the clearing that served as the battlefield were ready to congratulate James and his peerage, or console Vali and his team, a few noticed that James had not lowered himself to the ground. The few to notice were those who had reached the minor god-rank or higher.

"What is that/" Serafall asked in atone filled with Curiosity.

"It's a tear in the dimensional boundary that was set up to isolate this space from the rest of the Dimensional Gap." Ajuka explained, the [Kankara Formula] spinning above his right palm.

"How could anyone come here so fast?" Sirzechs asked. "Do we have a mole?"

Before anyone could speculate any further, Ophis appeared next to James, who was still floating in the air. When she appeared, she was glaring into the rapidly widening tear in space.

"Ophis, do you know what's going on?" James asked while placing his left hand on Ophis' head and patting it gently.

Ophis, with her eyes narrowed in pleasure, nodded her head in acknowledgement. Then, she opened her mouth to say two words.

"Dummy Red." Ophis said with obvious loathing in her flat tone.

"You mean Great Red?" James asked in shock and confusion. "As in the Dragon of Dreams?"

Once again, Ophis nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"Help me beat up Dummy Red." Ophis said, turning her head to look up at James.

Unfortunately for Ophis, James replied the same way he did the last time she requested him to do so.

"Nope." James replied simply. "I'd die before I knew what happened if I tried."

Although she expected that answer, it still caused Ophis to pout. Not dwelling on it, however, Ophis turned her attention back to the rapidly widening spatial tear.

As the tear widened, more of the spectators began to notice that something was wrong. Then, one by one, they began to look up into the sky. When they saw the widening spatial tear, most of them began to show signs of worry. However, the more experienced members of the crowd remained calm. For whatever reason, they could feel no malice coming from the tear in space.

Eventually, the tear stopped widening. When it did, a massive horned snout pushed through the opening. A few moments later, an equally massive, red, western, draconic head with golden eyes pushed through the tear. When part of its neck also came through, it stopped. Then, it looked around the Team DxD Base's sub-dimension.

"That's... Great Red..." Azazel muttered in awe.

At this time, Baraqiel, with his clothes out of order, carried Shuri, who looked refreshed toward the crowd. However, when they saw the large draconic head in the sky, they both paled instantly.

"it's so... big..." Shuri said as she and Baraqiel landed near the Satans and Azazel.

"That's what she said." Leona muttered absent-mindedly.

If the others in the group were in the right state of mind, they would have been staring at Leona with gazes that said something along the lines of: "Now is not the time."

Finally, after scanning the entire sub-dimension, Great Red turned its attention toward the most powerful presence in the area, Ophis.

After holding eye contact with the Ouroboros Dragon for a few moments, Great Red turned its attention to James. Then, it looked at Vali, who was just now regaining consciousness after the beating he received from James.

After scanning the hosts of the Heavenly Dragons, Great Red looked at the only building in the Team DxD Base with curiosity.

"What do you want, Dummy Red?" Ophis asked, moving into Great Red's line of sight.

With its line of sight obstructed, Great Red glared at Ophis in annoyance. Then, the visible parts of its body began to glow. A moment later, the glow receded through the tear in space. Once Great Red's head was no longer there to keep the spatial tear open, it began to close slowly, causing everyone present to breathe a sigh of relief.

"I guess Great Red was just curious." Sirzechs said with some color returning to his face. "Otherwise, things could have gotten really bad.

Simultaneously, Ajuka, Serafall, Azazel, and Issa nodded their heads in agreement.

Although Great Red had seemingly left, Ophis was still glaring into the slowly closing spatial tear. James then flew next to her and began patting her head again.

"What's wrong Ophis?" James asked curiously.

"Dummy Red isn't gone." Ophis said. "Coming back\... soon."

Although she did not speak loudly, somehow, everyone in the sub-dimension was able to hear her voice. However, before anyone could question her, and just before the spatial tear closed completely, a figure floated through it.

This figure was a stunningly beautiful woman with healthy wheat colored skin, golden eyes with slitted pupils, and long red hair tied into a single braid that reached the middle of her thighs. Standing at 5'11", (1.8 m) she wore a red, single shoulder dress that highlighted her massive breasts, slim waist, wide hips, and large backside. On the left of the dress, there was a slit that started at the top of her hip and rand down the length of her dress, showing off her sexy left leg and thigh. While her feet were adorned with a pair of red high heels with straps that crisscrossed up her calves.

"I don't know who she is, but that girl knows how to dress." Leona said with obvious appreciation in her voice.

In response, all the women present nodded their heads in agreement.

After the tear closed behind her, the red-haired woman floated toward Ophis and James. However, she looked quite uncomfortable, constantly moving her arms and legs as if she were trying to test her range of motion.

"I don't know how you can stand to be in this humanoid form, pipsqueak." The red-haired woman said to Ophis after she stopped in front of Ophis and James.

After speaking, the red-haired woman winked at James, who was staring at her, captivated by her beauty and bombastic body.

A moment later, James realized what he was doing and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Seeing this interaction Ophis' brows furrowed slightly, then she grabbed James arm protectively.

"What are you doing here, Dummy Red?" Ophis asked aggressively.

After hearing Ophis question, everyone opened their eyes wide. Then, they looked at the woman floating in front of James and Ophis with shock.

"Are you telling me that stupid-hot chick is that massive dragon?" Dante asked in amazement. A moment later, he recoiled and grabbed his shin in pain. "Ow... Damn it, Lady! Why did you kick me?"

"Hmph!" Lady snorted angrily, refusing to even look at Dante.

"Seriously, can you two just sleep together and get it over with?" Cu Chulainn asked.

This time, although Dante and Lady glared at him, the rest of James' first peerage nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, back in the sky, Great red smiled at Ophis.

"I felt the auras of the Heavenly Dragons clashing." Great Red said in a sultry tone. "So, I came over to see what was going on."

"You've seen." Ophis said. Then, she waved her hand, shooing Great Red away. "Now leave."

"No, I'll pass." Great Red replied with a smile. Then, she floated closer to James and placed her right hand on his left cheek. "Why don't you give me a tour of that building? There seem to be quite a few interesting things in there that I've seen in people's dreams."

Stuck between Great Red's gaze filled with anticipation and Ophis gaze that was filled with unwillingness, James simply shrugged his shoulders. Then, he patted Ophis on the head again.

"Fine." James replied. Then, he looked at Ophis. "I'll grill some food to celebrate Team DxD's first day in the base for dinner."

While Great Red smiled brightly at James accepting her request, Ophis wore an expression that said she was unsure whether she should pout or not. Although she was unhappy about Great Red not leaving, she was happy that James patted her head again and that he was going to grill something.

"Alright, everyone should get cleaned up for dinner." James said, projecting his voice toward the crowd on the ground. "Meet me at the pool. After giving our guest a tour, I'll be putting some food on the grill for dinner. Oh, and if you wanna take a dip, don't forget your swimsuits."

With that, James dismissed his transformation. Then, he, Ophis, and Great Red flew toward the base building. Scathach and Irene, as James' [queens] quickly followed behind them. Meanwhile, everyone else was still a little dumbfounded at what just happened. Eventually, Azazel was the first to regain his senses.

"*Sigh* We should have known this would happen." Azazel said in a tired tone. "The clash between James and Vali not only attracted Great Red's attention, but even Ophis showed up from the Human World."

"More importantly, is it okay to just let Great Red roam around like this?" Sirzechs asked with a solemn expression on his face.

"Whether it's okay or not, what can you do about it?" Azazel asked with a mischievous smile on his face. "The fact of the matter is, we can't force her to leave. No one here has the ability to do that, except Ophis."

"And if she tried, this space would be obliterated faster than we could ask them to stop." Ajuka said while shaking his head.

"The good thing is that Great Red seems to have taken a liking to James." Azazel added. So, as long as no one does anything stupid, we should be fine."

"I hope you're right." Michael said with an unsure expression.

"Enough talking about this." Leona butted into the conversation between the faction leaders. "We should just do what James said. He's gonna put some food on the grill. If you're okay with missing that, that just means more for me."

With that, Leona began walking toward the base building, snapping most of the group, especially those who had experienced James' wizardry on the grill, back to their senses.

Then, everyone made their way into the base building. However, Azazel still seemed unhappy while he stared at Baraqiel and Shuri.

"Did you two clean up after you were finished?" Azazel asked with his eyes narrowed.

While Baraqiel looked away after hearing Azazel's question, Shuri smiled bashfully.

"You might want to take a shower in either the gym or pool locker room." Shuri said. "We'll let you know when your room is cleaned up."

Instead of flaring up in anger, Azazel, who had expected an outcome like this, could only curse James in his mind, while exhaling a sigh.

"Fine." Azazel said before rushing away from this S&M couple.

About an hour later, everyone had congregated at the pool. While James was manning the few grills set up by the poolside, everyone else was either chatting, swimming, or helping James prepare ingredients.

While cooking, James wore a content smile while he listened to the multiple conversations going on around the pool. However, he was caught completely off guard when he heard his mother teasing Baraqiel.

"Wow, to think such a stern battlefield commander is a super M." Leona said with a mischievous smile on her face. "I wonder what your enemies would think if this news were to get out."

"Ara, ara, I doubt anyone would ever believe it." Shuri said while using a hand to cover her smile elegantly.

"*Sigh* That's probably true." Leona said while shaking her head in disappointment.

"I'm sure that if I were to testify about it, people would believe you, Auntie Leona." Akeno said while covering her smile much like her mother did.

Although the mother-daughter pair made near identical gestures, Shuri's smile was one filled with happy emotions. Akeno's, on the other hand, was filled with dark emotions. She still had not forgiven Baraqiel for not coming to find her after Shuri's death. Nor had she forgiven him for trying to slap her several months ago.

Another conversation that caught James' attention was the one between Great red and ophis. Though it could not really be called a conversation. Instead, Great Red was bombarding Ophis with questions about her time outside of the Dimensional Gap.

Since Great Red did not like taking a human form, she never spent any time outside of the Dimensional Gap. Like Ophis, if she were to appear in any of the realms in her true form, her aura alone would destroy any realm she entered. Luckily, condensing the aura into a human form somehow lowers the effect it has on the realms. A concept that James could not even begin to understand.

"Now I understand why Ophis said she wanted her silence back after Great Red took up residence in the Dimensional Gap." James said to himself with a smile on his face as he flipped a steak. Then, he raised his voice, addressing everyone present. "Okay everyone, food's ready."