Rias Gremory had a rough few days.
Just a little while ago, she had been going through the relationship drama typical to people her age, interspersed with devil and harem politics.
Then the man she was in love with died.
The young heiress had been inconsolable with grief, held up in her room mourning the loss of the young, perverted, honest, perverted, loyal, perverted, determined and perverted man she had fallen in love with.
Not even the giant monsters attacking the Underworld, a product of the Longinus Annihilation Maker going rampant to such a degree that not even the Peerage of the Satans could easily deal with the thirteen summoned monsters, varying in size between 100 and 200 meters tall.
To be fair to Rias, though, it wasn't as if one extra high-class devil would be much help against things that were throwing down with dozens of ultimate classes.
Then, when she finally found the strength to get up and fight, her lost love appeared, ridding Great Red of all things. Said dragon the size of a mountain range then infused Issei with its power, turning his regular Dragon Mail into a giant mech to fight the monsters.
(Rias' inner weeb was squeeing in joy. She would get Issei to do this again, even if she had to let him grope her breasts for days to power up.)
So yes, Rias Gremory's last few days had been a series of ups and downs.
This was why, when everything seemed to be looking up, the hero having come to the Underworld's rescue, a resigned weariness filled her, instead of surprise, when the next cataclysm arrived.
"BAKA-RED!!"
The voice was so loud that the entire Underworld shook with the shout force.
For a second, Rias thought it was Ophis, perhaps reclaiming some of her power and starting her vendetta against her foe once more.
But the voice was clearly male, and the Ouroboros Dragon was currently in the form of a little girl riding on Mech-Issei's shoulder.
"Ah, shit," Great Red cursed, speaking aloud for the first time in recorded history. His voice was quieter than the shout but still loud enough to echo all the way to Rias' position. "Hey, brat, can you speed this up? I gotta go."
A part of Rias' mind thought he sounded nervous, but that was impossible.
Great Red was the Dragon of Dragons.
For him to be afraid would be absurd.
"YOU SHITTY SALAMANDER! YOU MORAL COWARD!"
"Fuck."
Rias felt her understanding of reality buckle under what her eyes were telling her was happening. The portal Great Red used to arrive in the Underworld from Dimensional Gap had started to expand.
Quickly.
In less than a second, it had expanded to cover the entire sky, but instead of seeing the riotous colours that generally filled the void between dimensions, all Rias could see was White.
The entire sky of the Underworld was a pale shade of White.
Then the White moved.
"You can't get away with me. Take your losses like a man, you overgrown gecko!" IT spoke. Its head was still on the other side of the portal, for which Rias was grateful.
One fang alone was the size of Great Red.
(Rias heard someone laughing.)
"I didn't lose!" Great Red roared up at IT. "The judges were biased!"
"You lost!" The head of the white dragon insisted. "You must be Dreaming if you think your barrel roll double front flip was cooler than my Flight of Cosmic Dragons! Pay up, you big baby!"
"Gah," Great Red staggered back in the air as if the idea physically pained him. "Can you take a rain check?" Rias didn't know the most powerful being in the universe could sound sheepish. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"No. Issei can handle it. Or I am tripling his homework. So pay up now!"
[You know me, White Dragon-sama?] Issei's giant red mech said with some effort.
It should be noted that while the two dragons of apocalyptic size were arguing, the Bandersnatch continued their rampage through the Underworld even as the devils tried to stop them. Issei had to dodge beams, blows and other weird attacks from the Jabberwocky, all while trying to keep it from the nearby civilians.
"Oi! I am your favourite teacher, you perverted brat! Who was the one who got you into Practical Sex Ed with Medb?"
[Mikael-Sensei!?] (Somewhere nearby, Azazel and Rossweiss felt an invisible arrow to their heart.) [You're real? And a dragon too?]
(Whoever was laughing was getting louder.)
"Of course I'm real. Just for that, I am rejecting your application for Master Level Lewds with Kiara!"
[Gah! No! Anything but that! I am so close to my degree in Tantric Sciences! Please! I'll do anything!]
(Issei's harem suddenly felt a mix of white-hot rage at the dragon and the urge to name their firstborn after him. On the one hand, he had clearly been the one who helped Issei lose his virginity, meaning none of them could claim it, but on the other, he was responsible for why the young devil was so incredible in bed. They settled for asking Issei about the details later.)
"Then hold Baka-Red down so he can't escape!" 'Mikael-sensei' ordered. Issei hesitated, looking from the Jabberwocky to the city behind him. "I'll deal with it. You just grab him."
[Yes, Sir!] Giant Scale-mail saluted before lunging at Great Red.
"Oi! You brat! Are you really going to do me dirty like this? After everything I did for you?"
[I am very sorry Great Red.] Issei replied, even as he grabbed the massive dragon's wings. To his credit, he did sound regretful even as he hung on for dear life. [Thank you for bringing me back to life. I will never forget it. But my life is not worth the Devil's Bodhisattva's Oppai. Those who pass her class can go forever! They can control their fertility! One touch from them will allow any woman to grow magnificent Oppai! For that future, I cannot allow you to escape. For the Oppai!]
(Rias realized she was the one laughing. Weird. Why was Grayfia giving her those odd looks.)
While Issei had been delivering his impassioned (and perverted) speech, the Jabberwocky had tried to advance on the devil city.
Tried.
From the white sky, a black rain fell. Like liquid shadow, if slithered down from the heavens in drops. Each cut a chunk from the monster's flesh as a torrent of black. In a few seconds, a pool had formed at the Jabberwocky's feet.
From that pool of black ink, a geyser of black power erupted, covering the 200-meter-tall monstrosity in a film of black.
Feminine and malevolent laughter resounded around, drowning out Rias' mad giggles, as two sets of red eyes appeared in the black ink as the Jabberwocky was dragged into its tenebrous depths.
[Uh? Sensei?] Issei asked, sitting on Great Red's wing. The dragon tried to subtly slide away while the young man was distracted, but a shadowy tendril wrapped around his paw and held him fast.
"Don't worry about it. That's just Raven. I've told you about her before, remember? My Demon Lord Wife?"
[You did?]
"My big tiddy goth GF."
[Oh, her! Please to meet you, ma'am! I am a new devil. Please take care of me.]
More malevolent laughter filled the air.
(It should be noted that devils took the title 'Demon Lord' seriously. In the following years, much debate was given about whether Raven qualified as one by their standards despite not being a devil. In the end, after more than a decade of debate, devils being notoriously meticulous on such subjects, it was decided to give her the honorary title of 'Mammon.'
Mikael would laugh himself silly with all the 'mammon-ary' puns he would make.]
"There are a few more," the dragon said to itself as its eye, larger than a city, roved around the Underworld. "Any of you want to take them? Also, Glynda, do you mind cleaning up a bit? It's a bit of a mess down there."
Rias wondered who he was talking to for a second, then pinpricks of light fell from the open portal.
It was only thanks to a devil's enhanced senses and the use of a spell that Rias could tell that it was actually a group of women flying in the direction of the remaining Bandersnachs.
[Sensei! This is your Harem? I'm so jealous! They have magnificent Oppai! I'll follow you into hell!!] Rias was ashamed that she could tell from just his tone of voice that Issei must be crying in envy.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, brat. We're already in hell, anyway," the White dragon responded absentmindedly before continuing his conversation. "I know it's annoying, but you are just so good at it. Come on, once we're done here, I'll do that thing you like. No holding back or anything. Just you, me, your crop, the dungeon, and fifty hours of uninterrupted fun."
Rias was glad she had been watching attentively as, had she blinked, she would have missed the much smaller, only about the size of Tanin, purple dragon fall from the portal. It flew over the Underworld, and as it passed, all the damage caused by the Khaos Brigade was undone in its wake.
[So jealous! Just wait! One day, Buchou and I will do it for an entire week! You'll see!] Issei repeated, dramatically shaking his massive fist at the sky.
Rias wanted to find a hole to crawl into as hundreds of eyes turned to look at her.
Mech-Issei was still cool, though.
"Now there is no distraction, Baka-Red," 'Mikael-sensei' turned back to the trapped Dragon of Dream, completely ignoring Issei's dramatic declaration. "Pay up!"
Bound by the powers of Demon Lord and left with no escape, the Apocalypse Dragon was forced to concede the spoils to the victor.
"..." Even with Great Red's massive size and being so close, Rias could not hear the words the dragon mumbled.
"I am sorry, I didn't quite get that?" The massive white dragon in the sky tilted its head as if pressing his ear against a door.
"...ragons."
"Still too quiet. You need to speak loud and clear. So everyone can hear you."
"Fine! Damnit, you petty bastard! White Dragons are better than Red Dragons. Are you happy now?"
"Very happy," Mikael answered, smug satisfaction radiating from his bellowing voice. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"
{NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!}
Ddraig's cry of lament echoed across the land from Issei's armour.
{YYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!}
But it was drowned out by Albion's triumphant cheer as Team Vali joined them in their defence against the Hero Faction.
Battered by the rise and falls, the twists and turns, the despair and hope that had come and gone in the last few days, Rias only felt her vision dim as her lack of sleep, as well as the relief of seeing the man she loved alive and well, finally catch up to her.
The young heiress' last waking thought, before she was caught in Akeno's arms and fell into a slumber, was just as coherent as the last ten minutes had been for the Underworld.
Surprisingly, Vali could dance a perfect jig.
I had a lot of fun with this one, giggling the entire time. Issei is just such a fun character to write. The whole DXD world is. I don't know why its characters get such hate when it is, essentially, a crack/fanservice/fanfic by itself. Some things might be wrong, as it has been years since I read those light novels (never seen the anime, so I don't know if things are different there.)
One year ago today, June 7th, 2022, I posted the first chapter of RR on Questionable Questing. Here we are, 365 days later, at roughly 406K words.
That is, on average, 1110 words a day.
Holy crap. I thought this would be a relatively quick story, around the 300k mark, but here we are.
I wonder what it will be at when it ends.
A full chapter will still be released this Friday, so I will see you in a few days.