The Abyssal Lord (DxD)

As the fight continued to rage on, and despite the Gremory duo being outnumbered by a significant margin, they didn't give up.

Kiba was fighting with his all, his sacred gear working at full throttle, trading blows too fast for even the eyes to perceive, generating multiple swords as they break one after the other. It was a battle that required the knight to give his all.

“Boos- AHHH!”

Same as Issei, who was locked into combat with the Phenex rook, but instead of a fight, it was more of a beat down really.

Because what can a newly reincarnated devil do against more experienced ones? Can he overcome the odds and fight off more than one?

The answer was no, and that's what was happening, he was being hurled left and right, only dodging barley and not for long, because he eventually took a hit or two, which he could only take so many of.

Any other devil would have been eliminated already, especially after being hit by a rook, the piece which boasted the strongest immediate single attack in any peerage.

“Oh-!!...”

…But, he didn't get eliminated. And after taking so many blows, his plan was finally paying off.

“You're actually quite durable, a shame that'll be all”

After being hit in the stomach and launched a couple of meters behind, Isabella slowly walked to him as he laid on the ground.

She slowly lifted her left leg and began to gather demonic energy at its end. A square blow when the opponent is down is sure to knock him out, she half expected him to be too tired to move after all…but that didn't happen.

He slowly looked up to her with a small smile, and after lifting his crimson gauntlet in front of his face, he clicked his fingers.

“Dress break!!!”

“W-Wha?!!!”

The second Issei finished his words, the clothes on Isabella began to melt, and to the horror of the person herself, she was eventually fully naked a few moments later.

“W-W-What the hell is this?! You sick pervert!!”

The usually serious and confident Isabella quickly covered her privates and glared at Issei with a red face…but all she got was him ogling her.

“That's my favourite move! And now that you're stunned, It's time for my other favourite move!!”

A small red shined ominously at the edge of his gauntlet, and as a bad premonition began to creep into Isabella's mind, it was too late.

“Take this!! Dragon shot!!”

A huge beam of crimson energy suddenly erupted from the gauntlet, it burst with incredible power, completely swallowing the rook and overtaking her while causing destruction a couple of hundred meters in the distance.

<The last Riser Phenex's rook has been eliminated>

<Perverted crimson dragon emperor for the win!!>

The entire place went into a deathly silence, with only the sound of the commentators' voice echoing around as Issei slowly rose up from the ground with a grin on his face.

Even Kiba and Karlamine stopped their fight and looked back, with Karlamine looking at Issei with scorn, and Kiba looking at him with a wry smile.

“I apologize for his perversion everyone”

“Hey!! Don't apologize!!”

His words fell on deaf ears of course, he even noticed the rest of the Phenex ladies backing off from him a little, but as he was to protest, he was suddenly interrupted.

“Hey, Your pervert over there! Can you tell what that is?”

He turned to the voice and noticed that it was Riser's sister, and when he looked at where she was pointing at, he saw that Rias and Gasper were having a standoff with Riser.

“President!!”

She didn't hear him of course, and as the thoughts began rushing into Issei’s head, he suddenly had a revelation.

‘Did he see through our plan?’

The weight of such a thought was crushing, it didn't just mean that their chance at winning was endangered…it meant that it wasn't there to begin with.

“It seems that he saw through the plan”

The slightly shook voice from Kiba further confirmed the state of their situation, and as the tension was at its all time high, Ravel's amused voice cut through it like butter.

“The Phenex are immortal”

She gestured for the rest of the peerage and they all immediately surrounded Issei and Kiba from all directions.

“Did you see that there was no hope for your team to begin with?”

Her voice was filled with innocent fascination, as if having such a thought was truly baffling and amusing. And after laughing to herself for a few seconds, she calmed down and spoke lightly.

“Let's end this now, shall we?”

The moment her words ended, Karlamine's sword glowed with fire and she rushed at Kiba with a forward slash.

Issei obviously wasn't too much better off, because the twin Nekomata pawns immediately rushed at him in both directions.

He tried to counter them with a dragon shot but couldn't, and because of how mobile they both were, they kept hitting him from all directions with him having no way of fighting back.

“That was horrible!!”

“You're stupid for letting your sexual desires drive you!!”

They kept attacking him from every direction, hitting him with wave after wave of punches and giving him no window of fighting back.

He kept getting hit left and right, and despite every attempt at dodging a blow being punished by another one, he didn't give up.

“Damn it!”

He backed away a couple of meters from the twins, he only needed a clean shot on one of them to win, so he thought that gaining distance was the best option…but, he forgot that they weren't the only ones that he should worry about.

“Get him Siris!”

His senses tingled like crazy, and after managing to barely dodge out of the way just in time, a huge sword the size of his entire body was slammed right where he was, shattering the ground and letting out a few gusts of wind from the sheer force of which it was swung by.

“Hah!”

Seeing that her first strike had missed, the spike haired dame didn't seem disgruntled or annoyed, and after effortlessly lifting the colossal sword by the hilt, she swung in a wide sweep directly aimed at his neck.

The blow wasn't weak in any way, and due to the fact that Siris was a knight, her sword strikes were incredibly fast, but somehow, someway, Issei managed to barely duck underneath the blow.

“This is too much!!”

He let out in a helpless cry, continuously dodging blows that might immediately knock him out was quite mentally and physically for Issei, and the fact the twins didn't give him anytime to even lift his sacred gear meant that the situation was getting worse by the second

“Issei-kun!!”

Kiba noticed the blight of his teammate, and despite engaging in a fight of his own, he tried to rush to his help, but a loud explosion stopped him dead in his tracks.

“President!!”

On top of the building, where Rias and Riser were currently facing off, a huge explosion was seen, and as Issei’s and Kiba's hearts were about to stop from fright, Rias's figure was soon seen with a Gremory barrier erected in front of her.

“You should focus on your own fight”

Issei didn't get time to process what happened, because Siris immediately rushed at him with her blade at the ready.

He dodged of course, but couldn't focus on the fight knowing that his king was fighting for her life.

'Issei, don't worry about me. I'm fine'

He suddenly heard her voice contacting him, she sounded fine, so he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, but as he was about to ask her if she needed his help, she interrupted him.

‘Worry about your opponent Issei'

“But-!!”

He barely dodged another blow from Siris' blade just in time, he obviously wasn't in any position to help anyone, and with the twins hot on his tail, and with two more opponents just standing around and doing nothing, it looked like all was lost.

At least, that's when he inwardly thought until he heard her voice.

‘I believe in you Issei'

She spoke with incredible conviction, there was no doubt in her mind that they were going to lose, not for a second did she question her peerage's capabilities.

And Issei felt that, and faced with all that emotion, he felt ashamed.

‘Show them what of Rias Gremory's subordinates, the Red Dragon Emperor, can do'

Her words ended with the sound of another incredible explosion that shook the ground, but that didn't matter.

'That's right'

He felt ashamed that he doubted for a moment, that wasn't why he was here after all.

'I'm her subordinate, the Red Dragon Emperor'

He saw Siris swinging the sword at his face, fully intending on severing his head from the rest of his body in one slash, but instead of dodging, he lifted his gauntlet to his face.

“What?!!”

Countless sparks were generated from the clash, as the massive sword immediately came to a halt barely a few inches away from Issei’s face, he smiled.

“He stopped Siris's swing…with his arm?”

A few meters away, Ravel sounded in disbelief.

Swords weren't designed to be stopped mid swing, not to mention one that big it could slice your arm cleanly in half, for someone to stop the swing in its track, it'll require a force at least double that of Siris's swing, and she wasn't weak by any means…but despite the incredible difficulty of the task, Issei did it.

“I’m here for the president's sake!”

He spoke with visible conviction, his features scrunching into a visible frown in reaction to Siri putting her all into the sword swing, but he didn't budge.

“I'll kick your asses!!”

He grasped the massive blade with his gauntlet and snapped it in half, and after sending the dame into a momentary shock, he kicked her square in the stomach, launching her a good few meters away.

“Red Dragon Emperor!! I can feel you looking at me, so if you can hear me respond!!”

A couple of seconds went by, but his words were only met with silence, and as he was becoming increasingly annoyed, a sudden powerful voice boomed around.

<Interesting boy, but why should I help you? We're no longer bound after all>

The powerful voice suddenly rang from everywhere and nowhere at once heard by the rating game participants and spectators alike.

No-one recognised it at first, but eventually, some of the older devils did, it was the voice of one of the heavenly dragons, the crimson dragon of domination himself, Ddraig Goch.

It brought back some rather unpleasant memories, because when all three major forces in the biblical pantheon teamed up for the sole reason of defeating the heavenly dragons, they succeeded…but not without a cost.

The entire pantheon was nearly wiped out, the two heavenly dragons were quite prideful, and just like the angels, devils and fallen but aside their differences for their survival, the two dragons did.

The fight spanned an excruciatingly long amount of time, and after finally managing to weaken the red dragon enough to deal the killing blow, he nearly wiped out half of the troops present with a post death explosion that was like a last laugh in the face of their efforts.

The older devils hated and feared the Red Dragon Of Domination, but he was dead, and despite the recent rumors that stated that he was alive, they didn't believe it one bit.

“I don't care about that! Lend me your power!!”

The collective shock of everyone present came to a halt at the voice of the brown haired boy shouting fiercely.

“The president cared for me, treated me with respect and gave me a life I never imagined! She needs me! And I don't plan to fail her!!”

Everyone was stunned at the boy's actions, some were speculating that the dragon won't tolerate his insolence and will squash him like a bug, some impressed by his courage and some amused by the whole situation.

“Issei”

Rias muttered in a low voice as she stared at the brown haired boy from a distance, and despite her being far away from him, she could feel the intensity of his emotions from here.

Meanwhile, Issei was none the wiser about the emotions of everyone but himself, he glared at the sky with conviction and contempt and after a few seconds of complete silence, the dragon spoke again.

<I first thought that you're just and idiot who just got lucky, but it seems you at least have some backbone>

Crimson sparks began to gather around the gauntlet, and what followed was pain that Issei didn't think he would ever experience even in his dreams.

“AAHHHHHHHH!!!”

He dropped to the ground and writhed in pain, his body convulsing in incredible agony and meanwhile, the gauntlet slowly began to expand across his body.

“Issei-kun!!!”

“Issei!!”

Kiba and Rias both screamed in horror, and when Kiba tried to rush to his friend in an attempt to save him, a massive explosion of crimson energy knocked him back.

<Let's see if you're even worthy, boy and if you come out of this sane, I'll personally train you>

The red dragon's unconcerned voice sounded over Issei's wails of agony, the crimson plates slowly crept all over him as his body slowly began to morph.

Claws began to form at the edge of his hands, his mouth enlarged and was filled with rows upon rows of massive teeth, two crimson wings grew from his back, a large tail sprouted from his back…he was slowly transforming.

The crimson explosion of power raged more and more, and as the boy's screams of pain became quieter and quieter, the dragon's cold voice sounded out once more.

<But if you fall and go insane...let's just say that you were unlucky>

As the crimson tornado of power slowly quieted down, and when the dust settled, a huge crimson dragon was fully seen.

“ROOOOAR!!”

It bared its maw and roared in a loud animalistic voice, and with its wings fully out and its claws fully bared.

It rushed directly at the rest of Riser's peerage.

……..

Back at the track field, after Issei had escaped, the Gremory queen started fighting with the Phenex queen.

Explosions and lightning danced around the battlefield as they traded blows, with each hit capable of flooring the strongest rook on either team.

Their magical powers were off the charts, the amount of mana swirling around either of them was awe inspiring. But ultimately, only one had to win.

A bolt of lightning slammed dead center into Yubelluna, launching her into the ground and getting her just a few moments shy of elimination.

“P-priestess of thunder, you're indeed formidable”

The nearly defeated beauty looked upwards, specifically into the sky, and directly at the battered and nearly beaten figure of Akeno, as she floated with her devil wings out in the sky.

The purple haired bomb queen looked quite pained, her figure no less battered than Akeno, but she didn't look sad or annoyed…instead, she had a smile.

“But your magic power is already depleted, right?”

The sneer in her words was quite palpable, it was as apparent as it could be, but Akeno didn't notice it.

“It doesn't matter, I'll recover after a short rest”

The words only served to make Yubelluna widen, and as Akeno was feeling a bad premonition about the situation, the bomb queen spoke again.

“I’m not sure if you'll have time to rest”

She slowly reached into her robes, getting out a small veil filled with a red liquid of some sort, and holding it up for Akeno to see it.

Immediately, Akeno's confident look was replaced by one of surprise, and that's when it dawned on her.

“That is…”

Yubelluna opened the veil and drank it in one go, and immediately after that, her aura regained its shining brilliance, her pale complexion was immediately relieved, and as she slowly rose again from the ground, Akeno's beautiful face was confronted in an annoyed frown.

“You fell for it, Priestess of Thunder~”

Her voice regained its vibrant and seductive allure, the smile on her face was quite unnerving, Akeno wished she would have seen it coming…but she didn't.

Her magic power was already fully depleted, she could do nothing but watch as the bomb queen gathered her newly restored mana pool into a giant explosion spell at the tip of her staff.

“Any last words~?”

The mocking tone was met with silence, and after not getting the reaction she wanted, Yubelluna launched the explosion spell directly at Akeno's face, and as soon as she was hit by the spell…the lights went out.

……

[Akeno POV]

It was somewhere dark and oppressive, countless corpses were littered everywhere with no end in sight, the smell of blood and gore was sickening me to the core.

It felt suffocating, like an inescapable nightmare that threatened to nip the sanity from my mind by the second. And when I tried to scream…I couldn't.

‘W-Where a-? W-Where is my voice?’

I tried to speak but I couldn't, it was like I wasn't me. It felt like my body wasn't my own.

Slowly, ‘I’ started to look around, the sight of countless corpses filled my view once more, and that's when I noticed that.

‘They aren't human'

They looked like monsters straight out of someone's nightmare, beastial abominations that were twisted and fiendish beyond the imagination.

Each one varied from the other, ones with massive horns, the others with sickle like arms, some without faces and nothing but a sharp mouth. Monstrosities that the world would fall in despair if ever faced with one…but, they were all dead.

“That’s where you were hiding, Lathi”

An amused voice sounded out a few meters from behind me, but from hearing it alone, it brought chills down my spine. 

It only brought despair, like death itself had graced me with its presence.

I felt his gaze on my back, It was like a predator was looking directly at me. All I wanted was to run away with all my might and never look back for even a second.

But that wasn't what happened, and as 'I' slowly rose from the ground. I noticed that my whole body was filled with blood in its entirety, my hands were entirely coated in what looked like a black liquid of some sort, but at the moment I knew something inside my heart kept telling me.

'That isn't my blood'

And that's when I saw it, ‘my’ face in a reflection from the pools of blood that was surrounding me from all directions.

It wasn't me that I knew of, it was some twisted version of me that I didn't recognize with two horns that looped upwards from my head into behind my ears, pitch black hair that was even taller than mine and went down far enough to reach my knees and two slit shaped eyes that glowed in ominous violet.

“Oh~? How could you say that, Xeron? How could anyone ever hide from your eyes?”

'My' voice sounded sweet even to my own ears, it was filled with seductive allure that it even momentarily stunned me to the core, and after desperately trying to shake this uncomfortable feeling off, I noticed something.

'I' was smiling