One’s Resolve

Dark Throne Room

3rd Person POV

"...That's quite a story." Said the man cast in shadow.

"Indeed." Agreed the silver haired maid.

The man in shadow slouched in his throne as he sighed. "Sounds just like Rias." He claimed.

"Honestly, I don't think she has any chance of winning." Proclaimed Grafiya.

"No...That she does not."

"But you let her go through with the training anyway?" The maid questioned.

"I let her make her own decisions..." Explained the red haired man in shadow. "She's next in line to be head of the House of Gremory, after all. I seriously hope she's capable of at least that." He proclaimed.

"As do I." Agreed Grayfia.

The man tapped his finger on his chin in thought and smiled as he let out a relaxed sigh.

"So, I'm curious. What do you make of Rias's Dragon Emperors?" The man beseeched the maid before him.

"While I can't say anything for the Red Dragon, the Azure Dragon Emperor has proven to be much stronger than we were led to believe. And he is undoubtedly getting stronger. When I restrained him with my binding spell during Lord Riser's visit, I had to double the strength I would normally use to even stand a chance of holding him back." The maid informed.

"In other words, if you didn't use more power..." The red haired man inquired.

"Then Riser Phoenix would most likely be nothing more than a pile of ash at this very moment." Grafiya added.

"Interesting..." The man cast in shadow acknowledged with great interest. "I'm anxious to see what kind of things await in the game. Aren't you?"

"Of course. Can't you tell from the excitement on my face?" Grayfia said with her same emotionless, straight faced facade.

The man chuckled. "But of course. However, I'm afraid time is not within our favor. For now let's just be patient." The man chuckled to himself in amusement, intrigued on how things had progressed thus far.

Summer Home

A total of seven days remained before the Rating Game commenced. At the same time, it had also been 72 hours since (Y/N) went into the woods for his isolated training.

"It's certainly been a while since (Y/N) left on his own. I wonder if he's okay." Rias pondered to her Queen.

"I agree. I'm starting to worry about him. According to Asia, he hasn't even come back to rest once since the day we got here." Akeno explained worriedly.

Rias nodded, slowly looking up to the full moon through the nearby window. "It makes me wonder what exactly he's doing out there. What kind of training would make him want to do this?" The master pondered.

Akeno thought silently for a moment, quickly thinking of a possibility for their fellow devil's absence. "If I may, I think I have a theory." She said, gaining the Princess of Ruin's attention.

"And what's that?"

"Well, I could be wrong, but he may be trying to achieve that form he achieved back in the caverns." Akeno claimed in reference o the dragonic-hybrid form (Y/N) had undergone in order to aide in their escape of the tomb from one month back.

"It's possible..." Rias claimed. "It did resemble a Balance Breaker to a degree. And while I want to believe he could do it, being able to master it, let alone achieve it in this amount of time is unheard of and nearly impossible."

Akeno sighed. "I guess you're right." She said, quickly smiling once again. "But you never know. He always does have a knack for coming up with surprises."

Rias chuckled at the Priestess of Thunder's remark. "That's true." She said, taking a sip of her tea. "So, what are the statuses of everyone else?"

"Well, since the period of teaching Asia and Issei are nearly finished, everyone else got back to their own training regiment." Akeno informed. "They're conducting their own training regiments from here on out, using the others as references when needed."

"Let's start with our newest additions. How are Asia and Issei?" Questioned the redhead.

"Well, Asia is clearly lacking in the physical combat department, but she defiantly makes up for it with her magic and healing capabilities. Girl shows promise. The most her attacks can do now is maybe cause some light burns, but I think she'll improve in time." Claimed the ravenette.

"I see. That's good to hear. And Issei?"

"Not much I'm afraid. No matter how hard he tries, he seems to struggle at everything. He's improving very little."

"Well that's disappointing." Rias sighed in disappointment. "How are Kiba and Koneko doing? Yourself as well?"

"While it's not as tremendous increase in power, but Kiba and Koneko's combat powers are improving nonetheless. And it goes the same for me."

"In the end, progress is progress. Don't feel too bad about not improving very much; you're still one of our best." Rias complemented.

"I appreciate the kind words, President." The Queen bowed.

Rias looked over to the small clock tower in the room and saw that it was getting late. "It's starting to get late. We should get to bed." She suggested.

"Of course. We do need our rest. Only seven days left, if I'm not mistaken." Akeno said, opening the door open for her master to exit the room as well.

"Yes...Only seven days." She said quietly.

"Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh no, it's nothing. Just lost my train of thought." Rias lied. The truth of the matter was that she was concerned for her absent servant.

The two bid farewell to one another and entered their respective rooms for the night.

Rias undressed and crawled into the king size bed, slowly but surely drifting off to slumber.

As the crimson haired beauty slept soundly, within her dreams she quickly found herself in a pitch black void. Completely silent and devoid of other people. All except for herself and one other person standing before her with their back turned. She instantly recognized him and called out. "(Y-Y/N)?"

The young man turned and revealed to be as she had once thought. (Y/N) indeed stood before her, smiling happily as he reached his hand out to her, offering it for her to take.

She beamed a joyous smile as she reached her hand out and take his. However, before she even made contact, he shattered into stardust and disappeared from Rias's very sight. She looked on, horrified and traumatized at the very sight of his sudden disappearance. But not even a second later, a sudden disturbance in reality awoke her from her dream.

She shot up from her bed and panted heavily. "I can't feel (Y/N)'s presence anymore!" Rias said in a panicked tone.

She grabbed her nightgown, quickly donning herself and rushed out the door, only to meet Akeno as she was rushing out as well. "You felt that too?" Rias asked.

"Yeah! How could I not? It's like he just disappeared!" The worried ravenette claimed.

"Gather everyone and tell them to meet in the backyard! This is an emergency!" The King of the Peerage ordered.

"Right!" Chimed Akeno, rushing to the other servants' rooms to inform them of what happened.

As Akeno continued her servant collecting, Rias sprouted her wings and flew through the halls of (Y/N)'s summer home to get to the outside. '(Y/N)...Please be okay...' She pleaded.

Backyard

As Rias waited patiently for her Peerage to arrive, her concern and worry grew by the second. The sound of rushed footsteps approaching caught her attention. Looking over, she saw Akeno with Kiba and Koneko approaching her in haste.

"About time you guys got here." RIas lightly scolded.

"I take it this is about (Y/N)'s presence suddenly disappearing?" Kiba questioned.

"That's right." Rias confirmed. She looked around and noticed that she was missing her Bishop and her other Pawn. "Hold on, where are Issei and Asia?" The master questioned.

"I went to their rooms and they weren't there. They might be out somewhere." Akeno assured.

"Wonderful, now we've got three missing servants to look for." Rias groaned as she slowly began to lose her temperament. "Well, seeing as their presences are still close by, they can't be too far. Looks like this just became a three person MIA recovery operation." Claimed the redhead.

"Understood!!" Her servants replied.

"Now then, we are all to split up and look for the others separately. We might have a better chance if finding everyone that way." Rias explained.

Everyone nodded and prepared to head out, only to halt instantly upon feeling a familiar presence once more.

"(Y/N)'s presence...It's...Back?" Kiba questioned.

"This is weird." Koneko claimed.

"Well, at least we can find him now." Akeno effused a sigh of relief. "Rias, we should go. It might disappear again!"

"Right. Everyone-!"

"RIAS!!!" Cried a voice filled with worry and panic. From within the forest, Asia appeared, running out of the forest, looking panicked and worried.

"Asia!" Akeno cried, running to the scared innocent devil. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"It's (Y/N)!" She said, instantly gaining everyone's full attention. "Please, you have to help him! If he keeps going he's going to get himself killed!!!" She cried.

Akeno walked up to her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. "Shhh...It's okay." She reassured. "Asia, do you know where he is?" She asked.

Asia gently wiped away her tears. "Y-Yeah..." She said. "Come on, I'll show you the way." She said, quickly taking lead of the ORC's (Y/N) search party.

"Let's go everyone!" Rias ordered.

Everyone nodded and followed after Asia.

Time Skip

As everyone continued to follow after Asia, who ran faster than anyone had ever seen her before, there was still no sign of (Y/N).

"How much further Asia?" Kiba asked from behind.

"Not too far!" The blonde Bishop replied. "We're almost there!" She reassured.

The further they ran onto the forest, the more devastation they witnessed. Burned trees collapsed to the ground, black and purple flames still burning strongly, multiple craters making a series of potholes along the path of the ORC's travel.

"Hard to imagine that this is all the devastation we're seeing." The blonde Knight observed.

"He must be close." Rias pointed out. "(Y/N) doesn't seem like the kind of person to just leave things he's destroyed they way they are."

"HEY!!!" Another familiar voice hollered from across the running devils.

The devils look and spot Issei waving to them, beckoning them over to his location.

"Issei, what's going-?!" Rias began to question her servant, only to look at the clearing before, becoming silenced by the sight before her.

Everyone looked to what their master had spotted, only to stand in fright, looking in horror at the scene that lied before them.

The trees around the area were smashed and brought down to the ground, some were bruning in black and purple fire. Small pools of blood were scattered on the ground. And in the center of it all, stands a heavily panting devil, using all his remaining strength to keep himself on his feet, looking as if he's about to collapse.

"(Y/N)!!!" Rias called out in horror as she gazed upon her bloodied servant. She began to run to him, but was suddenly stopped by Issei pulling her arm and holding her back. "What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"Don't! You'll only make things worse!" Issei commanded the Princess of Ruin.

"Excuse me?!" Boomed Rias in anger, aggressively pulling her arm out of the brunette's grasp. "Isn't (Y/N) like a brother to you?! Shouldn't you be caring a bit more about the state he's in?!" She questioned.

"Of course I do! You think I want this to be happening?! I want him to stop pushing himself so hard, but he's in a mindset if someone interferes, it's not going to be pretty. And I don't want to die again!" The brunette barked. "But if you want to try, then by all means, go right ahead. Just know you'll be in for a world of pain if you do!!!" He said, silencing Rias completely.

"GOD DAMN IT!!!" Roared the Azure Dragon Emperor in rage.

The mighty wind from his outburst blew fiercely, causing everyone to hide behind a tree or anything nearby that could be used as protection.

"I HAD IT!!! I FUCKING HAD IT!!! I WAS SO CLOSE!!!" The devil growled, falling to his knees and punching the ground furiously, creating a crater, deeper with each slam of his gauntlet covered fist. He panted heavily a few times before calming himself. Slowly recollecting his temperament, he slowly rose up and dusted himself off. "Alright...One more time." He muttered.

"This has to stop." Rias whisperd to herself, standing up and leaving her hiding place, only to be stopped by her Queen, holding her back. "Akeno?" She looked confused.

"Hold on, maybe we should let him do this. Just one more time." The ravenette suggested.

Rias looked at her servant, appalled that she would even recommend such a thing. "Are you serious? Do you want him to die?! He can't keep this up much longer!" She claimed.

"Exactly. He can't keep doing this. He may have a lot of magical energy to spend, but something tells me he's about tapped out." The Priestess of Thunder explained. "If he ends up using the last of his magical energy, than we'll take him back and have him rest."

Rias and Akeno stared at each other, not saying a word to each other as they looked at each other in the eye, Rias seeing how worried Akeno really was. She sighed in defeat and crouched back down, hiding beside Akeno.

(Y/N) continued to stand motionless in the middle of the devastated clearing of the forest. His power slowly rose with each passing second, slowly growing painful to bare. Still he persevered and continued. He slowly began grunting and groaning with each passing moment, eventually letting his power explode from his body, encasing him in a veil of azure blue and red dragonic magical energy. He eventually began screaming and his power rose higher than before, his presence disappearing once again.

"His presence is gone again." Kiba claimed.

"It must be due to his Sacred Gear." Rias inquired as she stared at the struggling devil.

(Y/N)'s body began to jerk in many directions, blood exploding in small bursts from his arms and legs. Even his back and head began to leak his blood. He roared constantly, as his body began to change shape in small ways. His hands slowly grew into dragon claws, his feet changed into dragon talons. His dragon wings and horns began to sprout once more. With one final roar of overwhelming power, he erupted into a massive explosion of dragonic light, encasing him within and unleashing a powerful wind that proceeded to blow nearly everything away.

The onlooking devils shielded themselves within multiple magical barriers conjured by the King and Queen of the Peerage, barely allowing them to keep their ground.

The wind and bright light eventually died down, and their barrier disappeared, allowing everyone to catch their breath.

"Is everyone okay?" Rias asked to her servants.

Everyone practically cried moans of exhaustion and weariness in response.

"HOLY SHIT!!!" Issei boomed as he looked back at the clearing.

Everyone quickly looked over, and were met with something absolutely astonishing.

In the middle of the clearing, stood a pure dragon-devil hybrid. The man dawned in Azure colored scales coating his arms and legs, turning them into dragon-like appendages, wings perfectly sprouted from the back and horns from his head. The young devil-dragon hybrid slowly opened his yellow dragon eyes, blinking a few times to recollect his sight. He looked down to his hands, only to marvel at what they had become, as well as his talons and wings, even feeling his newly formed horns in the process.

(Y/N) had finally done it. He had achieved his Sacred Gear's first level Balance Breaker. "Dragon Scale..." He muttered, his body trembling with pure joy and excitement. "I did it...I DID IT!!!!" He howled into the sky victoriously. "YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!! I FINALLY DID IT!!!" He cheered within this huge burst of joy. "After all this time! I finally did it..." He clenched his hands tightly. "I'm stronger now. Now I can-!" He stated, but was quickly silenced by a familiar feeling once again. "W-Wha-? Again with this shit?!" He snarled, gripping his chest. "Can't you let me have ONE THING?!" He questioned in aggravation. Suddenly feeling something rise up from within, only to vomit a large amount of blood, causing him to collapse to his hands and knees, his dragonic qualities disappearing. "Not what I meant...You piece of shit..." He mumbled in strain before passing out, collapsing face first onto the ground.

In that final moment, Rias could no longer contain herself. "(Y/N)!!!!!" She yelled, running to her servant's side. "(Y/N)! Please, stay with me! You're going to be alright!" She plead in great distress, coming to the verge of tears.

"Rias, we need to get him back to the house. We can heal him over there!" Akeno stated.

Rias took deep exasperated breaths, calming herself down and regaining some of her composure, still shaken by her fallen servant's condition. "A-Alright. But we'll have to hurry. I think he's in cardiac arrest." Rias claimed, quickly sprouting her devil wings and flying the unconscious devil back to the summer home along with Akeno.

Time Skip

Summer Home

Upon arrival, Asia and Akeno cleaned off the blood and sweat all over (Y/N)'s body, using their healing magic to try and heal him afterwards. Kiba and Issei redressed him in clean clothing and laid him down in his bed.

Afterwords, everyone gathered in the dining room to contemplate and process what had just happened.

"So?" Rias asked, great concern filled her voice.

"It wasn't easy." Said Asia. "Healing a person is extremely difficult depending; not just the condition the person being healed is in, but also how close they were to death. But through it all, he's going to be okay." She claimed, sounding a bit cheerful and Rias and the others sighed in relief.

"I'm so glad...I thought he might...he might..." Rias mumbled, trembling at the thought of the worst possible outcome for her servant. She quickly heard sobbing from a nearby corner and looked over to see Issei huddled in the fetal position, appearing to be crying. "...What's with him?"

"Well, we redressed (Y/N)." Kiba claimed, only to sigh. "And...well..."

"I hate my life..." Issei muttered in gloom.

Kiba chuckled and decided to change the subject. "Still..." He started. "I don't understand what happened." He said, grabbing a seat next to his master. "From what we saw, he managed to achieve some kind of Balance Breaker, and seconds later he suddenly drops like a rock." The Knight pondered. "It's strange. And with (Y/N)'s abilities that should've been easy to maintain."

"Maybe it had to do with that dummy blowing through his magical circuits." Inquired Koneko. "They could've suddenly backfired on him." She deduced, her head slouched over on the table.

"Doubtful." Rias remarked. "If that were truly the case, then the circuits would've backfired on him before his transformation. They'd destroy themselves as well as any other reservoir of magic within." Rias explained. "But as we can see, his magic circuits are still there, just depleted significantly."

"From what we could gather, it's was most likely a heart attack. At least that's my theory." Akeno said, unsure with what she had claimed herself.

"You know something? You might be on to something." Issei said, catching everyone's attention as he approached the table, taking a seat next to Asia.

"What are you talking about? Do you know something?" Rias questioned her Pawn.

"Not exactly, but for the longest time, ever since I've known him, (Y/N) would sometimes get these heart attacks out of nowhere. After they'd happen, he'd collapse and need some serious medical attention." Explained the pervert.

"Well, what is it? Some kind of born disease or some physical abnormality?" Questioned the ravenette.

Issei shook his head. "Dunno. Thinking back, when he was brought in, Ms. Hasegawa would always see him as his physician. My parents tried asking her, she'd say that's it's between the patient and the doctor. But I personally think that (Y/N) told her to say that so we won't worry about him." The brunette slouched, rubbing the back of his neck in ache.

"You think if we ask her and explain the situation, she'll tell us what's wrong with him?" Asia suggested.

"Doubt it." Akeno answered. "Confidentiality between doctor and patient is a serious thing. And it seems like Ms. Hasegawa takes that role very seriously. We probably couldn't get anything out of her even if we tried."

"Good point. And I bet his so called "manager" is just as confidential as she is." Issei groaned. "Looks like we're boxed in. And I bet that even if they did tell us, (Y/N) would never forgive us for violating his privacy." The sensible pervert suspected.

"He should tell us. We're a team and a family and we don't keep secrets from each other." Rias claimed.

Issei just stared at redhead with a deadpan expression. "Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you keep the fact that you were engaged to a guy that has a harem a secret from us newer members?" Issei threw out into the open to counter Rias's argument.

Rias froze at the brunette's claim, only looking away as she began to sweat bullets before clearing her throat. "A-Anyways, I guess we can't do anything about (Y/N)'s condition at the moment. He's been healed and cleaned, so I suppose we'll have to let him rest."

"Yeah, and we shouldn't mention the fact that we saw him collapse. Everything that just happened, including this conversation, never happened. In fact, I'm not even here." He said, waving his hands and arms in a wavy motion as he walked backwards and about to exit the room. "Nope. Instead, I'mma be in my bed, looking at nude pics of girls on my phone." Issei stated, finally exiting the dining room.

"...Guess we should all follow his lead and get some rest." Claimed Akeno as she rose up out of her seat.

"If he asks how we found him, we'll just say we followed the trail of destruction. Cuz then we're not technically lying because that's what we did." Koneko suggested, taking her leave from the table to return to her room.

Kiba rose out of his seat and bowed, addressing his master and senior. "President, Vice President, I'm going to turn in for the night."

"Sure thing. Have a good night Kiba." Akeno bid farewell.

As the Knight of the Peerage left the room, Asia continued to sit in her seat and worry over her guardian's state.

Rias smiled and rose out of her seat, walking to the pure devil and gently placing a hand on her shoulder, gaining the blonde attention. "Asia, you've worked hard tonight. Why don't you go and get some rest. I'll check on (Y/N) one more time before I turn in."

"Oh, okay, sure. Good night." Asia bowed, delivering a melancholic sounding farewell before she exited the dining room.

"...You sure you can manage seeing him in the state he's in with the way you are?" Asked Rias's Queen.

Rias nodded weakly. "I...I think I'll be okay, it won't be for very long." Assured the redhead.

Akeno simply stared at her, not fully believing what her King had said. However, in the end she felt the same as Rias and decided to let the matter go. "...Well, as long as you're sure. I'll be going to my room now." Akeno bowed and exited the dining room, leaving her master alone to do as she pleased.

(Y/N)'s Room

Rias slowly made her way to her recovering servant's room, quietly opening the door and entering the room, only to see her servant motionless, breaking her heart little by little. She walked over to the bed and climbed on, slowly crawling to her servant. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly in her embrace, laying next to him as she let her tears fall.

"You silly boy..." She said, smiling through her tears. "In all my years, I've never met someone willing to go through so much and go so far for me." She leaned closer to the slumbering Dragon Emperor's face, gently placing a kiss upon his cheek. "Thank you...for everything you do." She smiled, her tears not stopping in their descent across the sides of her face. "You're the best servant anyone could ever ask for..." She whispered once more, removing her nightgown and carefully crawling into the covers of the bed, laying down next to her servant and continued to hold him close as he slept. "Please...Let me stay here with you tonight..." The Crimson Haired Princess of Ruin whispered, slowly slipping into slumber, her dearly beloved servant in her arms.

Time Skip

The only thing that lay before the slumbering young devil was nothing but total darkness. "The darkness..." He mumbled. "It feels...so warm..." He added.

Suddenly a faint light appeared before him, slowly glowing brighter and brighter with each passing second.

"What? What is that?" (Y/N) questioned, taking small steps towards the light. "This light...it feels...familiar." He said, shielding his eyes from the vastly growing light.

The shining gleam died down, revealing a woman in a white dress and long blonde hair tied in a long and massive braid. She slowly turned to the approaching devil and smiled, her hair casting a shadow over her eyes.

(Y/N) halted, causing the darkness to dissipate and reveal a bright blue sky with swarms of cloud surrounding the two. The young devil looked to his feet and saw that he was standing on some watery terrain. "What is this?!" He cried in panic, causing the woman before him to giggle. He looked back at her, staring in caution and confusion. This woman looked familiar to him, yet unknown. He knew he had never met her before, yet the feeling of familiarity never left. "Who-" He stuttered, taking a few steps forward as the woman did the same, closing the distance between them both. "Who are you?" He asked.

The blonde woman shook her head. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "But at the moment, I'm not permitted to say."

(Y/N) just sighed. "Well, could I at least get a hint or somethin'?"

The woman smiled, holding her hands closer to her chest and over her heart. "I'm someone..." She started. "Who loves you very much. And I want what's best for you in this new life of yours." She said.

(Y/N) looked at the smiling woman, appalled and confused by what she had said. "New life?" He asked. "What?"

The woman took his right hand and held it within hers, intertwining their fingers together gently. "Promise me..." Everything faded to black once more, the woman's angelic voice continued to echo through the darkness. "Never forget who you are."

(Y/N)'s eyes immediately shot open, causing him to jump up from his bed, panting heavily and dripping with nervous sweat. He rubbed his hands against his face and fell back onto his bed, his head colliding with the pillow. "What the hell was that?" He pondered, quickly realizing that he was in his bedroom and not outside. "Wait, how'd I get here?" He questioned.

"About time you woke up." Said a glowing circle on (Y/N) right arm.

"Starvlador? D'you know how I got here?" He asked the dragon. "Last thing I remember was achieving my Dragon Scale form."

"Actually, now that you mention it..." Starvlador paused.

"What is it?"

"Huh...actually, I've got nothing. Your guess is as good as mine. I think you may have had another heart stop or something, because I don't remember anything either." He claimed.

"Really? That's odd." The young devil pondered as he scratched the back of his head. "That doesn't usually happen. You're usually not affected by my heart stops."

"Must've been a really severe one." Suggested the dragon, sounding less believable than before.

"...Uh huh..." (Y/N) said, quickly looking over to the window, seeing the stars still shining in the sky along with the full moon that accompanied. "Holy crap it's still night time? Must've been one hell of a power nap. I feel great." He said, removing the covers and hopping out of bed, quickly seeing the different clothes he was wearing from what he remembered. "...These aren't the clothes I was wearing earlier." He claimed.

"Huh..." Shrugged the Azure Dragon. "That's weird." He claimed bluntly.

(Y/N) glared at his right hand doubtfully. "You really don't know anything about this?" He questioned.

"Sorry, like I said I've got nothing." The dragon apologized.

"...Well whatever." (Y/N) said as he began stretching. "Two out of my three objective are completed, might as well finish the last one." He chimed in glee as he exited his room.

"You sure you don't want to take a break?" Asked Starvlador.

"Why would I? I feel great! More than ready to finish my training!" He cheered, entering the kitchen and grabbing a water bottle to fill.

"Alright then." Was all the dragon within the young devil's arm said. 'Still, I can't help but worry that he's pushing himself to hard. Lady Rias and the others aren't the only ones who're worried for him.'

"Alright!" Cheered (Y/N). "Onward! To the final training regiment!" He cheered in excitement as he exited the kitchen, walking through the foyer to the front entrance. Suddenly, the sound of descending footsteps caused him to stop and look to the staircase, only to see his master coming down the staircase.

The red haired dropped the book in her hand, letting it fall to the floor. "You're...awake?" She stammered, her lips lightly quivering.

"Hey Master!" He greeted with a casual wave. "How are you...doing..." He quickly noticed that Rias had tears streaming down her face. "Woah, what's wrong? Why are you crying?!" He questioned.

Rias ran down the stairs and dashed to her servant, glomping him with all her being and tackling him to the floor, knocking the wind out of him upon impact.

"Welp, I'm awake..." He groaned.

"You're awake." Rias whispered. "You're okay. Thank goodness you're alright!" She said, her voice still rather shaky as tears fell down her face.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

Rias let her servant go, letting them both up as she whipped away her tears. "It-It's nothing." She said. "What are you doing up?" She asked. "It's late, shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"

(Y/N) chuckled at his master's question. "I should be asking you that. What are you still doing up? Isn't it getting kinda late?" He smiled playfully.

Rias giggles and the two shared a light laugh. "I guess we're both not really any better huh?" She asked playfully. She quickly noticed the water bottle filled with water, slowly feeling nervous upon realization. "Are you going back out? To train some more?" She asked.

"Of course. Not done yet." He said, helping himself and his master off the ground as he collected his water bottle. "Anyways, make sure not to stay up too late. Night." He waved as he began to take his leave.

"Actually..." Rias spoke up, gaining (Y/N)'s attention. "I was...hoping I could get your opinion on something." She explained. "If you have a moment to spare of course."

"You should kiddo." Chimed Starvlador. "It could be important."

"Sure thing. What's up?"

"Why don't we go somewhere a little more private?" Suggested Rias as she collected her book and readjusted her glasses.

"Um okay. Where'd you have in mind?" He asked, suddenly having his left arm being hugged by Rias, having it quickly becoming engulfed in between her large breasts, making his face turn red.

Rias only smiled, leaning her head on his rather sturdy arm. "Why don't you escort me somewhere? Someplace nice and private."

"U-Uh s-sure." He said, taking the lead to where Rias and he could speak in private.

Riverside Gazebo

"I see." Stated (Y/N). "So that's the plan huh?"

"It is..." Said Rias as she looked through more of her book. "But it's not a very good one, I'm afraid."

(Y/N) simply shrugged. "Eh, I'm not too worried. I'm not really one for strategy or tactics, so I'll trust your judgements. Plus you're an awesome leader, so I think it'll work out just fine." He smiled happily.

"Well, according to this manual, we still have a lot to be worried about. But thank you for saying." Rias smiled in return.

"Still though, how dangerous is this guy we're facing? He can't be that strong if he just makes his servant fight for him." Claimed the young devil.

"Well, Riser is a Noblemen of the Phoenix Household. And let me assure, the name is most appropriate." Claimed Rias.

(Y/N) only sighed, walking over to a nearby bench and sat on it, looking out at the night sky's reflection in the lake. "According to mythology, Phoenixes are known for resurrection. Rebirth from ashes and such. So is it safe to say that the cock sucker's got something similar?"

"Indeed. And while he is a devil, he is a marquis counted among the 72 Pillars. We've got our work cut out for us." She said, placing her book down beside her. "His ability is the same as the beast his family's named after...Immortality."

"Immortality huh? Somehow that doesn't sound like it should be allowed in a Rating Game." Claimed the young devil.

"Be that as it may, it just is." Said the redhead. "He's indestructible. He regenerates immediately following an attack." She explained. "Riser's win-lose ratio is eight to two. However, those two losses were accepted out of respect to a family he's close to...He lost on purpose." She claimed.

"He threw the matches on purpose?! God, what a prick!" The angered devil cursed.

"Ever since the Rating Game was put into effect, the House of Phoenix has dominated the playing field." Rias added. "They've always had the highest score." She chuckled. "Can't say I'm surprised. How are you supposed to lose if you're immortal?" She rhetorically questioned.

(Y/N) sighed in remorse, feeling the stinging pain of regret from his actions. "Wow...I really picked the wrong fuckin' fight this time huh? I'm sorry."

"About what?" She asked.

"I couldn't keep my anger in check and told Riser where to stick it and now we're in this damn mess! I'm so sorry..."

"Not at all. In fact, thanks to you, I'll be able to get a chance to tell my father and the others where to 'stick it'." Rias giggled. "They set up this Game because they all anticipate me losing. And now I'll be able to change the score and prove them wrong." She declared. "In chess, this is called a swindle, or a trap-maneuver."

"Still..." Spoke Rias's Pawn. "I'm just glad your not going along with this prearranged marriage bullshit. That takes a lot of guts."

"The engagement was made to the heiress of the House of Gremory. Because of my title, I am not ever recognized as Rias." He claimed, standing up and walking slowly to the other side of the railing. The House of Gremory will always come before me..." She said solemnly. "I've learned to adjust to it; and make personal decisions accordingly." She claimed as she leaned back against the pilliar. "Make no mistake, my title is something I will always take pride in. But when it comes to the subject of marriage, I want to share that with someone who loves me as Rias, not for how my status can improve their life. Otherwise they might as well marry the House. I understand that history is not in my favor, and the idea of love may just remain a dream; but it's one I'd like to keep." The princess of Ruin smiled.

"Well...If it's any consolation, I like you for who you are, not about your name or whatever." (Y/N) declared, catching his master by surprise. "I mean...It's just that...You're one of the greatest people I've ever met, and the way you're treated is just wrong! I like you for you, and your family name doesn't mean a damn thing to me!" He declared once more.

Rias looked flustered at her servant's declaration, her cheeks growling red as her eyes shined like sapphires.

"What's wrong? Did I say something weird?" He asked, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry, I kinda have a tendency to just speak my mind whenever I'm engaged in something serious."

His master smiled happily, shaking her head in denial. "Of course not, it's nothing. Anyways, the point is: If we're going to fight, we're going to win." Rias declared in confidence.

"I know you're the Princess of Ruin and everything, and nobody earns themselves nicknames like that if they're easy to beat. So some guy named after some burning poultry can stand up to you."

"Not true. My powers are strong but I can't heal myself the way he can. Or you for that matter. My strength lies in my entire team and our ability to fight together. Which means I never battle alone." A sudden breeze blew bast the two conversing devils, Rias's nightgown dancing through the wind. "When I fight, Gremory fights with me. But if I lose, Gremory does as well. Winning is the only option." Rias declared, her beautiful blue eyes shined with determination.

In the end, (Y/N) fell silent. He looked down and clenched his fists. "You're amazing." He praised. "All of you are amazing." He added. "I've always been alone so I've never had anyone to fight alongside with." He claimed, feeling tears fall from his eyes. "I keep thinking that I'm strong enough to handle things on my own and keep others safe...But in the end...In the end I can't do anything right!" He cried. "I just keep making things worse!!"

Rias looked devastated as (Y/N) had chastised himself. "No, you don't." She reassured.

But the tears from the Dragon Emperor continued to fall uncontrollably. "I keep throwing myself into danger, thinking I can handle it myself and keep you all from getting hurt or involved, but in the end I just end up becoming a burden to everyone." He said, tightly gripping his right arm. "I just want to be useful to all of you!" He cried once again. "Even with the foster family I was with, I felt so useless."

This sudden reveal shocked Rias.

"When my sister died, everything fell apart...I wasn't strong enough to protect my sister. I wasn't strong enough to protect my mother. And I wasn't strong enough to stand up to my father until it was too late. In that moment, I used every once of my strength to stop him for good...BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER IN THE END BECAUSE I WAS ALL ALONE AGAIN!!! I WANTED TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT THE FAMILY THAT TOOK ME IN AND I COULDN'T!!! I WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP ASIA SAFE!!! AND I WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO STAND UP TO RISER!!!" He fell to his knees, clenching his fists at the mere memory of the deceased family that took him in so many years ago, Asia dying before his very eyes, and falling to Riser. "I've-I've already lost one family. I don't-I don't want to lose another." (Y/N) said, his voice cracked as tears continued to run down his face.

It was then that Rias stood up and walked to her servant. "Shhh..." She hugged her servant deeply, holding him close within her warm and loving arms. "It's okay." She reassured warmly. "You have a family now, and it's not going anywhere. I swear."

(Y/N) gasped for air through his falling tears, his hand trembled as he held onto his master. "...I've been alone for so long. And when I had a family, it was taken away. I don't...I don't want to be alone anymore...I don't want to lose anyone anymore. I don't...I don't want to lose you..." (Y/N) continued to shed is sorrowful tears, finally releasing all of the sadness he had been harbouring for so long as he held onto the Princess of Ruin, the Scarlet Beauty, his beloved master.

"You're not alone now. I promise you." She whispered softly as she stroked her hand against his head in a calming manner. "For as long as I live, know that you will never have to go through anything alone." Rias promised, wiping away some of her servants tears.

"Rias..."

"But for now you must rest. Both your body and mind have been through so much...I won't leave your side tonight. So please, get some rest." She pleaded, as her devil servant continued to cry. "I promise...It's going to be okay (Y/N)...You have my word. You won't be alone ever again." She smiled.

Time Skip

(Y/N)'s Bedroom

The light of a brand new day broke through the cracks of the blinds of (Y/N)'s bedroom. As they shined on his face, he rolled over to the other side of his bed and groaned. "Go away sun, I don't want you right now."

A knock erupted on his door. "Hey (Y/N), you awake yet?" Kiba asked from the other side.

The sluggish devil groaned weakly, indicating that he was somewhat awake.

"Mind if I come in?" The Knight asked, receiving another groan. "I'm gonna assume that means yes." He said, entering the room and saw (Y/N) still in bed half awake. "Morning sleepyhead." He greeted playfully.

"Hey Kiba..." (Y/N) groaned as he rose up to look at the blonde young devil.

"Breakfast is ready. Everyone's already in the dining room." He smiled.

(Y/N) plopped down onto his pillow once again, sighing loudly and he rubbed his eyes. "'Kay. Breakfast actually sounds kinda good. Haven't eaten anything in three days." He claimed.

Kiba chuckled. "Well, we've got quite the spread. Asia and Akeno really went all out so there's plenty of food." He claimed with a smile.

"'Kay..."

"Oh, by the way, you wouldn't happen to know where Rias is, would you?" He asked.

"I dunno...Her room?" (Y/N) replied.

Suddenly, soft moaning appeared from behind the, now fully awakened devil. An arm reached around and under his chest and held him tightly, the feeling of large supple breasts pressed themselves upon his back as the embrace grew deeper. Both the bosom and the arms felt very familiar to the bullet sweating young devil, so he had no need to look behind him, knowing full well that his master was in his bed again.

(Y/N) looked up at Kiba, who had a playful smile plastered on his face. This was all the nervous devil needed to confirm that Rias was indeed in his bed again. "...Please don't tell anyone..." He whimpered.

The blonde Knight laughed and waved his hand up in defense. "Okay." He said, walking backwards towards the door. "Like I said, breakfast is ready, so just come on down when you're able."

"Thank you..." (Y/N) croaked, watching the blonde Knight leave. He made very gently and very subtle movements to break free from his master's hold. "Keep your cool. Keep your cool. Easy now. Easy." He whispered, inching his way free. He eventually managed climbed out of his bed and dressed himself in clean clothes. He looked back to Rias, seeing her still asleep. He smiled as he picked up her nightgown and hung it with a hanger on the closet across of the bed. He walked over to the door and slowly opened it, taking one final look and smiling. "Thank you Rias...For everything." He whispered, gently closing the door.

Dining Room

As the young devil approached the dining room, the sweet and delicious scent of pancakes, eggs, sausages, ham and waffles filled the air, enticing the starving devil even more. "Oh man!" He boomed in excitement. He burst through the door and dashed to the table seeing all of the food he smelt placed all over the table. "Holy cow! This all looks soooo good~" He sang in glee as he licked his lips. He was suddenly tackled to the ground, causing him to groan in pain from the sudden glomping. The dazed young man looked down, seeing Asia crying her eyes out.

"(Y/N) YOU'RE AWAKE!" She cried, gripping the boy by his shirt. "I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER WAKE UP AGAIN!!!"

"Y-Yeah, of course I am." He smiled as he pet the blonde innocent devil. "Sorry if I scared you." He apologize as he quickly noticed the others crowd around him and the balwing girl. "All of you, I'm really sorry if I worried you."

"Stop trying to throw your life away and we'll consider it." Koneko ordered.

The Azure Dragon Emperor gulped nervously from Koneko's gaze. "Y-Yes ma'am."

Akeno giggled at her junior's nervous behavior. She knelt down and helped Asia off of him. "We were just about to have breakfast. Would you care to join us? Or are you going to head straight out again?"

(Y/N) shook his head and smiled. "I'd love to join you guys." He rose up and took a seat at the table, filling his plate with everything that there was to offer.

"Hold up, Where's Prez? Shouldn't we wait for her?" Issei asked.

(Y/N) tensed up at Issei's question, nervous about answering.

"She said she wanted to sleep a little more when I went to wake her and (Y/N), so it's okay." Kiba answered.

'Thank you Kiba!' (Y/N) thanked through his psyche. "W-Well, if she's hungry after we're all finished I'll cook her something to make up for it." The young devil declared as he took a bit of one of his sausages.

The door opened once more. "Good morning everyone~" Rias greeted through her yawn and stretch.

"Oh hey, we were just talking about-GYUH?!" (Y/N) yelped, falling silent as he saw his master walking to the table in nothing but her underwear and a plain white t-shirt.

The shirt complemented her hourglass figure perfectly as some of it had been tucked in certain places to emphasize her curves, mainly her breasts. Issei nearly lost his mind at the breathtaking sight, while (Y/N) just slammed his head on the table.

"I put your nightgown right in front of you, so why are you wearing one of my shirts?!" He boomed.

The redhead only smiled and giggled at her servants question. "It's was the closest thing I could find silly~"

"Somehow I don't believe that." He said with a sweatdrop.

"Oh what's wrong?" She asked, leaning down and showing the flustered devil the top of her shirt, revealing her breasts. "Are you saying this doesn't look good on me~?" She asked seductively.

(Y/N)'s face turned beet red as he turned around and looked back to his food. "It...It's fine. You're the master you can do whatever I guess." He claimed quietly.

Rias beamed a smile. "Great! In that case..." She said, pulling (Y/N)'s half eaten mini sausage off his fork and ate it, only to walk away and take a seat next to her Queen.

'WHAT IS HAPPENING?!' He questioned loudly to himself.

Another mini sausage fell onto the devil's plate, confusing him.

He looked up and saw Koneko taking the seat to his right. "You need your strength if you gonna try and pull your going alone crap." She said.

"R-Right...Thank you." He said. "And for the record, I'm kinda done with all that for the moment. But thank you regardless."

As the devils continued to eat, (Y/N) glanced back to Issei every so often, trying to gauge his new found power level. 'Incredible. Issei's gotten so much stronger! His magical energy level is almost similar to Kiba's, maybe stronger.' He pondered before a lightbulb went off in his head. 'I think I've got an idea...'

Time Skip

After the ORC had finished their meals, (Y/N) continued to stare at Issei silently. He suddenly rose up out of his seat abruptly, gaining the attention of the other devils.

Akeno saw the look on her Junior's face and looked confused. "What's wrong sweetie?"

"...Issei." He called, prompting the pervert to pop his head up.

Having heard his name being called in such a cold manner by his best friend scared him. "Y-Yeah?" He questioned nervously.

"Come with me." He ordered, making his way to the door.

"Huh?! Hey! Wait up!!" He hollered, giving chase after his childhood friend.

As the door closed, the remaining devils looked at one another, growing rather worried as to what the two devils were going to do.

"What was that all about?" Kiba pondered.

"No clue." Koneko said.

"He just got better." Claimed Asia. "I hope they don't do something extreme." She added, clearly worried for her friends and their well being.

"You think..." Chirped Akeno. "You think it'd be okay to go and moderate them?" She wondered.

Rias giggled with a light smile. "I don't see why not." She rose out of her seat. "Come on, let's go see what those boys are up to." She smiled.

"Yes ma'am!" Beamed the Peerage.

Backyard

Near the lake stood two Dragon Emperors. The wind gently blew and filled the atmosphere with suspenseful tension, making the Red Dragon Emperor nervous. However, with the addition of the rest of Rias's servants watched from the sidelines made the situation feel less strenuous, knowing that they were being watched, much to (Y/N)'s dismay.

"I only asked for Issei, and now this is a damn spectacle...Great." The (H/C) devil grimaced.

"So uh..." Issei nervously spoke up. "What's this about? What're we doin' here?" He questioned worriedly.

(Y/N) smiled and extended his right arm. "Simple..." He said, donning his Blazblue: Limit Breaker. "I'm gonna see how far you've come since we've arrived. So get ready, 'cause I'm gonna put you through the wringer!"

"Wait what?!" Cried the pervert.

"Come on! Deploy your Sacred Gear! Show me how much stronger you've gotten!" Ordered the Azure Dragon Emperor.

"R-Right!" Yelped the brunette. "Boosted Gear!" He posed, summoning his Sacred Gear onto his left arm. As (Y/N) continued to stare down the pervert, Issei quickly positioned himself into a rather impressive fighting stance.

"Oh?" (Y/N) looked surprised. "Strong stance. Tight defense. Good stance, I'm impressed." He smiled. "Now, let's see how you can handle yourself!" He said, donning his own battle stance.

"Alright! Here I come!" Issei cried, charging at the young devil.

"Bring it!" (Y/N) smirked.

BOOST!

Issei's gauntlet's jem glowed as he charged at (Y/N) with great speed, surprising the young devil.

'Woah, he's gotten faster!' (Y/N) thought in amazement, quickly blocking an armored punch that aimed for his head.

Issei continued his onslaught of punches, only for each one to be blocked and deflected, giving him an opportune moment to unleash a kick to the head, which was easily avoided, prompting the devil to try again.

BOOST!

(Y/N) blocked the second attempt, and jabbed at Issei, who managed to duck down in time time and avoided the attack.

BOOST!

Issei grunted and rammed his gauntlet into (Y/N)'s gut with amazing strength, causing the devil to cough up a little amount of blood.

BOOST!

The brunette launched another fist, but was deflected and grabbed.

"Hey, easy man!" Warned (Y/N). "Remember to pace yourself!" He instructed, quickly blocking and grabbing another incoming punch. He quickly broke the hold and flipped over to deliver an axe kick, prompting the perverted teen to shield himself. (Y/N)'s fake-out succeeded. He smiled and shot his other leg up, kicking Issei in the jaw and sending him back.

Issei slid across the ground until he fell to his knees, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath.

BOOST!

(Y/N) simply smiled. 'Amazing. He's gotten so much stronger. He's never been able to do any of this before. But now, he might actually stand a chance.' His smile beamed with excitement. 'Maybe he's been trying to get his Balance Breaker. I think he'd definitely be able to handle it now.' The devil awed. "What's wrong? Tired already?" He asked. "We're just getting started."

"Amazing!" Kiba marveled. "Issei's actually holding his ground against (Y/N)."

"He must've done some solo training." Akeno pondered. "He's gotten so much stronger." She praised.

"Still..." Rias interjected as she crossed her arms. "Why did (Y/N) want to do this all out of the blue?"

"Maybe to test himself?" Guessed Asia.

"If that were the case, than Koneko would've been a better candidate." Claimed the redhead. "Something else is going on here."

Issei held out his armored left hand and conjured a small red ball of dragonic energy, shocking the fellow Dragon Emperor before him.

'Is that-?!'

"Take this!" Cried Issei and he punched the small ball of dragonic energy, shooting towards (Y/N) at incredible speed. "DRAGON SHOT!!!"

(Y/N) quickly rose his right arm and conjured a small azure colored ball of dragonic energy. "DRAGON SHOT!!!" He cried, as he punched the conjured orb and sent it flying to counter Issei's attack.

The two attacks collided with one another, struggling to overtake the other for dominance, sending massive blasts of wind and devastating the ground around them.

"Not bad!" (Y/N) praised. "With just five boosts, you're able to keep up with my weakest leveled Dragon Shot! I'm impressed!" He praised once more.

The clashing attacks soon dissipated and imploded upon itself within a gust of wind.

"I see you've been taking this training seriously." (Y/N) smiled. "You're much stronger than before. You've made such great strides. I'm proud of you Issei."

Issei's eyes beamed with delight and smiled happily. "Th-Thanks!"

(Y/N) smiled once more as he crossed his arms. "Alright, time to stop messing around. Go into your Balance Breaker and let's do this for real!" He boomed eagerly.

Issei looked baffled by (Y/N) instruction. "Balance Breaker? You mean that armor I had when we went to the beach?"

"Yeah that's the one." The young devil clarified. "Well, what are you waiting for, a hand written invitation?" He asked tauntingly.

The pervert gulped nervously, looking down in regret and shame as he remained silent.

(Y/N) looked at his friend, baffled at his sudden change in behavior. "What's wrong?" He questioned.

"I...I uh..." Stuttered the young devil.

"What? What is it?" Questioned (Y/N) once more.

"I...I don't know how to." Issei blurted honestly.

"Wait what?!" (Y/N) fell flabbergasted. "Are you saying you haven't even tried since we got out of the tomb? At all since we've been training?!"

Issei suddenly bowed, catching (Y/N) by surprise. "Please. I'm begging you man, teach me how!" The brunette begged.

Something within (Y/N) just snapped, his expression grew to on of rage and irritation. He released a large breath of air and closed his eyes, calming himself. 'I see. Seeing as how he's only experienced triggering it once, he probably doesn't know how to again...In that case...'

"I'm begging you man. Please help me." Issei peseached once more.

"Dude, in case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a match!" He growled.

"Show me how. It'd mean so much to me."

(Y/N) popped a vain, clearly showing his anger. "Oh would it?!" He snarled, glaring murderous daggers at the pleading Dragon Emperor. "You disappoint me..." He growled, his magical energy spiked and erupted, coating his body in a veil in azure blue and red dragonic magical energy. "Asking your opponent for a lesson...In the midst of battle..."

Issei grew confused by his friend's sudden change in attitude, growing more frightened with each passing moment (Y/N) magical energy grew more violent.

"What's (Y/N) doing?! Why does he seem so mad?!" Akeno perplexed, shielding herself from the harsh winds that blew past her and the other devils.

"Please tell me you guys are seeing this too!" Kiba pleaded.

"...It's shameful...You're a disgrace!" The Azure Dragon Emperor fumed in anger. "Yet you dare..." (Y/N)'s eyes changed into his yellow dragon eyes, frightening the fearful devil-dragon hybrid. "CALL YOURSELF A DRAGON EMPEROR?!!!!!!!" He howled in rage, quickly changing into his Dragon Scale form.

"He changed so quickly?!" Akeno cried, deploying a magic barrier to shield everyone from (Y/N)'s immense power and rage. "Even after just achieving his new form, he was able to deploy it so quickly?!"

"He's really pissed!" Cried Koneko as she held onto Kiba.

(Y/N)'s wings spread wide open, dashing to the horrified devil and driving his dragon claw into Issei's stomach.

The poor devil to coughed up blood as he flew backwards.

The dragon scaled covered devil dashed behind the brunette and crashed his knuckles into his jaw, sending him flying once more. He chased after the flying Issei and unleashed a massive flurry of punches into his back, causing him to scream in utter agony. "I'm not done with your sorry ass yet!" He roared as he kicked the devil into the air, sprouting a wicked smile in the process.

"What's going on?!" Cried Asia. "Why's (Y/N) being so cruel?!"

"Is the power his new transformation has going to his head?" The blonde Knight fretted.

(Y/N) chuckled sinisterly, kicking Issei back into the air the moment he descended again, screaming in pain with each blow. "Given your extreme lack of abilities, I'm having a hard time believing YOU took down Freed like Kiba said!"

"(Y/N) please stop!!!" Pleaded the innocent devil through the tears in her eyes.

Rias simply continued to watch. Though it broke her heart to see her servants fight one another, one brutally beating the other so easily broke her heart, but deep down she knew what (Y/N) was trying to do. 'Issei needs this. Please (Y/N). Don't do something you're going to regret...'

"(Y/N) wouldn't kill him. Right?" The loli asked worriedly.

"If his power's gone to his head like Kiba said, then we're gonna have a problem..." Fretted the ravenette.

As the dragon-devil hybrid kicked Issei one final time into the air, the pervets raspped for air, his body weak and writhing in pain as he flew. "I..." He uttered. "I...give...up..." He groaned.

(Y/N) snarled his fangs, catching the falling teen by the collar of his shirt, holding him in the air, his yellow dragon eyes dug deep into the pervert's soul with murderous rage. "Now you listen to me! If you quit on me...I! WILL!!! KILL YOU!!!"

The weary young devil looked at his enraged friend with his weak brown eyes. "You-you wouldn't..."

(Y/N) growled, tightening his grip on Issei's shirt. "Enough. I'm ending this, now!" He raised his right arm and conjured a blue ball of magical energy, aimed right next to Issei's head. "I should've done this a long time ago. You've been nothing but a pain in the ass since the day I met you."

"This has to stop! Everyone, let's go!" Akeno called.

Everyone nodded and rushed in to aid their beaten ally, but were halted by their master holding out her arm.

"Don't..." She ordered. "He needs this."

"What?" Kiba baffled. "Rias, you can't be serious! Look how far this has gotten! He has to stop or he's going to kill Issei."

"He knows what he's doing..." She smiled confidently. "Just, have some faith."

"Let's both be honest here, no one would miss you in the least. Well, maybe your parents..." (Y/N) claimed harshly, suddenly growing a wicked smile. "Speaking of which, how've they been? Haven't seen them in a while."

Issei's eyes shot as wide as they could through the pain, and looked at the dragon hybrid with utter fear. "W-What are you-?"

"Maybe I should pay them a visit once we're done dealing with Riser. We could catch up...Right before I send them to the afterlife." He hissed, terrifying the brunette. Deep down, it tore his heart to shreds to say these things to his closest friend. He and his family had been in his life for so long, supported him through so much. But deep down he knew, that this was what Issei needed. He needed one final push. "But, you needn't worry in the least, I'll slaughter them slowly. It won't be too quick."

Issei's eyes glowed and he smacked (Y/N)'s charging blast away, sending it flying. Resulting in a nearby mountain being obliterated from the massive blast.

(Y/N) slowly looked back at the angered devil, seeing him become enveloped within a veil of red and green dragonic aura.

"My family...My parents...Are innocent. They have NOTHING...To do with this!" Issei growled, his aura exploded, erupting like a massive volcano. "If you do anything to them, anything to my family...I will..."

(Y/N) smiled, watching Issei stand with such strong resolve. 'There we go. Break through, Issei. Break through...My brother.'

"MAKE YOU PAY!!!!!!" The Red Dragon Emperor roared, his magical energy exploding in his violent rage.

WELSH DRAGON!!! OVER BOOSTER!!!

His boosted Gear shined a brilliant emerald green glow encasing Issei within.

The ground shook with a massive earthquake as the sky turned pitchblack and thunder roared, striking the land below with massive red blots of lightning.

As the light proceeded s to die down and the wind settled, the azure scaled devil lowered his arms and looked before him, a smile crept onto his face. What stood before the Azure Dragon Emperor was his fellow Pawn, clad in his red dragon armor once more, surging with raw power.

Issei stared malicious daggers at the young dragon hybrid. "I'm gonna kick your fucking ass. YOU HEAR ME?!" He roared, charging at (Y/N) with lightning fast speed, quickly appearing right in front of the bewildered devil. "YOU BASTARD!!!" He roared once more, slamming his fist into (Y/N) hands as he tried to block the oncoming attack.

A massive burst of magical energy shot out from (Y/N) sending him sliding back from the brute force of the blow.

Issei immediately gave chase, only to deliver an onslaught on punches. Each of them more stronger than the other. Steam began to erupt as the intensity of the blows grew.

(Y/N) did everything in his power to block each one of the enraged Dragon Emperor's attacks, but quickly began to lose his balance as his knees began to cave under the sheer force.

(Y/N) broke the barrage and ducked down, sweep kicking the armor clad devil and sent him falling backwards.

Issei planted his clawed into the ground, and kicked (Y/N) into the sky with both of his talons.

The ascending dragon hybrid stopped himself by sprouting his wings, halting himself in midair. He looked down to where he was launched, quickly noticing the Issei was gone.

The Red Dragon Emperor appeared from behind and sledgehammered (Y/N), rocketing him back down to the ground in a massive explosion.

From the massive crater arose the Azure Dragon hybrid, pushing the fallen and broken ground off of him. 'This is incredible. I knew he had it in him, but to think it would give him this much power is just...It's unthinkable.' The Azure Dragon Emperor thought to himself.

"(Y/N)!!! ABOVE!!!" Starvlador warned, prompting the young devil to look up in shock, seeing a massive red blast attack forming.

"EAT THIS!!!" The Red Dragon Emperor roared, "DRAGON SHOT!!! CRIMSON BOMBER!!!" The Red Dragon Emperor punched the massive red and green sparked sphere with all his might, launching the blast towards (Y/N).

Quickly planting his feet into the ground and bracing himself, (Y/N) caught the blast with his bare hands. He slid across the ground as he continued to struggle to keep the attack from touching the ground and setting it off.

Issei landed back down and began punching Dragon Shot after Dragon Shot into his massive attack, making the sphere bigger with each added attack.

'Okay, I'm starting to think I might've gone a little too far with this!'

"Oh?! You think?!" Shouted Starvlador.

(Y/N) grunted as he pushed back Issei's attack, eventually yelling as he let the blast go to kick it into the sky, causing it to explode in a brilliant burst of crimson red and green dragonic energy. The dragon hybrid staggered back a few steps, stopping as he smiled and took in air, sighing in relief.

Issei saw this as an opportunity, quickly charging at the seeming unsuspecting devil, delivering a powerful punch. His armored fist collided and another blast of red and greed emerged between the two devils.

The onlooking deviled his behind barrier summoned by the King and Queen, holding onto each other and the ground of hopes of not being blown away by Issei's raw power.

The wind eventually died down, allowing everyone to stand once again.

The ORC dusted themselves off as they caught their breathe.

"So does anyone else have-" Kiba began to ask.

"YES!!!" Everyone replied.

"Everywhere..." Groaned Koneko.

"...Oh my God." Akeno awed, her jaw practically hit the ground by the sheer shock of the scene before her and the other devils.

Issei's hand had been stopped by (Y/N), who smiled contently as he kept his hold.

"Alright, that's enough." He claimed. "Don't ever forget this feeling." He ordered.

Issei's eyes widened in confusion under his helm. "Wait wha-?" His armor quickly disappeared into red stardust as he collapsed to the ground. He fell onto his back and panted heavily for air in exhaustion, looking at his smiling fellow Dragon Emperor.

"There are a myriad of methods towards unlocking Balance Breakers. The most prominent one being anger." (Y/N) explained. "So hold onto that feeling you just had." He said, lending a hand to his weary friend.

The brunette simply look baffled as to what had just occurred, but slowly pieced it all as he rose up off the ground. "So wait...All this time...All that shit you said...You were just tryin' to help me?"

(Y/N) chuckled. "Of course I was! Did you really think I was going to do something like that?! Come on man, you and your family have been there for me since my life went to shit. Before that even! Did I really sound that convincing?" He questioned.

Issei scratches his head and looked away in embarrassment. Giving the shocked devil his answer.

"Wow...Maybe I should consider it a career in acting if I sounded that believable." He pondered with a smirk. "That or you're still just a gullible idiot." He jeered.

"Hey!" Issei barked.

"Well whatever the case, you understand now. Right?" The (H/C) dragon hybrid questioned.

"Hell yeah!" Issei cheered proudly.

"Good. Now do it again." (Y/N) ordered.

Issei choked for a moment, simply staring at his friend.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! DO IT NOW!! DON'T MAKE ME SAY IT AGAIN!!!" He roared in anger.

"R-Right! Okay!" Issei said as he stood tall.

He changed his emotions and focused on his rage, fueling it with his magical energy. "RED DRAGON!!!BALANCE BREAKER!!!" He unleashed a loud roar as his aura erupted and instantly donned his crimson red dragon armor once more.

"Well, look at that; you can focus on something that doesn't involve tits." (Y/N) said with a smile as he deactivated his own, causing his dragonic feature to return to normal.

Issei's armor quickly broke once more and he fell to his knees panting for air once more.

(Y/N) chuckled as he helped Issei up by flinging his arm over his head as he proceeded to head towards the others. "Guess you still need to work on maintaining your Balance Breaker. I would've figured since you whack it so much, it should've been easy for you to hold it for much longer."

"Hey, come on man..." Groaned the pervert, causing the two to laugh. "So what now? Are you gonna disappear again?" He asked worriedly.

(Y/N) hummed in though for a moment, quickly shaking his head. "Nah, I think I'm gonna take things easy for a while and hone what I already have for a couple days." He claimed. "After that, I'll focus on what I know I need. Control over my own power. And I know I'm gonna need help. So I'm not goin' anywhere anytime soon." The young devil claimed with a confident smile.

"Gotcha. Glad to see you're goin' easier on yourself." Issei smiled.

"Thanks...Though, I get the feeling I'm gonna get an earful from the others when we get back because of this whole fiasco." (Y/N) laughed awkwardly.

"Well...You did kinda start it."

(Y/N) chuckled as he saw Asia and the others rush to their side. "That I did my friend...That I did."