The Will to Protect

Despite the desperate situation, Issei was trying to find some way to help them escape this predicament they were in. With a bit of luck, he should be able to force his way out. Despite being a child himself and not having much training, he was the son of two dragon gods therefore possesses a great deal of strength rivalling even high-class devils according to his parents. However, this was only possible if he were by himself. Unlike him, Akeno was not taught much about her dormant powers yet by her parents and thus was not strong enough to deal with these enemies. At best, she might be able to deal fatal damage to any 2 winged devil due to their weakness to her holy lightning however her power does not currently possess the strength to deal with multiple enemies. Even worst was that he could see many 4 winged devils as well a few 6 winged devils which does not bode well for them. As he was trying to formulate any plan of escape, one of the devils made his way towards them. His back displayed 8 wings which would most likely make him the leader of this group of misfits.

"Greetings to you spawn of Ophis, my name is Valper paimon, pleasure to make your acquaintance." With a graceful bow the leader of the devils, now known as Valper Paimon, introduced himself to Issei. This only served to cause even greater unrest to Issei

"How do they know who I am?" was the thought currently going through his mind. It was less the fact that they knew his name but rather that they knew that Ophis was his mother. As far as he knows, his parents did everything in their power to ensure that his existence was kept a secret from everyone. The only people that know of him are Akeno and her family but other than them, it should have been impossible for anyone else, much less beings from the supernatural world to know of his identity. He became very frightened not only for his safety but also for Akeno's. He tried to contact his parents via magic as he was taught once but, no matter what, he was not able to connect through. Even Akeno tried using her phone but to no avail. Valper seeing what they were doing interjected

"I'm afraid that your efforts are futile! The barrier surrounding us will prevent any form of communication with the outside world. We cannot let that mother of yours intervene with our plans now can we. Now, I will offer this only once, surrender quietly and come with us! You are our priority target and I would rather like to take in one-piece boy."

"What is it that you want?" he tried asking them to buy as much time as he could.

"It is none of your business boy but, let's just say that the Ouroboros dragon owes us something and we have come to collect it, with a little bit of help from you. So, last chance, surrender now or we will take you by force." Issei understood that his indirect indication that they wanted to use him to get what they wanted from his mother which angered him greatly.

"I'll take your silent treatment as a no. Not very smart of you, but then again what can you expect from a little brat." He then begun to issue orders to his subordinates "Men, please teach our junior here the error of his ways and get rid of the fallen angel scum behind him." As the devils finished surrounding them, Issei was evaluating his options.

Issei really wanted to change into his dragon form as it would greatly increase his chances of winning, but unfortunately could not do so for 2 reasons. One, his transformation, unlike his parents, requires time and concentration to perform which will leave him vulnerable for the devils to dispatch him and although his body is naturally tough thanks to being a dragon, he could not take the risk. The second reason being Akeno's safety. When he enters his dragon form, a massive shockwave of power erupts from his being which would most certainly hurt, if not outright kill her, due to their proximity. Thus, he resolved himself to fight without entering his strongest state, however it does not mean he is entirely helpless. With a bit of training, his mother and father taught him how to transform parts of his body into a dragon and this, he could do instantaneously after a lot of practice. His form slowly began to shift as his arms grew dark crimson scales and turned into claws, his legs went through the same metamorphosis and, from his back, spawned two large dragon wings. Finally, his eyes turned into slits with his body leaking aura all around him signaling that he was ready for battle. Normally, he would also grow a tail, however due to a small mishap with his father, he seldom wishes to bring it out. During one of his physical training sessions with Great-red, his father took things a bit to far when Issei dodged his strike only to grab his tail and literally bash him from side to side thus, accidently, giving Issei a mental trauma regarding the use of his tail. Although this did prompt Ophis to give Great-red the biggest beat-down of his life he ever experienced. Anyways, although the chances of something like that occurring here is very small, he did not want to risk it. The more limbs he has to worry about, the less effective he will be able to concentrate in battle. A few of the devils, mainly the weaker one, were a bit frightened by the sight but reminded themselves that they were still dealing with a child.

One overeager devil wanted to get this over with and charged towards Issei with a sword in hand. Before his superior could warn him, Issei intercepted him with a burst of speed unheard of for a 7-year-old child and sent a haymaker towards the devil's stomach, breaking his ribs and causing him to spurt blood and spit as he was sent flying backwards, landing on another unfortunate devil and losing consciousness. Many were surprised by the power displayed by Issei and became hesitant to attack after that.

"You fools, even if he is a child, do not forget that he is the spawn of a dragon god." Valper stated. He then began to issue orders to everyone.

"Make sure not to attack him individually. As you've seen, he is still very strong despite being a child. The low-class devils should focus on supporting them whenever you can We must not fail this mission! UNDERSTOOD."

"YES SIR" a collective shout was heard and that was the signal for the start of the battle as two devils went to flank Issei. One came from his left and the other from the right. Under normal circumstances, a battle of this magnitude would be impossible for Issei, however he possessed one advantage over his adversaries and that is his naturel born instincts as a dragon. His father and mother had always told him to rely on his instincts in battle because it is what makes dragons truly fearsome to deal with. They have never lied to him to this day so he will not start now considering he is literally fighting for his life. Letting his instincts guide him, he dodged the first incoming attack by shifting to the side and using the momentum spun around to deliver a roundhouse kick to the devil's face which instantaneously knocked him unconscious. He then unleashed a fire breath towards the other devil reducing him to ash. Seeing this, several devils began shooting demonic projectiles trying to defeat him using long range attacks; however, Issei used his wings to shield him as the projectiles hit him leaving barely any scratches.

While Issei was focused on defending from the long-range assault, another devil tried to use this to his advantage to blind side him and attack him only to be hit by a lightning bolt, stunning him, curtesy of Akeno. This gave enough time for Issei to recognize the situation and immediately punched him blasting him a far distance away. He looked over to Akeno to thank her.

"Thanks for the save, Akeno" he smiled to her

"Anytime Issei" she replied as she smiled back to him as both refocused on their enemies.

Valper was frustrated that this was taking way longer than it should have as he barked even more orders

"What the hell are you all doing? Have you all forgotten that dragons are highly resistant to magic so use them only to provide support while melee attackers get into position. I do not want to see anymore screw or I will personally deal with any incompetents. AND SOMEONE get rid of that disgusting fallen angel". The battle resumed as the devil followed their orders. Although Valper was an evil bastard, you could tell he was an experienced commander who was used to battle. The first wave of devils started charging at both of them. Issei placed himself in front of Akeno to protect her while she will try to provide as much support as she could with her holy powers. A devil takes flight to attack him from above as he dives towards him while another stronger devil, simultaneously attacks him with a burst of speed from the side thrusting a demonic empowered fist towards Issei. Surprised by the speed displayed, Issei had no choice but to brace himself and cross his arms taking the empowered strike with his body making him slide a few feet away from his original position showing how strong the strike was. Another devil shot a demonic beam towards Issei hoping to distract him from his ally assault but the attack was intercepted by Akeno's holy lighting. With the beam dealt with, Issei was able to quickly shift his focus to the incoming assault from above. Using his wings as a barrier, he was able to deflect the incoming attack to his side causing an opening in the devil's defence and striking him to the ground. While Issei was preoccupied, a few devils tried to bypass Issei in order to strike Akeno but even though her lighting was not strong, it was enough to delay them while Issei, having immerged from the assault unscathed, finished them off with either his fire or his physical strength.

Multiple attackers soon launched themselves towards him. The first swung in a wide arc towards Issei right section, causing Issei to dodge to his left where the other one was lying in wait and quickly thrust his blade towards Issei's chest but in a remarkable display of acrobatics, was able to leap over him and, this time, flying into the air on his dragon wings came sailing down crashing the devil into the ground causing a small crater to appear underneath him. All of a sudden, his instincts warned him of impeding danger as he jumped from his spot in time to dodge a 6 winged-devil who almost managed to cleave him in half. While in the air, he launched his breath killing a few supporters while managing to critically injure the 6 winged-devil. He landed on the ground only to find himself bombarded with more projectiles causing him to focus on defense. Suddenly, in the brief opening caused by the devils, Valper quickly attacked Issei from his blind spot which separated him from Akeno. Not even his instincts were fast enough to warn him in time as he landed a few feet away with his side bleeding a bit. Valper smirked and taunted Issei

"Although you possess the power of a dragon-god, it is useless if you do not know how to utilize it in combat so be a good boy and submit already and you will not get hurt… much". He laughed a bit while multiple 4-winged devils went forth to continue the assault on Issei, not allowing him even a moment to breath. At that moment, he heard Akeno shriek, quickly turning his attention to her.

'damn it' he silently cursed himself, for not realizing that he had been separated from Akeno which was most likely Valper's plan considering the big grin on his face. His worst fear is coming true. Without him bearing the brunt of the assaults, Akeno became vulnerable. She is simply not strong enough to deal with many enemies by herself. Her lighting might make the lesser devils worry but the stronger ones would barely feel a thing as shown by Valper moments ago. Taking his shot, a 2 winged-devil shot a projectile towards her which luckily missed, hitting just in front of her but still caused her to fall backwards which caused the shriek he heard before. Seeing her fall, the devil quickly drew his sword and charged towards her. Fortunately, she was able to react in time and gather her lighting and shot the devil who could not dodge due to his charge and was hit point blank and reduced to ash. No sooner did he start breathing a sigh of relief that she was able to deal with the enemy, panic took hold of his heart as, to his despair, he noticed another devil attacking from Akeno's blind spot with a sword in hand ready to decapitate her head. Even worse, he still had to deal with multiple enemies coming towards him. He had to find a way to quickly get rid of them in order to be able to save Akeno. One of the assailants shot several projectiles towards him as the other two rushed him aiming to take him down. Normally, he would simply dodge them but since he was pressed for time, he decided to try something else. When the shots were about, he hit him, he used his wings to parry and redirect the shots back towards one of the attackers. It worked like a charm as the attacker that got hit was killed and it also destabilized the other one that was charging him. He quickly took action as Issei took the devils arm and swung him over his shoulder towards the ranged attacker stunning both of them for a moment but that was all he really wanted.

Using his momentum, he gained from his movement, he launched himself towards Akeno praying that he would make it in time, however his naturel instincts could tell of the inevitable conclusion he tried so very hard to deny. He knew that he wasn't going to make it to her in time. Everything starting appearing in slow-motion as his mind tried to come up with any ideas to save Akeno

'what do I do… what do I do… something, ANYTHING or Akeno-chan will die'

Despair was setting in when he saw that he wasn't going to make it.

"AKEEENNNOOOO" he screamed when all of a sudden, his body seemed to move at lightning speed and he suddenly found himself in back of Akeno, just as the devil was about to decapitate her. He did not know how he got here, but he had no time to question this miracle as he crossed his wings to shield him and Akeno from the blow. When the sword hit, it snapped into pieces not being able to pierce through his thick scales.

"How did he..." was all the devil managed to say before Issei, taking advantage of his blunder, struck a blow sending him soaring towards a tree, saving Akeno in the process who looked behind her just in time to notice him save her.

"Thank you Issei." She said

"No problem, just try to be careful of your surroundings" he said to which she nodded. Issei noticed that she was starting to breath heavily signaling how tired she was becoming, which makes sense since, since unlike him who possessed an immense amount of energy, she had never really experienced any type of extreme training, much less a fight so the situation was getting worse for them both. Eventually, even he will run out of stamina and they will become easy picking for the devils. The previous ability he used, although unknown, used quite a bit of stamina to use. He tried to call out whatever power he used to save Akeno but it didn't work so he thought it might have been a one-time thing.

"Well now, you are just full of surprises aren't you" Valper exclaimed, not fully understanding how the little runt managed to intercept the attack. It seemed as though he teleported but it did not appear that way. Anyways, he needed to finish this as soon as possible otherwise Beelzebub would have his head. He already lost several devils to mere children which is something that will greatly displease Shalba so he had to make his objective a success or suffer his wrath.

"It seems I will have to deal with this myself" making his decision, Valper stormed towards Issei, who noticed him and, this time, was ready to intercept him

Issei and Valper started to exchange blows with one another. Although Valper had more battle experience than Issei, his instincts were able to aid him in dodging the devils blows. Unfortunately, there are times that Valper's blows do hit Issei as although his instincts can keep up with his enemy, his body has yet to develop to match his instincts. Still, his defences managed to reduce the damage dealt by Valper whenever he landed a hit thanks to his scales. The natural tough defence of a dragon's body is very helpful.

Issei rushed forwards and sent a right hook towards Valper's face but, seeing the attack coming, Valper simply swayed his body back a bit to dodge the attack. Issei realized to late the mistake he made because now his attack left him vulnerable as Valper took full advantage of and counter-attacked him with a punch enhanced with demonic energy straight to the face prompting a cry of pain from issei as blood trickled down his lips while sending him flying across the field. Thankfully, he utilized his wings to regain his balance and managed to land right besides Akeno who used her lightning to dispatch a 2 winged devil who got to close. He also blocked a demonic shot that was aimed at her by crossing his arm and taking the hit for her although it did nothing but scratch him.

"Are you Ok Akeno?" he asked her without looking at her, always keeping his eyes on the enemy without dropping his guard, especially Valper

"Well now, it seems you are incredibly persistent. Despite being a child, you have managed to deal quite a hefty amount of damage here, even despatching some of the lower level devils. In the future, you would have become quite a menace. Yet, you are really starting to drive my patience you little brat. In fact, this has gone on for long enough. Originally, we were planning to retrieve you in one piece but so long as you are alive, our objective will be met so it is time to end this." Valper started forming sphere of demonic energy between his hands. Issei could tell that he was gathering an immense amount of demonic energy.

"Normally, an attack like this would kill a child such as yourself, but your naturel defenses will keep you alive, although barely which is more than I can say for that fallen angel behind you. This is the end" as he shot a demonic blast towards them.

Issei quickly got in front of Akeno and gathered as much power as he could in the bits of his stomach and launched his very own dragons roar as an orange wave of fire burst forth. Both attacks collided in the center and started pushing against one another trying to dominate the other. The stalemate did not last long as Valpers attack was slowly pushing back Issei's attack. Issei tried to output more power into his attack, yet it seemed to me his current limit. His mind recalled his earlier training with his parents.

Flashback

Issei was practicing in the dimensional gap with his father to utilize his breath attack. He gathered as much power as possible in the center of his stomach and then expelled the flame outwards. Unfortunately, the results were unsatisfactory for Issei. While his dad praised him to be able to generate a roar that could annihilate any 4 winged devil/fallen-angel or angel especially for a youngling of only 7 years of age, Issei felt his attack lacking as it did not give the impact he saw his parents breath do.

"What am I doing wrong, dad. I'm doing exactly as you told me yet my own power is not doing what I wanted." He started complaining to his dad which he found absolutely adorable. He and Ophis really enjoy whenever Issei holds a tamper tantrum although they would never tell him that so he simply chuckled at his sons display.

"I want to be as cool and strong as you guys in order to make you proud" Issei said

"I understand Issei but what you are talking about is more along the lines of motivation. You must find something worth treasuring with your entire being. Dragons are beings of fearsome might especially when protecting that which they hold dear. It can be literally anything my son. For Tannin, it is the preservation of the dragon's race. For the Heavenly dragons Ddraig and Albion, it was their rivalry to one another. For Fafnir, it is the collection of treasures he collected over the centuries. Hell, even a lust for battle as seen with the Evil dragons are the source of their almighty strength. Each one of them have something that they would dedicate their entire being to. You just need to figure out what it is. Your mother and I cannot help you in that regard. This is your journey, your life and will be up to you to figure out what you want to be.

And for the record Issei, no matter what type of dragon you wish to become or how powerful you are, know that Ophis and I will always, for all eternity be proud of you because our treasure, that which we hold dearest, is and always has been you."

"Your father is absolutely right about that Issei. No matter what you do, we will always love you because you are our son" Ophis added as she formed a wonderful smile towards him. This cause Issei to cry a bit as he went and hugged his parents so happy to have their support and love no matter what.

"Alright, enough of this sappy display, lets continue training" Great-red said which caused everyone to chuckle a bit before Issei responded with

"Yes"

End of flashback

Recalling his fathers' words, he started thinking

'what kind of dragon do I want to be' he asked himself, however no matter what his decision would not chance from the answer he gave his father. He wants to be as strong and majestic like his father, graceful loving like his mother. His parents are and will always be his idols regarding what kind of awesome and cool looking dragon he wants to be.

'what do I treasure most.'

His mind wondered to the people who were close to him. His mother and father, Aunty Shuri and Uncle Barakiel, especially… Akeno.

I..

Valper's blast was inching closer and closer

I..

I WANT TO PROTECT THOSE I LOVE

All of a sudden, he felt a surge of power gush from his being as his fire suddenly increased in both intensity and size. In addition, the color of the fire changed from an orange hue to dark crimson just like his scales. His newfound strength slowly began to overpower Valpers attack. Seeing this sudden reversal, Valper became frustrated since he held the advantage just a moment ago

"What the hell is happening? Where did this surge of power come from?" he screamed as he tried to add even more power to his attack however it seemed to have no effect. His allies tried adding their own power to aid him however, the moment their attack came close to Issei fire, they evaporated from the sheer intensity of it.

"No no no no, this cannot be! I refuse to be defeated by a mere infant. I will not be defeated here you damn monster". He tried everything he could but nothing mattered as his blast quickly dissipated as Issei breath attack enveloped Valper

"CCCUUUUUURRRSSSSEEEEE YOOOOOOUUUUU DRAGON" he cursed as he took his last breath of life. Huge explosions followed wherever his breath travelled causing a massive amount of smoke

After the dust cleared Issei sees that his breath attack scorched the leader as well as any unfortunate devil caught in its way to ashes. The force of his attack was also powerful enough to destroy part of the barrier that surrounded them.

The remaining devils could not believe their eyes at the destruction caused by the boy. The power he demonstrated was enough to destroy their leader with little resistance and he was powerful enough to have 4 pairs of wings.

"What a monster" was what was going through each of their minds as their bodies shook in fear at the overwhelming might displayed in front of them.

Seeing that his breath attack destroyed many devils including the leader, his fatigue suddenly came back in full force. He used every last drop of power he could muster and finally collapsed on the floor as his consciousness was leaving him. Before succumbing to it he was able to hear Akeno screaming his name.

When Issei woke up, he found himself in a room that was not his, but looking at his surrounding recognized as the guest room located in Akeno's home. When he tried to get up, he felt a bit of weight on his hand, so he turned his attention to it only to find that Akeno was located near him, grasping his hand for dear life and he noticed that she was asleep next to him. Trying to recall what had happened, his memories of the events that transpired slowly resurfaced as he remembered what had happened. A group of devils suddenly appeared out of nowhere with the goal of kidnapping him for reasons he had no idea. They tried to kill Akeno but he somehow found the strength needed to protect her and finally managed to master his fire breath which annihilated all the remaining devils including the 10 winged devil leader. But then, his memory became a blue so he guessed he must have collapsed at that moment.

He suddenly felt Akeno stir in her slept meaning that she was about to wake up and sure enough her eyelids slowly opened revealing her beautiful violet eyes. Upon seeing Issei awake, she quickly embraced him, encasing his head into her decent developed chest, for a seven-year-old girl. The perks of being born part fallen. She started sobbing so thankful that he was awake.

"Thank god, you are aright Issei. I was so worried when I saw you collapse, I.. I thought that you died." She said as tears poured out of her eyes. Seeing this, he embraced her trying to sooth her as he rubbed her back.

"I'm OK Akeno-chan, sorry for making you worry so much." He tried his best to reassure her as he continued. "Also, are you ok, I remembered that those bastards injured you and I want to make sure you are alright"

Slowly getting out of his embrace and staring him right in the eyes, she immediately replied

"You idiot, you were injured way worst than I was taking on those devils and yet here you are worrying about me instead of yourself." Issei could tell from her voice that she was extremely worried about him which made him feel sad at causing her to feel this way. He used his thumbs to wipe away her tears

"You are my best friend, Akeno-chan, so, of course I am going to worry about your safety. I am just glad that I was able to protect you." He told her as he gave her a smile showing he meant every word of it. His sincerity caused her to blush as she dove her head back in his chest and enjoyed his embrace. Eventually they separated and Issei asked her

"Can you tell me what happened after I lost consciousness since I'm guessing a bit happened considering that I know I was not able to finish them all" he asked her to which she nodded as she retold him what happened after he passed out.

(Akeno's Perspective from a few hours ago)

After Issei launched his devastating breath, Akeno marveled at the power her best friend unleashed. Once again, she was reminded of how strong Issei was compared to her. Here she was, barely able to defeat a 2-winged angel and yet he managed to deal critical damage to most if not all of them and even managed to defeat their leader as well as many others with his last attack. However, her wonder was cut short as she saw Issei fall

"ISSEI… ISSEI" she screamed with all her might quickly running towards him fearing for the worst. She was extremely worried as she picked him up and checked to see if he was still breathing. To her relief, she saw his chest rising slowly showing that he simply fell unconscious from the resulting attack. It shows how he placed every ounce of power he could into his attack. She wanted to quickly get back home and have his wounds checked out however, reality had other ideas. From the smoke, the remaining devils who survived the blast came out into the open also looking at the devastation caused by their target, still not believing what is in front of their very eyes.

"Holy shit, this brat is a fucking monster." One of them shouted although the thought was reciprocated by every single remaining survivor.

"I know, I cannot believe a mere brat was able to defeat so many of us including paimon-sama. We severely underestimated the brat despite knowing that he is Ophis spawn" one of the remaining 6-winged devils said, clearly enraged at the state they were reduced to but once he saw Issei unconscious, his attitude did a full 18 as a smirk appeared on his face.

"well, well, well, it seems the monster's finally hit his limit. I have to admit, for a moment, I did not believe we would survive this ordeal but it seems lady luck favors us today. We may have lost almost half of our group including our leader but it seems we will be able to complete our objective here." He said as he slowly made his way towards Issei. Seeing this, Akeno immediately got in front of Issei and shouted

"I WILL NOT LET YOU TOUCH HIM!". Seeing this the six-winged devil started laughing which was accompanied by his companion's laughter.

"my, my, for a fallen angel weakling, you are certainly very brave." Facing towards her with the same awful smirk he wears "Brave yet also extremely foolish. How do you expect to stop us? Unlike that monster laying there, you are very weak."

Seeing him make his way towards them, Akeno gathered whatever remaining magic she could and shot it towards the approaching devil. As holy lightning was making its way towards him, he simply snuffed, and to prove his earlier point, he simply waved his hand and that was all that was required to dispel the attack which frightened Akeno.

"You see, you cannot do anything to stop us! While it's true that the holy attribute is, in fact, our biggest weakness, your level of power is much to weak to be able to damage a four-winged devil, let alone myself who is even stronger. As I just demonstrated, your attack was not even able to faze me. Even if I let your attack hit me, it would not even have counted on the level of a mosquito bite. Anyways, this shit has taken far to long in my opinion. We will take that buy and he will pay for what he did to us." Looking at her, he suddenly got a flash of inspiration on how to torment the boy.

"Oh, I just got an excellent idea to make him suffer. It seems the abomination had cared for you very much considering how far he went to protect you from harm. How about this? I will make sure that when he wakes up, the first thing he will see is your head on a spike. Bahahaha, oh I cannot wait to see the look of despair he will have when he realizes that he failed to protect anything and his struggles were all useless. What a pleasant sight that will be. Aren't I right boys?" he asked his comrades who all nodded and even laughed at his suffering which disgusted Akeno to her very core, yet she could do nothing but let out a few tears, powerless to do anything. Her look of despair brought immeasurable joy to the six-winged devil as he started gathering a lot of demonic power in his hand and pointed it towards them.

"Time to die, fallen angel." He said as he shot the blast of demonic power at them.

Knowing her end was in sight, she simply embraced Issei as she closed her eyes waiting for her inevitable demise.

All of a sudden, the barrier surrounding them broke apart as an immense amount of holy lighting intercepted the demonic energy quickly dispelling it as it made contact with it. Akeno opened her eyes to see what happened and to her relief saw her father bathed in holy lightning standing in front of them. However, this time she bore witness to a side of her father that she had never seen. In front of her, stood a very enraged Barakiel glaring furiously at the devils.

"How dare you shits harm my daughter." He shouted as he released a charge of holy lightning towards the devils and unlike his daughter's attack, his attack obliterated from existence any devils that stood in its range. Seeing a fallen angel cadre make his appearance caused the devils to jerk away in fear knowing they stood no chance against him. Yet, their fear was taken a notch higher when they saw who stepped forward behind Barakiel. Making their way forward was an enraged Ophis followed by Great red. The power radiating from them was immeasurable and caused many devils to pee in their pants knowing who stood before them. Luckily, or unluckily, they did not recognize that the man standing before them was Great-red. If they did, they most likely would have died from shock the instant they saw both dragon gods enter their view.

"OH SHIT, ITS OPHIS, EVERYONE RETREAT NOW!" one of them shouted with extreme fear however before they could take one step, an overwhelming amount of killing intent was directed towards which rendered them immobile. Even Barakiel was flinching at their power even though their rage was not directed towards him.

"None of you vermin are going anywhere." Stated Great-red. He motioned his hand upwards as he made a newly constructed barrier around them for multiple reasons. The first, being the obvious one, to prevent any of the accursed devils to escape from them. They have harmed his son and they will regret it very painfully. The second reason is to be able to contain the release of power that is emanating from both dragon gods since they are beyond enraged at this point in time and it was taking every single fiber of their being to keep their powers from exploding outwards and destroying the entire country of japan and all its residence.

In the supernatural world, there was one fact that every supernatural being agreed upon and that is to "never cause a dragon's outrage less you live to see another day". Dragons have always one of the strongest, if not the strongest species to ever roam the world. It is the reason why many have feared them and even hunted them down. However, they become the most dangerous creatures when angered. Even a low-level dragon, when outraged, can cause widespread destruction. Heck, it took the three factions, including God and the original 4 devil kings to make a temporary truce amongst themselves to deal with the two enraged heavenly dragons Albion and Ddraig and even though they succeeded, hundreds of thousands of people died in the conflict. This illustrated to the entire world that you do not mess with an angry dragon because if you do you may not live to see another day. Angering the dragon-gods is something no faction, even the Hindu faction, would ever dare to attempt less they face extinction. These devils were about learn the hard way what it means to anger not one but both dragon-gods.

What happened next was not a 'battle' but rather a one-sided slaughter as they all completely obliterated all of them from the phase of existence. Even the surrounding park vanished leaving only destruction and ruin in its wake. Many of the devils were tortured to death by Ophis as she exploded each of their limbs, one by one making sure to make their death as excruciating as possible before death embraced them. Great red simply evaporated each one of them. He did not care to maim or torture them. All he cared about was to make them pay for they did to his son and like insects, he would simply crush them. In the end, not a single devil remained in sight.

"It is finished!" Great red said stoically as he looked at the surrounding destruction his wife and him caused (with a little bit of help from Barakiel :p lol).

"Don't you think you overdid it a little?" Barakiel asked looking at the ruined scenery in front of him.

"Sorry my friend, but we needed to let out a bit of steam and you know as well as I that they deserved every bit of it for what they did to our children." He answered back at him.

"They deserved far worst than that" Ophis added angrily still not over the fact that her little Issei was harmed. Great red walked next to her and brought his hand near her waist and embraced her which managed to calm her down a bit.

"You are right. We should fix this place before heading home."

"Leave that to me" as Great-red snapped his fingers and the damage to the park and its surroundings immediately disappeared as everything returned to normal. One would never guess an apocalyptic massacre occurred there. Ophis then went to pick up her unconscious son where she caressed her sons face as her anger shifted to sadness seeing the poor state of Issei. Barakiel did the same for his daughter as she barely had the strength to stand up after everything she's been through.

(End of Akeno's explanation)

Afterwards, our parents took us back home and treated our wounds. Aunty Ophis has been taking care of you everyday and it took much convincing to pry her off of you.

"I see. Thanks for feeling in the blanks for me Akeno-chan. I didn't get the chance to say this but I'm sorry for everything that you have been through. For whatever reason, those devils were after me and you would not have been hurt if it were not for me" he soberly said as moved his head towards the floor.

Akeno embraced him. "It's OK. You protected me from them just like you promised. I'm just really glad that you are alright as well". As they were consoling each other, they heard a small laugh coming from the door

"ara ara, it seems I am interrupting something. If it means seeing my daughter react like this, then maybe Issei should get injured a bit more" she jokingly said as both quickly separated each wearing a big blush on their faces

Although Shuri was teasing them, from her tone you could tell how relieved she was to see him awake and well. She approached them and sat down near Issei.

"I'm so relieved that you are alright Issei." She smiled at him who recovered from his blush and he smiled back

"Yes, Aunty Shuri, I'm fine. Dragons are very resilient after all, at least according to my dad."

"I also wanted to thank you so much. If it wasn't for you, God knows what would have happened to Akeno. You managed to protect her from those devils despite being injured and so from the bottom of my heart, I thank you" she sincerely told him as she bowed her head.

Seeing this, Issei started waving his hands left and right

"Please don't bow to me aunty. Akeno is my best friend but more than that, I see all of you as part of my family. I will protect those that I care about. That is the sort of person I want to be" he told her. She responded by giving him a hug.

"ufu, what a fine young man you will turn out to be. It seems that Akeno will be in good hands" she casually said which surprised Issei

"wait… what I di…" all of a sudden, the door burst open and all of them turned their attention towards it to see who caused the commotion. From the entryway, they saw that it was Ophis, who as soon as she sensed her son awake quickly bolted towards his room. Seeing him awake and healthy, in a burst of speed no saw coming, she rushed towards him and embraced him into her chest while a well of tears dripped down her face

"Issei, my baby boy, I'm so grateful you are alright. I'm sorry you had to go through all that pain and suffering. What a horrible mother I am to allow such a thing to happen to you."

While issei was very grateful for his mother's concern, her breasts were currently suffocating him as she is using a bit more strength than she intended so he was trying to escape her grasp to catch his breath but to no avail as his strength pales in comparison to his mother. However, salvation came to him very soon in the form of his father.

"Ophis, calm down a little bit. You are suffocating the poor lad. Are you trying to finish what those devils started?" his father told Ophis. Quickly realizing he was right, she let go of her son who took a few deep breaths. Ophis blushed a little at what she did and told Issei she was sorry but Issei told her that it was ok, he then looked at his father and thanked him for the save. Great-red patted his boy's head then gave him his own embrace

"Well done my son! I am extremely proud of you with what you accomplished and like your mother, I am extremely happy that you are safe." He let go Issei afterwards, as Barakiel came from behind him and knelt down in front of Issei to give him a hard embrace as well.

"Issei my boy, thank you… thank you so very much for doing what I couldn't and protecting my daughter. If it wasn't for you, she would not be with us and for that you have my eternal gratitude. Thank you so much." Issei heard him say and he could tell from his voice that he was crying with relief showing how much he meant every word. Issei returned his embrace and said

"No problem uncle Barakiel, like I told aunty Shuri, I will always protect those I care about." Great-red patted Issei head again, proud of his answer and Ophis gave him a wonderful smile illustrating how proud she was of her son as well.

(If it wasn't already clear by this point, both Issei and Akeno regard each other parents as aunts and uncles and they are all perfectly fine with it 😊)

"Now Issei, although we already heard most of what happened from Akeno, I would like you to tell us of the events that occurred from your perspective if you do not mind." Issei nodded and began explaining everything that occurred since the moment they entered the park to the point where he lost consciousness. Shuri and Barakiel were once again reminded of how close Akeno came to lose her life were it not for Issei. Ophis was furious that those worthless devils harmed her son and also proud of her son for his strength. Great-red was equally proud of his son as he also realized that he may have unconsciously used an ability that stems from his domain during his battle with the devils

"hmm, very interesting. From what you told me, it appears you activated an ability of mine called 'distortion'. In it's true form, the ability allows me to distort reality like its name suggest, making something out of nothing and making the impossible possible. In simpler terms, it is just like in a dream where anything you can imagine becomes real. What you accomplished was the basic form of the ability. It allowed you to react in a burst of speed unthinkable from your distance in order to intercept the attack that was headed towards Akeno." He explained to his son.

"But, how come I couldn't activate it again afterwards?" he asked.

"You must have activated the ability subconsciously, your strong desire to protect Akeno from harm must have brought out the ability from within you but at the moment, your body is too weak to handle the continuous power and stress of using my abilities. Still, for you to activate subconsciously this early, illustrates the bountiful potential you hold within you my son. I have never been prouder of you my boy." Great-red stated which caused Issei to smile with a blush. His mother also agreed with his father.

"Anyways, what is your take on this Barakiel as you have more experience handling devils than us?" to which Barakiel started thinking before answering

"From what Issei and my daughter told us, at first, I thought that it was a group of stray devils who happened to come across our kids but this felt too organised to that. They even knew that Issei was Ophis child which makes it all the more puzzling how they found out considering how you've been keeping a low profile and not interacting with anyone other than us. And, before you ask, I swear on my family that none of us ever told a single soul about you. I can stake my life on that." The dragons both nodded trusting it wasn't them. They develop a friendly relationship with them and know they would not put any of them in jeopardy. Barakiel continued "They have been carefully planning their moves until Issei was vulnerable where they trapped him in a barrier which prevented even you guys from sensing the danger and ambushed him. We were lucky that Issei was able to destroy part of the barrier which allowed you to sense the danger or our children wouldn't be with us today. The question becomes who is bold and stupid enough to even attempt a kidnapping knowing Issei is the son of a dragon-god? I can safely say that none of the three factions would ever attempt a suicidal activity like this since they do not wish to invoke your wrath on them. If it was the fallen angels, Azazel would have warned me about it. The devils would have most likely evacuated the area or even send all 4 Maous to attempt something like this. Lastly, I don't see Michael and the angels targeting an innocent child no matter which species they belong to. So then, this would be the efforts of a rogue devil group which would further indicate that this was indeed done by strays' devils. If I had the resources to investigate, I may have been able to come to a solid conclusion, however unless I bring in Azazel to help us, it would be extremely hard to do. Anyhow, since their attempt has failed, they may be trying to recuperate and try again so I suggest we keep our kids within eye sight at all times until we can be sure that they are safe from any other attempts" Barakiel stated as everyone agreed with his decision as well.

They all decided to end this little meeting in order to allow everyone some due rest much needed after all the stress this incident caused. Unknown to Issei however, was that Akeno failed to mention or was to embarrassed to let him know of something else that happened. Before their parents saved them from the attack, she also whispered a few words to him thinking her end was in sight.

As she embraced Issei awaiting her demise, she whispered "I'm sorry Issei-kun… I love you"

(Old-Maou Faction Headquarters)

Unbeknownst to Ophis and the rest, there was a survivor from the group that assaulted Issei and Akeno who observed the entire situation from afar and quickly evacuated before they could sense and obliterate him. Now, he was making his way towards his leaders to explain of the events that transpired knowing that they would be displeased with the results. He opened the doors leading to the room where all 3 descendants of the Maou's were discussing their future plans. They turned towards him wanting to see who disturbed their meeting. Beelzebub was clearly annoyed at this and snapped at the poor fellow.

"Why have you interrupted our meeting? You better have a good reason for wasting our precious time?" The devil gulped and took a deep breath before answering him

"My lords, I am part of the group that has been assigned to kidnap the spawn of Ophis and I came to relay the news"

"Then off with it! Let's hear it." The devil then explained the events that occurred and as expected Beelzebub was furious while the other 2 were displeased that their plan had failed.

"YOU ARE ALL SO USELESS." Beelzebub screamed as he shot a block of demonic power towards the messenger killing him instantly. He then proceeded to smash the table in front of him trying to dispel his anger but with little success

"DAMN IT, now how are we supposed to acquire Ophis power. We concocted in order to force it to give us power only for it to end in failure. All that time and manpower wasted and FOR NOTHING." Letting out his demonic power which forced his subordinates to run outside lest they face the same fate as their earlier brethren leaving only the other 2 descendants to deal with him.

"Calm yourself Shalba. You are disgracing the title of Beelzebub with this display" Katerea told him. Shalba turned his attention towards and sneered ay her

"Don't you dare mock me, Katerea. This was all your idea in the first place and it ended in failure. I knew we should have sent one of us with those idiots to ensure success yet both of you denied it." This time Creuserey Asmodeus responded to him

"Do not be a fool Shalba. You know as well as I do why we could not gone with them. Unlike our servants, Ophis would have definitely been able to recognize us and the last thing we want is for it to get in our way. Based on how the situation went for them, it seems we underestimated the boy but, in the end, they were all obliterated by Ophis. If we went with them and she saw us, she would have instantly known it was us and her wrath would have descended upon us! Our ambitions would have ended then and there. Is that what you want Shalba?" Creuserey vented towards him. Usually, Creuserey is always calm but seeing Shalba insult the women he loves invoke his anger. Katerea continued after him

"Thankfully, from what he told us, those idiots did not reveal any important information regarding their allegiance so they would most likely believe the group to be stray devils and not suspect that it was us who orchestrated everything. It is a real shame that we will not be able to acquire Ophis power but we need to cut our losses and move on. Any further assault on Ophis spawn will just redirect her anger at us which is something we cannot afford at the present time." Katerea calmly explained to both her colleagues.

"Then what the fuck do you suppose we do. Unless you forgot, we need that dragons power in order to usurp those fake maous and reclaim our rightful place in the underworld."

"We simply must find a different source of power so it would seem we have no choice but to contact 'him' for help. I contacted him once before and he said he would be happy to offer his aid so long as we help him with a few things" she told them. Eventually Shalba reluctantly agreed with his fellow Maou as his goals took priority over anything else. He will have his revenge against the new Maou and will become the ruler he was always meant to be whatever the sacrifices need to be made.