Issei stormed back home.
His heart was hammering as rage boiled in his veins like molten lava. Asia's terrified eyes burned behind his own, her small hand reaching out as Raynare's black wings swallowed her whole.
I let her get taken. Again. The thought twisted like a knife.
He shoved open the front door, hoping, praying Rias would be there.
The house was empty.
Miki was still out. Rias was gone.
He slammed the door behind him. The gauntlet pulsed hot against his arm, faint scales flickering beneath his skin. Heat shimmered around him, subtle but wrong, the air growing heavy with something ancient and volatile.
He needed help.
He needed her.
The Occult Research Club was only a short bike ride away. He tore through the streets, tracksuit soaked with sweat and fury. By the time he reached the old school building, his breathing was ragged, not from exhaustion, but from the dragon inside clawing to get out.
He burst through the clubroom door.
Kiba and Koneko were the only ones inside.
Kiba looked up from polishing a sword, eyes widening.
Koneko froze mid-bite of a candy bar, cat-like senses flaring.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Issei's dragon aura rolled outward, hot and oppressive. Koneko's pupils narrowed to slits. The aura pressed against her instincts, dominant and unfamiliar, forcing her shoulders to tense.
"What… happened to you?" Koneko's voice was quiet, almost reverent. She could practically see the rage radiating off him, crimson-black heat warping the air. Who pissed off a dragon?
Issei's eyes burned gold for a split second before fading back. "Where is Rias? I need her help. Raynare took Asia."
Kiba set the sword down slowly. "The president and Akeno are out on a contract," he said carefully. "Asia… the nun you were told to stay away from?"
Issei let out a low snarl, fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked. "Yes. But I'm not turning my back on someone who needs my help."
Koneko's tail stayed out now, twitching nervously. The dragon aura pressed against her like a predator's gaze, not hostile toward her… but overwhelming all the same. Her nekomata instincts urged her to lower her gaze, even as she stubbornly resisted. She rubbed her arms, shivering despite the heat. "It's… heavy. Like standing under a waterfall made of fire."
Kiba's hand tightened on his sword hilt, knuckles white. Sweat beaded on his brow. The aura's pressure made his blades feel heavier, his movements sluggish. "Issei… you're scaring her. And it's affecting me too. I can barely lift my sword."
Issei blinked, looking down at his trembling hands. He forced a breath, slow, deliberate. The aura dimmed just barely. Enough to move.
Inside the gauntlet, a deep rumble echoed.
Ddraig laughed."At last… You bare your fangs. Good. This is what a dragon feels like."
Scarlet's chibi form popped up in his mind, voice urgent. "Host, calm down. You're leaking aura like a broken dam. It's affecting your allies. Koneko's scared, Kiba's on edge. Focus. Rage without control is just fuel for mistakes."
Issei snarled internally. "Shut up, Scarlet. They took her. I'm getting her back."
Ddraig's voice rolled through him again, pleased. "Yes. Rage is honest. Rage is pure."
Scarlet snapped back, "Rage without control is stupidity. You are not a wildfire. You are a sovereign predator."
Issei's breathing roughened.
Scarlet tried again, tone soothing. "Breathe. Channel it. Remember the trials discipline, not destruction. You're a dragon, not a bomb."
It didn't work. The aura only intensified, heat rippling across the stone beneath his boots. Koneko stumbled a step, tail lashing. "Issei… too much…"
Kiba drew his sword. "We're with you. But if you lose control, we all pay."
Issei nodded tightly, forcing another breath. The aura receded slightly. Enough to move.
"Let's go," he growled. "The church. Now."
The aura rolled ahead of them like a heat wave. Vines along the church walls shrivelled slightly, leaves curling at the edges as heat shimmered around them. Rogue exorcists in the first wave staggered, holy light dimming in their blades. One dropped to a knee, gasping. "What… what is this pressure?"
Koneko lagged half a step behind, ears flat, tail lashing. "Can't… breathe right."
Kiba gritted his teeth. "It's like fighting underwater. The heat's warping my swords."
Scarlet's voice cracked with urgency. "Host! You're hurting them too! Pull it in now!"
Issei ignored her as they pushed through the doors.
The interior was a ruin, pews overturned, altar defiled with fallen angel runes. Waiting in the shadows: groups of rogue exorcists. Wild-eyed men in tattered robes, holy blades glinting, faces twisted with fanatic glee.
Six of them rushed forward, blades gleaming with unstable light.
Issei met them head-on.
Dragon Claw erupted over his arm in a flash of crimson scales.
His boosted claw smashed through the leader's guard, scales grinding against holy steel before splitting it apart.
Dark blood sprayed across broken pews. The aura pulsed with each hit, making the air heavy. Exorcists slowed, sweating under the pressure, their holy energy flickering against the draconic heat.
Ddraig roared with savage delight. "Yes! Break them!"
Scarlet's voice cut in cold and sharp."Control your breathing. Channel the boost. Do not waste output."
Issei stepped forward again
.
Not chasing. Advancing.
Kiba sliced through two in a blur, Sword Birth blades dancing. But even he felt the aura's weight, his movements a fraction slower. "Issei, dial it back!"
Koneko crushed another's skull with a rook-powered punch, but she winced, tail lashing. The aura pressed on her like a predator's gaze, instinct screaming, "Hot… too hot."
Scarlet's voice cut through sharply. "Output unstable. Emotional override detected. This is not dominance, this is chaos."
It failed as Issei's eyes glowed gold. Claws extended further. He tore through three in one swipe, blood splattering across shattered pews, steaming faintly against his heated scales.
Inside the gauntlet, Ddraig roared with savage delight."Yes! That is it! Let them feel the dragon's wrath!"
From the basement stairs emerged eight more, their leader a scarred priest whose glowing cross cast hard light across their faces."For the fallen! Purge the beast!"
Holy bullets rained down. Boost.
Issei twisted aside, but one round grazed his arm. Agony flared, searing through scale and flesh.
He welcomed it.
The aura flared outward in a violent pulse. Exorcists stumbled, their footing faltering under the draconic pressure.
The last exorcist collapsed, armour smoking where dragon fire had scorched it.
Issei panted, claws retracting slowly. The aura dimmed just enough.
Akeno's voice echoed in his memory: "Make sure he grows into a big, strong dragon."
He flushed despite himself. Not the time, brain.
Kiba wiped sweat from his brow, smirking faintly. "If that's what your aura does to enemies… I'd hate to see what it does to a date."
Koneko muttered, tail still twitching, "Too hot… like standing next to a furnace with hormones."
Issei choked. "I said I'm sorry!"
The priest laughed madly. "The dragon awakens! But too late!"
A blade burst through his chest.
Kiba withdrew it calmly. "Quiet."
The group fell, but the toll started to show on Koneko panting, Kiba wiping sweat, and Issei's aura still leaking.
They reached the basement door.
Raynare's voice drifted up, mocking, intimate."Come and get her, dragon boy. I'm waiting."
Asia's muffled cry followed.
Issei's aura flared one last time, controlled now, focused.
Inside the gauntlet, Ddraig's voice dropped low and hungry.
"Now, partner. Hunt."
Issei stepped forward.
Not raging.
Focused.
The rescue had begun.
Meanwhile, across town, Rias and Akeno walked side by side through Kuoh's shadowed backstreets. A faint crimson glow flickered in Rias's palm, coiled and ready to unleash.
Akeno glanced sideways, smile playful but eyes sharp. "Ara ara, are you sure it's a good idea to let them head out alone?"
Rias's expression remained calm, but her voice carried steel. "I need to let them grow."
Akeno's sadistic smile widened. "Let's go clean out the pests in our territory, then."
Rias's eyes glowed crimson, Power of Destruction coiling around her like black fire. "Let's show these fallen angels what happens when they touch what's mine."
Akeno laughed softly, lightning dancing between her fingers. "Ara ara… looks like my dear best friend is falling for our little dragon."
Rias didn't deny it.
She only smiled sharply, possessively, and very, very dangerously.