The White Dragon Emperor. Albion.
"Stop this."
The voice cut like cold steel, resonant, inhuman.
Issei's visor tilted, emerald crystal pulsing with power. His words hissed like venom. "Who are you to stop me?"
The white-armored figure materialized before him, gleaming in the moonlight. Wings of radiant energy spread wide, dwarfing the battlefield. The contrast was stark: Issei's black, bloodstained armor against Albion's pristine ivory plates, traced with glacial-blue lines that pulsed like veins.
Albion's voice rumbled low, directed toward an unseen presence. "It seems like, instead of the Devil, Kokabiel is the one who needs my assistance, Azazel."
Issei moved before the words finished. A blur of black-red power, emerald flames trailing. He was there—face-to-face with Albion in less than a heartbeat. His armored fist surged downward like a meteor.
"DIIIIIIIVIDE!" Albion's gauntlet roared, his Sacred Gear splitting the power with mechanical precision. "DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE!"
Even as his strength was halved again and again, Issei's punch slammed into Albion's chest. The ground screamed. Cracks spiderwebbed outward as Albion was hurled from the sky, smashing into the earth in an eruption of dust and stone. The shockwave threw Kokabiel's mangled body like a ragdoll across the ruins.
The earth trembled as Albion rose from the crater. Dust cascaded from his immaculate armor. His blue eyes glowed cold within the helm. "Even divided, your strike carries weight. But…" He raised a hand. "You're bleeding."
Issei staggered a step, blood spraying between the plates of his armor. The wounds Kokabiel carved into him were roaring back, tearing at his body under the strain of Balance Breaker.
Issei didn't care.
He surged forward again, Excalibur raised in his grip. The corrupted blade screamed with energy, clashing against Albion's gauntlet. Sparks burned through the night as steel screeched against sacred white plates.
Albion caught the blade barehanded, halting its descent. "You're weak after your fight with Kokabiel."
Issei leaned forward, voice dripping with defiance. "So it seems. But this—" His visor's glow narrowed to slits. "—is enough for you."
His free hand shot forward, armored claws raking across Albion's helm. The impact screeched, sparks flying. Albion's head snapped back from the blow, cracks spidering faintly across his armor's surface.
Issei pressed harder, aura flaring like wildfire. The emerald crystal in his chest burned, the Boosted Gear screaming in sync with his will. He pushed Albion back a step, then another, carving trenches into the earth beneath their locked clash.
But his body betrayed him.
Blood poured from his side, dripping between his scales. His legs trembled. His lungs seized under the weight of exhaustion. Each breath rattled inside the helm like broken glass. The injuries Kokabiel had left festering now screamed louder than any enemy.
Albion seized the moment. His wing lashed out, a blade of white energy striking Issei's torso. The Red Dragon Emperor staggered, armor fracturing with a thunderous crack.
Issei still swung Excalibur. The blade howled, searing against Albion's armor as though it would cut heaven itself. But Albion twisted his wrist, catching the sword once more, pressing it away.
The struggle froze—Issei's blade locked against Albion's unyielding grip, the battlefield burning around them.
Behind the helm, Issei's vision blurred. Darkness crept into the edges. His strength bled away with every drop soaking the ground beneath him.
Still, he forced his body to stay upright. He raised a trembling, armored finger, pointing it directly at Albion's helm. His voice rasped low, but it carried the weight of fire.
"…I like you."
Then the strength gave way. His knees buckled, the armor groaning as he collapsed. The glow in his emerald crystal dimmed, the red lines across his armor flickering weakly. Excalibur clattered from his grip into the mud.
For a moment, silence.
Albion stood still, helm tilted down at the unconscious Red Dragon Emperor. Then, without a word, he stooped low. His massive gauntlet wrapped around Issei's limp form, lifting him effortlessly from the battlefield.
Kokabiel groaned nearby, broken wings twitching, still clinging to life. Albion's other hand seized him by the throat, dragging him like refuse.
The battlefield's survivors—Rias, Akeno, Asia, Kiba, and Xenovia—all stood frozen as Albion approached. Their auras quivered against his suffocating presence.
Albion halted before them, his voice low but absolute. "Your Red Dragon Emperor lives. Tend to him, if you can."
Without another word, Albion's wings unfurled. White light flared, a vortex swallowing him and Kokabiel alike. The battlefield fell silent again, save for the ragged breaths of the devils left behind.
And in Rias's arms, Issei's armor shattered away into fragments of fading light, leaving only the broken boy beneath—unconscious, bloodied, and breathing shallowly.
"Issei, how many times have I told you, don't do anything dangerous?" She said she hugged him.
~~~
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