I felt something warm and wet splash against me.
But… there was no pain.
Am I… alive?
I slowly opened my eyes. The sight that met me made my heart stop.
"Gah… kh… Are you… okay… Issei…?"
Wright was standing over me. The demon's sword was buried deep in his chest.
I couldn't speak. My brain couldn't process the image.
The demon wrenched the blade out, and Wright collapsed against me, his weight heavy and limp. Blood—so much blood—began to soak into my clothes, mixing with the rain.
"A-ah… why? Why are you here?"
My voice was a pathetic whimper.
Wright had protected me. But… he was supposed to be at the front. How did he find me? Why was he here?
Stop the bleeding. I have to stop the bleeding!
But the demon was still there.
I couldn't move. I was paralyzed by terror and shock. My vision blurred; the sound of the rain faded into a distant hum.
Wright reached up, his hand trembling as he pulled me into a weak, final embrace. His voice flickered in my ear, the only thing I could hear.
"…I'm sorry. Look after… everyone for me…"
I don't remember much of what happened next.
All I know is that when I finally came to, I was gripping Wright's sword, and I was drenched from head to toe in demon blood.
Thunder crashed overhead.
The rain had turned into a torrential downpour, lashing against the ruins of the town.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
I screamed at the sky, a wordless, shattered sound of pure agony.
"Why?! Why him?! It should have been me! I killed him! Wright is dead because of me!"
The rain grew heavier, as if the world itself was trying to drown out my voice.
"I… I let Wright die…"
My vision began to fade into black. My limbs shook with a violent, rhythmic tremor. A sickening sensation, like something oily and ancient, began to churn inside my chest. My senses drifted away, leaving nothing but that wretched, boiling feeling.
Then, a voice echoed inside my skull. A man's voice—deep, resonant, and heavy with power.
[Well, well. My partner for this generation finds himself in quite the interesting predicament.]
I looked down at my left hand. A crimson gauntlet, unlike anything I had ever seen, was fused to my arm.
[Hmph. Zero talent. It seems the White One might beat me to the punch this time. However…]
The world turned white, and suddenly I was standing in a sea of flames.
Before me loomed a colossal, red dragon.
[My name is Ddraig. Once feared as the Welsh Dragon, the Red Dragon Emperor.]
The dragon—Ddraig—leaned closer, his eyes like molten gold.
[Remember this feeling, boy. Never let it go. If you hold onto this pain, then perhaps, one day…]
The vision shattered. I was back in the rain.
I was covered in blood. The child was unconscious beside me. The demon soldier lay dead at my feet. And Wright… Wright remained motionless.
But someone else was there now. A man in dark robes, radiating an aura of absolute authority.
"So, you are the one from the other world. I see. Your resonance is indeed different from the humans of this realm."
"…Who are you?" I croaked.
"I am Sirius. The Demon King."
Sirius. The man responsible for all of this.
When the beastman had attacked, I had been paralyzed by fear. But now, my head felt strangely, terrifyingly clear. I forced myself to my feet, swaying.
"Tell me… do you have any intention of ending this war?"
"That is my goal," Sirius replied calmly. "But too much blood has been spilled on both sides. Unless there is a definitive conclusion, the cycle will continue for centuries."
"A definitive conclusion… you mean the extermination of humanity?"
Sirius didn't answer. He just stared into my eyes, as if searching for something deep within my soul.
After a long silence, he spoke. "Give up. Whatever you are planning, it is futile. You are nothing. Go back to your own world while you still can."
"…No."
"What?"
"I'm going to… I'm going to stop this war!"
"I told you. It is futile. If you wish to die a meaningless death, I will not stop you, but—"
I said nothing. I just stared at him.
Sirius went silent as well, searching my gaze one last time. He gave a single, slow nod, then turned his back on me.
"Visitor from another world. Tell me your name."
I don't know what I was feeling when I answered. Revenge? Despair? A sense of duty? All I know is that a storm was raging inside me.
"I am… Issei Hyoudou. The Red Dragon Emperor, Issei Hyoudou! Remember it, Sirius. I will stop this war. And I'll start by tearing you down!"
"I see…"
And with that, the Demon King vanished into the rain.
I looked up at the black, weeping sky. It felt as hollow as I did.
That day was the beginning.
The day the person known as "Issei Hyoudou" truly started to exist in this world.
"Yes. His loss was your beginning."
A woman's voice whispered from the shadows of my mind.
"The regret, the sorrow, the despair of that day… it lives deep within you. It will never leave you. It shouldn't."
I know. I can't forget. I'm not allowed to forget.
I owe him…
"Exactly. You must never forget. But… that is precisely why you need to speak with him. Tell him everything you couldn't say then. Ask the questions you never got to ask. Only then will you truly become—"
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