Location: The Dimensional Gap
Event: The Invasion of Melvazoa's Vanguard
Status: Critical Reality Failure
The invasion from ExE had begun in earnest. A massive mechanical fortress, the Star Destroyer, had breached the Dimensional Gap. It was commanded by one of Melvazoa's Generals, a machine-god named Zeruch.
Raiden floated in the void, facing the fortress. He was panting. His skin was cracking, glowing with unstable purple light.
Issei and Vali were beside him, in full armor.
"Raiden!" Issei shouted via comms. "Your body! It's breaking apart! You ate too much divine energy during the tournament! You can't handle any more!"
"He's right," Vali gritted his teeth. "You're a human, Raiden! Your vessel has a limit! If you try to eat that fortress, you'll explode!"
Raiden looked at his hands. They were trembling. Not from fear, but from containment.
Suddenly, a deep, ancient voice resonated from Issei's gauntlet.
[No.] Ddraig spoke. [You are all mistaken.]
Albion's voice joined in from Vali's wings. [We were blind. We thought he was a human possessing a Longinus. But look closer. The Gluttony isn't a Sacred Gear. It is an Organ.]
Great Red, swimming in the distance, let out a massive roar that shook the void.
"FINALLY. THE WHELP REMEMBERS."
Raiden stopped panting. He straightened his back.
The pain faded. The cracks in his skin didn't bleed blood; they bled void.
"That's right..." Raiden whispered. His eyes changed. The pupils became vertical slits - not like a reptile, but like tears in space. "I forgot. I was having so much fun playing 'human' and eating snacks... I forgot what I was."
Zeruch fired the Star Destroyer Cannon. A beam capable of erasing a galaxy aimed straight at Earth.
"Raiden!" Rias screamed from the observation ship. "DODGE!"
Raiden didn't dodge.
He tore off his shirt.
The tattoo on his back - the Maw - expanded.
"I'm not a human," Raiden's voice deepened, layering over itself with a monstrous echo. "I don't have a Sacred Gear. I don't need a Balance Breaker."
"I AM THE BREAKER."
Darkness exploded.
Raiden's human form dissolved.
In its place, a dragon appeared. But it wasn't biological like Ddraig or energy like Albion.
It was a Dragon made of Hunger. Massive. Pitch black with purple veins. Six wings that dripped darkness.
[System Correction: Species Identified.]
[The Third Heavenly Dragon.]
[Name: Nidhoggr? No... Fafnir? No...]
[Designation: The Abyssal Heavenly Dragon - Gula.]
The Star Destroyer beam hit Raiden's true form.
It didn't bounce off.
Raiden's massive jaws opened. He swallowed the beam. Then he flew forward, wrapping his colossal wings around the mechanical fortress.
"OM NOM NOM."
The sound wasn't physical. It was psychic. Every being in the DxD universe heard the sound of metal being crunched.
Raiden ate the fortress. He ate the General Zeruch. He ate the dimensional rift they came through.
Melvazoa (Transmission): "Illogical. Organic lifeform capacity exceeded... Error. Target is not organic. Target is a Living Singularity. Retreat."
The ExE forces pulled back, sealing the breach instantly. They realized they weren't invading a world; they were walking into a mouth.
Raiden reverted to his humanoid form (though he retained dragon horns and a tail now). He floated in the quiet void.
He burped.
"That... was heavy."
Suddenly, space around him began to crack like glass.
Great Red approached.
"You ate too much, Glutton. This world... it's too small for three Heavenly Dragons and a Dragon God. Your mass has exceeded the server limits."
Raiden looked at his hands. "So I'm being kicked out?"
"If you stay," Ophis appeared, "You will eat the Earth by accident. You are leaking."
Raiden sighed. "Just when I got a discount card for the beef bowl shop."
A portal opened behind him. It wasn't the ExE portal. It was a System Portal.
[World Sync Complete. New Hunting Ground Detected.]
[Reason: Reality Stabilization.]
The Gremory ship pulled up.
Runeas, Serafall, Ravel, Rossweisse, Irina, Yasaka, Kuroka, and Alice (hologram) were there.
They knew. They saw the cracks in reality.
"You're leaving," Runeas said softly. She didn't cry. She was the Progenitor; she understood power.
"Yeah," Raiden floated down. "If I stay, I break the table."
Serafall hugged him, sobbing. "Take me with you! I'll be a magical girl in the new world!"
"You can't," Raiden patted her head. "You belong here. You're a Satan. You have responsibilities."
He looked at his harem.
"Don't worry. I'm not dying. I'm just going to a different restaurant."
He kissed Runeas. He hugged Ravel. He flicked Issei's forehead.
"Train hard, Red Dragon. Don't let Vali beat you."
"I won't!" Issei wiped his eyes. "Go eat the multiverse, Sensei!"
Raiden turned to the portal.
"I'll be back," Raiden grinned. "Once I digest this metal fortress. Keep the wagyu warm for me."
He stepped into the light.
[Transferring to World: Shinmai Maou no Testament]
[Objective: Stabilize Hunger. Find New Delicacies.]