[3rd Person POV]
The first person to move upon seeing Arima Ikki's body thrown to the ground was none other than Hyoudou Issei, the Red Dragon Emperor of Team D×D.
If we're talking about who felt the most pain at Arima's apparent death, then Shirone and Ravel were easily at the top. But the shock had paralyzed them—so great was their grief that they couldn't move.
However, among those present, the one most prone to emotional outbursts was Issei—and his rage narrowly overcame his grief.
Of course, part of that anger was directed at Apophis and the Khaos Brigade for killing Ikki. But more than anything, Issei was furious with himself.
Why hadn't he lunged at Apophis—who struck down his best friend—right at that moment, even as Ikki was vanishing into the teleportation light?
Yes, that regret haunted him—but what gnawed at him more deeply was his complete helplessness during this entire battle.
From the moment Grendel and Ladon attacked, Issei had been caught off guard and trapped in a barrier by Ladon. That alone had kept him sidelined.
It might have been a valid strategy on Ladon's part, who specialized in barrier magic—but the truth was, while the rest of his comrades were bleeding and fighting tooth and nail, Issei had been rampaging within a safe zone, unable to do anything of real consequence.
And while he was wasting time caught in that distraction, the one person who had known Ikki the longest—aside from Kuroka—had failed to even try to rescue him.
Since becoming a devil and stepping into the underworld's dangerous world, he had always known that fighting opponents stronger than himself meant that one day, someone might die—maybe even himself.
But deep down, he had always believed that if that day ever came, it would happen in a hard-fought battle where they gave everything, where death would come just beyond their reach despite their best efforts.
But this time... it had all ended while he was still trapped behind a barrier.
…He hadn't held back in his fight against Ladon.
And yet—
"LIKE HELL I CAN ACCEPT THIS!!"
With that scream, a massive aura exploded from his body.
Sacred Gears adjust their output not just based on mastery, but also on emotional intensity—and right now, Issei's rage was fueling an incredible surge in power.
Slamming his fists into the barriers that still restrained him, he began to shatter them—one by one—with each strike.
"Tch! What terrifying power!" Ladon's voice quivered with alarm.
Issei broke through the last of the barriers and immediately charged at Ladon.
"Go, my Dividing Wyvern Fairies!"
At his command, small white dragons, each the size of a palm, burst from the gems embedded across his armor.
Sacred Gears inherently transmit an intuitive understanding of how to use their power to their wielder—and Issei now knew exactly what these creatures could do.
"Attack!"
The tiny dragons flew ahead, swarming around Ladon and attaching themselves to his powerful protective barriers. All at once, they began to chant in robotic, synchronized voices:
"Divide. Divide. Divide. Divide. Divide. Divide. Divide. Divide. Divide."
"Impossible! That's the White Dragon Emperor's dividing ability?! Are you saying you've fully integrated his power?!"
Ladon shouted in disbelief.
Issei gave no reply. After multiple "Divides" drained the durability of the barrier, he shattered it effortlessly with a single punch—and that punch continued straight into Ladon himself.
The impact echoed with a sickening crunch, tearing a chunk of flesh from Ladon's face.
"I'm not done yet!!"
He followed up with Solid Impact, his left arm enlarged with the Tank trait—driving it into Ladon's abdomen and blowing open a massive hole.
If Ladon hadn't instinctively raised another barrier, his entire lower body would've been obliterated.
As it stood, his upper and lower halves were barely held together.
Even for an Evil Dragon, the damage was catastrophic.
"Eat this! DRAGON BLASTEEEEER!!"
From the cannons stored in his wings, Issei unleashed a focused blast of magical energy, engulfing Ladon's position in a massive explosion.
"Whew... That was close,"
came a voice through the smoke.
Emerging from the flames was Euclid, standing protectively in front of the battered Ladon, right arm extended. He had likely neutralized Issei's attack using a power-enhanced blast from his imitation Red Dragon Emperor armor.
Behind him, Ladon activated a Dragon Gate beneath his feet.
"Ladon, looks like you've lost this round. I'll forcibly extract you. That last hit—if it had landed—would've vaporized you. You understand that, yes? …Unlike Grendel, your role is to maintain the barrier over this entire area. And with wounds like that, it won't be long before your power falters. Go get healed."
"…Very well. I'll just rebuild my body and come back to play again."
More reasonable than Grendel, Ladon obediently stepped into the Dragon Gate to teleport out. He was likely headed back to Rizevim to have his body reconstructed using the Holy Grail.
Issei wanted to press the attack, but with Euclid standing right there, it wouldn't be easy.
"Hehehe. Your opponent is me, remember? Let's enjoy a battle between the Red Dragon Emperors."
"Don't screw with me! I'm the real Red Dragon Emperor! I don't care about titles, but there's no way in hell I'm letting someone like you carry that name!"
Issei's defiant roar was echoed by his partner, Ddraig:
'Well said, partner! There's no way a brat who knows nothing of the struggles of the Two Heavenly Dragons could be my host. I especially can't stand Rizevim—or you, Euclid! If I had to choose between the two of you and this boob-obsessed fool, I'd take the latter any day!'
"...I see. That's unfortunate. I was going to propose transferring Ddraig's soul into this armor, but I guess I've been rejected before I could even ask—oh?"
Euclid suddenly reacted to something—a surge of magical power rising from the direction of Auros Academy. A massive pillar of light shot skyward—the prearranged teleportation signal.
The children of the Underworld and their guardians would now be safely relocated beyond the defensive barriers.
Issei's fury hadn't vanished—but this at least brought some genuine relief.
However, the teleportation light didn't fade. Instead of dispersing as expected, the beam suddenly twisted—pointing in an entirely different direction.
It now targeted the floating city of Agreas.
The entire city was engulfed in blue-white light and then—vanished. One moment it had stood tall in the distance, the next, it was gone.
"Looks like it worked," Euclid said calmly.
"What the hell did you do?!"
Confronted by a furious Issei, Euclid spread his arms in exaggerated theatrics.
"Oh, it's simple. Among the mages developing new teleportation magic at the academy, we had one collaborator. Right before the spell activated, they rewrote the destination and target to suit our needs."
At that moment, Sona Sitri's voice came over a wide-area broadcast—loud enough for even Euclid to hear.
[…I see. So it wasn't the technology buried within Agreas you were after—it was Agreas itself. That's why you gave us a three-hour grace period. You were stalling for time to complete a new type of wide-scale teleportation that could bypass even our most secure barriers.]
A teleportation magic created using entirely new formulas—meaning no current faction had any countermeasures.
They could now send Agreas anywhere, even outside the Underworld—hiding it beyond reach.
"As expected of the clever heir of House Sitri. That's exactly right. Moving Agreas by conventional means would've been far more difficult, so we simply borrowed the hands of some highly talented mages. If they wouldn't help willingly… we just nudged them into a situation where they had no choice."
[So in the end, we were completely outmaneuvered.]
Her bitter voice still echoed when a far more detestable voice joined the transmission—a voice every member of D×D loathed:
[Ohohoho! Nailed it, Euclid-kun! Thanks for spilling the beans! As for the residents of Agreas, they ended up dropped beneath the city—bit of a mess, but hey, I would have liked to fling them into the dimensional gap, if the spell allowed it! Oh, and I heard from Ladon—one of your friends kicked the bucket, huh? My condolences… Not that it matters—I was the one who hired Apophis to kill him, teehee!]
Rizevim appeared in a projected image, as obnoxious and sadistic as ever.
They had always hated his smug personality, but now, his voice was more intolerable than ever. Honestly, puncturing their own eardrums might've been more bearable.
[Ooh, I love that expression—the fury, the grief, the twisted agony! Makes me wanna savor this. Maybe I'll kill you all one by one instead of wiping you out at once. Watching your faces as you burn with hatred is the finest vintage—cheers! Delicious!]
"RAAAAAAH! Stop hiding and face us, Rizevim! I swear I'll KILL YOU!!"
[Ahahaha! Calm down, Boob Dragon! Teasing you from out of reach is way more fun. Though I do want to see your face up close—maybe next time!]
Just as Rizevim seemed to bask in his smug superiority, he suddenly clapped his hands with a mischievous grin.
[Oh, I know! Let's kick things up a notch—Grendel, baby! Sorry for interrupting your fight earlier. Here's a tip: if you really want to get D×D riled up, stomp on Apophis' corpse. Crush it into ash, right in front of them. Oh yeah—that'll get their blood boiling! That's what I call kicking a man when he's down! Now go for it, tiger!]
"LIKE HELL I'LL LET YOU!!"
Despite being alone, Saji—who had been holding his ground against Grendel with support fire—hurled a mass of energy lines from his armor, trying to bind the dragon and stop him in his tracks.
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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