The rain fell with a melancholic persistence on Kuoh City, blurring the lines between the streets and the gray sky. Issei walked along, his uniform slightly damp, but his mind was far from the physical discomfort. Beside him, Koneko Toujou moved forward in absolute silence, the hood of her jacket covering her cat-like ears, which Issei knew were alert to any strange vibration.
"Do you feel anything, Koneko?" Issei asked, breaking the silence. His voice was deep and lacked the nervousness of the past; his future soul allowed him to filter the noise of the city to search for a very specific frequency.
Koneko paused for a second, sniffing the damp air.
"A trail of cold steel and... resentment," she replied monotonously, though her yellow eyes betrayed an unusual concern. "It's near the fountain in the central park. But he's not alone, Issei-senpai. There's another presence... something that smells of old incense and hatred."
Issei clenched his fists. He knew exactly what that meant. Kiba was hunting, but his desperation was turning him into the prey.
Upon arriving at the park, the scene was just as Issei remembered it from his past life, but with a different intensity. In the dim light of the lanterns, Kiba Yuuto stood before a tall, lanky man wearing a tattered priest's robe. The man wore a twisted smile as he toyed with a metal fragment that emitted a corrupted, sacred glow.
Era Freed Sellzen.
"Well, well! If it isn't the little failed experiment!" Freed shouted with hysterical laughter, brandishing his pistol and a lightsaber. "Did you come looking for your dead friends? Because I can send you to them right now!"
Kiba didn't respond with words. He summoned one demonic sword after another, launching them with a frenetic speed that Freed could barely deflect. But Kiba was making mistakes; his technique was sloppy, consumed by the rage of having seen the Excaliburs at the academy.
"Kiba, stop!" Issei exclaimed, stepping out of the shadows. "You're playing his game!"
Kiba turned around for barely a millisecond; his eyes were those of a stranger.
"Stay out of this, Issei-kun!" he roared. "This guy knows where the one who led the experiment is! I'm not leaving here until he gives me his head!"
Koneko prepared to jump, but Issei stopped her with one arm.
"No, Koneko. If we intervene abruptly now, Kiba will be completely lost. Let me speak to him as someone who has also had to deal with his own demons."
Issei walked toward the center of the conflict, ignoring Freed's bullets that grazed his shoulder. His aura began to expand, not as an attack, but as a solid presence that forced Freed to stop laughing and Kiba to lower his sword slightly.
"Kiba..." Issei said with icy calm. "Look at me. Do you see a knight in that reflection, or just another victim of the Church? If you want justice for your friends, do it with honor, not like a wounded animal."
Kiba let out a scream that seemed inhuman. The pain accumulated over years erupted in a frequency of dark energy that caused the rain around him to instantly evaporate.
"You don't understand anything, Issei-kun!" Kiba roared, completely losing his mind. "Don't you hear them screaming every night?! Anyone who stands between me and my revenge is my enemy, even if it's you!"
In the blink of an eye, Kiba summoned three demonic swords that floated around him and launched himself at Issei with his fastest technique, Sword Birth. The black steel sliced through the air, seeking Issei's vital points with lethal precision, aiming to kill, not just deflect.
Koneko made a move to jump to the rescue, but stopped when she saw Issei's expression. He didn't move.
"Dragon," Issei whispered.
[BOOST]
A single pulse of red energy emanated from Issei's arm, not to summon the armor, but to strengthen his physical structure to the level of an ancient dragon. When Kiba's first sword was about to pierce his chest, Issei simply raised his bare hand and caught the blade by the edge.
The demonic metal screeched against Issei's reinforced skin, but it couldn't move an inch. Kiba, his eyes wide, tried to pull the sword away, but it was as if it were anchored to a mountain.
"Kiba, that's enough," Issei declared. His voice vibrated with an authority that made the ground beneath his feet crack. "I told you I wouldn't leave you alone, but that includes protecting you from yourself."
Issei took a step forward, ignoring the other two swords that had pierced his shoulders, barely grazing the surface of his hardened skin. With a swift movement, he released Kiba's sword and struck him across the cheek with the back of his hand, followed by a firm grip on the neck that slammed him against a nearby tree.
The force of the impact knocked all the air out of Kiba's lungs, instantly dissipating his swords.
"Look at me," Issei ordered, his eyes glowing a bright green. "Do you think your friends would like to see you become a soulless killer? Do you think they died so you could waste your life in an alley fighting a psychopath like Freed?"
Kiba tried to struggle, but when he looked into Issei's eyes, he stopped dead in his tracks: he saw a sadness and understanding so profound that only someone who had lost everything could possess it. The hatred in his eyes began to fade, replaced by tears that mingled with the rain.
—Issei-kun... I... —his voice broke and his strength left him, leaving him suspended in Issei's grip.
"Cry all you need to cry, partner," Issei whispered, easing the pressure but keeping him firm. "But when you're done, you're going to get up and we're going to destroy that past the right way. Together."
Freed, seeing that he had lost his psychological torture toy, let out a nervous laugh and prepared his light gun.
—How touching! You almost made me cry, Hyoudou! What if I kill them both while they're hugging?
Before Issei could silence Freed with a single blow, a chilling, putrid presence emerged from the shadows of the trees. Freed's hysterical laughter morphed into a sneer of servile respect as he straightened, holstering his weapon. From the shadows arose an elderly man, his face gaunt and his eyes gleaming with intellectual malice. He wore dark robes and walked with a calmness that suggested he was in complete control of the situation.
"My, what a primitive display of strength," said the man, whose voice sounded like dry leaves rustling on the ground. "So this is the famous human who has caused such a stir in the Underworld."
Upon hearing that voice, Kiba's body shuddered violently. He looked up, and absolute terror was reflected in his pupils.
"That voice..." she whispered, her teeth chattering. "It can't be... You..."
"Do you still remember me, serial number 2.2?" The old man chuckled dryly. "I'm glad to see my most persistent experiment is still alive. I am Valper Galilei, the architect of your salvation and your misery."
Issei released Kiba and stood in front of him to protect him. His future eyes immediately recognized the "Archbishop of Annihilation." The pressure emanating from Issei became heavy, almost physical, causing the raindrops to veer off course.
"Valper..." Issei began, his voice causing the old man to pause for a moment. "I knew you were behind this. Only a monster like you would return to the scene of your crime to gloat."
Valper raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the young man's knowledge.
"It seems you have more information than you should, kid. But it doesn't matter. I've returned to claim what's mine and complete the union of the Excaliburs. That young man over there"—he pointed at Kiba—"is nothing more than a byproduct of a necessary process."
Koneko assumed an attack stance beside Issei, her yellow eyes blazing with savage hostility. Valper, unfazed, signaled to Freed.
"Let's go, Freed. We've seen enough. The stage is set for Kokabiel's grand performance. Very soon, this park will be the epicenter of a new order."
In the blink of an eye, a curtain of holy smoke enveloped both villains. Issei tried to lunge forward to grab them, but the energy blast was designed to repel even a high-class demon. When the smoke cleared, Valper and Freed had vanished. Kiba collapsed to the ground, pounding the earth with his fists, while Koneko looked at Issei with concern.
The rain had stopped, leaving behind a thick fog that enveloped the old walls of Kuoh Academy. Issei walked ahead with an expression of absolute seriousness. Behind them, Kiba Yuuto advanced with his head bowed; he no longer exuded that uncontrolled bloodlust, but the aura surrounding him remained somber. Upon crossing the threshold of the old school building, they encountered Rias, Akeno, and Asia, who were waiting for them anxiously.
"Issei-san! Kiba-san!" Asia exclaimed, running towards them. "We were so worried!"
Rias stepped forward, stopping in front of Kiba. Her eyes scanned her knight's condition and then rested on Issei, searching for a silent response.
"We found him, Rias," Issei said in a deep voice. "But things got complicated. Valper Galilei is in the city, and he's not alone."
The mention of Valper sent a shiver down the spine of everyone in the room. Before Rias could respond, Kiba looked up with icy determination.
"He's unifying the Excaliburs, President. And he has the backing of a fallen leader. It's not just my past that's returned... it's a threat to all of Kuoh."
Rias placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder, accepting that the battle was inevitable.
"If Valper is here, conflict is imminent," Rias declared, looking at her allies. "Issei, thank you for bringing him back. Now, prepare yourselves. I sense a pressure in the air that can only mean one thing: the enemy is no longer hiding."
It was at that precise moment that the sky above the academy turned a dark purple and Kokabiel's presence began to manifest itself, marking the beginning of the end.