Location: The Dimensional Gap - Border Zone
Event: The Ambush by Shalba Beelzebub
The Gremory team, led by Rias and Raiden, tracked the magical signature of Shalba Beelzebub to a floating island in the emptiness of the Dimensional Gap. It was a trap, obviously, but Raiden had insisted that "traps usually have bait, and bait is food."
They landed on the barren rock. Shalba Beelzebub waited for them, hovering in the air protected by a barrier of dense demonic light.
"Welcome," Shalba smiled, his face twisted with malice. "You disposed of Diodora efficiently. But he was a child. I am a True Descendant."
"You look like the appetizer Diodora, just with more wrinkles," Raiden commented, stepping forward.
"Arrogance," Shalba scoffed. He looked at Issei and Asia. "You rely on the Red Dragon Emperor and the Twilight Healer. But what happens when the Dragon loses his heart?"
Shalba raised a hand.
"Dimensional Banishment."
A beam of light shot... not at Issei, but at Asia.
"ASIA!" Issei screamed.
Raiden moved instantly, his speed tearing up the ground. He reached out to grab the beam—to eat it—but the beam warped. It wasn't an attack; it was a spatial displacement.
The beam hit Asia.
She vanished.
"I have sent her to the deeper void," Shalba lied smoothly (though he had actually just teleported her to a holding dimension). "She will be crushed by the pressure of nothingness in seconds. She is dead, Red Dragon."
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Issei dropped to his knees. "Asia...?"
"Dead," Shalba laughed. "Gone. Because you were too weak to protect her."
Something snapped inside Issei.
The green jewel on his gauntlet turned a bloody crimson. A dark, ominous aura began to leak out, dissolving the ground around him.
[I, who am about to awaken...]
Rias gasped. "Issei?! No! Don't listen to the curse!"
[Am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the principles of domination from God...]
"Let it out!" Shalba cheered. "Show me the beast!"
[I laugh at the "Infinite", and I grieve at the "Dream"...]
[I shall become the Red Dragon of Domination...]
[And I shall sink you to the depths of the crimson purgatory!]
"JUGGERNAUT DRIVE!"
ROAAAAR!
Issei's armor exploded outward, reshaping into a miniature, organic dragon. It wasn't the heroic armor of before. It was a beast of pure rage, fueled by the lifeforce of the user.
The Berserk Issei let out a howl that shook the dimension. He charged—not at Shalba, but blindly at everything.
Rias tried to run to him. "Issei! Stop!"
Issei swung a massive claw at Rias.
CLANG.
Raiden caught the claw.
The ground beneath Raiden shattered, and he slid back ten meters, digging trenches with his boots.
"He's heavy," Raiden grunted. The demonic energy from Issei was corrosive. It was trying to eat Raiden's skin.
"Raiden!" Rias cried. "Don't hurt him! It's consuming his life force! If he stays like this, he'll die!"
"I know," Raiden's eyes narrowed.
Issei roared again, opening his mouth. A blast of Longinus Smasher - capable of wiping out a mountain - charged up.
Shalba watched from above, ecstatic. "Yes! Destroy your master! Destroy everything!"
Raiden looked at the cannon forming in the beast's mouth.
"You're throwing a tantrum, kid. It's unsightly."
Raiden let go of the claw and jumped.
He jumped into the path of the blast.
[Longinus Smasher Fire!]
The beam of pure destruction engulfed Raiden.
Rias screamed.
But the beam didn't pass through. It stopped.
Inside the red light, a shadow expanded.
[King of Gluttony: Emotional Eater]
Raiden wasn't just eating the energy. He was targeting the source of the Juggernaut Drive: The negative emotions of the past Dragon Emperors.
Inside the Aura:
Raiden stood in a mental landscape of fire. Ghostly dragons swirled around him, whispering: "Kill... Destroy... Hate..."
Raiden grabbed a ghostly dragon by the neck.
"Shut up. You're noisy."
Crunch.
He bit the ghost's head off.
"Hatred," Raiden chewed. "Bitter. Smoky. A bit like burnt coffee."
He opened his mouth wide, his aura turning into a black vortex.
"I'll take it all. Give me your rage! Give me your despair!"
[Devour: Curse of the Red Dragon]
In the real world, the red aura around Issei began to turn... white.
The massive dragon armor started to crack.
Issei roared, but it wasn't in anger anymore. It was confusion. The fuel for his rage was being siphoned away.
Raiden emerged from the light, his clothes torn but his body glowing with a terrifying mix of Red Dragon Power and Void.
He landed on Issei's dragon snout.
"Wake up, breast-obsessed idiot."
Raiden punched Issei right between the eyes.
WHAM.
The Juggernaut armor shattered.
Issei fell out of the debris, reverting to his human form (and Balance Breaker). He was unconscious, but alive. And his life force wasn't draining anymore.
[System Alert]
[Consumed: Curse of the Past Possessors]
[Result: Issei Hyoudou Stabilized]
[Raiden Status: Temporary Boost - Dragon Force]
Raiden stood over Issei, steam rising from his body. He burped. A small puff of red fire came out.
"Spicy," Raiden muttered.
Shalba Beelzebub stared. His jaw was on the floor.
"You... you stopped the Juggernaut Drive? By... eating the curse?!"
"I told you," Raiden looked up, his eyes glowing red with the residual dragon power. "I eat everything. Even bad memories."
Raiden bent his knees.
BOOM.
He launched himself into the air like a missile.
Shalba panicked. He fired every spell he had. "Darkness! Poison! Destruction!"
Raiden flew through the barrage, eating the spells as he went.
He crashed through Shalba's barrier.
He grabbed Shalba by the throat.
"You sent the girl away," Raiden said calmly. "Where is she?"
"S-She is in the Dimensional Void!" Shalba choked. "She is already d-dead!"
"Wrong answer."
Raiden tightened his grip.
[Gluttony: Soul Read]
He didn't ask. He ate the information directly from Shalba's mind.
Raiden saw the coordinates. He saw Asia floating in a dimensional drift, scared but alive, protected by the lingering charm Raiden had given her (a Ravel-made barrier).
"Found her," Raiden smiled. It was not a nice smile.
"Now... about you."
Raiden looked at Shalba.
"You made my student cry. You made my employer worry. And you made me run around on an empty stomach."
Shalba screamed as Raiden's other hand transformed into a claw of darkness.
"I don't need your magic," Raiden whispered. "I just want you gone."
[Technique: Trash Compactor]
Raiden slammed Shalba into the floating rock. Gravity magnified by 100 times. Shalba was crushed instantly into a paste.
Then Raiden waved his hand, and the paste was consumed by a small void portal.
"Tastes like dirt."
Just as Raiden finished disposing of Shalba, the space warped.
Vali Lucifer appeared, clad in his white armor. He had arrived to stop the Juggernaut Drive, as per his own mission.
He looked at the unconscious Issei.
He looked at the crater where Shalba used to be.
He looked at Raiden, who was picking dragon scales out of his teeth.
"You handled it," Vali said, sounding almost disappointed. "I was hoping to fight the Berserk Dragon."
"He was too noisy," Raiden said. "So I put him to sleep."
Raiden pointed to the void.
"Vali. You're good at dimension hopping. Go fetch the girl. Coordinates: X-Alpha-9."
Vali crossed his arms. "Why should I take orders from you?"
"Because if you do," Raiden grinned, "I'll fight you. Full power. No holding back. Winner takes all."
Vali's wings flared. His passion for battle ignited.
"Deal."
Vali zoomed into the dimensional rift. Ten seconds later, he returned, holding a terrified Asia Argento.
"Raiden-san!" Asia cried, flying out of Vali's grip and tackling Raiden.
Raiden caught her. "You're heavy. Cut back on the sweets."
Asia just cried harder, happy to be alive.
Location: Gremory Household (Underworld)
Time: Two Days Later
Issei woke up in a medical bed.
Rias was holding his hand. The rest of the peerage was there.
"President...?"
"You idiot," Rias hugged him. "Don't ever do that again."
In the corner of the room, Raiden sat in a chair, reading a magazine.
Runeas Gremory stood behind him, massaging his shoulders.
"You saved the Red Dragon from himself," Runeas whispered. "You are becoming quite the hero, Raiden."
"I'm not a hero," Raiden flipped the page. "Heroes sacrifice themselves. I just ate the problem."
Ravel Phenex walked in with a cart of food. "Raiden-sama! I prepared the recovery meal. High-protein dragon steaks!"
Raiden's eyes lit up. He tossed the magazine away.
"Finally."
As he ate, Serafall popped out of a magic circle.
"Raiden-chaaaan! The news is out! They're calling you the 'Dragon Tamer' now! My popularity ratings are skyrocketing just by being your girlfriend!"
"Not your girlfriend," Raiden mumbled through a steak.
"Yet!" Serafall winked.
System Alert
[Quest Complete: The Evil Dragon's Fall]
[Reward: Title "Guardian of the Red Dragon"]
[New Objective Unlocked: The Great Red & The Infinite Silence]
Raiden swallowed.
"Hey, Runeas."
"Yes, dear?"
"Vali wants a fight. I'm thinking of scheduling it for the School Festival. Sell tickets. Rossweisse needs the money."
Rossweisse (from the hallway): "PLEASE DO! WE ARE STILL IN DEBT!"