Issei considered himself quite decent in a few areas. He had trained himself in stealth, magic, CQC and information gathering.

So with all these skills he had managed to acquire, Issei had confidence that he could hide and gather information without being bothered by the resident supernatural factions present in China.

Clearly, Hyoudou should have known better.

He had arrived in Hong Kong in the earlier hours of the morning and spend the day dealing with other Information Brokers. That way, the Sekiryuutei gathered much precious data on the active factions of the world and their current state; that aside, he'd also got details on the black-market and the less than savory deals that occurred in the deepest parts of the underworld and supernatural. After the teen spoke with his last broker, a rather tall fellow dressed sharply in a suit, he had chosen to relax at a family restaurant and appreciate some of the local cuisine. Mere minutes after Issei sat down, the hairs at the back of his neck rose as to alert him of danger.

He discreetly molded some Sage Energy, feeling the foul energy of the surrounding environment gather inside him, and used it to make himself seem unappealing. His trick done, Issei kept his breathing even, appearing to be nothing less than an ordinary civilian to the common eye. Seconds later, two men passed by without paying him any attention, yet it was clear they were searching for something. Or someone.

Hyoudou stayed quiet in his seat, appreciating a couple of steamed meat-buns. The two goons left the place after a few rounds, the duo somewhat miffed that they had been given the slip.

The young dragon sighed internally, carefully examining his surroundings as to make sure no one was focused on him. He ate the last of his meat buns and left money to cover for his bill.

He exited the small restaurant and began walking with no particular destination, slowly dispersing the earlier accumulated Sage Energy. The flow of natural energy felt foul here, more so than even his first time absorbing nature's power. He felt the energy leave him without much resistance and relieve washed over his frame.

Hyoudou took his time to with his personal tour, watching the modern city in all its splendor.

After about 30 minutes, Issei decided to end his tour and go home. He took his phone, typed a message to Tiamat telling her that he was about to go home. After sending the text, the teen pocketed his phone and was about to invoke a magic circle when he felt killing intent behind him.

With a impressive display of reflex, Issei side stepped away from his current position, dodging the blade that dug into the concrete of the alley he was at. He immediately grabbed his lower-face mask from under his shirt and pulled the cloth over until it covered up to his nose. If he had gray, gravity defying-hair and a bandana covering one of his eyes, Issei would look a lot like a certain easy-going Shinobi.

A cloud of dust rose from the ground as Issei backed off and tried to take note of his assailant.

"Ohh, such fine attention is expected if one plans to be a spy." The masculine voice, one Issei knew, spoke in a mocking tone. A soft tapping sound followed as the shape of his attacker became more defined under the cloud of dirt. Issei clicked his teeth, annoyed.

"The silent treatment, huh? Oh well, we will have plenty of time to extract all the information you have, so don't worry about it." The man swung his spear once, dispersing the dirt cloud and revealing himself. Issei scoffed, the sound nigh silent under the cloth mask.

How fucking great, the leader of the [Hero faction], Cao Cao. What else could happen now?! Issei sarcastically wondered, quickly entering a combat stance.

The man with the spear stayed in a relaxed manner, his mannerism all but screaming smug.

"Worry not, spy. You aren't going anywhere anytime soon." The declaration of the Longinus wielder made Issei look around with worry. The Sekiryuutei pulsed his power to feel the surroundings and his brow lightly creased as the surge of power returned to him with new details about the place.

It was still Hong Kong, yet it felt like he was somewhere else. Almost as if in another dimension.

The spear user looked at Issei with curious eyes, the soft tapping of his spear shaft against his shoulder serving as background noise. "You look more or less like a human, yet my friend George tells me that he can feel something else in your aura. You can consider me impressed, since it's pretty hard to mask your aura from him." The Chinese spoke in a tone full of self-confidence and smugness that was pissing off the Sekiryuutei.

Issei rolled his eyes at the supposed compliment, followed by a quick squat. Had he been slower, his head would be the one rolling on the ground. He took the chance to roll away from his assailant, but found himself face-first into a meaty fist.

"Dodge this if you can! ORA!" The excited voice belonged to a hulking man dressed in seemingly Ancient Greek infantry armor. His blow hit with a loud crack, right into the defense of Issei. The Sekiryuutei grunted in pain, numbness spreading over his arms due to his speedy block.

Being bodily thrown into one of the buildings, Issei impacted the concrete and broke the wall he had smacked against, raising a rather large cloud of dust.

"Did that musclehead really got the killing blow?" A blonde girl, Jeanne D'Arc, complained to her group. She childishly swung her holy blade in the direction of the bigger man, Heracles. "How could your plan have worked out? I can't believe this!"

"It would greatly disappoint me if our little spy friend did indeed die from such a weak attack." Cao Cao expressed his opinion, eyes searching for even the tiniest bit of movement from the pile of concrete rubble.

The dust cloud settled down and allowed the attacking group to look for Issei. When no signs of him became evident after the third minute, Heracles huffed.

"Are you really sure that this was the guy that tattled us out in Kyoto? He was way too weak to have been there! I haven't even used my Sacred Gear!" The muscleman complained at his leader, making a show of flexing the muscles of his arms.

"Heracles, that habit of yours will be the death of you one day." Cao Cao lightly reprimanded his subordinate.

The man was about to offer another commentary, but a slicing sound echoed over the group. All eyes searched for any enemy, but no threat was visible to them. The group stayed tense for a few seconds, but once no enemy showed itself, they relaxed again.

"See?! There was nothing to worry abou—" Heracles right arm made a wet noise as it hit the ground, the massive man slowly moving his head to stare at the severed stump, all but unbelieving that his prided defense had been breached.

Jeanne wasted no time in surrounding herself with a variety of blades, all of which were designed to help her locate a different type of being. The holy warrior descendant suddenly pointed to one random spot, but for her leader it was all that mattered.

Cao Cao pointed his spear at the spot, which was soon being barraged by a multitude of spells.

"I would hate to disappoint my esteemed guests. Showing weakness when such a powerful group has pulled all stops to hunt me down would be most disgraceful." Issei imitated the tone with which the spear wielder spoke. The spy's voice echoed loudly for the group, yet it also sounded right next to their ears. "I would also stop the bleeding and heal that arm first before necrosis sets in. It would be a shame if my guests left, but oh the sacrifices we make for those that matter!" This time it was Issei the mocked the group.

Cao Cao merely continued tapping his spear against his shoulder, closing his eyes as it in deep thought. He opened his eyes and laughed. "Well, isn't this quite the predicament we find ourselves in?"

Before the Longinus Wielder could get into a combat stance, a blur appeared behind his back. The man continued smiling, the blur having to back off, less it be pierced by the many holy swords emerging from the ground.

Issei backed away with quick steps, avoiding the many holy swords erupting from the ground. He also had to once more raise his guard, tanking another blow from the hulking Greek warrior. The man had his arm attached much too quick for the spy's taste, but the glowing sword at the waist of the behemoth was the answer to his sudden recovery.

[Blade Blacksmith] was one of those somewhat common Sacred Gears that could become a royal pain in the ass if one did not deal with the user soon enough. Nowhere near as powerful as a Longinus-class Sacred Gear, but troublesome enough on its own. The ability to make any type of holy blade one could imagine was a useful one, considering it could also be used to supply an army with an infinite number of blades, so long as the user had mana. [Unlimitade Blade Works] level of bothersome, but the Supernatural swore that they would never use something that wasn't their original ideal, copyright not included, but Issei digressed.

He flexed his arms somewhat, feeling the numbness increase after taking the second blow from this walking bicep that called himself Heracles. Issei himself was strong, but this guy took being a muscle-freak into the next level. Nonetheless, the Sekiryuutei took the small blessing that was his knockback and let himself be thrown far from the group.

The sage energy he could gather from this place was limited, which was impossible. As long as Earth existed, the multiple planes of higher existence attached to it would leak out natural energy, Sage knowledge 101. If the natural energy he could tap into was limited, it meant this was not a stable plain of existence, neither something that was connected to Earth.

Pulling this kind of stunt meant the spy was dealing with someone capable of creating his own Reality Marbles, which pointed to a couple of truly troublesome things. His attackers either had a Ward-Barrier master, were Ultimate-class beings or possessed a Sacred Gear capable of creating separate planes of existence.

Considering that he was facing Cao Cao and Khaos Brigade, possessors of the True Longinus, it was highly probable that they had come into possession of another Longinus, and if Issei remembered it correctly, the only one capable of this kind of stuff was [Dimension Lost].

Hiding among the many buildings surrounding and erasing his presence, Issei summoned his [Boosted Gear]. They wanted to play with God-killing weapons? He would indulge them, just a tiny bit. Otherwise, what kind of host would he be?

[DxD]

[DxD]

"Come out already, little spy-kun. You should already beware that you can't leave here. Best you use your logic and be smart about this." Cao Cao spoke loudly. His group was around him, forming a protecting circle to avoid another situation like the previous one. Heracles felt itches around the place where his arm had been sliced off.

Issei smirked under his face mask, already feeling the foreign energies focusing around him. His vessel was slowly filling with sage energy, a steel-like control over the intake of it. He could not risk going on a power-filled rampage, otherwise he ran the risk of exposing his identity to the group. The Red Dragon Emperor was not keen on having the bothersome group knocking on his door 24/7.

[Must you rely so much on the local sage energy, Partner? The flow of power here is disgusting, polluted with the worst kind of filth.]

I don't enjoy it any more than you do, Ddraig! Pure Natural Energy is hard to come by these days without some pollution. It won't be damaging to my mana pathways or make me go crazy, so I'm sure we can put up with for now. I can't exactly get out of here without doing this, you know?!

[If you'd mastered the [Boosted Gear] instead of relying on "stealth" tactics, like a true dragon should, we would have no need for borrowing anyone's power!]

Can we not have this kind of talk while I'm being ambushed by the fucking Khaos Brigade?

[Suit yourself, Partner!]

Cunt!

Issei huffed, his body glowing due to the immense amount of power he had accumulated. He could not move from his place, but neither could Cao Cao and his group. They all had locked themselves in check, and the situation favored the Sekiryuutei as stalling for time allowed him to take in more and more sage energy.

Filling his vessel to the brim with Nature's power, Issei quickly pulled the trigger that would allow him to break the stalemate.

[Tri-Boost!]

His power rose explosively, a visible green aura building up around Issei. Making the red gauntlet vanish, the spy sent another pulse of magic to uncover his surroundings, but this time it was much greater. The energy travelled the entirety of the Reality Marble, scanning even the tiniest of creaks for the Red Dragon Emperor's target.

As the magic returned, Issei abandoned all the notions of stealth and began rushing towards the location where the highest concentration of magic was. If his guess was correct, the [Dimension Lost] user, Georg would be there. He was the mage of the group as well as their greatest strength when it came to disappearing from the higher powers. It was thanks to that the Issei could not get the best reward Yasaka had promised him.

A sin worthy of death!

The Spear wielder must have noticed his intentions, as Issei could feel the group once more start a pursue, yet this time he was ready for them. Two can play the trap game, fucker! The spy began touching random places as he rushed to meet Georg's magic signature, the mage no doubt also knowing that his location must have been found out.

Magic traps placed, Issei began killing his presence. According to the information he bought before, Georg could be one slippery nuisance, hence a great deal of care and planning needed to be put before one could dream of catching the terrorist.

BOOM!

One of traps was triggered, resulting in a great explosion, the fireball illuminating the night sky in fire-red colors. Considering his traps had been affected by both sage energy and his [Tri-Boost], the teen hoped that Heracles guy had been the one engulfed in the explosion. Had Issei mentioned how he did not like him?

[Partner, focus.]

Yeah, yeah, got it!

[DxD]

[DxD]

A few minutes later and the spy spotted the building in which Georg was hiding out, most likely waiting for his team. A number of his traps had been set off, the explosions loudly announcing that Issei packed serious firepower.

His plan right now was simple, yet effective. He would infiltrate the building, knock out the smug prick and use [Dominate] and [Transfer] to force [Dimension Lost] into overdrive, and with that he could momentarily control the Sacred Gear to either dispel the Reality Marble or expel him out of it. It should work. Probably.

Anyway, he probably had a good five or ten minutes before Cao Cao arrived so it would be best he hurried up.

Another enhanced pulse of magic to set any traps prematurely burst out from Issei. It would also destroy any magic circle pre-built, unless it was carved. That done, the Sekiryuutei walked into the building rather calmly, taking the elevator and selecting the ride to go to the tenth floor. The teen hummed along with the soft music coming from the speakers, his invisibility cloaking spell already in place, just in case the cameras were working.

Periodically sending bursts of magic to destroy any magic circle, Issei waited for the doors to open and reveal the lavish interior of the floor, as well as the ball of magic that was about to blast him. Nothing that one swing from Ascalon couldn't deal with, splitting the bolt of dark magic easily.

The Sekiryuutei rushed towards the other man, weapon ready to cut apart anything thrown his way. A multitude of spells were thrown his way, the responsible for them standing on the other end of the room, hands inside the long coat and a look of superiority behind the glasses. From holy to devil, fallen angel and archaic, Issei even recognized some draconic spells being launched at him, making him compare the situation to that of an arcade shooter.

One of the spells brushed against his shoulder and Issei hissed in pain. Yeah, no wonder these guys had freedom to do their shit , Georg's magic was no pushover. The only mistake the mage had done was that he had decided to stay and fight instead of using his Sacred Gear to flee. Not that Issei would allow him to do that anymore.

"I would recommend your immediate surrender, Spy-kun! I won't be so merciful with the next barrage!" Behind the man a great deal of magic circles began glimmering, all simple constructs that would give Issei no time to disturb their matrix before they would be fired. The Spy merely poised his sword, increasing the glow of its holy/dragon-slayer properties.

Georg scoffed and rose one hand from the coat pocket, using his pointer finger to select the Sekiryuutei. Like heat-seeking missiles, the spells were fired from their respective circles and began peppering the spy, who was doing his absolute best to intercept as many as he could. His enhanced defense could tank some of the weaker bolts, but he did not have time to be playing around.

Guess I need to break out the big guns. One [Tri-Boost] was not enough and I can already sense Cao Cao and the [Blade Blacksmith] girl coming over.

[About time for us to show the world the might of the Sekiryuutei, Partner!]

I'm not bout to paint a bigger target on my back, Ddraig! We're lucky Yasaka has not allowed news about us to spread out further being Japan, but I guess my luck will only hold out for so long!

[Tiamat indeed did reveal your existence much earlier than necessary. However, cowering is not the nature of us, dragons! Teach that insolent child the error of his ways!]

I only hope that those two at school don't get to know about this anytime soon. Recruitment for devil peerage is not high on my list right now!

[Should they prove to be a bother we only need to establish dominance over them!]

Yeah, yeah, I got you! Troublesome lizard!

[Shitty perverted brat!]

[BALANCE BREAKER] [DOMINATION SCALE MAIL]

"Yo, mage-kun!" The dust raised from the onslaught of spells did not managed to block the shimmering mass of power. Emerald green light and a red gauntlet were the last things Georg saw as a massive and crimson armored foe grabbed ahold of his face. Georg managed to stay conscious long enough for him to feel magic like never before force entry into his body, magic veins straining greatly to accommodate the sudden influx of draconian energy being forcefully crammed inside him.

The sage energy mixed rather well with the draconic power, but that combination being forcefully shoved inside a human vessel without proper restrain was akin to trying to stuff the energy of a hydrogen bomb inside a soda can. Impossible to happen, and should anyone try such foolish endeavor, the result would be quite clear for anyone to see.

[DOMINATION!]

[DIMENSION LOST POWER IS TAKEN!]

"Thanks for making me lose a steamy night with the Kyuubi! I'll be sure to give Cao Cao his part too, but I need to borrow you Sacred Gear for a tiny bit. Hope you don't mind!" And with these parting words, Georg felt himself being stuffed to the brim with alien power, something akin to violence incarnate.

How did we managed to fight the Red Dragon Emperor this soon? Dammit, Vali should be the one scrapping with this-

"Georg! Are you alrit-..."

"Click Click boom!" Issei's voice was distorted under his helmet, but the tone was in clear mocking. Cao Cao would not forget so soon the image of red, draconian armor making one of his fellow subordinates submit in the most savage way.

Humans, in their own way, could become even more savage creatures than all the monsters that resided in the underworld or any other plane of existence. Cao Cao swore to himself to kill this human who showed him once more how pathetic the hero was. Even when he was the descendant of a famous hero and the wielder of the most powerful Longinus-tier Sacred Gear, Cao Cao lost.

And then everything around them exploded in crimson light.

xxxxx

AU NOTES:

Short preview of the incoming chapter. I'm so terribly sorry about the wait, but I was much too busy to work on the chapters for this one, and you can add the fact that I also decided for some reason to work on another brand new My Hero Academia called [Blood for the Blood God]. I must have something wrong with my head. Please, Forgive me for the short preview, but now I'm working hard on all my stories.

Please give you opinions and suggestions both here and in my other fics.