Prologue

(Thoughts)

'Important Words'

"Dialogue" -

Attacks, Boosted Gear

[Good Old Ddraig]

*Magic circle communication. Among Others*

Ahhhh, I truly fell to the bottom.

—-Location Unknown—-

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(So... Pitch black is only thing I can more or less see, huh?) - A young-man looked at his surroundings and thought with sarcasm.

(Great! My vision is blurry, my senses are twisted and my mind—well, just by the fact that I am speaking like this is proof enough that I'm not well!) - The brown-haired boy thought to himself while hoping that a certain someone would say something, anything at all at his comment.

Waiting for a little while, praying for the Dragon's voice to be heard... he instead got silence.

Praying. Kind of ironic if you think about it, knowing he is a Devil or well, was. Yet praying for the answers from his friend, what would others say?

But, how did he manage to stop being a devil? How could that happen? It didn't make sense! The Evil Pieces inside of him were linked to his body and more than that, to his emotions, feelings and to his soul! Removing them was akin to suicide! But the fact that he was breathing and sweating heavily proved otherwise.

With his vision returning and more or less stable, he remembered where he was.

A normal looking cave.

Well, you could say that if you ignored how awful the location actually was. It was filled with holes, cracks, rubble and rocks. A really a terrible place to be at.

Each crack was as long as an arm and the holes were of various sizes, from not bigger than a coin, to almost the size of a full human adult. How the cave was still standing and not actually destroyed was a mystery no one wanted to solve.

Leading into the depths of that same cave you could distinguish, if you had a decent sight, a boy with wounds horrible enough to make the best doctors pale in fright.

He was laying down in a pool of his own blood, inside a small crater not bigger than the boy himself.

If you looked close enough, right onto his body, you could find eight wounds in the size and shape of a small billiard ball. Among them, the most prominent ones being right on his chest.

Those wounds were three holes, all taking the shape of an inverse triangle. They were filled with blood that had yet to coagulate, and charred pieces of meat that were still falling off his body and onto the ground.

A sight that would make everyone think, 'How was the boy even alive?' Of course, that's not counting the other wounds in his arms, legs and abdomen respectively.

"Shit! Just how did that happen?! I mean, Ddraig did tell me how my own power and the Pieces started to fight among each other, but I never thought it would be that violent!" - He was shocked to say the least.

"Well, at least I managed to get rid of them... " - With an exhausted voice the boy said to himself as he tried to stand up, but failing every attempt he did. His body was far too damaged to do something, at least, for now.

"Haaa..." - He sighed while giving up. - "It seems that I need to stay still until this starts acting up."

The boy then gazed at his body, he was being covered with a really difficult to explain, 'substance'.

The substance was jet black in color with a tiny bit of red, glowing with an eerie purple light at small intervals. It moved as if it had a mind of its own and looked soft to the touch. However, the atmosphere of the substance itself was heavy and made the surrounding area experience a decrease in temperature.

This 'Darkness', as he decided to call it, was something he gained that fateful day a few Months ago, a Friday if his memory wasn't wrong. According to the information he and Ddraig managed to figure out, this was the manifestation of his Draconian Power.

When Ddraig told him that with a voice filled with pride and glee he made a stupid expression. He didn't really understand what it meant.

After the loud laugh of his Partner, the Dragon calmed himself down and started to explain, something he truly was grateful for.

According to his explanation, every Dragon whether High or Low Class has something that differentiates themselves from other Dragons and other species in general. That being, the manifestation of their Aura!

Not undestanding much about it, he asked the Dragon to simplify it for him. Knowing that his Partner wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he explained it with simple words and simple terms.

Every Dragon has something called Aura. You could call it the nucleus of every Dragon, their Heart and the source of their powers, so to speak.

Once a Dragon manages to grow to an extremely old age, or experiences something that manages to change his or her own Psyche. Then, their Aura would change and they would gain certain... characteristics, each one different from other Dragons.

Those same characteristics would then help the Dragon grow at a monstrous pace even among their own kind, and gift them a certain advantage over pretty much everyone.

Remebering what his experience or experiences were, he did think that he changed from back then. Of course, not for the good.

He actually looked awful back then, destroyed from the inside out. And even at the same time his Pieces were reacting violently to his own Aura, poisoning him to the point he could barely move, making every step a torture in itself.

A chill crept up his spine when he remembered exactly what he felt at that time. Something he truly did not wish for anyone, not even for his worst enemy...

Shaking his head he started to focus on his memory of that time, the talk with his Partner. He needed to distract himself from the pain his body was experiencing.

Remembering the explanation of Ddraig made the Issei of that time widen his eyes, asking even more about it. He was really curious about it at that time and for once in a long time, he felt happy.

The Dragon decided to explain it more easily, and reached the conclusion of exemplifying what his words meant. So, he made himself as the example.

He said that when he reached a certain age he awoke his Aura, making him reach the heights of a Heavenly Dragon! And the so-called characteristic that he gained from his Aura was, Domination.

A unique trait in the whole sense of the word. At that time it was also when he gained his first ability related to his Aura of Dominance.

His own flames, capable of burning even Gods to less than ash!

The Blazing Inferno of Scorching Flames was his first ability, but just with this alone he managed to stand tall and proud against any other dragon! Well, until he met a certain white-bastard.

The brown-haired boy remembered the Dragon's voice filled with sentimentalism, something rare in him now that he thought about it.

When said white-bastard was absolutely resistant to his flames, he felt excited yet scared, as someone just withstood his own flames!

The two Dragons started to fight against each other, not remembering exactly whether for pride or something else...

Since each other were inmune to their specialties they derived other abilities with the help of their Aura.

He gained the ability to double his own strength and transfering it to other things. And the other Dragon created the ability to divide others' strength and add it to his own, complete opposite abilities all just to counter each other.

Later on, in the middle of one of their fights, he managed to ask the White Dragon about his trait, answering that is was, Supremacy.

He laughed at it, saying how arrogant that was even among their own kind, but he found this amusing. He then asked for the name of the Dragon, Albion Gwiber was the answer he got.

Finishing his explanation he stated that it was of utmost importance to figure out exactly what trait does his Aura have. Something that up until this moment hadn't figured out.

"So Aura, huh? Well, unexpected but not unwelcome. After all, I need something for me to become stronger!" - With a smile filled with viciousness, the boy said to no one in particular. He then turned his hand into a fist and he stood up with slight difficulty.

Looking down unto his body he stared right at the locations of his wounds, smiling at what was happening.

They were being covered in this Darkness, blocking the wounds from his view. The Darkness gave the impression of a second skin and felt comfortable against his own flesh, like the cool sensation of freshly washed clothes.

Then he sensed how his Darkness healed the most obvious and painful wounds, closing them at a speed perceivable with the naked eye.

Wounds like that—even a single one of them, would take a team of a dozen or so specialized Supernatural Doctors and over 20 hours of surgery just to patch up! A wound like that closing almost instantaneously, as if it was nothing but a scratch, was ridiculous!

If someone could see it they would be shocked to the point they couldn't say anything!

With this, one could see just how abnormal his Aura actually was.

This was one of the Traits of his Darkness; Extreme regeneration and Healing. Although, whether it could truly regenerate a lost limb or not wasn't known, either way, he didn't have the courage to test it.

He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and cracked his neck. Feeling the sweet pops of his cervical vertebrae.

"Well Ddraig, time to move on! Time waits for no one, lets make a trip to... whatever place is fine, I just really need to clear my head. Nothing like a good old journey to expand my boundaries so that we can finally take our well deserved break." - The boy said as he looked down to his left palm, waiting for the Dragon's response.

However, he was only answered with silence.

With an expression of concern and guilt in his eyes, he bit his own lip.

He knew why the the Dragon hadn't answered him. He had explained it to him before he did this suicidal thing to get rid of the Pieces that would have otherwise claimed his life.

Sighing, he decided to walk towards the exit, or well, towards the only lit place inside this cavern.

Walking toward the sweet light that made him feel butterflies in his stomach, he looked at his surroundings but...

*Cling!* - A high-pitched sound echoed as his foot accidentally hit something on the stone floor.

Turning his head and looking at his feet he soon found something that made his entire expression change. He was pale, his eyes widened in pure shock.

At his feet, a crimson Pawn Piece the size of a pinky was present. It had a really malicious aura surrounding it and even some spots on the surface of the Piece had turned black. Just by touching it he felt how his vitality was drained and his whole body started to get exhausted. Bad memories came to his head thanks to that feeling.

Gathering his courage he picked it up like it was something hideous to grab. He had a face filled with disgust and a weary look in his eyes.

"...Well, if I want to start anew I need to move on from my past. Better put it back in a place where it can be found..." - Looking down at the Piece with hesitance he decided.

Turning back around he went to look for all the remaining Pieces, hoping for the best.

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A few minutes later he stared at his own palms. Looking at eight crimson Pawn Pieces bathed in a little of his blood, tiny cracks all over their surface.

Putting them in the blood-soaked pockets of his pants, he once again looked around the place of his, Revival.

A cave filled with nothing but bloodied, cracked walls, yet a single ray of light shone upon him from a hole in the roof. Before, this was a simple cave yet now, for him, it signified something completely else; a place he will never forget.

Sighing, he made a slight smile at the corner of his lips. Taking his sweet time to remember the scenery in front of him.

After a long minute, he turned around and walked away right towards the small light that was behind him. Walking in silence for a few minutes he finally reached the entrance of the cave.

The light of the sun had momentarily blinded him so he closed his eyes as a mere reflex. Moments later he slowly opened them, just like the ones of a newborn. He then looked at what was in front of him.

A forest in who knows where. When he activated the transportation circle he didn't specify the location, he just wanted to get away from there as fast as he could.

Straightening his back and looking resolutely at what was ahead, he walked into the forest. Right now he needed to do a few things before leaving on his journey, and putting the Pieces back into his house was only the first step.

Because he didn't want for someone to track him, well not that they would know that he was gone in the first place, he decided to do something back at home.

He recalled the words he heard that night from a certain number of maidens. Those words were truly what had finally broke him...

Even now, when he remembered them, it still hurt a lot. Even though he no longer had the emotions and feelings he had, bad memories were still bad, and that scene had tormented his mind till this very day... However, he vowed that today was the last of those nightmares! Of those disgusting night-terrors that made him scared of just sleeping!

Shaking his head, he got rid of those memories.

"Well, let's start this shall we? This will certainly be interesting. I wonder what exactly will happen from now on." - With a confident tone of voice that sounded sharp and cold he walked onwards, light shining from within his eyes.

Soon they changed color, from their normal golden tone they turned jet black with a red tinge at the center of the iris.

At the same time a 'Mark' started to appear on his forehead, the same color as his own Darkness. This being the 'Demon Mark', a simple side-effect when using his Aura, something simple that wasn't dangerous at all.

The mark started at the left side of his forehead, in the shape of an spiral that circled itself two times ending upwards and towards the left, almost reaching the root of his hair. On the right side of the spiral, there were three spikes joined one amongst the other pointing upwards in a diagonally way. At the bottom part of the spiral, on the same side it ended upwards, a long yet thin spike reached all the way down, ending right above the eyebrow.

At this moment he subconsciously released an aura that made the entire place within a 10km radius tremble.

Every living being in that radius started running away and even the leaves on the trees started to move and rustle. Light itself started to fade little by little, and coldness replaced the warm feeling the forest had.

The aura inside that place was suffocating. Even a High-Class Devil will find itself with the difficulty to breathe much less move.

The aura was simply that menacing and heavy. Definitely something you wouldn't want to be aimed with.

Walking onwards he reached the center of the forest, he then started to set up the transportation circle back to Kuoh.

He looked at his surroundings filled with beautiful tall trees and wet grass with a few patches of moss here and there.

While walking he remembered all the events in his life up until now, especially those after the war with Qlippoth and Trihexa.

He remembered the final battle and how, after a conjoined effort of all the Gods and beings with that level of strength, they barely managed to seal the beast in an especially modified dimension.

After that, many Deities went into hibernation, using all of their power truly made them weak. So many Gods, that before were actually active now were resting. Few Deities actually still roamed the world, that included the Devils, the Angels, and the Fallen Angels.

With his head occupied by his thoughts, he started to think about his future. He wanted to do something about it but for now, things still needed to be done back at home. Luckily for him, they weren't that many.

Soon after, the transportation circle was finished.

Looking uncomfortably at the red and black magic circle, he gathered courage and moved.

Standing at the center of it, he activated it. At the same moment he removed the effect that his Darkness had on his body.

His eyes turned back to yellow and the mark on his forehead was also gone. He didn't want to become a beacon for other beings back at Kuoh. He also didn't want them to start asking questions, so he decided to suppress his Aura to that of a normal human. This way no one will suspect anything, and arduous task but with good results nonetheless.

"Haaa..." - Sighing, light started to gather at his surroundings.

"Seems like I will need time to get accustomed to my body. It still fells wobbly..." - He awkwardly moved his arms. - "Ddraig also needs time to regain his consciousness. Well during this time period there are a few things that do not need special force, so better start with them."

Light covered his field his vision. However, before he left, he muttered under his breath with a sharp and cold voice.

"A new Hyoudou Issei has been born. Now World, lets see what you got for me!" - With a depredatory smile he arrogantly said.

Soon after he vanished from the forest, his next destination, Kuoh his 'home.'

END PROLOGUE

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