"Ara~ then it depends on the other party's intentions. If they decide they want to eliminate you, their destined rival, there's nothing we can do to interfere with their will."
"Don't worry, Issei-kun. I will protect my servant who has yet to grow. That is my responsibility, and also what I should do."
Rias sighed and comforted Issei. She was serious—such a high-potential servant could not be allowed to die casually.
Perhaps in the future he really would become one of her key subordinates. Thinking of Raize's overwhelming strength, she also placed a trace of expectation on Issei.
But to Issei, her words did not sit well. Just moments ago he had been talking about protecting and helping Rias, yet now he himself was facing a huge problem.
"If you want to hide Hyoudou Issei's identity as the Red Dragon Emperor, that's impossible. If I remember correctly, these two Sacred Gears have a special mutual resonance. It's very possible that the other party already knows he is the Red Dragon Emperor, and simply disdains to kill the current, weak Hyoudou Issei."
Sona looked at Rias expressionlessly and once again mercilessly shattered Issei's lingering hope.
If the other side truly didn't know his identity yet, there would still be time for him to grow and develop. But if they already knew…
Then it would depend entirely on the other party's mood. Right now they weren't on their own territory, and there was no family support to speak of.
If Raize truly wanted to kill Issei, even if they all charged together, they wouldn't be able to stop him.
"…I almost forgot about that. If it's really as Sona said, then the other party probably disdains killing the current, weak Issei-kun. That at least counts as a blessing in disguise."
Rias pressed her fingers against her temple, clearly troubled. She had indeed intended to temporarily conceal Issei's identity, but because of her own affairs and what had just happened, she had nearly forgotten the most crucial point.
That was the mutual resonance between these two Sacred Gears. The two Heavenly Dragons within—the Red Dragon Emperor and the White Dragon Emperor—would certainly sense each other as mortal enemies.
As Sona said, Raize might have already known Issei's identity and simply chosen not to act.
"By the way, Issei—can you communicate with the Red Dragon Emperor, Ddraig, inside your Sacred Gear now?"
"Huh? I tried it the way you told me to, Buchou, but it didn't work at all."
Issei scratched the back of his head. After Rias discovered the true nature of his Sacred Gear, she had already instructed him to attempt communication.
But he had never met any Ddraig in his consciousness or dreams.
"That's strange. Could it be that Ddraig thinks this generation's Red Dragon Emperor host is too useless, so he's given up on you?"
Rias looked Issei up and down with a strange expression. She believed Issei had followed her meditation instructions, yet there was still no result—what was going on?
"That's too cruel, Buchou! Am I really that useless?" Issei's face immediately fell. Those words hit him hard.
Especially since they came from the person he secretly admired, and in front of everyone.
"Everything is relative. If the President and I hadn't seen that man earlier, we wouldn't think you were that useless."
Standing beside Sona, Tsubaki spoke up calmly. If they hadn't seen what a White Dragon Emperor host looked like, no one would think Issei was particularly lacking.
"…Then what should I do next?"
Having accepted reality, Issei felt somewhat dejected—but he still wanted to know how he could catch up to Raize.
A man fights for his pride. Since others believed he was inferior, then he could only respond with concrete actions and results.
"If you don't work hard, senpai, then there's no saving you. You'll just be waiting to die."
Koneko spoke expressionlessly as she looked at Issei.
She was encouraging him in her own way—at the very least, not to give up on himself. If he couldn't match others in power, then he had to work harder.
Without effort, all that awaited him was a life of idling toward death.
But Issei, who had already died once, would never accept that. For some reason, he recalled his last date with Yuuma.
He had only managed to hold hands before dying. He absolutely refused to end up like that again!
He—Hyoudou Issei—wanted oppai! He wanted lewdness! He wanted H!
"Before I get to touch Buchou's oppai, I absolutely will not die!!!!"
He declared his resolve at the top of his lungs. While Rias and Akeno felt both helpless and amused, they were also worried about this man who so blatantly expressed his desires.
They worried not only about whether he would be killed by his destined rival, but also about his current situation—because he had completely ignored the nearby students of the main school, who had heard his shout and were now looking at this new exchange student with expressions reserved for perverts.
On his very first day, Issei, the exchange student, still hadn't managed to shake off his old reputation as a lecher.
---
"Hi hi~~ did the vampire ninja on the Underworld side receive the message? No need to come for now. This place… aha~ there's no need for reconnaissance. Those dragons already took care of it."
In Kyoto's Koutou District, inside the home of a doujinshi artist, a mature-looking woman with a sleepy face lay sprawled over her desk, holding a phone to her ear as she replied weakly.
She was wearing very revealing summer clothes, her voluptuous figure quite eye-catching. Lazily draped over the desk was Naegleria Nebiros—commonly called Nene—an Underworlder, currently speaking with contacts on the Underworld side.
Suffering from hypersomnia, her sleepy eyes glanced out the window at the clear sky, a strange emotion flickering within them.
She was an Underworlder—the strongest of the Underworlders. Before the appearance of the Megalo system, she alone had repelled the Magical Garment Girls' invasion of the Underworld. With a single touch, she could undo their transformations.
That alone was enough to ensure that the Magical Garment Girls of Velliers would never forget her.
She was also a close friend of Eu. The armor Eu wore had been created by her own hands.
Despite her formidable background, she was now merely a doujinshi artist and no longer involved herself much in affairs.
She had witnessed the earlier incident in the sky and found the strength of those dragons and otherworldly beings quite impressive.
Now, as she continued speaking with Underworld informants, she rubbed her eyes, downed the coffee beside her desk in one gulp, and held up a phone whose back flickered with magical patterns. Her tone remained as languid as ever as she said: