◉◉◉◉◉
"At sunset… kill me?"
Issei tried to process the words.
Killing.
That word had always belonged to a distant world, He had lived as an ordinary high school boy.
Well.
An extraordinarily perverted ordinary high school boy But in the next instant—
He understood.
"Shhk—!"
Pain.
Blazing, unbearable pain.
He looked down.
A spear of searing light had pierced straight through his abdomen.
Blood poured freely.
"Thud!"
His strength vanished.
He collapsed to the ground, staring up at the girl hovering above him.
"Yuma…-chan?"
"Don't call me that."
She smiled sweetly.
"My name is Raynare, Issei-kun."
For a moment, she wore that innocent expression again But now it was twisted with delight.
"…."
His vision blurred.
He tried to speak.
He couldn't.
Issei Hyoudou—
Was dead.
"You really do have terrible taste."
A man's voice drifted in from the side.
Almost reflective.
In some ways—
He, too, might have questionable taste.
"Who's there?!"
Raynare snapped, scanning the darkness.
She had not sensed anyone approaching.
Not the sound.
Not the presence.
"Just someone diligent."
"After all, when trash piles up at home, nobody enjoys the smell."
As he spoke, several black feathers drifted down from the sky.
Raynare's pupils shrank.
Those feathers—
They carried the aura of her Fallen Angel comrades.
After the Evil Dragon's remnant rampaged, some of the Fallen had perished.
Some had survived.
These feathers belonged to the latter.
"This time, I cleaned thoroughly."
Anos descended from above.
Just as she had looked down on Issei—
He now looked down on her.
History had a certain symmetry.
"Who are you?!"
She did not recognize him.
The only stationed powers in Kuoh were Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri.
"Anos Kanzaki, just an ordinary human."
He casually deployed a formation.
[Threefold Soul-Sealing Array.]
An overwhelming suppressive force descended.
Raynare's body locked in place.
She could not move.
"Hakai~"
Another formation unfolded.
[Sixfold Annihilation Array.]
Spiritual energy from the atmosphere was drawn in instantly.
"I always wanted to say this~"
This was one of Anos' most efficient constructs minimal personal expenditure, maximum output.
Unlike Excalibur, which consumed his own sacred power to release a holy beam—
This array converted ambient energy into a concentrated blast of pure spiritual light.
Efficiency over waste.
The beam fired.
Under its brilliance, Raynare disintegrated just like the other Fallen Angels before her.
Ash in the wind.
[Ding!]
[Purple Treasure Chest opened.]
[Reward obtained — Item: Fallen Sacred Heart.]
[Fallen Sacred Heart: Forged from a fragment of the Biblical God's body after His fall. Contains residual authority of the Biblical God. Possesses numerous undeveloped applications.]
"…."
A Fallen Sacred Heart.
So.
A remnant of the dead Biblical God.
"Numerous undeveloped applications?"
Interesting.
Research and development were not things he disliked.
In that regard—
Perhaps he and the Biblical God of this world shared more in common than expected.
He dismissed the thought for now.
"Later."
First—
Issei.
Anos approached the corpse.
Technically, if Rias were summoned immediately and performed a Devil reincarnation, Issei could still be saved.
But Anos had no intention of doing that.
If he had, he would never have arranged for Issei to avoid Kuoh Academy in the first place.
"The Boosted Gear is still present. If the Red Dragon Emperor's soul transfers fully, recovery becomes impossible."
As he spoke, a silver jewel materialized before him.
The World Dragon's Jewel/Gem.
A relic that suppressed and commanded draconic power.
Silver light radiated outward.
The dormant dragon soul was forcibly awakened.
"ROAR—!"
A Heavenly Dragon's pressure exploded outward.
The ground trembled.
Yet before the aura could spread—
The Gem responded.
Silver radiance flashed And the dragon's presence vanished.
Completely suppressed.
The power of Ddraig, the Red Dragon Emperor, was sealed flawlessly.
The Boosted Gear was a Longinus-class Sacred Gear, The World Dragon's Gem was a superior Longinus.
Against a directly countering attribute—
The advantage was absolute.
Even Ingvild Leviathan's song had nearly perfect suppression over Ddraig.
How could the Gem fail?
"What—?! My power?!"
Ddraig's consciousness stirred.
He was one of the Two Heavenly Dragons.
Even reduced to a sealed soul, his strength rivaled transcendents.
And yet—
He was restrained instantly.
"Ddraig, lend me your power."
Anos extended his hand.
"You're the one who waited for my previous host to die."
Ddraig's voice echoed.
"But that silver jewel… what is it?"
"You may consider it a new form of Longinus, one that absorbs dragonic power."
Within the silver gem, a fragment of black dragon soul flickered.
Ddraig recognized it instantly.
"That is… Vritra's remnant."
Silence fell between them.
And the crimson sunset deepened further.
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 300 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access Patreon normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!