บท 231: Chapter 231
A/N: So I've decided to change up how I'm going to do things…unless I hate it that is. We'll see how it goes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Instead of dumping Five (~1k word) chapters once a week, I'm going to start posting two (~3k word) chapters twice a week.
Chapter 231:
–Issei Hyoudou–
Vali was just as strong as Issei remembered him being in this time period. It was only the hundreds of years of experience in combat Issei had that let him triumph as easily as he did. Vali had put up a valiant fight, sure, but Issei had spared against him hundreds of times in the future and knew every one of Vali's tricks at this point. This younger Vali obviously didn't have that luxury.
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain…" Issei Hyoudou muttered to himself as he stared down at the corpse of Vali Lucifer. Issei didn't remember where he had heard that quote from, but it seemed fitting in this situation.
Issei acknowledged that he was the Villain in this situation. He had just killed someone who was a hero in his own timeline. Despite that acknowledgement, he wouldn't stop now! Not until he reclaimed what had been lost to him!
Issei was never going to give up. No matter who or what stood in his way!
Issei raised his gauntleted hand and pointed it at Vali's corpse. He was planning on destroying it along with the evidence of their battle. He didn't think anyone would be able to stop him at this point–'not even HER!'–but he was still very paranoid about being exposed before he regained his full strength.
He was preparing to fire his Dragon Shot and destroy Vali's body when Ddraig stopped him. The green gem on his Boosted Gear glowed as his partner spoke to him.
{Don't do it, Partner. He's already gone, allow him a proper burial at least. He was your rival and deserves that dignity. Don't lose yourself, completely. Vali was never your true enemy here.}
Issei lowered his gauntlet and sighed. "You're right, Ddraig. The one I need to kill is the Goddess of Angels. She's the one who took everything from me after all!"
{What's your plan now?}
"I'm sure Azazel is going to know that I killed Vali. For now, I'm going to use his body as a decoy while I head to the underworld. I need to regain my full strength and there happens to be a sleeping beauty there who can help me do it."
{Good plan. I don't see anything wrong with you waking up Ingvild early. Her Sacred Gear should also give you the boost you need to get back to Super Class quickly. After that, you NEED to find Asia! She's the ONLY one who can hopefully heal our damaged souls!}
"I know…Ddraig. I know." Issei said with a grimace. Even now, he could feel a burning pain inside of himself. His and Ddraig's souls were deteriorating and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Issei figured they'd be dead in a month at most.
He had hoped to find Asia when he stormed the church and killed Raynare, but she wasn't there! Issei knew he was in another timeline, and he had no idea where she was currently.
"I will find MY ASIA, and I will take back my dream!"
…
–500 years in the future, in a different timeline–
"Hello, you've reached the phone of Rias Gremory! I can't take your call right now, but feel free to leave a message. And if this is my bastard ex-husband Issei, STOP CALLING ME! We're through!"
A mature looking Issei hung up the magical phone with a grimace. Rias wasn't talking to him anymore. None of the girls he actually loved were talking to him anymore!
"My lord, is something wrong? Is that ungrateful whore still not answering your calls?" A beautiful naked woman, sitting on the sofa in Issei's mansion asked him. She was one of the latest harem members, although he didn't even know her name. He had simply seen her walking down the street in his territory and decided that he had to add her to his horde.
With his Draconic Aura, it was easy enough to seduce her. She was only a Low Class Devil and could hardly resist its influence.
Issei glared at the naked girl. "Don't talk about Rias like that! She'll come around! She's only a bit jealous because the size of my harem has grown a bit large lately!"
Another naked woman came and sat down next to the other girl. "Of course she is jealous. My lord is the greatest Devil in the Underworld! It is expected of you to have a large harem! All of us sisters are grateful that you desired us and took us for yourself! It is our greatest honor!" She said almost reverently. She was also a Low Class woman that was influenced by his Draconic Aura to fall for him. Another woman that he had picked up somewhere, and couldn't quite recall. He didn't care, she was just a plaything. They all were! Why didn't his wives realize that!?
Issei's harem had grown explosively over the years. As the new Dragon of Domination, his lust was insatiable after all. Right now, he was up to around 300 Harem members.
His wives, the only women he truly loved, had apparently had enough. They refused to stand by him anymore.
Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Kuroka, Ingvild, Xenovia, Roseweisse, Irina, Bennia, Ravel, and even his precious Asia…all of them left him! He was now alone in his gigantic mansion with only his harem members for company. None of his wives would answer his call and they refused to speak with him in person. Even the precious children he had with all of them, refused to speak with him.
Issei sighed. He had everything that he dreamed of as a young boy at this point. He had power, wealth, fame, and a massive harem! None of that made him happy though.
"Pour me a drink!" Issei commanded the two women as he started undressing himself. He needed to get black out drunk and throw himself into another orgy so he could forget the pain temporarily.
…A few hours later.
Issei woke up in a pile of over a dozen naked women with a rough hangover and a frown on his face. The orgy full of beautiful women had been fun, but he once again felt empty. He never felt that way when he woke up, snuggled against one of his wives…
Issei stood up and walked over to a nearby stand to pour himself another drink. He had been doing that a lot lately.
{You should go easy on the drinking, Partner. It's not helping the situation.}
'I know that!' Issei spat out in his mind. 'I know that but…my wives…they're never coming back are they, Ddraig…' Issei thought in depression. He knew it was all truly over.
{Probably not. Those women have all grown to be either Ultimate or Super Class beings. Your Draconic Aura no longer affects them as it did when they were younger. The love they had for you is gone. You'll have to move past it if you ever want to be happy again.}
Issei swirled the glass of demonic whiskey around as he pondered Ddraig's words. His wives were amazing, and had all gotten very powerful and famous themselves. He missed the days when they were all younger and none of them were even Ultimate Class beings. He wished he could go back to those days.
…Issei paused for a moment. So why couldn't he go back? Didn't his Demonic Power allow him to accomplish anything as long as he thought about it? Was time travel possible?
{Partner…that's some very dangerous territory you're thinking of entering. Not only is it incredibly dangerous, but it's also forbidden! Changing time will get every pantheon in existence to hunt you down and kill you.}
Issei didn't care though, his mind was already made up. He needed to know more about Time Travel before he attempted it. The only Devil he could think of who would probably know anything about forbidden magic was Ajuka Beelzebub.
There was a holiday coming up soon in the Underworld that celebrated the signing of the peace treaty 500 years ago. All of the Maous usually got together on that day to celebrate together with the Angels. Issei knew that he could use that opportunity to break into Ajuka's lab. Issei had been invited there a few times in the past and knew about most of Ajuka's security measures already.
{Partner… I hope you know what you're doing.}
…
"Say what you want about Ajuka, but his research is incredibly well organized." Issei muttered to himself. He was searching through Ajuka's research files, trying to find anything on time travel.
Breaking into the lab of the smartest man in the Underworld had not been as difficult as most people would expect.
Issei knew that Ajuka does a lot of dangerous research here. A lot of that research is very magically sensitive and Ajuka therefore can't have strong wards surrounding his lab that could end up disrupting any of it. Hence, despite what most people thought, Ajuka's lab didn't have strong wards. It was mostly filled with dangerous scientific traps that Issei was able to bypass because he was still registered as a 'guest and friend' in Ajuka's systems.
Issei's eyes lit up when he found a file with the information he was looking for! It was a ritual that could send his soul back in time and fuse it with his younger self! Since Ddraig was fused to his soul, he could even come with.
"This is perfect!" Issei said with glee.
{I hope it works…}
Issei started reading in more detail. It was a time ritual that Ajuka had created a few hundred years ago, but abandoned when he felt it wasn't worth the risk of getting the other pantheons angry at him.
The ritual required some rare magic items, but they were nothing he couldn't afford with his current wealth. There were some warnings written down by Ajuka, for anyone attempting to perform the ritual.
The first warning was to never attempt to travel back in time more than 20 years. Doing so 'could' end up sending your soul into an entirely separate timeline. Issei shrugged that one off. He figured Ajuka was too smart to mess up something like that, and just threw that warning in to try and dissuade people from attempting it.
The second warning was to NEVER attempt to do the ritual TWICE. A soul could only go back and fuse with itself once. If it was attempted a second time, his soul would face severe repercussions and possibly even start to deteriorate. Issei ignored that warning as well. He was only intending to go back once anyway. Why would he need to use the ritual twice?
…
A week later Issei had all the magical ingredients he needed to perform the ritual. He had triple checked his work to make sure everything was going to be perfect. Issei knew that he couldn't afford to fail.
{How far back are you going?}
"I'm going back almost the whole 500 years." Issei responded to Ddraig. "I want to merge with my 20 year old self. I'm an Ultimate Class at that point, but my wives were still all in High Class. They were all in college, so they were more focused on academics than training." Issei also picked this point in time because that's when his entire peerage had been assembled and he and his wives had started becoming sexually active. He didn't want to merge back with his 16 year old self and have to win over all the girl's hearts again. That was too much work for him. "Alright, Ddraig, here we go!"
Issei performed the ritual and sent his soul back almost 500 years…
…
Issei opened his eyes with a killer headache. His memories felt jumbled as two different versions of his soul tried to merge. "Did it work?" He asked out loud. He got no response though. "Ddraig? Are you there?"
There was still no response. Issei looked around his surroundings and frowned at what he saw. "Why am I in my old house's bedroom?"
He was in his bedroom from before Rias had his house demolished and rebuilt. He easily recognized the old eroge and gravure posters littering his walls. The smell of his old room was also something he hoped he would forget…
There was a knock on his bedroom door and Issei perked up. "Issei are you awake. You have to get to work soon…" His mother's voice echoed from the other side of the door. She sounded tired.
A few tears came to his eyes. One of his biggest regrets was never turning his parents into devils. He was so focused on his harem dream, that he let them waste away and die as humans. He vowed to himself that he wouldn't let that happen again. First though, he had to figure out what was going on. Did he accidentally send himself back further in time than he wanted to?
He cringed at the thought, but resolved to himself that that wasn;t the worst thing in the world if that's what happened. At least he'd get to beat up Riser Phenex one more time.
Issei hopped out of his bead and started looking around his bedroom for his school uniform. He was surprised when it wasn't in the drawer he remembered it used to be in. Maybe his mother had washed it. Issei tossed on some other clothes and headed downstairs.
His mother and his father were sitting at the kitchen table. They looked exactly as he remembered them. He smiled at them brightly. Good morning, dad! Good morning, mom!"
Instead of being happy to see him, both of his parents just sighed. "Good morning…Son." His father said tiredly.
"Mom, have you seen my school uniform anywhere?" Issei asked her.
His mom looked at him in confusion before giving him a judgemental look. "Why do you need your school uniform?" she asked him. "You better not be thinking of wearing it to sneak back into Kuoh and peep on underage girls!" She spat out at him. He was taken aback by the venomous tone she had with him!
"Son… I think it's time you move out. You were expelled from Kuoh two years ago, but it seems like you can't move past your perversions. Your mother and I can't take it anymore." His father said sadly.
"...What?"
It was only a couple hours later that Issei had started putting the pieces together. The jumbled memories of his two soul's finally settled. Issei was horrified when he got access to his past memories.
"This isn't my past…" He whispered to himself in shock. He didn't accidently send himself back farther than he thought.
He was 20 years old and had ended up exactly where he expected…except he hadn't.
Issei realized that he had not heeded Ajuka's warning and had actually sent himself to an alternate timeline! Here, he was not a Devil! He was a regular human and his Sacred Gear wasn't even awakened yet! That's why he couldn't hear Ddraig.
From his new memories he learned that a few years ago, Rias and Sona had decided to leave Kuoh Academy along with their peerages one day randomly. The students were sad to see them go, but the Issei of this timeline figured the school would continue on as it always had even without those two.
How wrong he was...
The only reason he had not been expelled, for constantly peeping on girls, was because of the Devil's influence over the school. Without them there to run things, Issei and the other two members of the perverted trio were expelled and sent to juvenile prisons.
His life was pretty much ruined from there. No college would ever accept someone with a record like his after all. For the past year, he had been working 9-5 at a convenience store that barely paid him anything. It was the best job he could get.
"This is such bullshit!" Issei cursed out loud in rage. "What happened!? Where did it go wrong!? I'm the Red Dragon Emperor! Why did Rias not take me into her peerage!?"
Issei spent the next week doing his best to awaken his Sacred Gear and try to at least get Ddraig back. From there, the two of them agreed that they needed more information on this timeline. The closest destination to find that information was Kyoto.
Issei stole money from his mother's purse and bought a train ticket. From there, he headed into Youkai territory to try and find any information he could about the Devils and Rias Gremory. He used his identity as the Red Dragon Emperor to intimidate any youkai he found. He didn't care if they reported him to Yasaka, he was planning on leaving Kyoto after he got the information he came for.
"Who the hell is the Goddess of Angels?" He asked in anger.
{Whoever she is, she sounds powerful and very influential.}
Issei found a few more Youkai and got the answers out of them…one way or another.
From what Issei learned of her, she appeared years ago in Kuoh and ended up sweeping not only Rias Gremory, but also Sona Sitri off their feet. Apparently, the Goddess of Angels was a very high ranked Fallen Angel that was practically worshiped by the three factions. She was a Super Class being, she could create Angels at a whim, she could heal the Devil's Sleeping Sickness Disease, and she could literally revive the dead!
How was Issei supposed to compete with that!?
"Rias is already part of someone else's harem here, Ddraig. And in this timeline I'm nothing but a human criminal…" Issei muttered in dejection.
{I warned you to be careful when messing with time. Luckily for you, none of the pantheons seemed to notice that you did it. You're still the Red Dragon Emperor. Why not start over here and make a name for yourself again? I'm sure that plenty of Devil's will want you in their peerages!}
"No!" Issei said while clenching his fists. "The only peerage I join will be Rias's! If I failed the first time, then I'll just try again. I just need to collect the magical ingredients to perform the time ritual a second time! I'll stop the Goddess of Angels from ever getting her hands on Rias! I'll kill her first before she touches what's mine!"
{Partner… You didn't listen to Ajuka's first warning. The second warning specifically said that you can never time travel again! Our Souls won't be able to handle it!}
Issei grit his teeth. "It doesn't matter. I have to! I'll take back what's mine and kill anyone who gets in my way! The Goddess of Angel's won't even see me coming!" He grinned vindictively.
XXX
A/N: This was a bit of a different chapter, but I had fun writing it.
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