Irina was finally able to talk with Sakura and managed to get almost the whole picture. The thing she still didn't know was about why the grey-haired loli who was Ophis' playmate knew her. Sakura told her that it wasn't the time to know about her yet.
Cleria and Masaomi were informed that Irina made contact with Sakura, but both of them decided to not to tell her their true identity in fear of it being leaked.
A few more days passed and both Oppai Dragon and Magical Girl Levia-tan became big hits in the Underworld, they were especially popular with the kids. As both of them were 'Superhero' shows, debates would often come up about which one was better. Fortunately for everyone, it was a healthy type of debate as everyone supported the shows.
Various media outlets in the Underworld also started a character popularity poll regarding this season's shows and as one would expect, Issei's character, the Oppai Dragon came first, while Serafall's Magical Levia-tan came in second. The third, however, came from an unexpected contender.
Unlike what most analysts predicted, Rias' Switch Princess didn't come third, instead it was another character from the Magical Levia-tan. A mysterious character who helped the protagonist in her times of need from the shadows. His features only consisted of the shadowy figure of a man and the only one identifying trait was his green bucket hat. He didn't have a name in the show, but the protagonist called him, 'Mr. Hat'.
Even though he didn't speak and only a silhouette of him was shown, his cool and mysterious character captured the hearts of many, landing him on the third spot of the popularity poll.
Of course, some people knew the origin of the said hat, but not one of them said anything as they were sure that it was Serafall's soft method to ease Kisuke's image to the masses for the time when he would reappear again.
.
.
.
It wasn't long after that, when it was finally officially announced that the next Rating Game opponent for Rias' Peerage was going to be one of the Devils whom they met at the party, Diodora Astaroth. A devil belonging to the Household of the current Beelzebub.
It was also around this time that Diodora was spotted around the town, where he was trying to meet Asia. He also gave out his intention to invite Asia to his peerage and it was also revealed that he was the Devil who was healed by Asia and the reason she got kicked out of the Church.
Before their Rating Game, Diodora kept pestering Rias, urging her to do a 'Piece' exchange with him. Furthermore, Akeno received a warning from Le Fay, telling her that she needed to be careful around Diodora.
On the day of the game, everyone from the Occult Club, Azazel, Rossweisse and Irina were gathered in the clubroom.
"Have a good trip~.", said Irina and waved at them.
"Just do your best." Rossweisse also added a few words of her own.
Rias' entire peerage then disappeared and teleported towards their battlefield.
"Well then, we should head out ourselves." Azazel stood up from his chair and prepared another magic circle for teleportation.
Irina faced him and asked, "I received direct orders from Michael-sama to go to the Underworld and cooperate with you. But why are we keeping our involvement a secret?"
Rossweisse also nodded at her question, "I'm curious about it too. That old geezer sent me an order after leaving me all alone for so long."
"If nothing happens, we'll just show up as a surprise. But if something does happen, then we'll take care of the things that shouldn't be there.", answered Azazel with a grin.
"So you're using them as bait. I can't say that I'd approve something like this.", replied Rossweisse.
"Well, there's no other way since we don't have any concrete evidence against him. All we can do is to prepare for the worst."
.
.
.
After appearing at their assigned battlefield, everyone looked around and saw that different from their first Rating Game, the 'chessboard' this time was enormous. From a distance, Rias' group could see some elevated platforms with castles built on top of them.
But a few seconds later, Rias frowned, "How strange, the referee should have announced our arrival by now."
Akeno recalled Le Fay's warning and increased her magic output.
A few more seconds passed and numerous magic circles manifested around them, both on the ground and in the sky. "That's not the crest of Astaroth. But I've seen it before.", muttered Rias, when Devil soldiers started appearing one by one through the magic circles and completely surrounded them. "That's the crest of Beelzebub. We can safely assume that they are from the Old Satan Faction."
"Then, are they from the Khaos Brigade?", asked Issei.
But before Rias could answer him, one of the Devils that were surrounding them suddenly said, "To the despicable usurpers of the false royal house of Gremory! We are here to take back what is ours!"
But as they were listening to them, Asia suddenly shrieked and it was already too late when they turned towards her. "Asia!", shouted Issei to Asia, who was being pulled up by magic and got caught by their supposed competitor, Diodora Astaroth. "You bastard! What are you doing!?"
"Greetings. Asia Argento will be coming with me," said Diodora with a large grin on his face.
"What are you going to do to her, you douchebag!?" Issei started charging his boosted gear, but it would still take some time to release his Balance Breaker.
"Diodora... What's the meaning of this? I demand an explanation!", asked Rias while gritting her teeth.
Diodora's grin grew larger and he replied, "These Devils from the Khaos Brigade will murder each one of you. Is that sufficient?"
"So you've allied yourself to these criminals, you traitorous dog!" Rias' magic power then started rising up and she counted his crimes, "First you defiled the sanctity of the Rating Games which alone deserves death. And second, you dare lay your filthy hands on Asia!"
"Well, if you wanna do something about it, then you'll first have to fight my friends here. But while you're doing that, the two of us will get to know each other." Diodora then bombarded them with his magic.
Without waiting for any command, Xenovia dodged through the bombardment of magic and lunged towards Diodora. However, he unexpectedly used Asia as a meat shield to stop Xenovia's assault which enraged her and made her scream, "You dirty bastard!"
"Hehehe, whatever you say." Diodora teleported away and took Asia with him.
Issei blamed himself for his weakness and inability to do something when Asia was in danger. But it was not just him, Akeno was also blaming herself. She already received a warning, but she still wasn't able to do anything.
All they could do now was to defeat these hundreds of Devil soldiers surrounding them before they could follow Diodora.
The situation was bleak, but Azazel already sent Odin to their location to help them fending off the Devils. Rias and the rest finally understood that they had acted as bait for the Khaos Brigade. What he didn't expect, however, was the fact that Asia was kidnapped. With some hesitation, Azazel allowed them to venture into enemy territory.
Various battles were occurring around the enormus game field, but the highlight was without a doubt the fight of Sirzechs and Michael against one of the Old Satan's descendants, Creuserey Asmodeus. He was a good looking man, wearing the clothes of a noble. They were black and decorated with dark red belts and motifs.
Sirzechs tried to convince him to stop what he was doing but Creuserey, like the late Katerea, wasn't having any of it and started attacking Sirzechs. Knowing that it was impossible to talk to him, he eliminated him in an instant through his overly powerful Power of Destruction.
Meanwhile, Issei and the rest of the crew got entangled with Diodora's peerage. They also discovered that all of his peerage members consisted of nuns who were expelled from the Church and were brainwashed to follow Diodora's orders.
After defeating Diodora's peerage, the group immediately went to the deepest room and saw Asia tied in the middle of the room with some magic equipment. It was then that Diodora explained everything to them.
And they finally understood why Diodora was so obsessed with Asia. It was due to his fetish for 'Holy Maidens' and corrupting them. He also revealed that him appearing injured in front of Asia long ago was a deliberate plan to get her kicked out of the Church. Unfortunately for him, Rias managed to 'snatch' her first.
Of course, hearing all of this together with some insults and provocations, made Issei furious beyond belief and Ddraig felt that his power was almost on the verge of going berserk. He immediately went into his Balance Breaker mode and started assaulting Diodora.
Diodora even bragged that he received the power of Ophis. However, it didn't even take a second for him to go down with one punch from Issei. Even after bombarding Issei with magic, Issei only took it head-on while walking slowly towards him.
Panicking, Diodora tried to increase his power output but still failed to put a dent in Issei's armor. Issei, on the other hand, started beating the shit out of him and specifically aimed for his face and balls.
After not being able to take the pain anymore, Diodora used all of his power to create the strongest barrier he could make, between him and the Red Dragon Emperor. However, that was also useless after Issei boosted himself multiple times and resumed beating Diodora again.
After he was done with him, he immediately went to Asia to free her.
But even in his Balance Breaker, he failed to untie her. While watching him struggle, Diodora finally explained that the seal was made by someone with a Longinus and it wouldn't lose to the Boosted Gear. It was set to free Asia after it all ended, but in case of Diodora's defeat, the seal was set to absorb Asia's magic power and vitality, slowly killing her in the process.
Issei and the rest could see that Asia was slowly weakening, but Issei wasn't giving up yet. Since it was a seal, there was one magic he could try. The one and only original magic of his that he didn't forget to practice every day.
"Asia, please forgive me for this.", whispered Issei to her before casting his magic. "Heighten, my delusions! My worldly desires!"
And according to his will, his Sacred Gear started boosting his strength again. Ddraig understood what he was about to do and could only sigh.
With the green lights coming from his gems, Issei shouted, "Dress Break! Balance Breaker Boost Version!"
Red light emerged from his hands and covered Asia's entire body before destroying everything around her, including her clothes.
===============================
===============================
===============================
Editors:
28th00: So, that happened. Issei doing Kisuke's training made it so he's literally a walking tank for anyone below Ultimate-class, huh? Side note, Issei truly has insanely overpowered magic that is never utilised this way in canon, it sucks. It works so damn well on things that count as restraining the target, like clothing, or bindings… Or a seal as it appears. Now, how do we skip to events 5-6 volumes later? Because that's when Kisuke appears, during the Underworld Invasion(lol). It's also where both sides had the wonderful ability of "No-selling" the other side's powers.
Alexander: Oh, he did use this in the canon. But you're right, it was basically overpowered. However, don't forget that most of the end bosses were men and he can't use his magic against them.
Akeno immediately conjured a school uniform for the naked Asia. Being grateful, Asia jumped into Issei's arms while crying and thanking everyone for saving her.
After calming down, everyone got ready to leave. But before that, Asia requested for everyone to wait for her because she wanted to pray. It was her habit of praying after successfully passing some kind of hardship and she had no intention of changing that.
Asia went to the middle of the room and kneeled down. She thanked God for making things right and thanked him for letting her meet everyone. Finally, she wished that she could stay with everyone forever. As she finished her prayer, golden light surrounded her and before anyone could react, Asia disappeared without a trace.
"W-what?" Issei muttered in shock, "What happened?"
But before anyone could answer him, another voice resounded, one that didn't belong to anyone there, "Enough playing around, Diodora Astaroth." A second later, a green magic circle appeared above everyone and a handsome man dressed in black armor with a cape emerged from it. He had long brown hair that went down to his hips with many bangs covering his right eye.
"Who are you!?", asked Rias. She still didn't know what happened to Asia, so she was a bit feisty.
"Dear little sister of the despicable fake Satan. I'm the descendant of the original Beelzebub. I'm Shalba Beelzebub.", was how the newcomer introduced himself.
"What do you want!?"
However, Shalba just ignored her and looked towards Diodora who was kneeling on the floor, injured. "Shalba! Lend me your hand!", requested Diodora, "If both the old and current Satans combine their strengths..."
But before he could finish what he wanted to say, Shalba blasted a hole in his stomach without any mercy. "H-huh?", gasped Diodora and looked down at his body. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Fool." Shalba then pointed his palm towards him and a golden light engulfed Diodora, erasing him from the battlefield. It was the same golden light that engulfed Asia earlier.
Seeing this, everyone finally understood what happened. If Diodora was killed just now in an instant, then Asia's chances of survival couldn't have been better than him.
While everyone was stunned and shocked, Shalba continued speaking to Diodora who was no more, "Current Satan you say? Calling the true bloodline 'old' is a mistake in itself."
"You despicable terrorist! I'll never forgive you for killing Asia!", screamed Rias and released most of her power. She started to bombard Shalba with every ounce of her Power of Destruction.
But Shalba only manifested Ophis' blessing and used it to power his barrier, effectively blocking all of her attacks, "Little sister of the impostor Sirzechs, I'll have you die as well."
While everyone was getting ready to risk their lives to take revenge, one person couldn't accept reality and kept calling for Asia, "Asia... Asia... Where are you? We have to go home... We still have to practice for the three-legged race of the sports festival... Stop hiding and show yourself to me... This isn't funny.", muttered Issei as he blankly walked and looked around the room.
Everyone became heartbroken after seeing this. Even the intensity of Rias' magic decreased considerably after witnessing Issei in a state of denial.
Rias ran towards Issei and silently hugged him. She knew that it wouldn't be easy for Issei to accept Asia's death and even now, he was still continuing his search.
The first one to go into battle was Xenovia. With tears streaming down her face, she launched an attack at Shalba, "AHHH!!! Unforgivable!!! Unforgivable!!! I'll kill you!!! I'll cut you down with my blade!!!"
However, even with her desperate attack, she was only tossed back by Shalba's strong demonic powers, resulting in some injuries. "Xenovia!", shouted Akeno, who hurriedly ran to her side and supported her.
But despite her current state, Xenovia hadn't given up and tried to stand up to fight, "Give Asia back!!! She's one of my only few friends!!!"
Thanks to Xenovia's voice, Issei awakened a little, "B-Buchou, Asia isn't here..."
Rias grimaced after seeing Issei's hopeless face, "...Issei."
Seeing this, Shalba started mocking them, "Seriously, the princess of the Gremory Household has such a bad taste." He then looked straight into Issei's eyes, "Listen up, you red piece of trash. I sent that girl to the Dimensional Gap."
Issei looked towards him blankly and Shalba continued explaining, "Within such a place, that girl has no way of surviving. Surely, her body has perished by now." With a big grin, Shalba finished his words, "In other words, she's already dead."
Issei gritted his teeth as he lost himself to grief and rage. His eyes then started shining with the same light as Ddraig gems and he started to walk towards Shalba.
.
.
.
After erasing Creuserey Asmodeus, Michael, Sirzechs and Azazel discussed their next steps while waiting for their soldiers to clear up the remaining enemies. But while doing so, the gem on Azazel's Sacred Gear which contained Fafnir started shining, warning him of something.
The three leaders then looked towards a certain direction and saw a little girl in a goth outfit standing in mid-air not far from them. "Oh perfect. I certainly didn't expect you to show up in person.", said Azazel.
"Azazel. It's been a while.", replied Ophis.
"If we defeat you here, are you going to finally let peace win out?", asked Azazel while hoping for a good answer.
But Ophis only unceremoniously answered with a small smile, "Impossible. You cannot defeat me." And that held true, even if the three leaders were to join forces to fight her.
Azazel knew this was true, so he didn't really argue with her and just continued asking, "Well then, can you tell us why you're doing this now, when you never showed any interest to the world before?"
"Indeed. I would only like to know why you are leading a brigade of terrorists.", added Sirzechs.
After hearing their questions, Ophis looked up to the red sky before answering, "...A world of silence. I would like to return to the Dimensional Gap which is my home and reclaim that silence. That is all."
'The Dimensional Gap, huh... If I remember it correctly... I see, Vali. I can finally guess what you want.', thought Azazel as he took away his Sacred Gear, intending to ask a few more questions to Ophis like her involvement with both Kisuke Urahara and Serafall Leviathan.
But before he could do that, an explosion of strange aura caught their attention. "Hmm? What happened? Is this Issei's aura?", asked Azazel and looked in a certain direction. Before they knew it, Ophis was already gone.
"So what should we do now?", wanted Michael to know.
"I think that she'll follow that aura. Let's go to clear the enemies first and follow her afterwards.", replied Sirzechs, before he sent a wave of Power of Destruction towards the remaining enemies.
The two leaders nodded at him and started clearing out the enemies, too.
.
.
.
Vali, Bikou, and Arthur were within a bubble of magic power that protected them against the void, while scouring the Dimensional Gap to take a glimpse of their target.
"Hey Vali, is it really here? In this Dimensional Gap?", asked Bikou after the search for their target went on for a few hours.
"We'll definitely find it.", answered Vali confidently. He decided to search for a few more hours, when he suddenly felt a familiar surge of Draconic Aura, "Hmm?"
"What's wrong?", asked Bikou.
"Change of plans. We're going to the underworld.", commanded Vali.
"Why are we going so suddenly?"
But before Vali could answer him, Arthur, who was controlling the magic bubble that protected them through his holy sword, found a blonde maiden silently floating in the chaotic void, "Hmm?"
==========================
==========================
==========================
Editors:
28th00: Ah, so it did go pretty much the exact same as canon. I wonder if Ophis will go like, "Oh, that's bad.", because she knows that Issei is 'The Hat's' friend. Asia being a natural Dragon Tamer would also make her go "Oh, that's really not nice."
Alexander: After all, them getting hurt without her preventing it, would result in no cookies anymore, from 'The Hat'. Basically a death sentence.