Walking down the dusk-lit streets of Kuoh Town, the sky had gradually darkened.
Go find Rias to help enroll Asia? Of course not.
He wouldn't bother personally with something so trivial. In fact, Asia's enrollment paperwork, along with his own employment paperwork, had already been arranged through Rias the day before.
So why did he lie to Asia, saying he was going to see a friend about her enrollment?
The reason was simple—while in the car, he had spotted a very familiar pair.
They were sitting inside a family restaurant.
A high school boy wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt, with short brown hair and a face that barely qualified as decent-looking.
And the other was a rather attractive girl with long black hair down to her waist, wearing a pink open-neck short-sleeved shirt, whose body was… well, explosive.
This pair was laughing and chatting while having a date inside the restaurant.
Even though it had been a long time since he last watched High School DxD, he immediately recognized the scene.
Wasn't this the opening part of the story, where the protagonist, Issei Hyoudou, goes on a date with Raynare, the fallen angel obsessed with Azazel?
But the date ends in tragedy—Issei gets pierced through the chest by a spear of light.
However, that incident also marked the start of Issei's overpowered life and harem expansion.
But could he just let Issei go on to live that kind of broken-overpowered life? Obviously not!
Still, this wasn't something he could bring Asia along for.
With her kind heart, if she saw Issei on the verge of death, she would surely try to save him.
And he couldn't exactly stop her either—otherwise, his carefully maintained image in her eyes would completely collapse.
"Let's see… has the story reached the park scene yet?"
Vast spiritual power mixed with a bit of magic spread out—it was a rather easy detection spell.
Especially since the target was a fallen angel with rather limited power, it made the process even simpler.
Moments later, his closed eyes slowly opened.
"Found them!"
=====================
Kuoh Town – A Suburban Park
Normally, this park didn't get many visitors. But at night, it saw more activity.
Couples looking for excitement often came here for some outdoor fun.
Occasionally, some street girls would conduct business here too.
When Issei came here, he was overwhelmed with anticipation—he thought he was finally about to lose his virginity and take the first step into adulthood.
"Wh… why is this happening…?"
Issei lay on the ground, vision blurry, with a gaping hole in his stomach where the spear of light had pierced through him. Blood gushed out like a spring.
With the last bit of strength he had left, he asked the question that weighed most on his mind.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Rhythmic footsteps slowly approached him. He wanted to lift his head again to look at the girl who had brought him this brief moment of happiness.
"Honestly, I did have a bit of fun today, spending time with you,"
Raynare said, twirling her hair with her finger. Her words spoke of joy, but her tone was utterly bored.
"It's been a while since I played house like that."
"..."
"But unfortunately, you're a dangerous variable for us. So I was ordered to take care of you. If you must hate someone, hate the god who placed a Sacred Gear inside you."
"..."
"..."
Looking at Issei, who was beyond saving, Raynare smiled with a twisted expression and released the spear of light from her hand.
"That's one more taken care of. I wonder if Lord Azazel will praise me this time."
"I think... you won't have the chance to hear Azazel's praise."
Along with this male voice, a crimson glow silently and effortlessly pierced straight through Raynare's voluptuous chest.
She didn't even have time to feel pain before collapsing to the ground.
With her heart completely shattered, she died even earlier than the struggling Issei.
"Wha... what... happened..."
Issei's vision was now completely blurred. Seeing anything clearly was impossible at this point.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Who's there…? The footsteps… they sound like they're coming from another direction…"
At the final moment of Issei's consciousness, he finally saw what the figure approaching him actually looked like.
And then, with great reluctance, he closed his eyes.
"Sorry! The one appearing at the end of your life isn't the beautiful girl you were hoping for."
He really had to admire this guy.
At the very end of his life, what dominated him wasn't the will to survive—but his overwhelmingly strong sexual desire.
"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter anymore."
"Radix."
Vitan called softly.
"Yes, Master!"
With a hazy white light shining, Radix's human form appeared.
Black chains—something that only manifested when using "Numerology"—slowly emerged from the ground, wrapping around Issei's body like a mummy.
At the same time, the blood-soaked ground beneath Issei transformed into a pitch-black, swamp-like void, gradually swallowing him up.
The spell that encased Issei suspended his time, slowing it down to one-thousandth its normal pace.
And the place into which he was submerged was the gap between time and space—a place where time did not exist.
His body would be in complete stasis, meaning Hyoudou Issei would not die for the time being.
The reason Vitan chose this method was because he currently had no reliable way to extract the Sacred Gear from Issei's body.
Once he obtained the proper method from the fallen angels, he would send this former protagonist off to meet his maker.
As for Issei's parents not being able to see their son's corpse?
What did that have to do with him.
In fact, he might've even done them a huge favor!
He saved them from the pain of watching their son die—let them continue to believe their child was still alive, and that one day they might find him.
Afterward, Vitan turned his gaze to the dead fallen angel, Raynare, who had been killed by him, now with only half a chest left.
"Rias didn't come, huh. Guess you died for nothing."
He originally intended to kill Raynare as a way to pin the blame on her. After all, in the original series, Issei was a potential recruit that Rias had been keeping an eye on.
In the original, Issei was revived with a Pawn piece in the nick of time by Rias, narrowly escaping death.
So, if Raynare was killed by him here, she would've conveniently taken the fall.
What he forgot, however, was that Rias didn't come because she was watching over Issei specifically.
She was summoned by the devil flyer that Issei had stored in his pocket and activated at the brink of death.
"Whatever. Doesn't matter. Radix, let's head back for dinner."