[Occult Research Club – Main Room]
The sharp clicks of Rias's heels echoed against the polished wooden floor as she paced back and forth, her hands trembling slightly. Her usually pristine crimson hair was somewhat disheveled, and her expression carried a rare concern that was almost never seen on her.
The room was drowning in a suffocating tension. The stained-glass windows cast a faint glow over the environment, and the familiar scent of freshly brewed tea failed to ease the growing unease that filled the space.
That teleportation… something was wrong with it.
She closed her eyes, trying once again to sense Issei. She focused, searching for the magical connection that should exist between her and the servant she had just sent on a mission.
Nothing.
It was as if he had been ripped from this world.
"This doesn't make sense!" Rias growled, stopping abruptly in the middle of the room and clenching her fists.
Akeno, who had been quietly observing the scene while seated near the table, set down her teacup and stood up. Her gentle yet sharp gaze was filled with concern.
"Rias, you need to calm down. If Issei is in danger, losing control now won't help us find him." She tried, but...
"Calm down?!" Rias spun on her heels, her sapphire eyes flashing with irritation and desperation. "You want me to calm down when my precious Ise has simply... disappeared?! How can you say that?!"
'Precious Ise.' Akeno raised an eyebrow.
Koneko, who was reclining on the sofa with her arms crossed, observed everything with her usual neutral expression, but even she seemed uneasy.
"Issei is an idiot, but he's not easy to kill." Her voice was calm, but it carried a hint of genuine concern. "He'll be back soon, President."
But Rias couldn't cling to that hope. This time, something was different.
"I should be able to sense where he is!" She rubbed her temples, trying to ignore the throbbing frustration building inside her. "Even if he were unconscious, even if he were sealed somewhere… I would still be able to track him. But now… there's nothing! Not a single trace of energy! It's as if he was erased from existence!"
Akeno gently placed a hand on Rias's shoulder, trying to offer some comfort.
"Then we'll figure out what happened. Contact Sirzechs-sama—maybe he can sense something that we can't."
"No!" Rias swatted Akeno's hand away in a sharp motion. "I can't just run to my brother every time something goes wrong! I need to handle this on my own!"
The room fell into brief silence.
Koneko glanced at her master and let out a quiet sigh. "Then what do you want to do?"
Rias ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath, struggling to suppress the growing desperation.
"I'll recreate the magic circle. I need to understand what went wrong. If there was any external interference, I'll find a clue."
Akeno nodded, though concern still lingered in her gaze. "Then let me help. If there's anything we can track, it's better if we combine our powers."
Rias hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes... you're right. Let's start now."
[Demonic Castle – Profane Hall]
Carnage spread across the darkened hall.
Antares moved like an uncontrollable beast, his eyes glowing with fury as he tore through the undead around him. His claws sliced through skeletons and zombies as if they were made of paper, and each strike was powerful enough to turn his enemies into dust. The stench of rotting flesh and profane magic lingered in the air, but he didn't care.
He was hunting.
The dead kept advancing, but it didn't matter how many came—the result was always the same: total destruction. Antares crushed, shredded, and burned his enemies without hesitation. His instincts screamed that he was getting stronger by the second—his movements were sharper, his body had adapted to the massacre.
Until his eyes locked onto his true target.
At the end of the hall, seated upon a throne made of blackened bones, a Lich silently observed the slaughter. Its purple robes billowed around its skeletal frame, and the brilliant jewel embedded in its chest pulsed with necromantic energy.
Its hollow eyes met Antares's, and the Dragon King felt a wave of provocation emanating from the creature.
He did not hesitate.
With a roar, he lunged forward, ready to tear that arrogant corpse apart—
"URGH!"
A violent pain pierced through his chest.
As if an invisible spear had impaled his heart, his lungs constricted, his body faltered, and he stumbled mid-charge. His firm stride turned into a clumsy stagger, and before he could react, his shoulder slammed into the stone wall with a brutal impact.
"Tsk… What is this?!" he gasped, his fingers digging into the ground as he struggled to remain upright.
His eyes widened as a strange glow filled his vision.
[Resonance with Rias Gremory]
The message appeared before his eyes, and then—
The shock came.
Antares felt.
He felt something that should have been impossible in this cursed inferno.
Concern.
Not his. Hers.
A storm of emotions flooded his mind. Desperation. Frustration. The overwhelming sense of loss. Every thought, every rapid beat of her heart was like a blade cutting through his own body. The anguish was so intense that his body refused to move.
Flashes appeared in his mind—Rias pacing back and forth, the worried expressions of Akeno and Koneko as they tried to calm her, but nothing worked. He experienced it all as if he were there, as if he were inside her.
She was terrified.
For him.
Antares' body trembled.
The pain piercing his chest was no ordinary wound. It was something deeper, more absolute. It wasn't just an interruption in his battle—it was an invisible force that was tearing apart his very existence.
"Why is this happening?!" he roared, trying to break free from that damned connection.
But it was useless.
His muscles refused to respond. His claws scraped against the stone, trying to force his body to move, but it was futile. A crushing force pinned him to the ground, as if something was rewriting his very reality.
And then, the revelation came.
[Your existence is being affected by the universe.]
[Existence of Class 'End of Times,' 'Antares,' has been discovered.]
[Taking severe measures…]
Antares' eyes widened.
What the hell did that mean?!
[Fully binding new body…]
[The being 'Monarch of Destruction, Antares' no longer exists for the protection of your life.]
[Your identity is being fully placed into the role of 'Hyoudou Issei' to ensure your continued existence in this universe.]
The pressure intensified. It felt as if his very identity was being torn apart, forced into a new form. He tried to resist, tried to gather his strength to shatter that damned restriction, but it was too late.
The universe was interfering.
And then, even more disturbing messages appeared.
[You have received a message: "Sorry, but it looks like the other higher beings are watching you… dude, what did you do to attract DxD's attention?"]
Antares' heart turned cold. Higher beings? Watching him? He was the higher being here!!!
[Message: "My bad, I thought we could do things the normal way, but screw it."]
[System Updating…]
[Shadow System has received an upgrade.]
He felt his body tingle, something shifting within his very essence. As if his own power was being distorted.
[You have acquired the skill 'Shadow Extraction' (Lvl.0).]
[You have acquired the Class: Summoner.]
Antares' mind reeled. Summoner?! What kind of joke was this?!
He, the Dragon King, the one who crushed empires and devoured armies, was now reduced to a mere summoner?!
He clenched his teeth, feeling the fury build inside him. But before he could react—
["Relationships" has been changed to "Harem."]
His brain stopped.
"...What?!"
[Message: "I wanted to see some good interactions between you and the female protagonists of my story, but you think you're too superior. And well... you are."]
[Message: "Want your power back, Antares? Then start regaining it by forming relationships with these beautiful women. That's our guarantee—you're taking Issei's place in the story, so embrace the harem. Have fun!"]
The silence in the profane hall was absolute.
Antares' mind was blank.
He, the Dragon King, the End of Times, destruction itself…
Now had to flirt to recover his strength?!
His eyes widened in pure shock, a tremor running through his body as the information settled in his mind.
Had he lost his existence as Antares?
Had he been turned into something else?
And, above all—
Someone out there was enjoying this.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH, GOD!!!" Antares roared so loudly that it killed some of the undead.
His roar shattered the very air, a thunderclap of destruction echoing through the demon castle. The walls trembled, the ground cracked, and a wave of pure annihilation swept through the undead around him.
The necromantic soldiers exploded into black mist, their bones charred before they even hit the ground.
[You have obtained the title: 'One Who Broke Free from the Universe.']
The message flashed before his eyes, but Antares barely noticed it. His mind was a hurricane of fury, his breath ragged, his fists clenched so tightly that his claws dug into his own palms.
"I WILL FIND YOU, YOU BASTARD GOD!!!"
His voice thundered through the castle like an apocalyptic storm.
"AND WHEN I DO, I WILL TEAR YOU APART! I WILL ERASE YOUR EXISTENCE! I WILL MAKE YOU DIE AND REVIVE INFINITE TIMES UNTIL YOU ARE ERASED FROM TIME ITSELF!"
The sheer declaration of his fury warped the space around him.
Something out there, in the farthest reaches of reality, shuddered.
The universe itself faltered.
And then—
A shrill sound erupted, an echo of pure destruction, an absurd resonance that instantly killed every single one of the Lich's soldiers. The souls of the dead were eradicated, their bodies disintegrating with no chance of resurrection.
But the Lich, in his insane desperation, raised his hands and brought them back.
Antares laughed.
It didn't matter how many times he raised them.
They would die again. And again.
And again.
Because he was the ruin that even the dead could not escape.
His eyes burned with an infernal red glow, his face twisting into something inhumanly terrifying. His body trembled, and then—
"Strength. That's all I need to reach where I want."
The system interface flashed before him.
[STATUS]
[Name]: Hyoudou Issei (Antares)
[Class]: Summoner
[Title]: One Who Broke Free from the Universe
[HP]: 290 / 290
[MP]: 280 / 280
[Level]: 10
[STR]: 33
[AGI]: 28
[SENSE]: 38
[VIT]: 29
[INT]: 28
[Available Points]: 11
[Skills] Demon's Touch, Shadow Extraction
[Gears] Boosted Gear, Chaos Gear
Antares clenched his fists.
"Shadow Extraction won't work on summoned undead, so I'll just kill you."
He turned his gaze toward the Lich.
And in his mind, he made a promise…
He would destroy this system.
And after that, he would hunt down the one who put him here.
And when he found that so-called God—
The very heavens would burn.
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