The Hyoudou household shifted and morphed, its once cozy atmosphere being replaced by a hell of blazing flames and crimson skies. Looking around the area Rias couldn't help but be impressed. While he had made it appear simple, Damian had essentially pulled Issei's inner world into this faux reality.
Yet even her inward praise for her fiancée ended when she locked eyes upon the sleeping form of the red dragon resting in the center. It was large, easily dozens- no hundreds of times bigger than her with unbreakable crimson scales and claws that could cut through her like butter.
Opening their eyes the crimson dragon rose up sluggishly, their emerald green eyes blinking tiredly as it gazed upon their figures. Almost instantly the dragon rose to its full height, the exhaustion within its eyes vanishing in place of a gaze of pure damnation.
However, the intensity in his glare withered out upon seeing Damian as his very being shivered in fear. It wasn't because Damian had done anything rather it was because the dragon was so strong that he could tell. That Damian had reached the level he desired.
"The Red Dragon Emperor?" Rias muttered with a wry smile upon seeing the familiar dragon. It wasn't the only red dragon, far from it, but paintings, pictures, and books dedicated to the visage of the being before her.
How had Damian known Issei Hyoudou carried the Red Dragon Emperor within him when Rias hadn't despite going to school with him for two years? It was a natural question to ask but Rias didn't feel the need to. Damian knew things that nobody else did, it was a conclusion she reached years ago.
"To think another has reached their level. A devil no less." The Red Dragon Emperor Y Ddraig Goch muttered to himself, his emerald eyes narrowed as he took in every facet of the third of the supreme beings.
"Where is your heart?" Damian questioned the dragon callously. That was a dangerous question in the truest sense of the word. With a soul that produces infinite energy if Damian were to gain the heart of a dragon that does the same thing…
"A Supreme Being that desires my heart? How absurd. If the White One heard of this he would surely laugh with me!" Ddraig shouted in between disturbing and guttural laughs. It was as though Ophis was asking for his heart!
However, he didn't get to laugh for long. Acting against him, his head was forced down onto the ground and his mouth clamped shut. It was a far cry from the control the dragon emperor was accustomed to, it was his own body ignoring his complaints.
"Where is it?" Damian repeated as the Red Dragon Emperor lay prostrate before him. A dragon's heart was something he required for his clan's goal and there was no better option than the heart of a dragon emperor. Unfortunately, that meant Ordes had been quite adamant about offering his own.
"I'm afraid I don't know. Perhaps if you were born six hundred years ago I could have told you but after your kin's civil war, it's been lost. Regardless, it would be of no use to you." Ddraig explained calmly, an amused grin splitting his scaled face.
"No use to him? How do you know that?" Rias asked the Dragon Emperor curiously, strangely calm despite the being of nearly pure domination before her. If it were anyone else the mere idea of a dragon heart being useful to them would be absurd but it was Damian.
"You shouldn't interrupt girl. I'll allow it because of your mate but other dragons won't be so kind." Ddraig warned solemnly, his deep voice instilling fear into all that heard it. At least, it would have if it were for his less than elegant position.
"Dragon hearts each have an attribute due to their auras. Ordes' heart would be called an Eternity Core while Ddraig's would be the Domination Core. There is barely a difference in effect but the cores have been altered by their origin and cannot be utilized even by other dragons as a result." Damian explained quickly.
"So this Ordes is the dragon whose scent covers you? I haven't heard of him so he must be a hatchling yet his aura is nearly equal to my own. How impressive. A dragon of eternity… how amusing." Ddraig muttered to himself in nigh infinite interest.
Dragons were beings of desire and desire begets change. Ddraig in the search of domination traveled the world for strong foes, killing those that did not meet his standards be they gods or devils, and sparing those that could. His actions were the very opposite of Ordes' eternity.
"No matter, our time shall come. I'm more interested in you. You are incomplete, a hybrid between the ordinary and the supreme, and my heart would complete you. Hence, I shall make an offer to you. Take me in your soul, with your power it wouldn't be a dream to roam the earth once more. In return, I shall turn you into a humanoid dragon." Ddraig offered jubilantly.
While continuing his battle with the white one in the form of sacred gears was interesting enough it could not possibly compare to their battles of flesh and blood. And with a third at their level, there would be no greater joy.
However, that did not mean Ddraig had no expectations for his newest host. If Damian were to take him in he would have the opportunity to walk over Gaia once more alongside the honor of finalizing the third supreme being.
To a dragon, especially one as old as him, power was the ultimate trait. Mates were given to the strong and the weak were left to die. It was a trait of the supernatural but the dragons especially favored the mentality of the strong. And creating the strongest was almost the same honor as being the strongest to Ddraig.
If he could gain so much from such a beneficial deal he would be a fool to hold back due to shame. No matter if the man before him was a devil, he would happily serve as the stepping stone for his growth.
"I accept." Damian agreed after a few moments of contemplation. There was no reason to decline such a benefit offer when there was no risk. At worst, Damian could just eradicate Ddraig's soul.
Once more the Red Dragon Emperor would go down in history.
****
Make sure to support me on pa_treon.com/TrapOverlord for 12 extra chapters.
Remove the _ in the url.