Five days after the devastating terrorist attacks on the Tsepesh and Carmilla castle towns, we awaited the responses of the various mythologies from our base in Japan. Rizevim’s reappearance had sent the underworld, Heaven, and a whole lot of other groups into a frenzy.
That was only natural. Rizevim was using evil dragons as agents of chaos and was even trying to resurrect the legendary beast Trihexa. He had basically declared war on the entire world.
The chief deities of the various mythologies were quick to recognize this as a crisis of the highest order, wasting no time to make peace with one another to discuss how best to counter Rizevim Livan Lucifer and his Qlippoth group.
In all their history, this was quite possibly the first international issue, if you could call it that, to transcend religion and philosophy across the various mythos…
Rizevim and his group hadn’t taken any action since the incident, but the forces of each mythos remained on high alert.
A meeting was convened at Kuou Academy in the dead of night.
It comprised the Occult Research Club, the student council, Azazel, Sister Griselda, the Joker Dulio, Slash Dog Tobio Ikuse, Sairaorg, Seekvaira Agares, and even the first-generation Sun Wukong, not to mention Vali’s entire team.
What a lineup. I would never have expected the old Sun Wukong to show his face. It was like the most famous fighters from the different mythos had all come together in one place.
“…How are the leaders of the various mythologies planning to respond?” Rias asked once everyone was present.
“Sure enough, they’ve decided this is just too big to ignore. Even the ones who have been uncooperative up till now are willing to sit down and talk,” Azazel answered.
…Right. So the higher-ups from the different mythologies were taking Rizevim seriously this time.
“That bastard Rizevim is trying to plunge the world—and that other one, too—into chaos…,” Azazel continued. “He’s already unleashed destruction on an alarming scale in the vampire territory.”
…There were plenty of victims on the vampire side as well after the attack in the Tsepesh castle town.
There was no doubt the terrorists were about to try something terrible.
Azazel let out a sigh. “One mythology in particular has come out with some rather radical statements, suggesting military intervention shouldn’t be ruled out. The chief gods like Odin and Zeus are trying to cool tensions…but who can say what will happen if these terror attacks continue? Evil dragons have always been seen as a threat—that’s why they were wiped out in the first place—and now they’re out rampaging all at once. And to make matters worse, they’re being led by none other than Lucifer’s own son. Even those who thought the last incident in the underworld didn’t concern them—the ones who considered it a fire across the river—have realized the gravity of the situation… If Trihexa is resurrected and starts fighting the Great Red, they could end up destroying the whole world.”
“—!”
We were rendered speechless by this pronouncement.
…If the Great Red and Trihexa clashed, the devastation would be off the charts. It was no wonder the higher-ups from all the different factions were springing into action!
The damage would have been immense if Ophis and the Great Red fought, but fortunately, that battle never came to pass. The Khaos Brigade’s leaders may have tricked Ophis into helping them, but they understood just how perilous that confrontation would be and made sure the situation never got that far.
But this time was different. Rizevim had clearly come out with his intention to pit Trihexa against the Great Red with the goal of destroying him. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what would happen to the dimensional void if the Great Red was lost, but it certainly wouldn’t by anything good.
Rias picked up where Azazel left off. “The uncooperative groups were under the impression the Khaos Brigade was only targeting the three great powers, so they thought they could stay out of it while we dealt with the issue ourselves. But they understand just how much of a risk Rizevim Livan Lucifer poses. If he really has turned terrorist… Well, they can’t afford to ignore him anymore.”
So the leaders of the various different mythos knew just how crazy he was… Well, it was clear he was off his rocker from the moment I laid eyes on him.
“Don’t look so grim,” Azazel chuckled. “It’s not like we’re under attack from another group here. We’ve just found a common enemy this time around.”
“Archangel Michael is negotiating with the other forces on behalf of the Lord,” Sister Griselda announced. “Many mythologies are already seeking assistance, and some of them have taken reassurance from Archangel Michael’s guidance.”
Way to go, Michael! As to be expected from Heaven’s top angel!
“The leaders have come up with a proposal,” Azazel said, raising a finger.
The rest of us listened on with bated breath.
“If both major vampire clans can be overrun like this, it’s only natural the other factions are all worried about their futures. They all boast at least one crazy strong deity, but they can’t just go off and fight these terrorists themselves. So we need a counterterrorism team made up of individuals capable of competing toe-to-toe with Rizevim and his thugs and who can be deployed at a moment’s notice.”
A counterterrorism team! We definitely needed something like that!
But if he was bringing this up with us… The others seemed to suspect the same thing I did.
Azazel glanced at each of us in turn. “The team’s members will need to be extraordinarily capable, and they’ll also require free rein. All of you here are already a team of sorts. We’ve got demons, fallen angels, angels, vampires, youkai, Valkyries, grim reapers, beastmen, humans, and dragons. Not a bad mixed team, I’ll say. You’re also incredibly agile.”
The Rookies Four, Azazel and Slash Dog, the reincarnated angel Irina, Griselda, the Joker, the dragon kings, and the original Sun Wukong—it was a pretty diverse ensemble, able to pack a punch and go where needed at short notice!
No one present seemed to be opposed to this idea.
“I’m in favor,” Rias said. “At times like this, we need to combine our strengths.”
We members of her Familia nodded.
“I have no problem with it,” Sairaorg added. “I’ll fight alongside Rias and Issei Hyoudou.”
“No objections here,” Chairwoman Sona said.
“Likewise.” Seekvaira Agares nodded. “Though it seems I’ll be serving more of a support role.”
“I don’t mind. Young’uns are easier to work with than old codgers—that’s for sure,” Sun Wukong agreed.
Wow! His support was really something!
The Joker, Dulio, however, tilted his head to one side. “Hmm,” he murmured.
“What’s wrong? You don’t agree?” Azazel asked.
“I just thought we probably need a name is all.”
Ah, right. A name. Calling it a counterterrorism team all the time would be a bit of a mouthful.
“…DxD,” Koneko murmured.
The rest of us turned to look at her, causing her to blush under all the attention.
“It’s a mixed team of different types of beings, so I thought it would be a good fit…,” she whispered.
“What does DxD mean?” Rias asked. “Dragon of Dragons, like the Great Red?”
“No. I think D stands for demon, dragon, downfall, doom, that sort of thing,” Koneko answered.
Right. DxD could mean demons and dragons or something like that.
Azazel nodded thoughtfully. “Well, you could cobble together all sorts of combinations with the letter D. And you are going to need a name. Yes, DxD… It might make sense, especially as our goal is to protect the Great Red. I’m okay with it, but what about the rest of you?”
“As long as we don’t get labeled something weird, I’m fine. DxD should work.” Dulio nodded, giving his okay.
“Anything is fine. I’ll leave this to the young’uns,” Sun Wukong said. He didn’t seem to mind either way.
But a team this strong brought with it a fresh new set of concerns.
“…With all of us teaming up, won’t some of the other forces get their backs up?” I asked Azazel.
After all, even if the top brass gave their approval, those below them might still consider us too dangerous a unit.
“Well, there’s no helping that. No one’s more qualified than all you, though, so there’s a perfectly good justification for this.” He paused there for a moment, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Breasts are justice. You’re the Breast Dragon, so you had better accept that’s how it’s gonna work.”
“I-is that really okay…?” I stammered.
Azazel pointed to Rias’s chest. “Take a look at them, Issei. Don’t they feel like justice to you?”
…
I stared hard at Rias’s breasts. Ah, how magnificent they were! My girlfriend’s breasts. They were the very pinnacle of perfection. Round, soft, lush—their mere existence felt like a declaration of justice!
Yep! I was starting to see what Azazel meant!
“Y-yes! They do feel like justice!”
Azazel draped an arm around my shoulder. “That’s the spirit! You’ve got your noble cause now! The rest of you had better come to terms with it! This is the counterterrorism task force DxD’s ultimate mission!”
“Breasts are justice!” I echoed.
Breasts were justice! That was good enough for me! With that thought, I could fight for peace! After all, peace was what made breasts shine! Everyone else could roll their eyes and breathe exasperated sighs, but so what?!
With that, Azazel steadied himself and pointed next to Dulio. “We’re gonna need a leader… That’s a job for you, Joker.”
“…”
Caught off guard, Dulio was left momentarily speechless—then let out a panicked shout. “Whaaat?! M-m-meee?! Why?! No, no, no, hold on! You’re serious?!”
Whoa, that was unexpected. Huh. So Dulio was the kind of guy who got all flustered when put on the spot?
“It would be bad for appearances to let a demon or fallen angel take the helm. They’ve got an unshakable reputation as villains, right?” Azazel continued. “Angels, though, they’ve got all these positive connotations. There are no downsides. All the better with an angel reincarnated from a human—that puts humans in a good light as well.”
That made sense. When it came to a public-facing leader, an angel would be the most appealing.
“Wh-what…? Just because of that…? I—I’m not… I mean, I’m not into that sort of thing…,” Dulio mumbled.
“This is an immense honor, Dulio,” Sister Griselda said. “You might very well carve your name into the annals of history. You have to seize the opportunity. No, you will seize it. As Heaven’s trump card, it’s your duty to take action.”
Eventually, Dulio yielded to her pressure. “Ah… All right. I understand. I’ll do it!” he said, before turning to address the rest of us. “Um, it looks like I’m our leader. Let’s give it our all.”