After speaking with Rias, Miss Moonlit did not wait for her response. She grabbed Raynare's cold corpse from beside her, transformed into a swarm of bats, and quickly vanished.
Only Rias and the still-unconscious Issei Hyoudou remained.
Without his Sacred Gear, Issei Hyoudou no longer interested Rias. Since he was not dead, she simply teleported him somewhere safe.
Once he woke up, he would return on his own!
"Now, the real challenge begins!"
"Welsh Dragon! Dragon Emperor!"
To take control of the Sacred Gear, the Crimson Dragon Emperor's Cage, there was one existence she had to face: one of the only two remaining Heavenly Dragons of this era, the soul of the Red Dragon Emperor.
The Red Dragon Emperor's true name was Vritra!
At his peak, he had been one of the world's top ten Transcenders, a powerful being second only to those at the Quasi-Dragon God level.
Even facing only his soul would not be simple.
But that was not enough to make Miss Moonlit afraid.
If it had been the boy from her previous life, perhaps he truly could not have done it. She did not deny that. But now, she was Moonlit Wife, Moonlit Oath: For Love with Heart!
"Come out, Ddraig."
Taking out the Sacred Gear she had just acquired, Miss Moonlit transferred it into her body. Then, the instant her consciousness touched the Sacred Gear, the girl felt the entire world change!
She arrived in a blazing world of fire, a realm made entirely of flames!
And within that world of flames, an incomparably massive Heavenly Dragon appeared before her. It was the Dragon Emperor, the Red Dragon Emperor Ddraig!!!
The enormous Heavenly Dragon suddenly raised his head and opened those terrifying dragon eyes, impossible to describe.
He stared directly at the vampire girl before him.
He seemed to be judging whether she was qualified to become his host.
"How interesting!!"
Ddraig suddenly spoke. He seemed very interested in Miss Moonlit, or at least, he did not show any sign of rejection.
"An unfamiliar power. I never expected my new host to be a vampire. No... not a vampire, but an entirely new and unknown existence."
"You are a being from another world, aren't you?"
"That terrifying great power is something even 777 could never possess."
Ddraig's voice was thunderous, making the entire fiery mental world tremble. That invisible pressure... not even angels or demons could withstand it.
After all, unlike in the original story, where the Crimson Dragon Emperor's Cage had belonged to Issei Hyoudou from the beginning and Ddraig had been rather friendly, it had now been taken by force. That made everything completely different.
As he looked at the girl before him, who was about to become his new master, Ddraig was encountering such a thing for the first time in all these years.
She was somewhat like a vampire, yet completely different. Even he had never seen a being like her. She simply did not belong to this world.
"Nice to meet you, Ddraig."
"You are right. I am not a being of this world."
The girl did not deny it. An existence at his level could naturally see that she was different.
"Hahahaha! To be able to bypass that one, the existence behind you must truly be powerful! I am beginning to look forward to how terrifying you will become in the future."
One had to know that Earth, its parallel worlds, and its alternate dimensions were all protected by a supreme existence: Great Red, known as 999.
Earth, its parallel worlds, and its alternate dimensions were collectively called the DxD World, and the consciousness of the DxD World was Great Red. She could also be called the True Red Dragon God Emperor.
Setting aside those parallel timelines and alternate dimensions, any being from another world who wished to enter the DxD World first had to face that supreme existence.
Otherwise, entering was impossible!
That was why Ddraig was so shocked when he discovered that Miss Moonlit was a genuine being from another world, rather than someone from a parallel world or alternate dimension.
"..."
Miss Moonlit also understood what Ddraig meant.
Great Red could be said to be the guardian deity of Earth's entire multidimensional world. She selflessly chose to remain within the Dimensional Gap, eternally imprisoning herself there.
Yet the Infinite Dragon God thought Great Red had taken over the Dimensional Gap, constantly clamoring about defeating her so she could go back to sleep.
There were also some Transcenders who felt that the DxD World had become too boring and were always thinking about killing Great Red so they could visit other worlds.
Little did they know that the terror of other worlds far exceeded everyone's imagination.
"From what you are saying, Ddraig, you do not seem opposed to becoming my power?"
Great Red's matters were too far away. Miss Moonlit would not consider them before reaching SSS rank. Thinking about Ddraig's words, the girl realized... he seemed to have acknowledged her immediately?
That was something Miss Moonlit had never expected. She had thought she would need to prove her strength to him.
"That is right! You are already my partner. Would it matter if I refused? Besides, I think highly of you."
Ddraig nodded. Not only was he not opposed to it, he was even looking forward to the girl's future experiences. If possible, seeing the scenery of another world would be even better.
When Issei Hyoudou died earlier, Ddraig had only just awakened. Before he could react, however, an unknown and terrifying great power—the system—had stripped him from the consciousness of his original host, Issei Hyoudou.
Faced with that terrifying great power, he had not seen anything like it even on God of the Bible.
Although he did not know the relationship between the girl and that great power, he had reason to believe that Miss Moonlit would not be inferior to any previous host of the Red Dragon Emperor.
"Then that could not be better!"
"Do not worry, Ddraig. I will prove to you what a truly strongest Red Dragon Emperor is. The path that no previous Red Dragon Emperor could complete, I will carve it out myself!"
Since Ddraig was no problem, Miss Moonlit was naturally happy to have one less hassle.
"Wait, Partner. Could it be that you also intend to choose that path?"
Ddraig, who had shown no reaction before, immediately changed expression upon hearing the girl's words.
He was deeply puzzled about where she had learned such things. Should those not have been known only to the previous Red Dragon Emperors and a select few others?
"I must warn you: that path is a curse that none of the previous generations could cross. Though I do not wish to admit it, not one previous host survived after reaching that stage. It is the nightmare of every generation."
What lay at the end of a Sacred Gear?
Perhaps many believed that reaching Balance Breaker was the limit of a Sacred Gear. But in truth, activating Balance Breaker only counted as taking the first step.
Beyond that, one would embark upon the path known as Tyranny...
Yet compared to other Sacred Gears, the path of Tyranny for the Crimson Dragon Emperor's Cage was the nightmare of every generation. It was an unbreakable curse.
In the end, no matter how talented a Red Dragon Emperor was, once they reached that step, they would begin walking toward destruction.
Perhaps it was because the title "Red Dragon Emperor" offended Great Red, the "True Red Dragon God Emperor." Perhaps it was because the chant of the Tyrant Dragon was too arrogant, treating even the Two Dragon Gods with contempt, and thus earned their curse.
Or perhaps it was neither...
In any case, every previous Red Dragon Emperor had fallen at this step. Either they lost their minds to Tyranny, or they were directly consumed by despair and confusion.
Miss Moonlit had considered this issue before as well.
The path of Tyranny was the path of charging forward without hesitation, of standing above all others.
And the Tyranny of the Crimson Dragon Emperor's Cage was practically telling its wielders to stomp on Great Red and punch the Infinite Dragon God.
Even Ddraig himself was an ant before those two. How could the hosts of the Red Dragon Emperor throughout history not despair?
"They were them. I am not them!"
Even after hearing Ddraig's warning, the girl remained full of confidence.
Because she truly had the right to say such things. Even if she carried the path of Tyranny through to the end, it would not be a problem!
Even the Two Dragon Gods... she truly dared to bully them until they cried...
After finishing her conversation with Ddraig, Miss Moonlit directly withdrew from the mental world.
Having successfully mastered her new Sacred Gear, Miss Moonlit could not resist trying to adapt to it and experience the Red Dragon Emperor's power.
The basic ability of the Sacred Gear, the Crimson Dragon Emperor's Cage, was primarily Boosting.
Every ten seconds, it could double its wielder's power once. Though temporary, it could allow even a weak person to obtain power surpassing Demon Kings and gods.
Of course, it had certain limitations. The number of times it could be used was restricted by the wielder's physical body, so power could not be increased infinitely. The wielder could not be attacked midway through, and could only flee instead of defending, or the accumulated power would vanish at once.
The other Sacred Gear, the White Dragon Emperor's Light Wings, was the exact opposite. Its basic ability was to halve an opponent's power once every ten seconds, then add that halved power to its own wielder.
It was just as much of a cheat ability...
Of course, besides Boosting, the crimson dragon Sacred Gear also possessed basic abilities such as Penetration, Transfer, and Blazing Flames. Combined, they made it incomparably powerful.
The White Dragon Emperor and the Red Dragon Emperor were roughly the same. Their powers were similar, only their attributes and methods differed.
As the last two Heavenly Dragons, the Red Dragon Emperor Ddraig and the White Dragon Emperor Albion had an unbelievably terrible relationship.
In the past, when the gods, demons, and Fallen Angels were waging a great war, the Two Heavenly Dragons had appeared from nowhere. Then, entirely self-centered, they began fighting on the battlefield without caring in the slightest about the Three Factions, turning the battlefield into a complete mess.
In the end, the Three Factions could endure no longer. They temporarily abandoned their war and unanimously decided to kill the two Heavenly Dragons causing the chaos first!
The result was that the Red Dragon Emperor's soul was sealed by the gods within the Sacred Gear, the Crimson Dragon Emperor's Cage, while the White Dragon Emperor's soul was sealed within the Sacred Gear, the White Dragon Emperor's Light Wings.
Yet even after the souls of the Two Heavenly Dragons were sealed within Sacred Gears, they continued fighting. Thus, every wielder of the Crimson Dragon Emperor's Cage would always battle the wielder of the White Dragon Emperor's Light Wings.
And their final duel basically depended on which side learned the Tyrant Dragon state first.
"This place will do!"
At a suitable location, Miss Moonlit set up an isolation barrier. Though such a barrier could not completely block powerful energy, it would not be a problem under normal circumstances.
"Boosted Gear!"
The girl raised her arm and attempted to use the crimson dragon's power.
The next second, Ddraig's built-in Sacred Gear sound effect rang out, and a crimson gauntlet appeared over the girl's left hand.
The gauntlet looked extremely cool. It just seemed a little strange on Miss Moonlit, but that was not a major issue.
"Boost!"
As she used the Boosting power, the girl's expression changed slightly the next second. Her strength had simply doubled? Though her body felt a trace of pressure.
Miss Moonlit's strength far surpassed Issei Hyoudou's. Issei Hyoudou would need to Boost countless times just to reach Miss Moonlit's current level.
The stronger one was, the more terrifying the burden Boosting placed upon the body became.
"Boost!"
"Boost!"
"Boost!"
She did not stop. Every ten seconds, the girl activated the Boosting power again, and Miss Moonlit's physical strength continued multiplying.
Her aura became increasingly terrifying. Quasi-Demon King, Demon King...
As she rapidly grew stronger, the burden on her body also increased step by step. If one could withstand it, even punching the Two Dragon Gods to death did not seem impossible.
Of course, at that level of burden, the body would have long since collapsed!
As she felt that immense power, Miss Moonlit suddenly had an idea. If she possessed enough Blood Servants and found a way to share the burden among them all, could her power truly be Boosted without limit?
Destroying worlds with a single punch might not even be a dream anymore.
It was just that she did not know how many servants such a plan would require...
And there were far too many problems with putting it into practice.
"Balance!"
"Breaker!"
Very quickly, the Boosting reached a limit. Sensing this, the girl released her boundless longing. In the blink of an eye... the crimson gauntlet continuously extended and spread, swiftly covering the girl's entire body.
Then, with a whoosh, a pair of crimson dragon wings unfurled from her back.
"Boosted Gear Scale Mail!"
A terrifying crimson pillar of light shot straight into the sky, instantly shattering the isolation barrier. It could no longer conceal that powerful force.
Before you continue