Red Dragon Emperor of Domination

Chapter 6.5: Interlude

Please note the infinite equations in this chapter aren't real math. Humans cannot work out those problems as the existence and study of the Arcane is what enables solutions.

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Issei returned home around the time school would ordinarily end, the storm and fog had long-since dissipated, and Issei was mentally exhausted. His hunt had been long and brutal, yet he wasn't able to find all the monsters, and he had nearly lost sight of himself in the carnage... in such a populated area, no less. That was the reason Issei immediately took a shower and flopped down on his bed in just his boxers, too exhausted to even put on pajamas or anything of the sort.

"Onii-chan had a rough day?"

"You have no idea..." Issei mumbled, rolling over as his sister sat on the bed beside him.

"I'm sorry, Issei... you've been suffering for so long and I've hardly done anything to help you." The woman whispered as she massaged Issei's shoulders.

"That's not true.. you helped train me, I wouldn't have reached this point so soon if not for you. And you do all the housework for me too, if you didn't handle all of those chores then I wouldn't get nearly as much done in a day. So.. thank you." Issei responded.

The woman blushed in response and giggled. "Fufufu, I didn't realize Onii-chan was a siscon!" She teased with a bright smile.

"..." Issei said nothing, only sticking up the finger before letting himself fall back onto the bed.

"Heh.. sweet dreams, Issei. I'm glad you didn't come home late this time."

Issei didn't respond, just closing his eyes and allowing himself to drift off.

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Haunting green eyes, ethereal crimson armor, a crazed and bloodthirsty smile, and a burning presence.

Cut up, scratched, scarred, and bruised. Charred, seared, burnt, and melted. From the ends of his hair to the tips of his toes, caked in blood. Mind broken, heart shattered.. it was thanks only to sheer power that the man held his crumbling flesh together.

He was the Red Night. A broken man who had lost everything and forgotten his humanity. For the sake of vengeance, he killed. He killed. He killed. He killed. Killed. Killed. Killed. He killed so many for so long that he forgot his own name, and killed some more. He stood alone in an ocean of blood. He stood alone in a city of graves. He stood alone atop a mountain of corpses.

He was always alone. Never once knowing defeat, never once obtaining victory, the orphan withstood pain and countless battles without compensation. Unknown to death nor known to life, he wandered the world with nothing to lose. He never reached his limit, he'd long since abandoned it...

I knew that man. I'd seen him before. I was familiar with that ominous warrior.

He was.. me. An Issei from the past. Or another future?

He was a mistake.

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Issei awoke to a grating sound, roused from his slumber as he rolled out of his bed. He threw on a trenchcoat and began to drag himself into the living room.

Blood.

'I saw hell.'

Flames.

'I saw hell.'

Screams.

'I saw hell.'

Corpses.

'I saw hell.'