Chapter 1 — The Space Between
I thought death would feel different. Painful. Cold. Terrifying. But this? This just felt like nothing. There was no ground beneath me, no air in my lungs, no heartbeat in my chest. No body. Only darkness. I tried to move but I couldn't, not because something was stopping me, but because there was nothing to move in the first place. No hands, no legs, no breath. Just awareness. So this is death. The realization didn't hurt and it didn't scare me. There was nothing waiting for me anyway. No family, no friends, no dreams I cared enough about to regret losing. My life had been simple. Study. Repeat. Keep my head down. Survive. That's all.
The darkness around me suddenly shifted, like pressure had entered the void itself. Then I heard it. A voice. Old. Calm.
Everywhere. "You've realized your situation faster than most." "Dead?" I asked. "Yes."
No hesitation, no sympathy, just confirmation. "…Alright," I replied. Light appeared, a single crack of gold cutting through the darkness before an old man stepped out from it. His robe was simple and his eyes were steady, yet the space around him distorted slightly as if reality itself bent to acknowledge his presence. "You misunderstand your situation. This is not your end."
Three massive wheels of light suddenly appeared behind him, spinning slowly in the void as symbols I couldn't understand covered their surfaces. "Three roulettes," he said. "Your next existence will be decided by them." The first wheel glowed brightly as images began flashing across its surface. Different worlds, different realities, then wings, magic circles, devils, angels and dragons beneath a supernatural sky. The wheel slowed and stopped. The world of Devils, Angels and Sacred Gears. I recognized it instantly. So that's where I'm going.
The second wheel began to spin as energy, abilities, systems and concepts I couldn't comprehend passed by in blurs of light until it suddenly stopped and a strange pressure filled the void, heavy, invisible, yet undeniably present.
Power Selected: Haki.
Power born from will itself, useful in a world where physical attacks alone wouldn't be enough to fight supernatural beings.
The third wheel began to spin. "This roulette determines whether you shall gain a power native to the world you are reborn in." Symbols began appearing across its surface. Magic. Holy Light. Demonic Power. Then—Sacred Gear. The wheel stopped. For a moment nothing happened before a name began forming across its surface in glowing letters.
Remolus Nemea.
Out of all the Sacred Gears that existed in the world of High School DxD… it landed on that one? The Sacred Gear said to embody the authority of the Nemean Lion. My favorite. The one I always thought had the highest potential in close combat if paired with proper training. For the first time since waking in this void, I felt something. Interest.
"You are familiar with it," the old man noted. "I've read about it," I replied. "One final decision remains." A new set of symbols appeared before me. Human. Devil. Fallen Angel. Other supernatural races that inhabited that world. "You possess prior knowledge of this world," he continued. "Therefore, your choice of vessel will determine your starting position within it. Different races, different advantages, different risks. Will you be reborn as a human… or as something else that exists within that world?"