There was nothing special about the day he died.
The sky was overcast, and gray clouds stretched thin over a quiet suburban town. The air carried the faint smell of rain and asphalt, and the traffic lights blinked in dull rhythm over an ordinary intersection. Students filtered out of school buildings in clusters, laughter echoing across sidewalks, shoes scuffing concrete.
He walked alone.
A high school student like any other—average grades, average height, average life. His backpack hung loosely from one shoulder, and his mind was far from the street in front of him.
It was inside other worlds.
He loved anime. Not casually. Not ironically. He devoured it. Fantasy, action, isekai, supernatural power systems—he studied them the way athletes studied game footage. He loved the structure of it. The rules. The evolution. The thrill of characters growing stronger through will, training, and sacrifice.
If he had one quiet, secret thought he never voiced, it was this:
If I were in one of those worlds… I wouldn't waste it.
The pedestrian signal flickered from red to white.
He stepped off the curb.
He never saw the truck.
There was a sound—metal screaming against brakes. A horn, too late. A blur of white headlights exploding into his vision. His body lifted from the ground as if gravity itself had rejected him.
Impact.
There was no dramatic last thought. No speech. No regretful monologue.
Just silence.
And then—
Darkness.
He did not feel his body.
He did not feel pain.
He did not feel cold or warmth.
There was no ground beneath his feet and no sky above his head. He stood within an endless black expanse that did not reflect light and did not absorb it. It simply was.
He looked down at himself.
He had a body. Or the shape of one.
He flexed his fingers.
They responded.
"So I'm dead," he muttered.
His voice carried strangely in the void, like it existed only inside his own mind.
"Yes."
The word did not echo.
It did not reverberate.
It simply existed behind him.
He turned.
Something stood there.
It did not have a defined shape. It was tall—perhaps. Or perhaps the concept of height did not apply to it. It shimmered faintly, like heat distortion over asphalt. No face. No eyes. No expression. And yet it felt as though it was observing him completely.
Not judging.
Not condemning.
Assessing.
"Am I… in heaven?" he asked cautiously.
"No."
"Hell?"
"No."
"…So what are you?"
"A facilitator."
That was all it offered.
The boy studied it. His fear did not spike. Strangely, he felt calm. Too calm.
"Am I being reincarnated?" he asked, heart beginning to race—not with fear.
But anticipation.
"Yes."
His breath caught.
"Where?"
There was a pause. Not long. Just enough to suggest consideration.
"You will be sent to a world you are familiar with."
His pulse quickened.
"A fictional world from your Earth."
His mind exploded with possibilities.
"Which one?"
The entity's answer was simple.
"The world known as High School DxD."
For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.
Dragons.
Devils.
Sacred Gears.
Longinus.
True Dragons.
Satan-class beings.
Balance Breakers.
His thoughts accelerated, processing layers of power systems and political structures. Kuoh Academy. Rias Gremory. Issei Hyoudou. The Three Factions. The Great War.
He swallowed.
He knows a lot about High School DxD, the anime, but little to no information about the light novel, but that should suffice.
"…Why?" he asked.
"You were selected."
"For what?"
"To introduce variance."
That was not comforting.
"And what happens to me there?"
"You will live."
"That's it?"
"Yes."
Silence returned.
Then the entity spoke again.
"You will be granted three selections. Three alterations to the body and potential you will inhabit."
Three.
Not infinite.
Not vague blessings.
Specific.
Structured.
He felt a grin spread across his face.
He forced himself to calm down.
Think.
If this was real—if he was being dropped into that world—he needed long-term survivability. Not flashy. Not reckless.
Power. Growth. Stability.
He exhaled slowly.
"My first wish."
The void seemed to tighten.
"I want a Longinus-tier Sacred Gear."
There was no reaction from the entity.
He continued.
"One that controls all elements. And I want it to contain a dragon spirit capable of advanced analysis and processing—similar to Great Sage from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime."
From what he knows about the anime, a Longinus-tier Sacred Gear was a guaranteed way to become a top-tier powerhouse in the world of DxD.
A flicker.
The entity spoke.
"It will be sealed like all other sacred gears, but can be awakened under the right conditions."
He didn't hesitate.
"That's fine."
He had already calculated that risk.
If he entered DxD with an active Longinus fully awakened, he would immediately attract the attention of the Church, the Devils, the Fallen Angels, and possibly even higher beings.
He would be targeted before he understood his own power.
A sealed Longinus meant:
Growth curve.
Unlock potential.
Earned evolution.
Perfect.
"Second wish."
He paused.
"In that world, dragons are apex beings. I want to be a human-shadow dragon hybrid."
He chose to become a human-shadow dragon hybrid because only humans were gifted with sacred gears.
Shadow dragon because dragons were apex beings in the world of DxD, and he thinks shadow powers are cool. Not only is it versatile, but it's also powerful.
There was a subtle shift in the air.
Shadow was flexible.
It absorbed.
It evolved.
It hid.
Dragons dominated.
Shadows endured.
Together, they created balance.
The entity was silent for a long moment.
"Granted."
His heart pounded.
One more.
He thought carefully now.
Power without comprehension leads to self-destruction.
He needed understanding.
"I want peak comprehension ability."
"Define."
"Accelerated learning. Perfect memory retention. High-level pattern recognition. The ability to break down and understand systems rapidly—but not instant omniscience."
He did not want a cheat code.
He wanted optimization.
If he could analyze Sacred Gears, Evil Pieces, magic structures—he could build something new.
Something independent.
The entity responded.
"Granted."
The void shifted.
Energy—immense and overwhelming—surged through him.
He felt something forming inside his chest.
Heat.
Pressure.
A heartbeat that was not entirely human.
A sensation coiled at the edge of his consciousness.
Silent.
Observing.
The dragon spirit.
Then—
Everything stopped.
"I will not interfere further. The rest is up to you, whether you live and thrive, or die and suffer."
"…So you're done with me?"
"Yes."
A strange feeling passed through him.
Not abandonment.
But isolation.
This wasn't a guardian angel scenario.
This was a drop into a battlefield.
Alone.
He straightened.
"Good."
The entity tilted—if it could tilt.
"You do not fear?"
He smirked faintly.
The void began to collapse inward.
"Your host body has been selected."
"Who?"
"A wealthy orphan. Male. Human. Physically frail. Recently deceased."
"…Name?"
"Kaiser Godwill."
He almost laughed.
"That's dramatic."
"You will retain your memories."
"Good."
The darkness began to tear open beneath him, light spilling upward like a fracture in reality.
As he fell, he felt it.
The sealed Sacred Gear dormant—but waiting.
And the analytical presence in his mind whispering softly:
Initialization complete.
His final thought before consciousness shattered was simple.
This time… I won't waste it.
Air flooded his lungs violently.
Pain erupted across his body.
He gasped.
The ceiling above him was ornate. White and gold trim. Expensive.
His body felt weak.
Fragile.
But inside—
And deep within his soul, something ancient and patient waited to awaken.
Kaiser Godwill opened his eyes.
There was nothing special about the day he died.
The sky was overcast, and gray clouds stretched thin over a quiet suburban town. The air carried the faint smell of rain and asphalt, and the traffic lights blinked in dull rhythm over an ordinary intersection. Students filtered out of school buildings in clusters, laughter echoing across sidewalks, shoes scuffing concrete.
He walked alone.
A high school student like any other—average grades, average height, average life. His backpack hung loosely from one shoulder, and his mind was far from the street in front of him.
It was inside other worlds.
He loved anime. Not casually. Not ironically. He devoured it. Fantasy, action, isekai, supernatural power systems—he studied them the way athletes studied game footage. He loved the structure of it. The rules. The evolution. The thrill of characters growing stronger through will, training, and sacrifice.
If he had one quiet, secret thought he never voiced, it was this:
If I were in one of those worlds… I wouldn't waste it.
The pedestrian signal flickered from red to white.
He stepped off the curb.
He never saw the truck.
There was a sound—metal screaming against brakes. A horn, too late. A blur of white headlights exploding into his vision. His body lifted from the ground as if gravity itself had rejected him.
Impact.
There was no dramatic last thought. No speech. No regretful monologue.
Just silence.
And then—
Darkness.
He did not feel his body.
He did not feel pain.
He did not feel cold or warmth.
There was no ground beneath his feet and no sky above his head. He stood within an endless black expanse that did not reflect light and did not absorb it. It simply was.
He looked down at himself.
He had a body. Or the shape of one.
He flexed his fingers.
They responded.
"So I'm dead," he muttered.
His voice carried strangely in the void, like it existed only inside his own mind.
"Yes."
The word did not echo.
It did not reverberate.
It simply existed behind him.
He turned.
Something stood there.
It did not have a defined shape. It was tall—perhaps. Or perhaps the concept of height did not apply to it. It shimmered faintly, like heat distortion over asphalt. No face. No eyes. No expression. And yet it felt as though it was observing him completely.
Not judging.
Not condemning.
Assessing.
"Am I… in heaven?" he asked cautiously.
"No."
"Hell?"
"No."
"…So what are you?"
"A facilitator."
That was all it offered.
The boy studied it. His fear did not spike. Strangely, he felt calm. Too calm.
"Am I being reincarnated?" he asked, heart beginning to race—not with fear.
But anticipation.
"Yes."
His breath caught.
"Where?"
There was a pause. Not long. Just enough to suggest consideration.
"You will be sent to a world you are familiar with."
His pulse quickened.
"A fictional world from your Earth."
His mind exploded with possibilities.
"Which one?"
The entity's answer was simple.
"The world known as High School DxD."
For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.
Dragons.
Devils.
Sacred Gears.
Longinus.
True Dragons.
Satan-class beings.
Balance Breakers.
His thoughts accelerated, processing layers of power systems and political structures. Kuoh Academy. Rias Gremory. Issei Hyoudou. The Three Factions. The Great War.
He swallowed.
He knows a lot about High School DxD, the anime, but little to no information about the light novel, but that should suffice.
"…Why?" he asked.
"You were selected."
"For what?"
"To introduce variance."
That was not comforting.
"And what happens to me there?"
"You will live."
"That's it?"
"Yes."
Silence returned.
Then the entity spoke again.
"You will be granted three selections. Three alterations to the body and potential you will inhabit."
Three.
Not infinite.
Not vague blessings.
Specific.
Structured.
He felt a grin spread across his face.
He forced himself to calm down.
Think.
If this was real—if he was being dropped into that world—he needed long-term survivability. Not flashy. Not reckless.
Power. Growth. Stability.
He exhaled slowly.
"My first wish."
The void seemed to tighten.
"I want a Longinus-tier Sacred Gear."
There was no reaction from the entity.
He continued.
"One that controls all elements. And I want it to contain a dragon spirit capable of advanced analysis and processing—similar to Great Sage from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime."
From what he knows about the anime, a Longinus-tier Sacred Gear was a guaranteed way to become a top-tier powerhouse in the world of DxD.
A flicker.
The entity spoke.
"It will be sealed like all other sacred gears, but can be awakened under the right conditions."
He didn't hesitate.
"That's fine."
He had already calculated that risk.
If he entered DxD with an active Longinus fully awakened, he would immediately attract the attention of the Church, the Devils, the Fallen Angels, and possibly even higher beings.
He would be targeted before he understood his own power.
A sealed Longinus meant:
Growth curve.
Unlock potential.
Earned evolution.
Perfect.
"Second wish."
He paused.
"In that world, dragons are apex beings. I want to be a human-shadow dragon hybrid."
He chose to become a human-shadow dragon hybrid because only humans were gifted with sacred gears.
Shadow dragon because dragons were apex beings in the world of DxD, and he thinks shadow powers are cool. Not only is it versatile, but it's also powerful.
There was a subtle shift in the air.
Shadow was flexible.
It absorbed.
It evolved.
It hid.
Dragons dominated.
Shadows endured.
Together, they created balance.
The entity was silent for a long moment.
"Granted."
His heart pounded.
One more.
He thought carefully now.
Power without comprehension leads to self-destruction.
He needed understanding.
"I want peak comprehension ability."
"Define."
"Accelerated learning. Perfect memory retention. High-level pattern recognition. The ability to break down and understand systems rapidly—but not instant omniscience."
He did not want a cheat code.
He wanted optimization.
If he could analyze Sacred Gears, Evil Pieces, magic structures—he could build something new.
Something independent.
The entity responded.
"Granted."
The void shifted.
Energy—immense and overwhelming—surged through him.
He felt something forming inside his chest.
Heat.
Pressure.
A heartbeat that was not entirely human.
A sensation coiled at the edge of his consciousness.
Silent.
Observing.
The dragon spirit.
Then—
Everything stopped.
"I will not interfere further. The rest is up to you, whether you live and thrive, or die and suffer."
"…So you're done with me?"
"Yes."
A strange feeling passed through him.
Not abandonment.
But isolation.
This wasn't a guardian angel scenario.
This was a drop into a battlefield.
Alone.
He straightened.
"Good."
The entity tilted—if it could tilt.
"You do not fear?"
He smirked faintly.
The void began to collapse inward.
"Your host body has been selected."
"Who?"
"A wealthy orphan. Male. Human. Physically frail. Recently deceased."
"…Name?"
"Kaiser Godwill."
He almost laughed.
"That's dramatic."
"You will retain your memories."
"Good."
The darkness began to tear open beneath him, light spilling upward like a fracture in reality.
As he fell, he felt it.
The sealed Sacred Gear dormant—but waiting.
And the analytical presence in his mind whispering softly:
Initialization complete.
His final thought before consciousness shattered was simple.
This time… I won't waste it.
Air flooded his lungs violently.
Pain erupted across his body.
He gasped.
The ceiling above him was ornate. White and gold trim. Expensive.
His body felt weak.
Fragile.
But inside—
And deep within his soul, something ancient and patient waited to awaken.
Kaiser Godwill opened his eyes.