Cliche Chapter 431-432: The New Vessel

Although Asahi spent more than three hours cuddling and playing with Klyscha, the dragon egg refused to crack. The life force of the egg twisted as if she was bouncing inside it.

‘What is she doing in there?’

Great Red had left him confused.

(Could she be perfecting her looks?)

Great Red had a bit of a narcissistic personality, but not enough to beat Loki. Ophis was sleeping again. It looked like the Dragon God had found a hobby for herself.

(Why don’t we make her day? Let’s show her the power of games!)

Asahi agreed with the idea. In a sense, Ophis’s mind was that of a child. He lightly pinched her cheeks to wake her up.

“Ophis, wanna play some games?” Asahi asked as he brought out a small handheld.

The Dragon God stared at him. “Games…?”

Asahi pulled the loli onto his lap and walked her through the thumbnails of the available games. Ophis’ eyes widened, her mouth turning round in shock. The glossy display had grabbed her by the throat. Her black eyes were drawn to a specific animated picture—a black snake chasing after a candy. Curious, Ophis touched the image, and the game screen popped up.

Asahi couldn’t help but chuckle. Among all the retro games, she chose the classic snake game. Ironic, considering she was known as the Ouroboros Snake by many.

Ophis started playing under Asahi’s guidance. On her first attempt, she failed miserably. She grumbled some incoherent words under her breath as though cursing the difficulty. Asahi ruffled her hair and restarted the game for her. So, she continued her journey. Her second game ended in the same way. Third, fourth, fifth… Ophis slowly but surely adapted to the controls. Her points got higher and higher as a result.

With a large frown, Ophis focused on the screen, which was almost filled with the ever-growing snake. The intensity of her concentration could be seen via the sweat on her forehead.

‘I will win.’

Her competitive nature surfaced, which developed through her rivalry with Great Red.

The rosy egg suddenly shattered, releasing destructive shockwaves through the air. The barrier, fortunately, endured the first two waves. Asahi constructed another barrier to ward off every distraction coming Ophis’s way.

Magma spilled from the egg, forming a sea in the Dimensional Gap as if a hidden wall kept the scorching fluid in place. Great Red emerged from the red sea, floating in the air as though showing off her new form.

“She…” Asahi was speechless seeing the form she assumed.

A humanoid figure clad in crimson armor that was awfully similar to the Balance Breaker form of the Boosted Gear. Six wings, still dripping with magma, gently flapped behind her. Those wings were the only difference from Issei’s balance breaker form.

(Disappointing…)

‘I know right.’

Asahi sighed. He was looking forward to a busty dragon girl. Great Red chose to become one with armor rather than simply making a separate defensive armor.

(Her armor is her body. Her body is her armor.)

Klyscha summed up the Great Red’s change in two lines.

“Why are you two disappointed?” Ddraig asked, unable to understand the reason for their immeasurable disappointment.

‘Ddraig, listen closely. If you ever choose a human form, you must add dragon horns, a tail, and boobs! ’

Ddraig fell silent at his extremely specific request. “I haven’t thought about choosing a human form.”

The delay in her answer pointed towards a certain possibility—Ddraig had thought about having a human form. Ddraig was always around Klyscha, and sometimes Asahi joined them. Under their constant influence, she was bound to have some thoughts about assuming a similar human form. As a training freak, she will have an easier time practicing in a more humanoid form.

Great Red raised her head, slow and steady, like a robot. The golden orbs deep within her helmet emitted a menacing glow.

“Asahi,” Great’s deep voice reached his ears through some kind of telepathy. “You have my admiration for taming my wild dragon god rival.”

Asahi smiled. “Thank you for using telepathy. My friend here is busy playing games.”

“Haha, I can see that. Come with me now. Let’s settle this once and for all.”

“Give me five minutes.”

Ophis’ hands trembled as the snake grew in height, leaving little to no room for any mistake. The game would end in less than a minute at this rate.

“On one condition,” Great Red proposed.

“Speak, Mademoiselle.”

“You may express your impression of my new body.”

Asahi frowned. “Honest or fake?”

“Honest. I don’t like lies.”

“It’s cool from a commoner’s viewpoint. For me, though, it sucks.”

“Because it doesn’t portray me as a mature woman?”

Asahi blinked his eyes. This dragon was always a step ahead of him when it came to these matters. “Exactly. It lacks feminine curves and charm. Anyone will think you’re a bulky man under that armor.”

“B-Bulky man. What the fuck did you say?” Great Red snapped. “I look sleek.”

Asahi chuckled. “Sleek as in dragon standards, right?”

“I’m a dragon, so…”

“Nah, your current form is that of a human. It needs to be judged by human standards.”

Asahi’s insistence forced Great Red to reconsider her choice. The vessel combined the resilience of a dragon with the agile and wondrous shape of a human. She was delighed to finally show off the peak of her creativity.

The result, however, was far from what she anticipated.

“I fucked up…” Great Red’s hands hung loose as though she lost all her energy.

Even Asahi felt bad for bullying her like this.

“She lost all will to fight…” Ddraig asked, bewildered. “Did you just defeat Great Red… with words alone?”

‘I regret doing so.’

A classic beep came from the handheld, signifying Ophis’ loss. The dragon god crushed the handheld in rage.

“Dumb game.” She looked up at him, black eyes glistening with tears. “Sorry… I broke it.”

Asahi took the broken handheld from her and kissed her hair. “It’s alright. I have a couple more in my stock.”

“Asahi…” Ophis muttered his name as though his kindness moved her. She pointed at Great Red. “Great Red? …So weird… and ugly.”

Ophis dealt a fatal blow to the already devastated dragon god. She fell back, plummeting into the red sea as if she was ready to forfeit her life.

After transforming into the fire elemental form, Asahi teleported to Great Red’s side and pulled her out of the magma pond. “Everyone is prone to make mistakes.”

Great Red sat on the pond’s surface in an overly polite manner as though she was a samurai warrior hailing from the old era. “You are right. This body was created to duel you. So I must not back down.”

Asahi sat down in the same way and checked Great Red’s status. Her attributes must have undergone some changes considering the tremendous change in her appearance.

[Great Red Lv. 499]

Designated Title: Dimension Protector]

Race: Dragon

Class: Dragon of Dreams

[Attributes]

Strength: 850

Dexterity: 950

Constitution: 700

Defense: 650

Charm: ??

[Skills]

[—God of Dreams (Unique): The user’s authority allows them to peer into any and every dream within their world. The user can travel through dreams.]

[—Dragon God Physique (Unique): The user is extremely resistant to physical and elemental attacks.]

[—Flame Embodiment (Unique): The user’s body is forged in fire. Grants extreme resistance to fire-based attacks.]

‘Her stats are more offensive now.’

Previously, her constitution and defense were her highest stats. Now, they were more distributed towards dexterity and strength.

(She took your fire elemental form seriously.)

‘I can still beat her in wind elemental form.’

His confidence was over the roof after attaining the elemental forms.

Ophis arrived before him and copied his sitting style. A handsome youth enveloped in flames, a gothic girl who seemed too young to be here, and a dragon god whose body was her armor—an odd trio came together in the Dimensional Gap,

Asahi coughed. “Great Red, where do you want to fight?”

“The Dimensional Gap holds the gateway to every dimension. Some of them haven’t been visited by someone for a long time. Perfect for a battlefield between us.”

“Can I go to Youkai’s realm from here?”

Great Red sliced open the fabric of the Dimensional Gap with a simple gesture of her hand. A quick peek inside confirmed the location. It was indeed the dimension where he met Yasaka.

“You can peek at anyone from anywhere…” Asahi said.

Great Red’s lifestyle was abnormally similar to Klyscha’s before she met him.

(You just called me a stalker…)

“I can but I can’t find your location most of the time,” Great Red replied. “You weird-ass human, angel, dragon, god abomination. Why do you carry so many different auras with you?”

“I’m special,” Asahi said. “Can you access the dimension where Trihexa is sealed?”

“Trihexa who?”

“A chimera monster on par with you,” Asahi described Trihexa the best he could.

“On par with me… I doubt anyone like that exists. You and Ophis are the only exceptions.”

She was unaware of the gods that resided outside the DxD universe. This ignorance most likely led to her downfall in the future, at the hands of an ExE god.

Sensing the seriousness in Asahi’s eyes, Great Red began to doubt herself. Asahi had no reason to lie here as he had already proven his strength by beating her in her own specialty. Asahi was a god on the same level as Ophis in her eyes.

“Are you telling the truth? Does someone as strong as us exist?”

“Yes, and this monster is no dragon but a chimera of numerous species. Biblical God sealed the monster somewhere. He also gave me his position to bring me on his side.”

“That god is cunning,” Great Red said and crossed her arms. “We should start our battle now.”

Great Red formed another rift that led to a world shrouded in darkness. A lifeless dimension that seemed abandoned for ages came into view.

Asahi got up and cracked his knuckles. “Looks like a perfect place to beat up the Dragon of Dragons.”