- 2 days later –
When they said that Sacred Gears were rare, I had often scoffed because they kept on popping up one after the other.
I was wrong.
Extremely wrong.
These fucking things are rarer than Danzo wearing a pink tutu and doing Gangnam Style.
Like fucking 1 in a million rare.
In my two days of search, I have only found 2 twice criticals and 1 unknown sacred gears which could help the wielder calculate faster (basically an over-exaggerated calculator. Fair to say I utterly pissed.
The IDs did help me release some pent up stress and helped raise my level a bit. I am now at level 72 with Umbramancer being at level 72. Leveling is getting harder with higher levels.
Today however I detected a signal. A white and red signal. That's huge. Like Longinus class huge. Just who was it that was in this place. England's sacred gear weilders were mostly being taken away by magician organizations or church. So to see a Longinus wielder here was…..surprising.
I didn't just go in like an idiot. Imagine Cao-Cao being inside and I would be dead before I even got to order anything in the restaurant. So I did the smart thing and send a Shadow Clone Great Explosion type clone inside. If they decide to be too handsy with my clone, they deserve what happens to them. I have put enough mana in it to blast the entire restaurant to the ground.
Imagine my surprise when I found an auburn haired, blue eyed cute girl sitting there, depressed and enraged. Interesting, very interesting.
Meredith Ordinton
Independent Magician, Former Member of Golden Dawn, Wielder of Alphecca Tyrant, Illegitimate member of the British Royal Family.
Level – 45
Rank – Veteran
Race – Human (Magician)
HP – 1,250
SP – 1,250
MP – 12,500
STR – 12
END – 27
DEX – 25
INT – 75
WIS – 57
CHA – 72
LCK – 87
Thoughts about you – None (She hasn't seen you)
Affection – 0 (She doesn't known that you exist)
Isn't she a treat just waiting to be eaten. 2 heart crystals in pocket increasing my confidence by a lot, I put on my game face and enter the restaurant sitting beside her as I order a bucket of chicken wings and a bottle of cola.
She notices me and her eyes widen just a slight bit before she controls herself, her expression changing to aloof, not bothered by my presence.
"Hello, Miss Magician. You seem to be quite sad, is there anything that you would like to talk about." This is my first time recruiting someone. I am putting my best devil act as I try to understand the situation she is in. She is an Independent Magician so that means I can recruit her. If she doesn't agree I can always try my Sacred Gear Extractor on a Longinus level Sacred Gear before I get the Boosted Gear for my peerage. She is cute enough for me give her a try than just snatch her sacred gear away from her. Her skills as a magician might have some effect too.
"Hello, Mr. Devil. Do you often use the same line on every girl you meet." Better than being completely shot down.
"Nope, only the cute ones. Though I have to say that you looking so sad did melt my demonic heart quite a bit to actually approach you." quickly I use a Heart Crystal getting +10 Affection with her.
The key to using items is to use them on correct timing. The raise in Affection can be confused with their own emotions and can further assist in increasing it again.
As expected, her cheeks darken lightly with a blush at the comment. "I bet you say that to everyone. I am still underaged, aren't you afraid that people would call you out for being a lolicon?"
Great, a Tsundere.
"I am not even 17 yet so I would say that I am quite safe. So wanna talk?" I pass off her comment as nothing serious.
"And what good would talking do, it won't bring back what was taken from me. People only care about what they want, nothing about others if it's inconvenient for them. You are the same as well. I bet if it wasn't for my sacred gear, you would have walked away without giving a damn about me anyway, so don't pretend to care when you don't know anything." she blasts off in a rant and starts huffing from exhaustion and anger. Poor girl, a subtle spell to keep others from paying attention to us keeps others from listening in.
"I won't lie that your sacred gear was a part of a reason that I approached you. about 20%, after all it did make me aware that you were even here. I would have still approached you anyway. You are just too cute for me to leave all depressed and sad here." I keep on talking as I pass her the cola while taking a bite of my own fries. "As for talking, don't you feel a little lighter after letting it all out?"
She looks at the cola for a second before gulping it down with big chugs. Wow, she was really thirsty just now. "So what is it that you want?" she questions me warily. I bet she would have been attacking me if it hadn't been for the Heart Crystal right now.
"Nothing before I know why you are so depressed. Even though I would like to recruit you, I make it a point to know about others before offering them a position in my peerage." I say with utter seriousness and she looks at me with a doubt filled gaze trying to read me for any signs of lies.
"And how many peerage members did you find that way? I doubt it would be many if you want to be so picky about them." Good, she is not revolted to the idea of being recruited. Even if she shows otherwise.
"No one yet. I am very picky that is absolutely true. But I am picky about the character of my peerage members. I am absolute certain to make them as strong as they possibly can become at the very least a Satan Class but if they don't possess the qualities I am looking for, there is no deal." It is true. I can make anyone stronger with the game helping me. Just level them up to high heavens and I can have a strong enough team. Snatch sacred gears from the others or just make new toys for them to use.
"What if I don't want to join you?" she asks me a little less wary.
Mental Attack (Suggestion Type) Blocked by Gamers Mind.
Is she trying to probe me? No it was a compulsion type spell to make me speak the truth. Too bad for her I am a Gamer and Gamers…..cheat.
"Then I would just walk away. No harm done between us." She looks at me wide-eyed for a moment which I use to apply the second Heart Crystal over her.
+10 Affection gained with Meredith Ordinton (20/100)
+5 Affection gained with Meredith Ordinton (25/100) for being truthful to her.
Perfect.
And I was being truthful. I would certain walk away right now because if I extracted her sacred gear here, it would attract a lot of attention. No harm done between us because I would have her sacred gear one way or the other. See, perfectly truthful and honest.
"I was denied what was rightfully mine. I belonged to the British Royal Family, an illegitimate child between a member of the Royal Family and his Magical bodyguard. But when I tried to confront them about this, they completely rejected the idea of accepting me. 'Taint on their image' they said that I should know my place and keep quite. When they found about my Sacred Gear, they even tried to use me to control other Higher Ups of the country and even other countries for their profit. I ran away and they are searching for me." She finally lets out all her frustrations. For all that bravado she was putting, she is still a young girl who is alone and abandoned.
"What do you want?" I ask her, my voice completely even, tone firm no hind of playfulness in them at all. This time I am actually serious. This girl has potential. If she is trained and nurtured well, she can become a great asset or at the very least someone who will not be my enemy. Her sacred gear's powers are just too good to leave it be.
"I want to make them suffer, regret ever casting me out. Denying me what should have been mine. I don't imagine becoming the Queen as I know the supernatural factions won't allow that. Too many connections being broken because of me is not something I expect them to do. But I at least want them to feel the pain." Her voice was low and dripping in venom. I think I am in love.
"And how do you plan to do this?" I ask intrigued as well. This girl is turning out to be more fun than I expected. I am going to thoroughly enjoy this.
"Damage their business, their standings. Attack them using others I control using my sacred gear. Make them all sorry for throwing me away." Her voice was rising bit by bit as was the venom in it. 'Hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned' so true indeed.
"And what good would that do? After you get caught, which you will. As you have said, they have many 'connections', they will gain whatever they have lost and maybe even more if they play the role of a helpless victim in all this. You will be left as the ultimate loser in the entire fiasco with none to claim for your own name and likely forgotten as a nameless nobody."
It is a treat to watch her eyes grasping my words and then her eyes turn back to an even deeper depressed though the anger in them does anything but decrease.
"Then what….should I ..do?" aww, her voice seems so broken. Fuck when did I become so sadistic….. okay I was always a sadist.
"The best way to make them regret is to become so important that they beg you on their knees to come back to them and then…..deny them. A simple but effective revenge. After all, the opposite of love isn't hate, its apathy. To hate someone, you need to expend effort to think about them and make them suffer. Do they really mean that much to you to expend so much effort on the them?" my voice soft but slowly making the girl think about what I say.
The emotions and memories of this body have affected me. Even if it is to a very low degree due to my own personality being the dominant one. It is similar to feeling connected to the main character of a book when you read it for a long time. I saw his whole life so it has affected me even if I would not like to admit it. This helps me understand her perspective and offer her the path I would have followed. To be honest if it hadn't been for the quest, I would have let them suffer under good ol' Volde for a while, but I have serious doubts that Dumb-and-Dork has done more than just fucked with me using seals, so I have to go back there as soon as I stabilize things over here.
She looks at me, her face showing various emotions one after another until she lets her head fall to the table in front of her and asks "What do you want?"
"I want you to join me. Really, I thought that was kind of obvious when I asked you this but this time I am making an offer, Join me and I will help you make those who denied you regret every instant of it till the end of their pathetic lives." I say standing up an offering my hand to her.
"What will you give me?" She asks looking at me right in my eyes. Yes, these are the kind of eyes I would like on my followers. The type which won't hesitate to cut down those who stand in her way.
"Power and soon enough position that will give your words a certain weight in the world. I am currently unable to do the second one, but soon within one year, I will do it for you." my voice carries no hesitation as I am completely sure that I can do the same in a few months. A year is for her to feel the offer is more genuine and not just words used for convenience to recruit her.
"If you go back on your word, I will make you regret it." She says while she offers her hand to me.
Obedience System Unlocked.
+ 20 Obedience with Meredith Ordinton (20/100) for accepting your offer.
"In the words of one of the coolest guys I know, 'My word is my bond miss." I kiss her knuckles softly before taking out the mutated bishop piece and pushing it gently into her chest. I watch as it disappears inside her body.
+ 20 Obedience with Meredith Ordinton (40/100) for becoming your servant.
Quest Added
[Balancing on a Nail's Point]
Alphecca Tyrant is a Sacred Gear containing the Nails used to crucify Jesus. Being covered in the blood of the Divine has given them extremely great Holy properties as they are considered one of the holy relics, the epitome of holiness. Now the wielder of such a Sacred Gear has turned into a Devil, a being of evil. This has caused a great imbalance in the magical energies of the Wielder. Find a point of balance soon to stop this matter from becoming worse. Make the wielder strong enough to bear this power.
Objective : Raise Meredith Ordinton's level to 125.
Bonus Objective : Raise Meredith Ordinton's level to 150.
Rewards : Holy Demonic Attribute unlocked for Meridith Ordinton, Increased Affection and Obedience with Meredith Ordinton, ?.
Failure : Meredith Ordinton dies from Magical Imbalance, you lose a Longinus class Sacred Gear wielding servant.
Time Limit : 3 days.
I have been saying this a lot since I became a gamer but ….FUCK.
It is still within range because she is already level 90. Level 125 should be easy.
"Miss… what was your name again?" I ask looking a bit sheepish. I can't just call her by her name because that has not yet come up in the conversation.
….
"So much for getting to know your recruits. I knew it. You Devils all say sweet words and catch innocent impressionable children to do what you please." She huffs but her tone is not rude and has a playful tone to it. The reputation and obedience doing their work perfectly. "My name is Meredith Ordinton. Nice to meet you, Master? My Lord?"
"Shin Kageyami, you can call me Shin. There has been a small complication just now. I didn't know that your Sacred Gear was a holy type and turning you to a devil has lead to the magical energies in your body to fight against each other. We need to make you stronger so that your body can withstand that and reach a point of balance. The faster we do that the better." I say casually as I see the colour draining from her face a bit. Not surprising though, anyone would be scared if they find out that their body has become a magical equivalent of a bomb.
"Am I…. going to die?" her voice cracks as she comes to term with the situation
-15 Affection with Meredith Ordinton (15/100) for making her a walking magical bomb.
"Not really, as I said we have to make you stronger." I say maintaining the same casual face for myself.
"No one can make me that strong so fast. It is impossible. I am going to die. I am going to …die."
As she starts to sob, I grab a hold of the back of her shirt, picking her up like a cat from the neck and open an ID.
The sobbing stops abruptly as she looks around with a confused expression on her face. "What is this place? Where have you taken me?"
"We are here to make you stronger. Kill anything you see…except me of course and you will see in an hour what I am talking about." I explain as I look around to see a group of zombies closing in on us.
I'd rather take her to the graveyard area with the wraiths. They give better experience but it is better if she gets used to killing here than be stunned by the wraiths and faint suddenly. That would be a massive waste of time. I only have 5 days period to return back to the underworld and I still have to 'Collect' Issei's Boosted Gear for my collection. It is the reason I have held back from killing people with Sacred Gears for a while because that might attract unnecessary attention to my direction.
She looks at me for a few seconds before she starts killing the zombies. Her attack and defense magic are nothing special, but her barriers are quite good. I can use that. Maybe add something to it using an artifact.
And then I felt it. An uncontrollable urge to run away as the hair on my skin rises at the feeling of great danger around me. Meredith has summoned a longsword shaped nail filled to the brim with undiluted Holy Aura.
The undead around it burn away leaving ashes as it rushes past them. This continues for a while as I lead her to higher level areas. She seems to have forgotten about her situation or is just venting her frustration on the undead.
Either way good for me. The more she kills, the faster we get this over with. I let out my wings and take flight. I am not getting any experience from all this but its fine for now. I wouldn't want to steal her kills. We can start hunting together if she reached level 125.
After about 3 hours of venting she calms down as I receive a message from game.
Servant Meredith Ordinton has reached the level cap for the current tier. Do you want to promote her?
y/n.
"Wait for a moment Meredith" she turns towards me with a feral look on her face as I call out to her. "No need to be so tensed, I just need to do something and then you can continue with your fun."
"Fun, Fun ….FUN. DOES THIS LOOK LIKE FUN TO YOU? Have your fun when your own ass turns into a living bomb." Wow, okay I seriously need to calm her down before she throws one of those Nail Swords on my head.
"Here, let me show you something that will calm you down." I approach her and gently pat her head while accepting the game's message with a y.
With a sudden rise in power, a new pair of wings pop out of her back making her a 6-winged devil now. She looks around in amazement temporarily forgetting her worries as she feels the rise in her power level and calms down a bit.
"See, I told you. I could make anyone strong enough if I wanted. Just a little more of hunting around and you can balance all your power and even gain something good out of this trial." I keep my voice as soothing as I can as I slowly caress her head. She has been over-excited for a while now and that has been taking a great toll on her mind. She is currently in a state of mental exhaustion. First being turned down by her birth family, then me poking around that wound and making her a devil and finally finding out that she has turned into a living bomb.
I can't blame her for it. Although, when the mind is exhausted it tends to accept whatever is easier for it to do as a self-defense mechanism.
"Don't worry your pretty little head. You are my peerage now and I am very possessive about what is mine. I won't let anything happen to you." gently placing her in my lap, I slowly keep caressing her head as she falls asleep. I jump out of the ID with her and teleport the two of us to the nearest hotel where I put her to sleep. She has had a long day and she deserves her rest.
- Next Morning – (4 days left to return to the underworld and 7 days to the Rating Game)
I wake up to find a Meredith still sleeping, slightly drooling from the side of her mouth. She is still a child no matter the amount of power she has.
I need to get a maid to take care of the daily chores like cooking and cleaning. Maybe I should use that companion gem. I was waiting because summoning them would mean talking them around with me on this hunt and I'd rather wait a while when I am about to return to summon them.
Sensing some movement beside me, I wake up to see Meredith waking up. I get out of the bed and start getting ready for the day. The faster she is lvl. 150, the faster I can restart my hunt. I even have to get the last piece of my setup for stealing the Boosted Gear from Issei. Simply making him vanish, will raise too many questions with people I don't want to draw attention to. I have to make it out fast enough while not leaving any tracks back to me. This would have been more difficult by myself but now that I have Meredith with me, I can use her powers for a better use. It's just that should I trust her with something so important right from the start.
I have to think about it and reach a decision soon enough.
She gets up slowly and I can see her looking around groggily stopping when she catches a sight of me. Good thing that she is calmer now than the last night. I turn towards and give her a reassuring smile and nod at her.
+ 20 Affection with Meredith Ordinton (35/100) for not abandoning her.
+10 Obedience with Meredith Ordinton (50/100) for being a good boss.
"Get up and get your breakfast soon Meredith. We have to increase your strength soon so that you can balance the magical energies in your body. Last night we got a decent increase in your power, today I hopefully want you to get it sorted out." I say as I continue getting ready. I need to get her to level 125 as soon as possible before I can continue with my hunt and search for an essential part of my plan to stea…..borrow Boosted Gear from Issei and never return it again. The disappearance would cause some doubts in people whose attention I don't want on me. That's why I have been planning this out for a while.
It would have been much harder with my own power but now with Meredith it could get that much easier. It's just that…..should I tell her about the plan? Do I really trust her so much right now? The answer to this is something I have to find out for myself. No point in wasting time right now.
"What was that place from last night? How did I get stronger?" she finally asks me as she recalls the events from the last night.
"That was a realm of death, where you can face trials and gain power or perish and…..forever be forgotten." Sometimes I myself am amazed at my ability to make bullshit with a straight face.
"Realm of dead? But How? Aren't we supposed to be dead when we go to the realm of dead. I haven't read or heard about anything like that. How can you even go there without dying? Do you have a God of death as your patron God? I didn't know devils even associated with gods. Who is your patron God?" oh my fucking…..Big G. Phew, close save. This girl is a freaking machine gun of questions. How could her cute little brain even manage that many things at once?
Human Magicians have to do high level calculations to invoke their magic. It is only natural that she is smarter than those of her age in general.
Ughh, thanks game. You are a great help.
"Wow, wow, wow Miss Firecracker. One question at a time. Unlike you my tiny brain is not really capable of multitasking. Answering your questions in order. No, I don't need to die in order to go to the realm of dead. No, I don't have a God of death as my patron god. And please don't stereotype devils in general. Serafall talks to Gods quite frequently." Taking a deep breath, I proceed to the second part of my answer. I had taken time to think about this excuse for a while and because Death was the one who got me into this mess, I might use her name to solve some of my problems.
"My patron is no not any God of death, it is 'Death' herself. The entity from which all the Gods of deaths draw their powers. I have a deal with her." Not lying about any of this technically. "I can enter a realm of death and take the trials and also take others with me. Though it would be better if you kept this to yourself. I have no intention of using this power for others."
If I had levels for Bullshitting, it would be at mythical grade.
Skill Added
[Bullshitting (Adept)] (Passive)
The art of bullshitting is an old and arduous one. One has to face many trials and errors to master this art.
+40% believability to any lie you spew.
-20% if the lie is too outrageous to believe.
…..Thanks Game. Thank you very fucking much.
The bullshitting does give the desired results though. The shock on her face is an absolute proof of the same fact that she bought it all.
"Now you see why I was so confident in making anyone powerful. I don't especially care about your Sacred Gear, only you. Now get ready. I would like my breakfast hot if possible." I finish off as I leave the room.
+ 10 Affection with Meredith Ordinton (45/100) for caring about her.
+20 Obedience with Meredith Ordinton (70/100) for being a good boss.
A smile couldn't help my grace my lips at the message.
Perfect.
- Later –
Slashing down another greater wraith with her sacred gear she reached level 132. For today that should be enough. The danger to her life has passed. I could go on for the bonus reward today itself but I'd rather not force her to overexert herself. Unlike me she doesn't have the Gamers Body or Gamers Mind.
"That is enough Meredith, your power is enough to balance the holy energy of your sacred gear for now. We will train again later. I have some urgent matters to take care of in a few days. Let's get of here for now."
We come out in the hotel room where she goes to get cleaned up. While magic can do things like that, it is just not the same as a good long soak.
While waiting for her to return, I use the 4 gacha tokens, that I have accumulated in the past few days.
Item : Tenrou Jade
An S-Ranked treasure holding high amount of Magic power which was corrupted after absorbing too much evil magical power.
Skill Orb : Combo Star
Item : Vibranium Ingot x 5 (Crafting Item)
Item : Cure All
Cures all diseases magical or non-magical.
….wasn't Tenrou Jade something that absorbs souls and binds it with other things like the bones of a dragon. Okay, not touching it. It goes into the inventory to probably never see the light of the day again.
Combo Star is a good skill. It's from Nanatsu no Tanzai if I remember it correctly.
Vibranium is never bad. Anyone with a lick of brain in Marvel could tell you that.
Cure All…sounds like the Heal All of Pokemon. The effect is good though, so I am not complaining about anything.
"So, what plans do we have for today boss?" Meredith's voice breaks me out of my thoughts as I look at her. The Sin of Lust trait doesn't make it any easier to remain in close vicinity of any member of the opposite sex without making my mind fuzzy and senses dulled with lust. I really need to get this out of my system because I have a feeling that it is growing stronger everyday.
"We need to catch a Stray Devil. I have located one nearby." I tell her as I get up to get myself a bath as well.
"Oh, the official Devil work. Do we get paid for it? How does it actually work?" and there she starts again. Firing questions one after the other. With her level of curiosity I wouldn't be surprised if she were a nekomata or nekoshou.
"No it's not any official devil work. I just need this one captured to help me out with a certain something." I leave it at that.
Meredith may act like a child sometimes but as curious as she is, she is also very observant and knows when to draw the line. A very good quality that I appreciate my subordinates for having.
- Outside a certain town in England (Stray pov) –
Stray devil Runa was having a time of her life. Feasting on humans who were attracted by her beauty only to be horrified after seeing her true form. Runa was a half Siren-half Devil hybrid who killed her master a High Class Devil of House Forneus by poisoning him to death and later devoured him to gain more power.
Doing contracts was not her thing. Why bother when you can just eat and become stronger. She would soon surpass the Satans and rule the underworld. being a stray devil until then is just a minor price to pay.
She was chasing her latest prey, relishing in his screams before she devoured him and enjoy her increase in power when she heard a voice behind her.
"Are you satisfied with weaklings like these? Do you not want to eat something truly delicious and just as fulfilling? A Dragon or something along the lines?" the voice said and all she saw was a shadow standing behind her. She threw a burst of demonic energy at the speaker only for it to pass by without harming him in the slightest and then she froze. Power, overwhelming amounts of Demonic energy threatened to drown her never to see the light of the day again and a pair of green eyes looking at her through the shadows.
"Disappointing, and here I thought that you had some potential. Do you still wish to defy me Runa…..or do you wish to eat more fulfilling meals by working for me? Devils, angels, fallen and youkai anything you want. All you have to do is work for me and you will get regular meals like a good pet.
The growl that left her mouth was received with a chuckle. Before the she felt deep fear. If the amount of demonic energy was terrifying then what came next almost stopped her breathing. Holy Aura, pure and untainted Holy Aura came from a sword behind her. The sword was a bit odd, but the church people were eccentric and could always make weird shaped Holy Swords.
"I …..I will." She answered with the only answer she could. That holy aura was threatening to burn her away just by being close to her. Not that she had any other option, it was either work for the voice or die.
"Good girl. As a kind master I will give you something good to eat soon. A dragon and maybe even a Devil with the PoD." She could swear that she saw a demonic smile forming on the shadow when he said that. But the PoD only belonged to those high and mighty Bael scum and those idiotic Gremorys. If he could give her something like that then it won't be a bad deal at all.
- Shin –
I watch as the Stray devil's face shows undisguised greed at the mention of the PoD. She is the kind who would definitely betray me the moment I turn my head from her, so she needs to die. Good thing this plan doesn't need her to live.
I teleport her near a warehouse in Kuoh. It is the same place where Rias hunts the stray devil in the first season of Dxd, visor? Visored? Whatever her name was.
I leave her with Meredith who has her on nail's point. A super-powered holy nail makes it just that intimidating. Believe me.
A few Shadow Walks get me to where I want. Hyuodou's residence. It is late at night and the wanker is sleeping peacefully. Don't worry I won't disturb your sleep for a lot. I cast a sleep spell on him just to make sure he doesn't resist as I carry him off to the warehouse. The Sacred Gear Extracting device is ready and charged all I need is to place it on his chest and let it work its magic.
This is exactly what I did. I try to keep the spell casting to minimum because I don't know if others can track me from stray mana.
After shouting and anticlimactic shaking around for a while Issei Hyudou, the future harem king dies a complete virgin. Not that having a harem did anything to that status. And that's one of the main reasons that he had to die among other reasons. I won't be a second fiddle to anyone so protagonists have to die.
Hidden Quest Completed
[All Hail the True Harem King]
Issei Hyoudou is a taint on the name of every self-respecting Harem King and such a taint won't be tolerated. Show the world what it means to be a True Harem King and remove the taint from the world.
Objective : Kill Issei Hyoudou.
Rewards : [True Harem King in Making] Perk, [Plot Armour Breaker] perk.
Perk Gained
[True Harem King in Making]
Unlike the wannabees, you are the true heir to the throne of the Harem King.
Girls above 50 Affection won't mind sharing you with others.
Note – Get 3 girls in your Harem to Upgrade the Perk.
*Any Girl with 75 Affection or more will be considered a part of your Harem if they are not currently in a different relationship.
Perk Gained
[Plot Armour Crusher]
Plot armour is the cornerstone of the survival of all dense protagonists and the bane of all villains. But when has such rules stopped you. You are the one who pierces through such armours with extreme ease.
Plot Armour won't activate if you take any action against the protagonist.
Both the perks were equally good.
By the way Game, why didn't the plot armour activate when I was killing the idiot just now. Was their some kind of interference?
The plot hadn't started for Issei Hyoudou when he died, so the plot armour was not activated.
…..oh. Seems fair.
Looking at the bright orb in the palm of my hand, I finally let out a smile grace my lips. One done, one more to go.
The Sacred Gear Locator shows multiple signs of sacred gears in the town. Avoiding the place where I can sense other devils, I isolate the place with individual sacred gears. One of the places is the Genshirou residence.
Diving into the Shadow I come out in the bedroom of the closet pervert.
…..the fuck is this place. Posters of Sona all around the room. Is this Serafall's secret hideout or something? This guy is an obsessive stalker. Putting him in sleep using the same spell, I teleport us to the same place, repeating the process again. Getting the second sacred gear and being done with my main objective, I get ready for the second phase of the plan.
I have kept their left hands in my inventory. The place where their sacred gears manifest as I don't know the extent of reincarnating power of the evil pieces. Hopefully it can't create a whole body and I might have a use for their dna's later.
I let Runa eat them, leaving most of their heads intact. When she is finished with her job, I take out a certain piece of paper from my pocket. This is something I had collected earlier after changing my appearance using Gaea Foundation, a truly useful tool to be honest. It even changes the scent of the user.
"Take this pamphlet, Runa. Use it to summon Rias Gremory. I will leave her to you. I hope that you don't disappoint me."
"Thank you. What can I call you? You have helped me so much and I don't even know your name." oh, want info on me. Fine I will give you the info, just not what you want though.
"My name is Cao Cao. Best of luck for your fight." With that I dive into a shadow and appear just outside the warehouse, where I change into a bat and fly upto the broken glass window in the corner of the warehouse.
All set time for show to start.
- Rias –
Rias Gremory had been having a tensed day today. Things had finally started to look good for her when her engagement with Riser Phenex was said to have been canceled and Shin Kageyami was chosen as her new fiancé.
Shin was much, much better than Riser and although she would have liked to choose her own husband, she could see things working out between her and Shin.
His decision to get to know her better was something she could never expect from Riser or most of the other young devils for that matter. Most would throw themselves at any chance to have any relationship with her let alone marry her, lust clouding their mind and her thoughts being completely irrelevant on the matter. But he showed great self-control.
He was also a good friend of Siaraorg and her mother approved of him which was a huge positive point. She was not completely against arranged marriages, just loveless marriages. Like her parents, like she would have had to suffer under Riser. She has seen the relationship between Sona's parents and she was actually quite envious for her regarding her family, not that she would ever accept it.
Also he was an otaku. His british accent and his name said a whole lot about it, which was only confirmed with his comment about Akeno's change in persona. She was actually quite relieved that he was not like the old devils, all high on formalities but just the right amount of respectful. This will make her peerage feel comfortable with him.
But now all this was in danger. Riser challenged Shin to a rating game. She was aware that such a thing was inevitable but she thought that he at least had some time before it happened. How would he face Riser in just 10 days? He didn't even have a peerage of his own. She at least had 3 members ready to fight for her and one she would recruit soon. She had taken somewhat of a liking to the Black Haired boy and did not want to see this ending up in a disaster.
While having these thoughts, she was notified about the activation of a summoning pamphlet that her peerage members use for contracts.
She shoved her worries to the back of her mind for a while and teleported to the place which turned out to be an empty warehouse.
The smell of blood assaulting her nose as she became combat ready immediately dodging a burst of demonic energy from behind her. She saw a devil, deformed from half of her face walking out of the shadows. The dim light of the warehouse making her look even more horrifying than her corrupted look.
A Stray Devil.
"I expected as much of the spawn of the Gremory. You will make a good meal." She says while getting ready for her next move.
Putting all her frustration back to the forefront of her mind, she finally snapped. "You have some gall to attack me in my territory, Stray. This will be your last mistake, I will make sure of it." With that she summoned her PoD and attacked the stray who dodged to the side while sending a blast of Demonic energy in front of her. She quickly put up a barrier blocking the attack as she prepared for her next attack. The stray was not very powerful but she was fast enough to dodge her attacks which was annoying to cope up with. Maybe she had been skipping too much on her training for a while.
After a while she feels her vision fading as she falls on one knee. Poison? Had she spread poison in the warehouse before summoning? This is bad. She didn't call her peerage for backup thinking that she could handle the stray devil of this level on her own. This is turning out to be pretty risky.
Was she really so weak that she would fall to the likes of this stray who couldn't even be a mid-class judging by her demonic energy.
For the first time she felt weak, something that she was never allowed to feel before. Even the engagement with Riser was something she always somewhere in the back of her mind thought she could escape. Shin coming in at the right time made almost sure that it was as she had thought. But this situation made her realize that in the end it was her own weakness that will lead to her downfall. No matter how much she wanted to be her own person, she didn't have the strength for that. Yes, ultimately even if she had won against Riser in a rating game, it would have been with her peerage, not on her own.
And this realization hit her hard. Rage boiled inside of her, at the stray who was making her feel helpless, at her ownself for not training like she should have, at this entire situation and with that rage she summoned every last bit of her demonic power into a big blast of the PoD. The stray froze from the sheer power of the attack and was erased. With the last bit of her consciousness she send a message for Akeno before her vision faded into darkness as unconsciousness claimed her in its embrace.
- Shin –
It seems that she got some sort of conviction in the end. Good for her. Binding Runa was a bit of help I granted her due to that alone.
Meredith's sacred gear can control humans not devils or other supernatural beings. Their magical resistance to such things is just too high. They would at best be turned into puppets like those with Imperious cast on them. But he didn't need to control her. A few well-placed suggestions in her magically exhausted state when her mental resistance was low, to show her the situation she was truly in was all he needed. This was the least I could do for her.
She was going to become my wife after all and I would NOT have a weak-minded woman for my wife. Rias as good as she might be in her looks and talent was not completely unrivalled. There were others in this world much better than her. Strength doesn't matter to him as I can always make her stronger one way or the other. But the conviction needed to back up that strength is something she would never have if she didn't realize her flaws. This was something I had planned when I was hunting sacred gears.
My marriage with Rias was all but set in stone with so many high powered assholes behind it. I will have to mold her into someone with not just baseless pride but rather someone like Vali who worked every bit for that pride. I don't mind pride at all, I have enough of it myself to blame others for it.
If this doesn't help then there is always the fallen, Kokabiel and other idiots. She won't have Issei in her peerage to carry her anymore. So it is better if she understands it sooner when she still has time rather than when all shit hits the fan. I use the antidote to the poison on her before picking up the summoning circle she was using to summon Akeno probably, I put some mana into it and leave the after storing the summoning circle in my inventory. Have to destroy anything that has my mark on it. I am not taking any risks with anything.
Today was truly productive in more than one way.
- Serafall –
A rating game between Shin Kageyami and Riser Phenex. This was the top piece of gossip in the high class devil society. A week ago no one even knew of a person known as Shin Kageyami not that he existed before that. yes She found out everything about the boy called Shin Kageyami or rather Harry James Peverell-Slytherin-Black. The goblins are greedy creatures and some gold to help them speak and she got all the information about him.
His life was interesting to say the least. She personally conducted the investigation because the matter was of utter importance. She couldn't find anyone in his ancestry who was a devil. They were wizards at best. Wizard noble houses mean nothing to Devils. For them Wizards are just failed experiments. Sure sometimes an exceptional one rises but they are normally too old or too rare for that to matter.
Harry or rather Shin was different. He was born with the PoD. A complete mystery of how such a thing was possible. She put up some theories about it but most of it was riddled with numerous flaws to be viable. It was only by sheer coincidence that she came across a book of children fairy tales. What caught her eye about the book was the name of one of Shin's lordship. Peverell. The tale of three brothers was enlightening to say the least. There was only so much you could believe in children's fairy tales but the mention of Death rang alarm bells in her head. If she had learned something in her long life, it was that she should never ignore these alarms.
Death is an entity which is more like a law of the world. Some can manipulate the phenomenon to some degree but in the end all things must die. She was not a stranger to the concepts of such higher beings. She as the Foreign Affairs of the Devils had many contacts with the other pantheons to know that such entities existed and if they did, they are not to be messed with.
So why would such an entity take an interest in Shin and what would this mean for the devils as a whole race. Not something bad because if it did Zekram wouldn't be so accommodating to him. Letting Zekram have him was not possible anymore after this information and antagonizing Shin was out of question.
She would have to think of an approach in his life and a way to keep him away from Zekram very soon.
Looking at his file in front of her, a thought hits her mind as a smile forms on her face. Shin was not going to return to Hogwarts. That place was not a school. Honestly she had half a mid to freeze half the Scotland just to end that abomination that is named school there. Devils teach their children magic too but not like that. Most of the knowledge is half baked. Any good thing that they could learn was blocked by claiming and she had to recheck it twice 'as dark'. What in Lucifer's name did that mean? Wizards themselves were a creation of devils. How could they go any darker?
Shin would need to continue his studies somewhere and Sona-tan could use a new chess enthusiast friend. Rias being there would just give her another excuse to push this matter and get it passed.
For now she has to think what to do with the information she has on Shin. He has had a difficult life. Even Siaraorg who has had the most difficult childhood was better than him by a large margin. Devils treated their children with extreme love and care, one of the reasons she was so pissed off at Lord Bael, not that he didn't have enough other reasons. But a gem like Shin was thrown away on the words of a manipulative old coot. Yes, she knew all about what had happened to him. A wizard might be stronger compared to regular humans but in front of a Satan, they were almost the same. A simple mind control spell on some of the involved people and she got all the information she needed. Information that he himself might not know and then she wiped off any and all trails that could be tracked back to him. Her knowing about this was enough, she doesn't need others enquiring about Shin and finding these.
Now how to use it to get close to him? Serafall was not in-charge of the foreign affairs for no reason. Collecting dirt on others and making full use of them to gain advantage was a basic skill for those of her position.
She would wait for Shin to take action against the wizards, if he did then she would help him. If he didn't then this information will be given him as a good will help. Either way she gets favour from him.
She stops her movements as she sees some movement on a monitor in her office. Well other things can wait. It's time for her daily Sona-tan watch right now.
- Ley Fay –
She missed her friend. Watching her brother and Vali plan about their next move, she couldn't help but let out a sigh. They were always like this, fighting strong people, attacking some God or monster. Kuroka was different but not in a way that she could join her….. yet. Always flirty and lewd. Some of the things she said makes her ears red just by thinking about it. If anything Lady Ophis was her closest friend here. She liked to play her games without complaining about any of them. Her expressionless face was a bit unsettling at first but then she got used to it. Still it was not the same as playing with her best friend Meredith.
They were both magicians and great friends during their time in Golden Dawn. She had to leave Golden Dawn when her brother left the house and she left with him. She didn't regret her decision about leaving even now. It is something she would do again if she had a chance but she still missed her friend. They used to talk about all kinds of stuff before she left.
What would she be doing right now? Maybe she will contact her when she gets to leave the base for shopping.