Disclaimer :
The characters and images used in this fanfic do not belong to me but to their rightful author.
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— World: Elicia
Residence Avalon —
Three days of apparent "peace" passed.
During this time, Mukuro, Nia, Kurumi, Miku, Tohka, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Origami, Kotori, Natsumi, Yoshino, and Yoshinon stayed in Elicia, exploring the world as they had in the past.
They all remarked on how nostalgic it was to visit the place where they were born and lived for a century, so they simply took the time to stroll around.
Tohka even mentioned that she ended up hunting some dragons that were causing trouble.
Meanwhile, Aiden also remained in Elicia, giving Leen time to resolve her pending matters and complete the transition of her responsibilities.
Leen was passing on the roles of matriarch of the fairies, ambassador of Mismede, and court mage of Brunhild to Elaine, her student and successor.
For his part, Aiden dedicated himself to a specific project: building a [Sacred Gear] core for Sylphide, the little wind fairy who wished to accompany him to "Draconic Deus."
Taking advantage of his free time, he accelerated the temporal flow within a laboratory he had built in his territory in this world.
"Well, now I just need to cast the spell to seal Sylphide in this core. Hopefully, she won't cause too much trouble… although, with how lively she is, she'll probably end up annoying Salamander," Aiden murmured, sitting in a chair as he slowly turned the spherical core in his hands.
Around him, tables filled with strange tools and unconventional technological devices completed the scene.
"As for Gnome and Leviathan… that can wait. There are more urgent things on my list," he added, letting out a slight sigh.
"Like splitting Yoshino and Yoshinon's 'soul' into two. Developing that spell has been a real headache…"
Aiden was working on an ambitious spell: separating Yoshino and Yoshinon into two distinct beings.
Until now, both shared the same body as two divided personalities.
Yoshino controlled the body in its normal state and while using [Zadkiel], whereas Yoshinon took control in her inverse form, accompanied by [Astaroth].
Although they were already accustomed to this dynamic, Aiden wanted to offer them a new possibility.
His idea was to allow them to live separately, which would also give Yoshinon the chance to protect her little sister all the time as a true older sister, without having to share or depend on Yoshino's body.
Aiden didn't believe it was impossible to create a spell for this, but it was definitely proving challenging, even with the help of the [Kabbalistic Formula], a tool capable of achieving absurdly complex things.
However, he kept running into difficulties.
Despite everything, he wasn't planning to give up.
The case of Kaguya and Yuzuru, who originally were a single soul (Kazamachi) and now existed as two separate beings, gave him hope.
Although Kaguya and Yuzuru's origin was different from that of Yoshino and Yoshinon, Aiden remained convinced that it was possible to separate their existence.
"Ha…" he sighed, leaving the laboratory after storing Sylphide's [Sacred Gear] core in the [Gate of Babylon].
He went out to walk through his territory, which encompassed a vast forest, some facilities he had built over his 100 years of life in this world, and a large part of the beach.
He extended his senses across the entire area but detected no one.
He was completely alone.
"Hmm… [Rasiel]," he murmured, invoking his [Angel], searching for information about Mukuro, Kurumi, and the others.
"They're in Brunhild… sightseeing, I suppose," he concluded after "observing" them.
Aiden spent some time reviewing the information in [Rasiel] about what the others were doing.
He couldn't help but smirk slightly upon reading that Kaguya was "training" the knights of Touya's order.
Although the term "training" sounded serious, she was actually having fun beating them up while throwing out overly dramatic Chuunibyou-style comments.
The others, meanwhile, were busy with different activities around Brunhild.
"Let them do whatever they want… Maybe Tohka can give them some advice about the vital energy (Ki) system. Although, in the end, all that awaits them is a good thrashing," Aiden murmured with a touch of irony.
After reading for a bit longer in [Rasiel], he decided he would head to Brunhild later.
And why hadn't he gone during those three days?
Well, besides being busy building Sylphide's [Sacred Gear] core, he simply…
Didn't feel like it.
He wasn't in the mood to get caught up in discussions or meetings with the kings and leaders of this world about how to deal with the Phrase.
Better to leave that boring job to Touya.
Aiden had known most of the world leaders since they were children, literally.
He had been friends with their parents and grandparents, who were now resting underground after dying of old age.
Even so, politics was never his thing, and during those three days, he decided to avoid getting involved out of sheer laziness.
"For now, let's go look for Sylphide," he murmured.
/Rip!/
He raised his right hand and, with a simple motion, tore through space to open a distortion leading to the spirit world.
Without much haste, he passed through it while letting out a yawn.
— Spirit World: Étheris —
Aiden crossed the spatial distortion and arrived once more in that strange dimension.
Everything in that place seemed infinite; no matter how far you looked, your eyes could only capture a fragment of the immense void.
It was a space that defied all logic, and though Aiden was already accustomed to it, he still considered it a peculiar place.
Around him, rocks floated without any apparent reason, some moving slowly as if carried by the wind.
When he looked up at the "sky," he noticed the zodiac constellations.
However, of the twelve, only ten were present: Leo Pemptos and Aries Prote were missing.
It was logical, as those two spirits had left Étheris with him.
Shaking off those thoughts, Aiden released all his spiritual power (Reiryoku), flooding the space with his presence to attract a certain fairy.
As usual, he didn't feel like looking for her directly.
A few minutes passed before something caught his attention: a large tornado of wind was quickly approaching from the distance.
He pursed his lips as he focused on the figure within the tornado: it was Sylphide, flying excitedly.
She was carrying something in her hands, and although Aiden tried to concentrate to identify it, he was interrupted by the energetic voice of the fairy.
"Aiden-chan~~~!"
The small fairy launched herself straight at him, colliding squarely with his face.
Aiden barely reinforced himself with some energy so that the impact, and the tornado that the Great Spirit of Wind brought along, wouldn't harm him.
/Boom!/
The tornado unleashed absolute chaos.
In a matter of seconds, it destroyed an impressive amount of floating rocks.
Aiden watched incredulously as the destruction spread about five kilometers around.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Aiden shouted, still in shock.
If it weren't him receiving Sylphide's "affection," anyone else would have died instantly.
"It's fine, it's fine! I know Aiden-chan wouldn't die from a little bit of my love!" Sylphide exclaimed with a mischievous smile, casually settling on Aiden's shoulder, who only pursed his lips in evident annoyance.
Then, Aiden noticed what Sylphide was carrying in her hands: a small snake.
Well, she was trying to carry it, because she was actually strangling it.
Additionally, she was using her wind power to keep it trapped in a sort of improvised cage, preventing the water snake from escaping.
"…"
"…"
The small water snake, made entirely of spiritual energy, silently stared at Aiden with a mix of desperation and embarrassment.
It was quite cute in its diminutive form, something that only added to the contrast of its attitude.
Aiden also watched it in silence, speechless, trying to process the scene.
He was about to speak, but the snake interrupted him with an indignant shriek as it squirmed in a desperate attempt to hide.
"Don't you dare look at the reincarnation of my glorious being! This form has absolutely nothing to do with the magnificence of my prime!"
The declaration was so exaggerated that Sylphide couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
"Ha-ha-ha! Please!" Sylphide doubled over laughing, holding her stomach.
"Ha-ha-ha!" Aiden also ended up laughing uncontrollably, unable to stay serious in the face of such a spectacle.
"Ein Sof, you damned bastard! Don't you dare mock my glorious being!" screamed the serpent, with a mix of indignation and defiance in every word. "Even if it's you, if you insult me, I will fight you to the death!"
In her frustration, she released all her spiritual power, trying to escape Sylphide's grasp.
But Sylphide, amused, simply let her go.
After all, her goal had been to bring her so Aiden could see her and laugh alongside her.
Now free, the serpent desperately tried to flee, wishing to disappear before anyone else could see her in that adorable form.
/Grab!/
Aiden, wasting no time, easily caught her.
The little creature struggled with all her might but soon gave up, resigning herself to the fact that her image of grandeur was completely shattered thanks to Sylphide.
"Hahaha! You're truly adorable in this life, Leviathan! Even more than Leo Pemptos and Aries Prote combined!" Aiden carefully lifted the serpent, bringing her closer to his face as uncontrollable laughter spilled from his lips.
The difference was immense: that colossal serpent, similar to a water dragon he remembered, was now a small and adorable creature that could barely escape his grasp.
"This humiliation…!" roared Leviathan, opening her tiny mouth as an overwhelming amount of spiritual energy began to gather around her.
Though her current form was small and adorable, the immensity of her spiritual power, accumulated over countless lives, remained imposing.
"I won't forget this, Sylphide… I'll make you pay dearly!" she added, her overflowing fury contrasting with her harmless appearance.
/Roar!/
A beam of blue energy shot out of Leviathan's mouth point-blank, directly at Aiden's face.
However, Aiden only smiled, his left eye transforming into one shaped like a golden clock as he calmly pronounced:
"[Zafkiel: Zayin]."
In an instant, time froze.
Leviathan was left motionless, with the energy beam still coming out of her mouth, suspended as if part of a sculpture.
"Seriously, this guy can't take a joke," commented Sylphide, letting out a sigh as a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead, accompanied by an ironic smile.
"Well, it doesn't matter. It's natural for Leviathan to be so proud; after all, he's a dragon. Besides, I'm pretty sure you had provoked him enough beforehand. He was just waiting for the moment to explode," replied Aiden with a completely impassive expression.
"This was your fault too! You provoked him as well, Aiden-chan~~!" protested Sylphide, puffing her cheeks in an exaggerated pout.
"No," Aiden responded with the same calm and without a hint of doubt.
"Yes!" insisted Sylphide, crossing her arms as if that posture gave her more authority.
"…"
The two continued that sort of "argument" while Leviathan remained frozen in time, trapped in a position that couldn't have been more humiliating.
Finally, Sylphide changed the subject, letting out a sigh before smiling.
"Anyway, I'm really happy Aiden-chan came to visit me~. This place is so terribly boring… Undine is out of commission, I have no one to have fun with, and Gnome does nothing but sleep all the time. So really, I'm so glad you're here!"
Aiden raised an eyebrow, but Sylphide continued excitedly:
"Although, next time you come, you should bring Natsumi-chan, Yoshino-chan, Yoshinon-chan, and the others. It'd be so much more fun!"
Aiden noticed Sylphide's smile and, though it shone with energy, he could also see a hint of loneliness in it.
Sylphide, the Great Spirit of Wind, was a superior existence in the spiritual world.
To lesser spirits, especially those of wind, she was practically a goddess.
Her life here was full of adoration, reverence, and constant praise.
But the truth was that such veneration could not fill the void of true companionship.
Gnome, the Great Spirit of Earth and one of her few "equals" and "friends," spent most of his time sleeping.
Undine, her dear friend, was dead at this moment, awaiting her reincarnation.
Leviathan, though present, didn't want to interact with anyone due to the form he considered humiliating.
Ifrit, another of the Great Spirits, was also dead.
There was no one left to share time with, no one who could understand her as they did.
The remaining Zodiacal Spirits in Étheris (Taurus Deutera, Gemini Tritos, Cancer Tertartos, Virgo Hektos, Libra Hebdomos, Scorpio Ogdoos, Sagittarius Enatos, Capricorn Dekatos, Aquarius Hendekatos, and Pisces Dodekatos) barely appeared.
They stayed in the 'heavens,' far from the rest, in a kind of isolation that only increased the sense of emptiness.
Despite having lived millions of years in this world and being accustomed to solitude, Aiden and the girls' company made her feel a different kind of warmth.
Their presence broke the monotony and wrapped her in a happiness she rarely experienced.
Although she didn't say it openly, their visits were one of the few moments that truly brightened her existence.
"I'll get you out of here. You'll be able to visit them yourself, spend as much time as you want with them, and play as you wish. Do you remember what I did with Leo Pemptos, Aries Prote, and Salamander a few days ago?" said Aiden, his voice calm and his smile full of confidence.
"You mean…?" Sylphide murmured, her eyes beginning to shine with restrained emotion that was slowly overflowing.
"Yes, exactly." Aiden extended his hand serenely, revealing the core of the [Sacred Gear] from his [Gate of Babylon].
"I just need to perform the spell to 'seal' you here, as I did with Salamander, Leo Pemptos, and Aries Prote."
"Oh! You really kept your promise and came for me!" Sylphide exclaimed, a radiant smile lighting up her face as if the entire atmosphere was filled with light.
"I love you!"
Her expression was so pure and joyful that Aiden couldn't help but feel satisfied.
Without wasting time, Aiden began the sealing spell, following the same procedure he had used previously with the other spirits.
With precision and calm, he transformed Sylphide into an independent avatar-type [Sacred Gear], something that would allow her to accompany him outside of Étheris.
When everything was ready, they both left the spiritual world.
Left behind was Leviathan, still frozen in time, trapped in his fury and humiliation.
'He'll unfreeze eventually…' Aiden thought as he crossed the distortion alongside Sylphide, who now brimmed with excitement at the possibilities of her newfound freedom.
…
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…
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A/N:
They'll probably return to DxD in the next chapter…
He'll come back for Leviathan in the future.
By the way, here's an image:
[Image]
(It's not mine, it's from Black Clover).
Anyway, thanks for reading!
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