I don't know how I forgot to put this here in the previous chapter, but... All of the things from here are about as original as your average isekai manga.
That is, I owe nothing except the main character. Thanks for being a beta, ekaterina016!
"The setting sun dyed the sky with a crimson hue…" the woman paused for a second, before scribbling the sentence out. "Nah, sounds too tacky."
She looked at the notepad in her hand, filled with crossed out lines and quotes, and sighed. Looks like she was not going to be getting anything done today either. Such a shame; she had to walk for a long time to find an empty park at this hour.
She looked at her smartphone. It was about six, and the sun had already begun setting. She looked at it for some more minutes, trying to think up of something beautiful, elegant, and most importantly original to think of…
Yeah, she got nothing.
The sun was already setting, and she was sitting here in an empty park, alone. She wondered why the park was still empty; all the other places had parks which were full of people… She did not even see anyone walking outside, and it was not like it was so late into the night…
Must be some kind of small-town thing, she shrugged. Lifting her bag, she kept her notebook inside it and got off the park bench. She was just about to go out when she felt someone tug at her bag from behind.
She turned around, her hand already wrapped around her pepper spray, and… it was just a child trying to get her attention.
She looked at him for a few seconds. Her grip loosened on her spra;, the kid could be no older than twelve or something.
"H-Hello," she knew she should interact with others some more when she's stuttering just talking to a child. "Is there any problem, kiddo?"
The child looked up to her with his big brown doe-like eyes, and started crying. She was not that scary, was she?
"Hey, hey kid, stop crying, please?" She pleaded, "Why don't you tell me what the problem is?" She had no idea how to comfort a crying character.
"I-I lost my daddy," he sniffles out, "he was with me, and now I can't just find him."
For a moment, she thought of just leaving the kid here. It was already getting pretty dark, but…
She sighed. There went her dream of returning early. "Sure, I can help you find your father." She looked around the park for some time. There was nobody around here. Where was everybody?
"So, do you remember his phone number?" The child shook his head, "Thought so… I can't keep calling you 'kiddo' now, can I? What's your name, kiddo?"
"D-Diego."
"That is a nice name, Diego!" She praised, "My name is Mia. It is a pretty nice name, isn't it?"
She grabbed his hand and… wait. "You know where your house is?"
The kid nodded mutely.
…then why the fuck could you not go there yourself! She pushed her annoyance down.
"Okay, then… let me take you there okay?" She should probably not let a small child walk alone with nobody nearby. She grabbed his tiny hand and led him outside. The kid pointed towards the left. She followed him for some time, until… "Hey, if someone sees me going in this dark alley with a little kid then I will be in a lot of trouble!" The child looked at her dumbly, "You don't even know what I am talking about, do you?" She murmured.
"Is your house nearby?" she asked. It should be alright to leave him here, right?
Diego opened his mouth… and paused.
Don't tell me he forgot his address? She checked her phone and… it was too late. The child probably lived here, so she guessed he would be fine. "Well, I am going now, Di-"
She felt an arm wrap around her head. The arm was big – way bigger than her own, and stronger too. She tried to pull it out of her neck, but she could not move it at all.
She tried to scream, but another hand had wrapped around her mouth, muffling her screams for help. She stared at the young boy, all traces of sadness gone from his eye.
Her eyes locked with his. "Why?"
The kid shrugged nonchalantly, staring at her apathetically as she slowly felt her vision darkening.
The woman tried to scream, but all which came out was a strangled whisper. Her eyes were still locked into mine, a deep brown which almost seemed to be black, asking me a question.
"Why?"
I shrugged. It is not like I did this because I wanted to or had a fetish about murder. If it was a choice between me and her, then… well, I hope it was pretty clear what the answer was.
After a few more seconds of struggling, she stopped. The man loosened his grip on her and looked at me. He smiles, and reached his hand out to me… and patted my head.
"Good work, Diego." he praised, much like how you praise a dog after getting it to fetch you a stick. He smiled, his face contorting uncomfortably into what must be a slasher smile. "Now, Diego, would you help me carry her to the car? It would be a shame if the police saw her and put us both into jail, right?"
I nodded at him and smiled as I grabbed the body's legs to help him haul up. I was a pretty good actor by now – my hands barely shook while I helped him!
He… I hated him, and I was pretty sure he hated me too. But I was safe. Way safer than him, or his victims, that's for sure. I did not need his help, and braving foster care would be a mercy. He, on the other hand, needed me for his 'hobbies'.
After all, who would think the loving single father spent his weekends killing people with his kid?
I blinked a few times to clear my head.
'Been a long while since I had this dream…'
It was pretty stupid of me to have this same dream over and over again. My father, the one I had before, had been in jail the last time I saw him, and he would probably stay there for the rest of his life. Even if he somehow managed to get out, I was in a different universe. What could he even do?
'Maybe it's all the murders I have been doing recently?' After all, I had no reason to be an accomplice or commit murders after I had gotten him jailed. Must be some kind of residual trauma or something – not that it mattered because of the Gamer's Mind.
Oh! Maybe I could go ahead and plant some bodies in my father's closet. I could dump all the female corpses I have over there and make a big ruckus about them in front of his new 'girlfriend'. Just imagining his expression when I tell her those were all his ex-girlfriends would be hilarious.
He would get legally shafted, I would get all the experience I could want, and the irony would be delicious.
I filed away this thought away for later. Right now, I had a bigger thing to worry about: getting new levels. Killing hobos was just not giving me enough experience, and was getting pretty annoying for now. There took a long time to find for little experience and no drops.
And then there was the fact Sona would definitely know by tomorrow something was going wrong, and that would probably mean increased surveillance all across town. Even worse, it could even mean increased surveillance on me!
Sunday, oh my precious Sunday, you are finally here and there was a fair chance you might be the last one I enjoy!
Honestly, if Sona thinks I will spend today thinking of what I am going to teach the class tomorrow, she is wrong. She is so fucking wrong.
'Now, it's time to kill Issei.'
[…]
'Nothing? Then maybe… I wish to kill Issei, this generation's Red Dragon Emperor? I am going to kill the main character here?!'
[…]
This is bullshit. Absolute… fucking. No, wait, maybe… kill Issei to get Boosted Gear quest?
[Quest!]
No More Breast Dragon Emperor!
Objective: Kill Issei.
Bonus Objective: Somehow take Issei's Boosted Gear
Rewards: 100,000 EXP
Bonus Rewards: '?', Boosted Gear Compatibility Increased
Wait for a moment here – if I need to get the Boosted Gear… Do I need to get it myself? 'How the…Hey, System, if I kill Issei, will he drop the Boosted Gear? Also, what's with all these question marks in the quests?!'
[Nope. Why the fuck do you think it will? It is inside his soul.]
Killing Issei and not taking his Boosted Gear was a bad idea. It would be easier to befriend the dumb kid and make use of him afterward than to send the Boosted Gear back to the gacha God made for all the humans. That would be a massive waste. But the thing was… I wanted the Boosted Gear. No, I needed this Boosted Gear.
Just, just look at it! It doubled everything. Vali could use Divine Dividing to half space, and Ddraig was supposed to be his equal. Leaving it with Issei of all people would be a waste. So… how exactly could I get his Sacred Gear?
'Well, the Fallen Angels had that weird Sacred Gear remover machine, right? Maybe I can go ahead and try to take that…'
[Quest!]
The Sacred Gear Extractor?
Objective: Get the Sacred Gear Extractor from the church.
Bonus Objective I: Steal It from the church's basement.
Bonus Objective II: Ally with the Fallen in this territory before they begin their plan to negotiate the use of the machine!
Rewards: 200,000 EXP
Bonus Rewards I: '?'
Bonus Rewards II: '?'
I was a little surprised to see these objectives. First of all, I can only complete one of the objectives, dumbass!
And the second thing was the screen implied the Fallen Angels had already been in the city of Kuoh for quite some time before trying to kill Issei… and they are still here right now. Probably with the Sacred Gear Extractor.
Did that mean canon is probably going to start soon?
As for the quest, well… the prospect of stealing the Sacred Gear extractor sounded amazing, but the thing was each of the four Fallen Angels was probably stronger than me, and on top of that, they had the bunch of idiots who posed as their underlings. Logically, the device must have been guarded throughout the day and night…
As for the second option… that was, allying myself with them?
It might be possible, but only if I had some kind of use to them. I mean, why would you ally yourself with someone who was of no help to you? Right now, I had nothing really valuable to offer to the Fallen Angels – at least, nothing I could think of right now. And I was decently sure I would get a spear straight to the heart as soon as they found out I was extracting the Boosted-fucking-Gear from Issei.
Well, since all of that would not work, then how about some simple blackmail? But then, they might just try to kill me the moment they heard I knew about them and indicated I might speak with the Devils. Plus, there is also the fact they have no reason to believe I wouldn't simply tell the Devils after I extort them.
Then, maybe I can present myself as a wandering magician, and offer myself as hired help in return for being given a chance to take a Sacred Gear from someone…
All of these ideas sounded pretty fucking stupid, to be honest. I was of no use to them, and they just might be stupid enough to kill me before hearing me out.
'Hmm… the last idea might result in something…' Oh, this just might work! 'I have an idea.'
Armed with my absolutely foolproof plan – 'Yes, it is that good.' – I decide to go ahead and execute it before I get cold feet.
Finding the abandoned church they were using as their base was pretty easy. Kuoh only had one church; nobody bothered building another one or rebuilding it after it collapsed a few years ago. Wait, wasn't that around the time the church and Bael killed the previous king of this area?
I thank the shopkeeper for telling me the way to the church and begin walking southwards, which was directly away from the school, towards a little hill near the outskirts of Kuoh. There were plenty of rumors it was haunted and anybody who lived there inevitably disappeared completely. Must be the work of either stray Devils, Fallen Angels who lived near the church, or just propaganda spread by the Devils to prevent anyone from moving too close to the church.
Though there must be some merit to them.
Walking towards it, I spot a few abandoned houses now and then, ivy slowly climbing up the cracked walls. As I got closer to the church, small 'graves' started popping up from time to time. Nothing extravagant, the graves were just small outcroppings of rock with a name scratched on them.
'This place does have a creepy vibe…'
Considering this was an anime world where 'all myths were real', I was completely sure there were ghosts here. Maybe I should drop by this place during night time to see if I can reap some experience from them?
Soon enough, I reach the church and unsurprisingly, the church was no longer abandoned.
Two men, wearing white cloaks with an inverted cross on them, stood outside the entrance, their faces shrouded in darkness. The effect looked seriously cool, to be honest. I wonder if there was someone who did not need their clothes or guns anymore?
Whelp, since this area had armed guards surrounding it, the Fallen Angels were probably there. Even from a distance, I could see one of the guards pointing at me.
The abandoned church had two priests standing in front of the entrance, complete with a gun, a sword, and a lightsaber. 'Damn, I wished I could get one of those.'
"Halt!" One of them said when I reached hailing distance. 'When exactly did I time travel to the 16th century?' "Where do you think you are going, son?" The guard asked me sternly.
Even when I was standing right next to the guards, their faces were still obscured by a shadow. It probably an enchantment sewn onto their robes. The other guard shifted slightly when I didn't answer, his hand moving towards the holster by his hips.
I smiled widely towards them, trying to make eye contact with them through the shadows.
"Hello, friends," I began in Japanese, acting as if I was greeting a long-lost friend. "Are you by any chance one of the groups of exorcists Ms. Raynare hired?" I tilted my head to the side, trying to make as much use of this body's innocent look and charm as I could.
The two men relaxed slightly, though still a little suspicious. I did not mind that, of course – despite my looks, I was not particularly trustworthy at all.
"Maybe we are, kid. What's it to you, then?" The other guard said a little gruffly. His Japanese had a weird accent to it, but Kaito had never met a foreigner so I had no idea where he was from.
I maintain the smile on my face; always smiling was one of the best ways to appear trustworthy. "Lord Azazel, one of the leaders of Grigori, has sent me here with an important message for Raynare, Kalawarner, Donnaseek, and Mittlet."
"Couldn't he had simply used one of those spells she uses to talk to 'im…?" he muttered.
"Some information is a little too sensitive to be sent through them – furthermore, he has also asked me to assist her with her job at this place." Good to know they had direct communication with someone, though I doubt they are high enough on the pecking order to talk with Azazel regularly. "I was also instructed to make use of some kind of Sacred Gear remover which can only be found over here."
The men stared at me for a few moments, trying to puzzle it out whether I was lying or saying the truth or was just lying. "Hmm, the Great Angel who presides-"
"Oi! What's with the fucking ruckus?" A white-haired man kicked open the entrance, "Is this brat giving you some fucking trouble, fucktards?!" He shouted in English. "Why didn't ya' just stab him with that fucking lightsaber-thingy in your pocket? They did not teach you how to aim or something?"
Wow, that was… rude. I looked at the other guard, wondering why he was tolerating this man-child.
The two guards seemed to be thinking that too. "Fucking nutcase," he murmured. "I wish I could shoot his balls off…" the other one agreed.
"Calm down, Freed," is what they chose to speak loudly instead, "he is here to meet Raynare…" He said the second part in Japanese, probably for my benefit.
"At any rate, he knows about the supernatural, and all of the Angels we have. Might as well lead him to Raynare and let her decide what to do with him." The second guard shrugged. "Let me take you to her, just in case you encounter any other psychopath we have on your way there. I was getting pretty fucking bored standing here too."
I doubt I was supposed to hear the last part.
"Who the fuck are you calling a psychopath, you little- Hey, where the fuck are you going?! Come right over here and say that to-"
Looks like everyone here was used to ignoring Freed…
Until now, this had been a little too easy.
The person walking next to me sure was personable, talking all about being an exorcist and killing Stray Devils… almost makes me wonder why he was a 'stray' exorcist instead of a regular one.
Anyway, getting all the grunts to believe I was on their side was pretty easy. I mean, who else would know exactly which Fallen Angel was with them. Two-winged Fallen Angels were not all that common, and coupled with the fact I knew about the 'artifact' they were carrying with them only affirmed their belief in me.
The only challenge here should be fooling Raynare.
When we reached the 'throne room', which was just a really big room with couches in them. Raynare and Kalawarner were the only Fallen Angels there. They seemed to be talking among themselves. Considering how cliché this whole room was, they must be talking about their evil plan to take over the world after murdering that blonde nun for her healing Sacred Gear.
…though now that I take a second look at them, those two were seriously hot, and that was not a term Iuse lightly. I was a product of the twenty-first century and had probably seen a lot of hot girls online, and I would be lying if I was saying these two were not at least the same level, if not prettier.
Raynare seemed to be around twenty, with long dark hair and violet eyes. She was pretty stacked, and her 'clothes' could only be called bondage gear if you were generous, and left little to the imagination when someone saw her.
Kalawarner looked more mature, what with the sexy librarian rolled into one with the hot secretary look. She had a half-buttoned shirt letting her cleavage show through. She was more stacked, though she wasn't dressed as skimpily as Raynare, opting for a miniskirt instead. I could wax on and on about her dark blue hair and grey eyes if I had any inclination to, but for now, I needed to…
[Observe].
[Raynare]
[Level ?]
Tier II: Adept
[Raynare is the leader of the Fallen Angels sent to Kuoh town.]
Hmm… since the rest of the fallen here need to listen to her, I need to only convince her of my legitimacy…
Soon, the two idiots noticed us, immediately ending their conversation. A brief look of contempt passed through Raynare's face when she saw the guard, alongside their confusion at seeing me standing there.
Why exactly were they so obsessed with her if she was this simple to read?
Kalawarner instead simply asked the guard why he was standing here instead of standing guard on the gate like he was told to.
'To be fair on her, he was a little too eager to get out of his job.'
"A-Angel-sama!" he stutters out, "I was faithfully carrying out your orders when this person came towards the church and claimed to be from the Grigori."
I didn't even bother stopping myself from rolling my eyes at his dramatics. 'Angel-Sama', really?
Raynare narrowed her eyes at me, probably because she saw me rolling my eyes, now that I think about it.
"Oh," the Fallen began to form a spear of light in her hands, "so he claimed to be from the Grigori and you just let him in, just like that?"
The man practically jumped out of his skin. "No, my lady. I was suspicious too, but this boy seemed to know all of the Angel's name and even knew details about the job you all were sent here to do. He even knew about that thing."
Raynare opened her mouth again; however, Kalawarner interrupted before she could speak. "Calm down, Raynare," the more mature Angel said.
"I will when you remove the stick up your ass, Kala," Raynare sniped back. Still, the light spear disappeared from her hands, so I guessed she did calm down. "You are dismissed now, Kenichi."
The man bowed down – 'Ah, he was Japanese too…' – and moved out of the room. The moment he left, several light spears formed in the pair's hands and were promptly pointed towards me.
'Ooh, damn.'
The Fallen Angels still lounged on the couch, looking much like leopards with their claws unsheathed. It was a pretty impressive image, even though these two must be one of the weakest members of their faction. "Funny, I was not informed we shall be receiving a… guest." Raynare commented.
Now, this would be pretty problematic if I didn't have an excuse already planned. It was not the time for Plan B yet, which was me simply storing the machine in my inventory and running away.
I smirked at the Angel, ignoring the spears pointed towards me.
"Of course they did not, you fucking idiot."
Raynare's face twisted with rage, and several of the spears moved forward.
Inventory. Corpse, [Single].
A man appeared right in front of the numerous light spears, stab wounds already present at various points of his body. Trying to make knife stabs looked like they were made with a sword was pretty difficult. The spears shooting towards me punctured the corpse instead, stopping in their tracks.
These hastily-formed light spears were more for intimidation or maybe for annoying someone while preparing a more powerful attack so they were pretty weak and could not even pierce the corpse completely. Reminded me of my [Mana Ball].
After a few seconds, the light spears dissipated, and she looked at the corpse in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.
"First of all, you would not have survived if even one of the spears hit me," I said in a low tone. A big lie, of course – she was stronger than me at this point, but she probably had no way of knowing. Kalawarner looked a little worried at my words for a moment. "And as for this corpse?" I point towards the corpse which now had more holes than swiss cheese, "One of your underlings is going on a rampage throughout the city."
'Yep, it was not me who was going around killing people; it's obviously all your fault.'
"Since he keeps on leaving corpses with stab or bullet wounds around, the Devils know something other than a Stray Devil has made a nest over here, and I doubt it will take them long to think some Fallen Angels are sneaking about their territory. We barely managed to stop the Devils from listening in the last time you communicated, and talking about sensitive information remotely is impossible now. Well, it is possible, but inadvisable unless you want the Satans coming in and killing you for getting too close to their little sisters."
Raynare was as pale as a sheet, and Kalawarner was practically shaking at this point. Looks like the siscon Satans were pretty scary when they wanted to be.
"Freed," Raynare practically spat the name out of her mouth, "that idiot will get us all killed." She looks gratefully towards me, "Would you mind…?"
"Nah, go ahead."
She called for another one of the exorcists again and asked them to bring Sellezen in, dead or alive. The guy practically skipped out of the place. He really should be a little restrained, that Sellezen.
'Is that the sound of violence, curses, and bullets I hear? …must be my imagination.'
Raynare looked at me from the corner of her eye for a few seconds, "…I think I forgot to ask your name."
"Ah, its Diego," I said the first name which comes to my mind, and sat down on one of the couches facing the women.
"Why exactly did Lord Azazel send you, out of all people?" There was a hint of suspicion in her voice.
I grinned impishly. "I am a human, so I can pretty much go anywhere without raising any suspicion.
"And if you are asking why me specifically, then… well, the short version is Azazel took me in when I had an 'interesting' Sacred Gear which was harming my body… He seemed to be unhealthily interested in the Sacred Gear… and eventually managed to remove it without killing me. I just work for Grigori as a magician from time to time as a way to show my gratitude."
"When did he manage to extract Sacred Gears without killing people?" Kalawarner exclaimed.
"A while ago, but he doesn't really publicize it. A large amount of Grigori is filled with humans, and it would be pure chaos if they found out there was a Sacred Gear extractor with the Fallen Angels. Bad for PR, you know?"
'Honestly, wouldn't all Sacred Gear users leave Grigori the moment they find out such a device exists…?'
I shrugged. "This brings me to the other reason I am here: I wish to use the 'Artifact' which you guys stole from Azazel."
"I-I thought he didn't know we took it!" Raynare stood up from her seat in shock.
"He is a twelve-winged Fallen Angel in charge of the entire Grigori since before the dawn of civilization… Did you seriously expect to blindside him?"
Raynare immediately began gushing about Azazel. 'Oh my god, she needs a psychiatrist. That obsession seems pretty unhealthy. Then again, not much I can say to her face; she is pretty much in charge of this dumb group.' I just nodded along with her while she ranted about Azazel. Kalawarner giggled from behind her, but Raynare ignored her
Honestly, Azazel was pretty great, simply because by just mentioning him she got distracted completely… shouldn't you be a little more cautious?
"So…," Kalawarner interrupted, "where are you from, Diego?"
"I am from England, Ms. Kalawarner," I speak fluent English, not even a hint of Japanese pronunciation. Looks like the English I knew in my previous life is not completely useless yet.
Raynare kicked Kalawarner's shins and glared at her for interrupting the monologue. "Ow! You bitch, I don't give two fucks about Azazel. He fucking caused me to fall!" Kalawarner still seemed rather salty about that.
"Oh, please, it's not like Azazel forced you to fall. I heard you certainly enjoyed every second you spent with him."
Kalawarner went beet red after her words, so I guess she fell because of lust… She opened her mouth to refute, but I decided to stop this shit before it escalated any further. "Well, guys, I hope you did not forget I am still here. I need to get to the Hyoudou guy and get his Twice Critical."
"Oh," Raynare smiled, "so he had that Gear. Why don't you just let the guy be and wait for someone with a better Sacred Gear to come around? This process can't be easily reversed, after all. I am just sitting here waiting for someone with better Sacred Gear to show up."
"Nah," I said lackadaisically, "waiting for a better Sacred Gear to show up would be a pain. I'd be alright with Twice Critical."
She shrugged. "Well, it's your choice, no matter how stupid it is."
"Just remember to not draw attention to the Devils on yourself…" Raynare paused, "You know what? Take Kalawarner and Mittlet with you. I can't stand those two anymore. Kalawarner, go get Mittlet from her room."
Kalawarner grumbled, but still walked outside.
With Kalawarner gone, Raynare pouted, "I really wanted to string the pervert along," she murmured. "Maybe go on a few dates just to fuck with his head…" she shrugged.
"Wouldn't that be a little problematic to deal with in terms of witnesses?"
"Wait, don't tell me you don't know that really simple mind spell? The one they force us all to learn before letting us out of this place?"
I shook my head.
"I can't fucking believe that," Raynare growled. "That's the one spell… ah, I guess it doesn't matter. Force Kalawarner to teach you, or maybe Mittlet if she is being bratty."
"One last thing," I said, "do you particularly care about any of those idiots standing guard?"
"Huh?" She looked confused, "I mostly keep them around because they are pretty convenient, but losing one or two should not matter as much, now you are there to help us."
"Excellent," I got out of the couch, "I shall be right back."
A person was standing just outside of the door, probably 'guarding it'. I stare at him for a few seconds before going right in front of his face. "Hello, buddy!" I smiled widely. The man froze where he was standing and looked around him. "Don't tell me we aren't friends, friend?" I asked again with the very same chipper tone.
"Y-Yes, sir!" He stuttered.
"Great, since we are good friends, I hope you don't mind lending me that kick-ass cloak of yours? Oh, and throw in the lightsaber and the gun too!"
"…"
"Where did you get the cloak from?" Kalawarner asks me while still trying to drag Mittlett out of the church.
"One of your exorcists was kind enough to lend me his cloak."
Kalawarner raises an eyebrow, looking at me with skepticism, "Please tell me you didn't kill him."
"How could you think that of me? The only thing which I bruised was his pride. By the way, did you know most of the exorcists here are wearing nothing beneath their cloaks?"
"…"
Kalawarner finally managed to drag Mittlet out of the church, and then we set off for the Hyoudou residence. Thankfully, the Fallen Angels knew exactly where he lived, probably because they were asked to keep an eye on him.
"So… how exactly do you use the spell – the mind control one? Raynare said you have to teach me..."
Kalawarner sighed.
The quest 'Sacred Gear Extractor?' is complete!
You have received 200,000 EXP
Bonus Objective II Complete!
You get 100,000 EXP! You get Azazel's Notes!
You Have Leveled Up! You Have Leveled Up!
You Have Reached Level 11!
[Kaito Kutsuki]
[The Rock]
Level – 11
EXP – 126,300/204800
[Mortal]
HP – 1400
HPR – 14.0/min
MP – 1680
MPR – 15.0/min
[Class – Mage (11/25)]
STR – 20
VIT – 30
INT – 58
WIS – 40
DEX – 20
CHA – 30
Points: 10
New Skill Learned!
Mind Manipulation: Allows you to put someone into a highly suggestible state with eye contact. Can be used to permanently remove memories or alter their perception of reality. A surprisingly common spell used by supernatural creatures to cover up their existence
"Well, Issei is already inside his house, so we are lucky on that front," Mittlet mutters.
It was still day time, and since today was a Sunday, every member of his family was still sitting inside their house. Not that it changed anything, considering we had mind-control powers.
[Mind Control]!
Even though it was supposed to be pretty much useless against most supernatural creatures due to their innate resistance skill – Stray Devils were the most resistant to it – it could still be overcome by adding lots of mana. But at that point, one was better off slaughtering a large number of troops instead of controlling one of them.
Plus, it was really obvious someone was mind-controlling them, so they don't even make good spies… I wonder what I will get when I level it up? God, I could not wait to level that up.
I rang the bell – no need to break in and enter, after all.
"Ye-?"
[Mind Control]
[-1000 MP]
"Oh, wouldn't you get in, sir?"
"Ya' know," Kalawarner says as we get inside the house, "it's pretty surprising how quickly you got that right." There was a hint of admiration in her tone. "I can see why Lord Azazel allowed you to join the Grigori without being a Fallen Angel, having a Sacred Gear, or being trained in magic."
I simply smirked and walked inside the living room. There was a pretty old man sitting over there who seemed surprised to see us. Well, surprised… until I used the spell on him.
[Mind Control has Levelled Up!]
"So, old man, why don't you go ahead and get Issei out of his room?" With a blank expression, the man nodded silently and goes upstairs.
Kalawarner took out a smartphone and begins playing with it. 'Yeah, not stupid enough to turn the phone on right now.' Mittlett was amusing herself by making Mrs. Hyoudou perform increasingly perverted things. Were all of the Fallen Angels a bunch of degenerates…?
I took out the light sword from my inventory and turned it on… and then off, then on and off again. It was surprisingly entertaining. 'I need to find a way to let it play sound effects when I open it…'
All in all, it was a pretty fucking weird scene Issei walked into after some time. "Geez, I am going, Dad. No need to push me so much! Why are you acting so-"
The door opened and he saw the three of us chilling around his living room. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO MY MOTHER, YOU LOLI!" He screams.
Mittlett hissed, exactly the kind of noise a stray cat makes when you get a little too close to it.
'I am not even going to look in her direction…'
"Kalawarner, bring him here." I took out the giant cross from my inventory and keep it in the middle of the room. Wings sprout out of Kalawarner's back, and she glided towards Issei.
Even from here, I could see Issei was peering down Kalawarner's cleavage instead of wondering why she had wings. 'Seriously, I have no enmity with perverts, but isn't that a little too much?'
It took just about two seconds for Kalawarner to capture Issei and another two seconds to get him all tied up.
"M-om, Dad what's happening?! A-Are you trying to scare me again?! I p-promise to not be a pervert anymore, so can we just s-stop it… Mom? Dad?" He started babbling confusedly.
'Oh, dear, it's not like this was anything persona. He just happened to have something I needed.'
Soon, his frantic mumbles turned into screams. He begged for help, for someone to save him, but unluckily he had no summoning circle with him, and the house could not leak any sound.
'This magic thing is pretty convenient…'
"How exactly do we start this thing up?" I rummage around the device and ooh, red button! Since the red button was the only thing standing out, I pushed it.
From the sudden intensity to Issei's scream, I thought I pushed the right button. A small red gauntlet, indistinguishable from the humble Twice Critical, appeared on his hand as he continued thrashing about for several seconds. He screamed for a long time, pushing against the machine, and then he abruptly stopped. His eyes dulled, becoming glassy and unseeing.
The moment he died, the bindings undid themselves automatically, letting his body fall headfirst to the ground. There were several small stab wounds on his back; no idea what theywere there for. I look back at the cross-shaped machine again and spot a small red gem appeared to hover around that place.
"Go ahead, take that!" Kalawarner urged.
'No need to tell me that, lady.'
I reach out and grab the gem, and my hand burned! I gritted my teeth in pain as the gem slowly sank under my skin, fusing with it as it went downwards. I could feel it digging inside me going further and further below my skin, leaving a trail of what must be magma behind its path.
I could hear Kalawarner cheering while Mittlet clapped in the background as the Sacred Gear integrated with my soul.
[Congratulations, You Have Received the Boosted Gear!]
[Congratulations, the quest is complete!]
[You have received 300,000 EXP!]
[You Have Received 10 Perk Points]
[Congratulations the Bonus Objective is complete]
[You have received 150,000 EXP!]
[You Have Received 10 Perk Points]
You Have Levelled Up! You Have Levelled Up!
[Kaito Kutsuki]
[The Rock]
Level – 13
EXP – 211,900/819,200
[Mortal]
HP – 1600
HPR – 16.0/min
MP – 1880
MPR – 17.0/min
[Class – Mage (13/25)]
STR – 20
VIT – 30
INT – 65
WIS – 45
DEX – 20
CHA – 35
Points: 20
You Have Gained the Skill [Mana Projection].
The Skill [Magic Ball] has been merged with [Mana Projection]!
Skill:
Mana Projection: Can form constructs out of mana. The MP requires depends on its size and complexity.
'Yes. Yes. Fucking yes! I did it.'
Instead of the usual blue screen I normally saw, this screen was entirely red with a circular dragon motif in the middle, surrounded by several five-pointed stars consecutively increasing in length. Each of the five points had some text hovering above them: Augmentation, Augmentation Infusion, Augment: Dragon, Physical Augmentation, and Augment Bide were the names of the perk trees, each with different amounts of 'perk points' required to unlock them.
'I wonder what they do? No time to look through them in front of the Angels right now...'
On top of the motif, the words "Concept Augmentation [0]" were written.
'If there is anything I have learned from anime, it's anything with 'concept' in its name is powerful...'
I started laughing. The Fallen Angels looked at me awkwardly from the side, "You do know it's only a Twice Critical, right?"
I ignored – no, that only gets me into trouble every time. "I know, but doubling my power must be pretty useful later on. Right now, it would probably make no difference, but imagine being extremely powerful and then activating the Sacred Gear."
"That will be true only if you grow strong enough, you know? Anyway, get over here and help us clean this mess."
"Well, alri-"
"PARTNER!" A gauntlet appears out of nowhere. 'Couldn't you wait for a few minutes, you asshole? You just had to pop out the moment you could, didn't you?!'
The small green gem on the Boosted Gear twinkled for a few seconds.
"Partner," the gem shone, the voice much calmer this time, "I just had a look at the skill tree, and we need to get to the [Summon Ddraig] perk!" The dragon's voice rose from its calm tone until he was right back to shouting.
'You idiot! Shut up!'
Around me, Kalawarner and Mittlet were staring at the gauntlet with a mix of greed and bewilderment. I heard Mittlet gulp when she stared at the gauntlet on my hand.
"B-B-Boosted Gear!" Kalawarner shouted out.
'Guess that cat is out of the bag.'
"I just can't wait to see the look on the white one's face when he sees me roaming outside! Hahaha!" Ddraig laughed boisterously. Sounds like someone is very happy. 'Honestly, if he continues screaming then I will make sure to never get that perk.'
"W-Wait, It's not like these idiots can do anything, I suggest we kill them so you can get to the perk points more quickly, Boss! Boost!"
A look of silent understanding passed between the two Angels before they raised their hands as one and sent multiple spears of light hurtling towards me. Great.
The spears mowed down Issei's parents, blood leaking from the large holes from which the spear made their way through them without even slowing down. Using my new [Magic Manipulation] skill, I make a small translucent shield of Mana right in front of me. The Spears hit the shield, forming small web-like scratches on its surface. Eventually, the shield broke.
I tried to jump over the spears, but small enclosed spaces did not lend themselves well to high-speed acrobatic movements, and I ended up slamming my head against the ceiling.
'Looks like I need some time to get used to boosts.'
"Quick, use the quest reward you got."
[Ddraig: Add Ten Perk Points to unlock Perk 'Dragon's Bloodline' Tree?]
[Y/N]
Yes.
...you know about how painful I said taking the Boosted Gear in was? Yeah, this was worse. My muscles visibly rippled and shifted out of the way, my canines elongated and almost cut my tongue, and my bones felt like someone was taking a sledgehammer to them repeatedly while constantly screeching in my ears.
And then as if that much pain wasn't bad enough already, a bunch of spears went through my body like I am a goddamn porcupine.
Stats.
[Kaito Kutsuki]
[The Rock]
Level – 13
EXP – 211,900/819,200
[Mortal]
HP – 38000 (Boosted!32000)
HPR – 166/min
MP – 28900 (Boosted!276000)
MPR – 179/min
[Class – Mage (13/25)]
STR – 40 (Boosted!20)
VIT – 60 (Boosted!30)
INT – 130 (Boosted!65)
WIS – 90 (Boosted!45)
DEX – 40 (Boosted!20)
CHA – 70 (Boosted!35)
Points: 20
"[Boost]"
At least I could get nice boosts?
Racial Skill List
Passives:
Flight: Flight with the help of dragon wings is now possible! Wings can sprout out of your back, allowing you to fly.
Dragon's Charisma: You have the aura of a dragon around you, Gamer! This means you can be both more intimidating and charismatic depending on the situation, and will find yourself to be more... lucky. This is not all good, though. Powerful beings are attracted towards you and your aura. Well, at least you will lead an interesting life?
Lineage of The Welsh Dragon I: You are no regular dragon, you are the descendant of Ddraig, The Heavenly Dragon of Domination! Your MP and HP are now twenty times what it used to be and regenerates ten times faster!
'Holy shit, those perks!'
By the time I read through all of the perks, my wounds have already healed while Mittlet and Kalawarner look at me with awe and fear on their faces.
"Ha, as if you two shitty Fallen Whores can get a piece of this ass!"
Ddraig, why do you have to be so… extra? 'Why is this dragon so annoying?'
"I heard that!"
The Fallen stare at me for a few seconds, before jumping backward and trying to summon more spears.
[Magic Ball X50]
And suddenly, the room is filled with small blue balls all under my direct control. Sure, they might be weak, but I can still delay two idiots for a long enough time to get one more boost.
The balls collided against the spears the moment they form, when suddenly Mittlet, the little brat, went through most of them with the help of her small stature. I let her close in; she's probably thinking she has an advantage in terms of pure physical strength against the human magician. A spear appears in her hand, and she flew as quickly as possible towards me. The moment she's close enough, I grabbed the sofa we were all sitting on and used it as a makeshift bat to hit her.
She shifted downwards, managing to evade most of the blow, but her wings were still hit with them as she fell on the ground, one of her wings bending at an angle it wasn't supposed to. "W-What the fuck?!" the girl screamed, staring at me with wide eyes.
Kalawarner was still a fair distance away, looking at the proceedings with a shocked expression on her face.
I walked up to Mittlet, still lying on the ground, staring into my eyes.
"W-Wait, why don't we negotiate? Fighting isn't going to-" Abruptly, a spear formed in her hand and she tried to gut me with it.
Pretty obvious this was going to happen. I grabbed onto her hand, preventing it from moving at all.
"Stop!" Kalawarner screamed.
"You know," I say conversationally, my hand still making a pretzel out of her arm, "I always wondered whether I would be able to use Reinforcement on someone else."
Mittlet looked up to me in confusion and pain.
[Mana Sense]
[Reinforcement]
I quickly found out the 'gaps' in her magic and roughly shoved all of my magic into it. No need for finesse or subtlety for now.
Horrible wails came from her mouth, her skin distorting and veins bulging along the 'lines' I had shoved mana in. Her mana tried to 'reject' mine, but couldn't deal with the high concentration at one place, possibly placing her in horrible pain. Her eyes teared up immediately, as she kept begging me to stop… God, this sentence gave a different impression, didn't it?
I just shoved more of my mana in, as much as I could spare, and… her hand exploded, showering both of us in blood. A few bone fragments dug into my skin, but overall, it wasn't that harmful. Blood was flowing liberally from her elbow up, small fragments of her bone being the only thing left.
I doubted she would survive this mess.
I looked towards Kalawarner who was looking towards Mitttlet with a horrified expression on her face. She looked at me… and immediately bowed down on all fours.
"Please. Don't… kill… me…" She forced out in between sobs.
'Why the fuck is she acting like that? Wasn't there some kind of Great War between the Angels or something?'
I dispersed all the mana balls circling her and walked up to her. She stared at me, tears still streaming down her face, begging for me to spare her life, her face downcast. Almost tenderly, I grasped her chin and tilted it up, making sure she was facing me.
Our eyes met for a second, telling me everything I needed to know. I brought my head closer to hers, our foreheads touching, and our lips just shy of touching. I could see my reflection inside her watery eyes. We stayed like that for a few seconds, and she wrapped her hands around my chest…
[Mind Control]
Her grip slackened immediately as almost all of my mana drains out, and the half-formed spear she was making sputtered out of existence…
'Just like my boner. This is just plain awkward now.'
I drew our bodies away, her eyes now glassy and unfocused as centuries of memories were being erased in a few seconds…
[Congratulations, You Have Killed Mittlet!]
[You have killed someone a tier higher than you!]
[EXP gained has been multiplied by two!]
[You have received 400,000 EXP!]
[You have received Fallen Angel Wings!]
Oh, looks like Mittlet just died. I looked towards her corpse, and found it slowly dissolving into many motes of light alongside her blood. All that was left in its place were two dark wings… I'd probably find a use for them later.
"W-Who am I?" A voice murmured – Oh, right, Kalawarner is here too.
I looked at the Fallen Angel looking at me with innocent eyes so unlike that of Kalawarner a few seconds ago.
"Are you my creator?" She stared at me for a few seconds before asking.
"I… Yes. Yes, I am." I simply decide to roll with it. I wonder why her mind went straight to 'creator'...
A large blue screen, much like the time I had died appeared in front of me.
[Congratulations! You have acquired a slave!]
[What would you like to name your slave?]
[NAME]
'Knowing about my history with naming things, I'd rather just name her Kalawarner…'
[Would You Like to Receive Information About Slaves?]
Yes.
[A slave in any person with high obedience whom you don't care about, or anyone forced by magic to do everything you say forever. A slave is a Permanent Party Member who does not take up any slots. You can even store them in your inventory! However, do remember slaves can either break free because of you mistreating them or them breaking the spells.]
I stared at Kalawarner for a few seconds…
Observe.
[Kalawarner]
[Slave]
Level – 4
Tier II
[Fallen Angel]
HP – 5000
HPR – 40.0/min
MP – 4500
MPR – 40.0/min
STR – 50
VIT – 70
INT – 40
WIS – 20
DEX – 80
CHA – 60
"Hey, Kalawarner, mind giving me some of your feathers?"
After taking them from her wings, I place them at a few places in the house. Since the Devils were going to find out about the murder, and Raynare would probably not trust me if I come back without Mittlet and a Kalawarner without memories, I might as well break the alliance in a way which would bite them in their ass.
"Well, time to leave," I say to my new… slave, and placed her inside my inventory. 'I will think of what to do with you later...'
It was still pretty early – around five – but nobody seemed to be outside their house. Well, at least they weren't present in the unlit alleys I walked through. Considering this place looked pretty shady, they would have to be a complete idiot to be walking around here.
Once I am a fair distance away from the house, I switched on my phone and find seventeen missed calls there. 'Wonder what Kazuki needs from me?'
What do you mean Sona is sitting there waiting for me to arrive?!
AN: Huh, its pretty late once again. Sorry for the delay, this chapter was pretty difficult to write for some reason (stats should have been better kept track off)
I credit Shiro's server for this chapter, seriously I probably wouldn't have published the first chapter without all the feedback I got there.
I'd write some more stuff but I am sleepy rn, so let me just say, thanks to Zedeff, Mirlnir, Raven, Snife, Shiro, Naycorn, Mythic Ageless, John, Slorgsh, Zero Rewind... I'd probably have to list the entire server if I talk about help tbh. Those guys are all awesome, you should go check the server out. Also, Vampclaw , thanks for introducing me to Grammarly!
Also, thanks to everyone who Reviewed and Followed, Favorited and stuff. The next chapter would probably be quicker. Probably. I hope that it is. If you find anything wrong don't forget to tell me. I am pretty dumb and would love criticism~