Chapter 4
Alexander sat across from Asia Argento, the girl he'd saved from the Fallen Angels the previous day. She'd woken up and had a bit of a breakdown. Then Lucy had fed her, and her whole attitude had done a complete one-eighty. It would seem that the church fed their precious Saintess what basically amounted to cheap gruel.
Meanwhile, all he had to do was turn on the TV to see a corpulent Cardinal jiggling his way through Rome.
Just another example of why organized religion was the WORST. He had no issue with people wanting to worship. In fact, he should probably pick a god to worship, given how many of them are around! Ah, his choice was made for him, wasn't it?
'Oh great and glorious Red! Please bless my next meal!'
'Fuck off!'
Alexander paled dramatically at the very unexpected response. He'd been joking, not actually praying?! How fucking close was Red watching him?!
'Closely. Also, I might have a job for you shortly.'
'Fuck my life.'
He was grateful to be distracted by Asia shouting in rushed Italian that he didn't understand. Thankfully, Lucy was sitting to the side and translating back and forth because Asia obviously didn't speak English.
“She wants to know what's wrong with you and why you look so pale all of a sudden. In fact, I want to know too. Is it the ROBs again?”
He looked at Lucy and shook his head, “No. I was mentally complaining about the church feeding her shit while fat cardinals run around.”
“Yeah, pretty standard hypocrisy for my Father's followers. Why would that bother you?”
“It didn't! It just made me think that with so many gods being real, I should pick one to worship. Then I realised I should probably worship Red, given his interest in me. So, I jokingly prayed for him to bless my next meal.” Alexander swallowed heavily before he continued, “He answered and told me to fuck off. Then he said he might have another job for me shortly.”
Lucy stared at him for a moment, then she struck like a snake and slapped him upside the back of his head, “Moron. Don't even jokingly pray to gods! You never know if they're listening!”
Lucy's abuse of Alexander's head had Asia scrambling to get around the table in clear concern for his safety. Lucy started speaking in rapid Italian, and Asia slowly calmed down. Alexander watched and sighed before he said, “Man, I wish there was a spell that could do the translating for us.”
Lucy paused, then slowly turned to stare at him with such a deadpan gaze that he began to feel uncomfortable. He began to squirm as the gaze continued before he finally asked, “What?!”
Lucy slapped him upside his head again, “Make the damned spell!”
He froze, then looked sheepish, “Oh. Right.”
Just a few seconds later, he cast his newly finished spell on himself. It would let him understand and be understood by anyone he spoke to. He smirked as he proclaimed, “And, done!”
Asia brightened up noticeably, “I can understand you now! Was that magic? I've never seen magic before.”
He blinked and looked at her curiously, “Didn't you use to heal people?”
She nodded happily, “I did! But that was with my Sacred Gear, Twilight healing.” She lifted her hands, and with a flash of green light, a single ring appeared on each of her hands, “See?”
He looked at the rings curiously, “Huh. When I use my Sacred Gear, nothing appears. It just does what I want it to do. Anyway. That's not really what we're here to talk about. We're here to talk about you and your future! I have orders from a much higher power to make sure you're happy. So. What would make you happy?”
Asia tilted her head in curious innocence, “God himself told you to make me happy?”
He thought about it for a second before he shrugged, “A God, yeah. So, what would make you happy?”
She frowned and looked serious as she seemed to be thinking. Eventually, she shrugged, “I don't know. I've always wanted friends, but that's...”
Alexander cut her off, “You've already got friends.” He pointed at his face, then pointed at Lucy, “Me and Lucy. You think I do stuff like this for just anyone?”
Well, he would if Red ordered him to. That guy was terrifying... supposedly. Lucy said he was anyway, so that was good enough for him!
Asia looked adorably confused before her eyes grew wet, and tears began to slide down her cheeks, “Really?” She asked in a thick voice.
Alexander nodded while Lucy gave him a quick, mild glare before smiling at Asia and nodding her head in agreement. He crossed his arms over his chest, “So, friends are covered. Though you can make as many more as you want. Just keep an eye out for the devils around here. You can do whatever you want, just make sure they don't trick you.”
If he knew about peerages, he would have said more. He was currently more worried about her accidentally selling her soul or something else dire that he assumed would piss off Red.
He looked closely at Asia as she seemed to think of something and squirmed a little before speaking in a weak tone, “Well... It's silly... but I always wanted to go to school.”
Alexander tapped his chin, “Well, that shouldn't be too hard. In fact, I know just the person to talk to. Do you read or speak Japanese?”
Asia shook her head. He shrugged, “Alright, not a problem. I'll just cast some spells on you to help with translations. In fact...” He ran some complex calculations and then conjured up a new spell circle, “I present the translation and learning matrix! This spell will translate what you hear and say as well as what you read, but at the same time, it will help you actually learn the language as you go.”
Asia's green eyes went wide and sparkled while she clasped her hands together and leaned closer to him, “It will? That's amazing! You'll really let me go to school?”
He shrugged, “I'm your friend, not your boss or master. If you want to go to school, then you will go to school. If you want to go out to eat dinner somewhere, then that's what we'll do! The most powerful god in existence wants you to be happy, so just tell me what you want, and I'll do my best to help!”
She blushed furiously and completely misunderstood which god he meant, but he hadn't lied to her. Finally, she smiled while her eyes once more grew moist, though she thankfully didn't cry, “Then, I want to go to school.” She looked embarrassed, “And, can we have burgers for dinner tonight? I've never had one before.”
Alexander grabbed his chest. His heart ached from cuteness overload, “You can have as many burgers as you want!”
Lucy suddenly sat up straighter and scowled while waving her hand, “Rude.”
Alexander and Asia both looked at her, so she explained, “Someone just tried to teleport into the resort. I don't go for that kind of behavior. If they want to come here, they can do what all the others do, teleport nearby and walk.”
Alexander just shrugged his shoulders, “Well, I think we can order some breakfast now. Is there anything you would like to try, Asia?”
Asia opened her mouth to speak, but Lucy cut her off with a growl, “Rude!” At the confused looks from the other two in the room, she explained, “They tried again. This time, I redirected them. See how they like that!”
Alexander paused, then shrugged and returned his attention to Asia, “So, breakfast?”
“Uhmmm... Pancakes?”
He grinned broadly, “With chocolate chips. They're a must.”
Asia looked excited while Alexander picked up the phone on the wall to call room service and place the order. Just as he hung up the phone, Lucy sighed and addressed Alexander, “They're not giving up. Come on, let's deal with this annoyance.” She switched to Italian so Asia could understand her, “Asia, Alexander, and I have to go deal with some people. Enjoy your pancakes, and we'll be back soon.”
Asia looked confused but nodded in acceptance. Alexander and Lucy made their way out of the room. Lucy took the lead and led Alexander to a larger room. She waved her hands around, casting a variety of spells. He had no idea what she was doing, but he guessed it was security of some sort. Finally, she stopped and waited. She didn't have to wait long, “Ah, here they come again.”
She flicked her hand, and a moment later, a teleportation circle appeared on the floor. Half a dozen people emerged from the light of the teleportation spell. Alexander recognized four of them, but only knew three by name. Sona and Tusbaki were the two he knew the best. Then there was Rias with the slightly bustier girl who had been there the day before. With them were two strangers.
The first stranger was likely related to Rias, seeing as he had the same color hair. He was tall, his hair went down to his waist, and he looked rather kind. Which probably meant he was terrifying. Next to him was a much shorter woman with her dark hair pulled into twin-tails and blue eyes. She might've looked child-like if not for the rather impressive pair of assets on her chest. Her small size just made her bust look even larger. Even the professional outfit she wore couldn't hide her figure.
Oh, and she looked PISSED.
Actually, looking them over, they all looked a little upset and disheveled. It made him wonder what Lucy had done to them. The shorty with twin-tails glared at him with a level of hatred he wasn't sure he deserved. She pointed her finger at him in a dramatic fashion, “You!”
He pointed at his face in confusion, “Me?”
Her glare intensified, “For the sake of Sona's happiness, you must die! Her virginity belongs to me!”
Alexander blinked in confusion and looked over at the mortified-looking Sona, “I thought you were with Tsubaki?”
Sona's blush deepened, and Tsubaki began to blush furiously. The shorty looked confused and spun to look at the pair of teenage girls, “So-tan?! Say it isn't so! You're supposed to be saving yourself for me!”
It didn't seem physically possible, but Sona's face actually reddened further while she sputtered, “Onee-sama!”
Alexander blinked, his translation spell still on, and commented, “So... devils like to 'keep it in the family,' eh?”
The shorty pointed at him, “See, even the bug understands my love!”
The tall man with long red hair sighed and addressed the shorty, “Serafall, that's not why we're here.”
The woman, Serafall, pouted and let out a sigh, “Fiiiine." She glanced at Sona, "But we're talking about your secret relationship with Tsubaki later!”
Sona whimpered, then shot Alexander an accusatory glare. He looked confused as he asked, “What? She's always with you, and you call her your queen. Obviously, you two are dating. That's part of why I'm so willing to accept your challenges in the hopes of losing. I don't want to get in the way of love.”
Sona's face was so red that he was honestly worried that blood would start to come out of her pores. The taller man sighed and spoke in a firm tone, “Again, that's not what we're here to discuss.” His tone carried the weight of authority, making everyone pay more attention, “We're here to discuss several issues, but the most pressing is the intervention of Great Red.” His gaze focused in on Alexander, “At least, your claims of such happening.”
The temperature on the room dropped several degrees. Alexander glanced at Serafall, the source of the cold, “We should just kill him and be done with it. Great Red has never shown any interest in anything, ever. So, obviously, he's lying.”
She lifted her hand and conjured up a large magic circle that fairly radiated power. Was... was she really going to kill him?! He didn't think he could run away. She felt stronger than Lucy currently was, and he had no idea how strong the guy was. It was six on one, and he didn't like those odds.
So, he decided to do what any newly religious person would do, he clapped his hands together, closed his eyes, and prayed to his god, 'Oh mighty Great Red! I pray to thee...'
'Stop with that shit! What the hell are you praying to me for? I was just getting to the good part of the Chunin Exams!'
'Are... are you watching anime in my memories?!'
'Yeah, some of this stuff is good shit. I also want to know about the worlds you could possibly be pulling stuff from. Now, why the hell are you bugging me?!'
'Oh! Right! There's a woman named Serafall here threatening to kill me. She's way stronger than I am, so I thought I'd pray for a miracle.'
'…'
'Red?'
Just as Alexander was about to call Red's name again, a swirling portal opened on the wall of the room. Everyone turned to look, then froze at the sight of a massive golden eye looking through the portal to stare at everyone. Even with his limited skill in sensing the power of people, he could sense the immense otherworldly power radiating off the eye that seemed to stare through all of their souls.
After about a minute that felt like an hour, the portal closed, and the oppressive atmosphere vanished. The four younger women all collapsed to their knees, sweating and panting from the terror such a strong aura had subjected them to. The man and Serafall both looked a little shaken from the experience as well. The man looked down at Serafall, “I believe it would be wise to not antagonize Great Red any further.”
Serafall looked rebellious but didn't argue. Seeing that, the man turned to face Lucy and Alexander, “Apologies for my companion's... eccentricities. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Sirzechs Lucifer. My companion is Serafall Leviathan. We're here to discuss recent events involving our younger sisters, Rias and Sona.”
Alexander looked over to Lucy and raised an eyebrow. Lucy looked curious, so she asked, “Lucifer? Leviathan? Not Gremory or Sitri?”
“I see the confusion. Our names are more about our positions within the government than our family ties. I was born Sirzechs Gremory.”
Lucy cocked her head to the side, “What happened to the originals?”
Sirzechs looked slightly uncomfortable as he said, “They died due to various wars. They have some descendants, but this isn't really what we're here to discuss. I'm sure Rias or Sona would be willing to go over devil history at a later date.”
Alexander spoke up, “Then what are you here to discuss?”
Sirzechs' gaze shifted to Alexander, “Quite a few things. We will start with the situation involving Sona to calm my companion down and get it out of the way.” He placed a firm hand on Serafall's shoulder to keep her quiet, “It would be... inauspicious for you to marry Sona Sitri.”
Alexander scoffed, “I don't want to marry her!”
Serafall shouted, “What's wrong with my perfect So-tan?! Of course you want to marry her! Everyone does!”
Alexander rolled his eyes, “Whatever you say. Anyway! I'll stick by what I said. I don't want to marry her. Hell, until she said something to me, I had no idea about her little condition. If she didn't want to potentially marry someone, SHE SHOULDN'T CHALLENGE THEM TO CHESS GAMES! I can't be held to blame for her assuming she was better than me. As for our later bet, it's also not my fault that Human Magic is calculation-based, making me damn near an instant expert in it. I only proposed that bet on a whim! And lastly, I have no control over luck at all! None of this is my fault. Frankly, if she'd just kept her mouth shut on the loss and pretended it never happened, we wouldn't be here now.”
He looked at Sona and saw the look of embarrassment on her face quickly change to a stubborn mien, “I would never do something like that and besmirch my pride and honor! I lost to you, so you became my fiancée the moment you beat me.”
Alexander scowled but didn't argue with her. Sirzechs took that time to chime in, “What would it take for you to release Sona from the engagement?”
He stared at Sirzechs, “Are you simple? It's not me, it's her pride that's keeping us engaged. If she said it was ended, I'd accept it.”
“And the bet for her virginity and the date?”
He shrugged, “Same thing.”
Sirzechs nodded, “Then the issue is solved.”
“It is not!” Sona interjected, “I refuse to go back on my word like that!”
Sirzechs let out a sigh and considered for a moment, “Have you offered to reincarnate him, Sona?”
Sona shook her head, “I have not. Given he has a Longinus and I lack many of my pieces, I don't believe I could.”
“Excuse me!” Alexander cut in, “What's this about reincarnation?”
Sona spoke up to explain, “Lord Beelzebub, one of the other Satans ruling over the underworld, invented a way to reincarnate anyone who was not a God or Buddha into a Devil. Each High Class Devil is given a set of Evil Pieces that resemble a set of chess pieces. The number of pieces needed to reincarnate someone depends on the strength of the devil and the strength of the target. The stronger the devil is versus the target, the fewer pieces it takes. The opposite is also true. There's more nuance, but that's a general overview.”
“So, you want to turn me into a devil? Pass.”
Sirzechs frowned slightly, “You haven't even heard what the benefits are. A longer life span of ten thousand years, access to imagination-based Devil Magic, and much more.”
Alexander shrugged, “I basically have all that now. I'm sure that I could make something with Unknown Dictator that will either slow down, stop, or reverse my aging. Especially if I combine it with magic, which for me is imagination-based, I can make any spell I want whenever I want.”
Sirzechs looked skeptical, but he didn't argue, “This is getting us nowhere. Perhaps we should circle back around to it later.”
Serafall growled, “Just let me kill him!”
Sirzechs placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, “And risk bringing the wrath of Great Red down on our entire civilization? No. Even if he restricted his wrath only to you, can you be certain he would spare your family? If you kill him, you just might be killing yourself, your parents, and Sona.”
Serafall froze at that, then scowled, though she notably didn't do anything else. Sirzechs looked back at Alexander, “I apologize for that. Seeing as we've established that Great Red is, in fact, paying attention to you, do you know why?”
Alexander lied his ass off when he shook his head and said, “Not a clue. He came in for a massage, and then it turned into him threatening to eat me if I didn't go to that church, beat up some Fallen Angels, and save a girl named Asia Argento. That was my whole interaction with him, until a moment ago.”
Sirzechs stared at Alexander as if expecting him to crack, which he did not. Finally, he nodded, “Fine, those were the two major points we needed to discuss today.” He studied Alexander for a moment, then smiled, “From what I've heard, you like to gamble, correct?”
Alexander shook his head, “Not even a little. I only accepted Sona's chess challenge because I didn't know about the strings attached. I only accepted the second challenge out of curiosity about her race. The third and fourth challenges were accepted in the hopes I would LOSE.”
Sirzechs rubbed his chin while grinning, “What if I were to challenge you?”
Lying through his teeth, Alexander answered, “It would depend on what you challenged me to and what was in it for me. Ultimately, I just want to be left alone so I can play games all day long.”
Sirzechs hummed in thought. Serafall chimed in, she struck a pose and pointed dramatically at Alexander, “I challenge you to a DDR Dance Off! Winner gets Sona's virginity!”
He sighed, “I already own that, technically. So what's in it for me if I win?”
Serafall tapped her chin, then grinned wickedly, “If you win, I will give you MY virginity with the stipulation that you have to take it at the same time you take So-tans!”
“ONEE-SAMA!”
Sona's shouting was completely ignored. Alexander sighed, “So, if I lose Sona's virginity goes to you. If I win, I get yours and have to have a threesome with the both of you. Do I have that right?”
Serafall nodded enthusiastically. For her, this was win-win. Either she got Sona's virginity, or she got to have a hot threesome with Sona. While having Alexander there was less than desirable, he wasn't exactly ugly, so it could have been worse.
Everyone stared at Serafall for a silent moment before Alexander was forced to answer her challenge, “I accept. When do you want to do this?”
Serafall pointed at him dramatically while pushing out her chest in a way meant to make her breasts bounce, “Now!”
“We can't do it now. Come back tomorrow after I buy the stuff, and we'll do it then. What about the date and the engagement?”
She waved her hand, “The date doesn't matter at all. There's no time limit on the engagement either, so we can think of something after the dance off!”
It only took a little longer to set the time for the dance off. Once it was settled, though, the devils all left. They had things they needed to discuss among themselves, apparently. Once they teleported out, Lucy looked to Alexander, “What are your odds of winning?”
He sighed, “Pretty high.”
Lucy looked surprised, “Wait, you're good at DDR?!”
Alexander looked embarrassed, “It's been a while, so I'm rusty, and it was in a whole different body, but I once had a girlfriend who was obsessed with DDR. She constantly dragged me to Dave and Busters to play it for our dates. I got good out of a combination of sheer repetition and the promise of kinky sex anytime I beat her.”
He gazed deep into Lucy's eyes, “Never underestimate what a man will go through for the promise of kinky sex.” His eyes glazed over, “Worth it.”
[Feat Achieved! Survived an Encounter with an Enraged Serafall Leviathan! Reward reduced due to the interference of the entity: Great Red. +1 Random Diamond Ticket.]
“Huh, I got a diamond ticket for surviving my encounter with Serafall. Roll the ticket.”
[ROLLING!]
[Perfect Lifeform, Epic Trait, Race(JoJo) - You are a perfect life form, as a pillar man who had their true potential unlocked by the stone mask used with the super Aja you have enhanced physical and magical stats. In addition, as the perfect life form, you can freely manipulate your own biology and the shape of your own body.]
Alexander read over the description of his new trait several times before he broke down laughing so hard that he fell to the ground. Lucy's constant questioning of 'what' went unanswered until Alexander calmed down.
“Sorry, Lucy, it's just. The roll, I swear the ROBs are fucking with those devils through me!”
He then explained the Trait he'd just gotten, but hadn't activated just yet. She started laughing her ass off, too. It was just such a perfect reaction to their visit! After catching his breath again from another laughing fit, he activated the trait.
Lucy's eyes widened in shock as it kicked in. Alexander's body didn't visibly change much on the outside, because he didn't want it to. On the inside, though? Everything changed. His muscles, tendons, bones, organs, and everything were enhanced to a magnificent degree. At the same time, his moderate magical power exploded in amount and potency. It grew until he matched Sona and Rias COMBINED in amount and vastly outstripped them in potency.
Alexander marveled at the feeling of his body. The strength, both physical and metaphysical, was astonishing. What really blew his mind was the sudden knowledge he had of his own biology and how he could change it. Calculations from Grandmaster Math helped him theorize changes he could make and showed how his intellect had been improved. He didn't know anything new. He just thought significantly faster and could make intuitive leaps he might not have seen before.
He eventually changed his focus from inside his body to outside. His eyes widened as he immediately noticed the changes in his senses. Eyesight, hearing, smell, and even taste were all enhanced. He could literally taste Lucy on his tongue from where she was standing next to him.
His head snapped to the side and stared at the door. A few moments later, Red casually walked into the room in his human form. He looked Alexander up and down, then let out a whistle, “Damn boy, what happened to you? I just saw you a few minutes ago, and now you're completely different. I take it you got a roll of your gacha from that little meeting?”
Alexander nodded and explained everything to Red. What was the point of hiding it from the guy who was literally watching his memories like TV a short time ago? Red listened with interest before commenting, “So... you're some sort of mutated super vampire-like being now?”
Alexander shrugged his shoulders, “Something like that, I guess. The trait said I was a pillar man who was evolved, so that should make me like Kars, I think. Definitely have regeneration. The immortality though... There's no way to know for sure without risking my life.”
Red chuckled, “I wonder if this is really a coincidence.”
Lucy and Alexander looked at him curiously, “I wasn't just watching anime in your memories. I was also browsing through different dreams, looking for people who might be important or interesting. I started with the people close to you. The chick with the awesome red hair has a little mosquito in her peerage. Said mosquito has a friend that got left behind. I wouldn't normally think much of it, only I took a peek at his friend, the one he dreams of saving like he was saved.”
Red smirked, “The chick has herself Sephiroth Graal, the holy grail, a Longinus Sacred Gear. Only hers has mutated to give her three copies of the grail. If she's not an important 'character' in this world, I'll eat my own tail!” His grin grew monstrous, “Can you guess your next job?”
Alexander didn't need his recently enhanced intellect to come to the proper conclusion. He sighed and nodded, “Save the damsel in distress.”
Red snapped his fingers and pointed at him, “Bingo!” He then waved his hand at the wall and opened a swirling portal of kaleidoscopic colors, “Express portal to Romania, right outside the Tepes compound. Your mission, kick the shit out of any vamp that gets in your way, save Valerie the dhampir princess, and make it home alive. Survive, and I'll even chip in a little reward for the princess.”
“Not like I have a choice.”
Red nodded in agreement, “That's right, you don't.”
Red's leg lashed out faster than either Lucy or Alexander could track and slammed right into his ass. The force from the blow launched him straight through the portal. The last thing Alexander heard before passing through the portal and it closing was Red's laughter.
Lucy turned to look at Red and huffed, “Was that really necessary?”
Red nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, yes, it was.” His gaze turned to her, and she did not like the knowing look in his eyes, “Besides, you want him to grow stronger just as much as I want to see things from other worlds, Lucifer. This is win-win for all of us.”
Lucifer sighed and looked to where the portal had been, “Are you sure he can handle it? Neither of us gets what we want if he dies.”
Red snorted, “He could have handled them before his latest upgrade. He might've struggled hard, but he would have won. Now... Well, he still might struggle a bit, but only against the strongest of the vampires. I won't let him die, but I won't help him unless he's on the verge of death.” His grin grew manic, “I don't want to lose such an interesting toy, and if anyone is going to break my toy, it will be me.”
Luci sighed. She didn't know if she was happy for Alexander or if she should feel pity for him.
-----Line Break-----
Sirzechs sat across from Serafall and stared at her in disapproval. Serafall squirmed under his gaze like a guilty child who had been caught. He continued to stare at her as he addressed her in a tone so flat she flinched, “When I agreed to take you with me to visit Alexander Smith, you agreed to be on your best behavior. Your conflict of interest was why I had to get involved to begin with. Your actions could have had serious and devastating consequences for the entire underworld. Even if the damage was limited to just you as an individual, it would have had an effect on the whole underworld. If Great Red's rage at losing his newest toy wasn't limited to you...” He trailed off.
When he spoke again, there was a level of seriousness in his voice that sent a shiver down her spine, “I don't think even all four of us working together could take down Great Red. At the absolute best, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Civilian casualties would be massive. It could lead to the complete downfall of our civilization. Then the Angels and the Fallen Angels would have destroyed whatever he left in the ruins to finish our race off.”
He did not think he was exaggerating either. No one knew how strong Great Red really was. He was called the Apocalypse Dragon because everyone agreed that he could end civilizations. Tannin, an Ultimate Class Dragon, turned into a Devil once challenged Great Red and was completely ignored. What few knew was that Tannin attacked Great Red anyway, and got beaten down with a single claw flick. This mattered because while Sirzechs knew he could defeat Tannin in a one-on-one battle, he wouldn't be able to do so with just a flick of his finger, not even in his True Form.
“I'm sorry, but just the thought of Sona being forced to marry a human...” She sighed, “What if she ends up loving him? His lifespan is so much shorter than hers. I don't want to see her heartbroken in a century when he dies of old age. How is she going to feel when he's getting gray hair, and she barely looks older than twenty? There's just no future between her and a mortal.”
“I know, Serafall, I know. I just hope you can win your match against him. Still, challenging him to a video game dance off? I would have expected you to fight him to the death in a duel.”
She leaned her head back to stare at the ceiling, “I would have, if I weren't sure Sona would hate me for it. Her pride is unbreakable in the weirdest places. She should have known that him winning wouldn't count because of his race, yet she insists it does.”
Sirzechs nodded in agreement, “I'm worried about Rias bugging him too much to join her peerage. Even after recruiting that Fallen Angel, she's still looking for more to help her defeat Riser in a rating game.” He grunted, “As if recruiting Raynare isn't causing enough issues with the Grigori. Thankfully, Azazel understands that she consented and would have died otherwise. At least we could give back the other three alive to soothe things over.”
Serafall looked at him across his desk, “What are we going to do?”
Sirzechs shook his head, “I don't know yet. We have to proceed carefully. You winning your dance duel against him will give us more time to plan.” His eyes narrowed at Serafall, “Don't even think about losing.”
Serafall looked away and pouted. Sure, the temptation to lose on purpose was there so she could have fun, naughty yuri yuri time with her precious So-tan. It was only a temptation, though. Just like Sona, she had her own pride, and she wouldn't let a human beat her.
“For now, we'll keep a lid on this. Obviously, we'll inform Ajuka and Falbium, but no one else. We'll also make sure the girls keep their mouths closed.”
-----Line Break-----
Alexander stumbled out of the portal and rubbed his ass, though the pain vanished rather quickly thanks to his brand new regenerative power. His gaze moved around, taking things in with his improved senses. Despite it being nighttime and pitch black, he could see as if it were daytime. He could also see a lot of activity.
Obviously.
Vampires weren't known for sleeping at night, so they would obviously be up and about. Red couldn't have waited until it was daytime in Romania before sending him? It would have definitely made his life easier if the Dragon God had. Well, it didn't matter a whole lot. He pulled out an item he'd rolled the day he'd come to this world, but never used because he didn't want to hurt Lucy.
[Divine Crucifix, Rare Item, A holy cross crucifix blessed by a divine spirit, being in its presence immensely weakens any unholy and dark being and instantly kills weaker ones. Any holy or light ability channeled through it is increased in potency.]
He held the cross up and marched toward the massive estate he'd been dropped in front of. As he got closer to the main gate and the guard station in front of it, her heard screaming that only got louder and more painful as he got closer. A peek through the window of the security station showed a vampire writing on the floor and screaming as its entire body smoked. The guy was covered from head to toe in blisters and bleeding wounds just from being in proximity to the Divine Crucifix.
Alexander shook his head and began walking away. It looked like the guard had some strength to not have died immediately. At least it proved the cross worked. The guard would live... probably. He... honestly couldn't bring himself to care. The man was a vampire, they literally murdered people to live.
The closer he got to the mansion, the more screams he could hear coming from inside the building. By his estimate, the cross had a range of about twenty meters and worked through walls just fine. He only stopped at the massive double doors long enough to kick them off their hinges and into the room.
Upon stepping inside, he could see several vampires writhing on the ground with smoke curling off their bodies. He ignored them and kept moving deeper into the place while looking around. He had no idea where Valerie was, and none of the vampires he'd seen so far would be capable of answering him. Well, surely someone in this place wouldn't be rendered instantly useless by the cross.
Kicking open another pair of massive double doors led him into a vast room filled with vampires on the ground, screaming. However, at the far end of the room, he could see a pair of vampires standing around a throne sitting on an elevated dais. He looked at them both, taking in their appearances.
One of the men was an older, more refined gentleman, appearance-wise. His clothing was impeccable being a classic black suit complete with a long, flowing cape. He even had his gray hair slicked back. It was as if he saw vampire clichés and decided he had to live them.
The man next to him had such a pretty pale face that he looked like a doll. It was disturbing and inhuman as hell, and made the blonde the creepiest of the trio. He was dressed similarly to the older man but in a more modern suit and with no cape.
Lastly, there was the individual sitting on the throne. She was young-looking, maybe only a couple of years older than he was, with golden blonde hair and blood red eyes. She was gorgeous, but... her eyes were glossed over, vacant. Even from where he was standing, he could see that something was seriously wrong with her, mentally speaking.
He calmly walked down the middle of the room in a straight line toward the dais. About halfway through the room, the older-looking man spoke in a commanding voice, “Who are you to dare attack us like this?”
Alexander shrugged, “I'm no one of any importance. Someone stronger than all of us put together told me to come here and rescue Valerie Tepes.”
The old man scoffed, “And who among the Camilla do you claim to be so strong?”
He paused in his walk and tilted his head curiously, “I've never met anyone named Camilla, so it definitely wasn't her.”
The younger man shouted, “The Camilla faction, you fool!”
“Oh! Them!” He looked right into the younger man's eyes and spoke with a bland tone, “Never heard of them either.”
The younger man scowled while the older man continued to study Alexander. His nose twitched, and he frowned, “What are you? You smell like nothing I've ever met before, and I've met every sort of being there is. I can smell devils and dragons on you, but that isn't your scent.”
“Wow! Your nose must be almost as good as mine! Yeah, one of those scents is who sent me. Here's a hint, it's not the devil one.”
The old man frowned, clearly confused, “Why would a dragon care about us? We've not bothered with any of them in a long time. Who is this dragon?”
He shrugged and returned to walking toward the dais, “He just wants me to collect Valerie. So, we can do this the easy way, or the painful way.”
“Father, let's just kill this thing! He's already killed a dozen of our people and injured dozens more!”
The older man looked at the younger and slowly nodded, “Yes, you're right, of course. My curiosity can be answered by his corpse.”
At an invisible signal, both men moved. Alexander's eyes widened in shock at the speed they moved; it was faster than anything he'd ever seen before. He could follow them with his eyes, but his new body was still very new, and he failed to keep up with their speed. The moment they crossed the threshold of his crucifix, their skin turned red and started to steam, but it did little else to them.
His Dangersense rang out its warning, but he failed to act in time as the men acted in perfect unison to punch him in the face simultaneously. Their fists felt like iron as they slammed into his face with a sickening crunch. His head snapped back, and his body followed, flying through the air for a short distance before hitting the ground and rolling to a stop. Alexander groaned and slowly pushed himself up. Before he was even kneeling, the damage, a shattered orbital socket, ruptured eyeball, and crushed nose, was all healed.
The elder man looked at the blood on his fist and gave it a tentative lick out of curiosity. The moment his tongue touched the blood, his pupils dilated, and he let out a soft groan at the flavor. He quickly addressed the younger man, “Change of plans, Marius. We take him alive and bleed him for as long as we can. His blood is too powerful to let go to waste.”
The younger vampire, Marius, glanced at his father, then focused back on Alexander, “Fine.”
Alexander finally managed to get to his feet and wipe the excess blood from his briefly broken nose off his lips. He realized that he might have been a little cocky coming into the place as he had. His total combat experience consisted of his duel with Sona, and that was less of a fight and more of a tactical exchange.
As far as fighting skills went, he only had one, and it was Gooning, which only gave him novice-level skill in guns, knives, and hand-to-hand. He'd just have to make do. He looked at the pair of vampires across from him and took a deep breath. Well, who said anything about fighting in hand-to-hand anyway?
He raised his hands at his sides while a dozen magic circles in a rainbow of colors appeared all at the same time. Thanks to his racial upgrade, the processing speed of his brain had increased dramatically, which synced beautifully with Grandmaster Math. Add in his hugely increased magical power, and he'd become something of a magic savant.
The moment the vampires saw the array of spell circles, their eyes widened in shock. They barely began to move before fire, water, ice, lightning, stone, metal, and more came flying at them. Every spell they dodged exploded the moment it touched the ground. This had the side effect of causing serious, if not fatal, damage to several of the heavily injured vampires on the ground.
Another dozen spell circles appeared in a circle all around Alexander, all colored red. At the same time, he used his pyrokinesis to place small sparks of fire in front of each circle. An instant later, napalm shot out of the circles, touched the sparks of fire, and ignited into a rain of hellfire that sprayed out in three hundred and sixty degrees. Screams came from within the sticky liquid flames as they flowed across the ground.
Even through the roar of the flames, he caught the sound of many small wings flapping in the air above him. He looked up and saw a massive swarm of bats circling above him moments before it dove down at him. Just before the bats reached him, they swirled together into two clumps and transformed into Marius and his father. They landed within the clear circle of fire-free space surrounding Alexander.
Both lashed out with punches, but this time Alexander was ready. Shield circles exactly the size of their fists appeared and blocked their attacks completely. Every punch they threw met a similar shield conjured up by Alexander. Realizing that beating him down wouldn't work, they quickly switched tactics.
Each of them conjured up a blade of darkness in their hands. He could see the difference in the men from the shapes of their blades. The older man conjured up a simple, but functional, rapier-style blade. Meanwhile, Marius conjured up a massive blade that looked like it was more for crushing than cutting. Clearly, the older man was the better fighter as he chose finesse and accuracy rather than the brute power of Marius.
Spell circles appeared to block the shadow sword attacks just as they had to block their punches. Marius's sword was stopped cold. His father, on the other hand, hit the shield spell, then curved around it and plunged into a surprised Alexander's shoulder. The blade of darkness then extended and pierced clean through his shoulder.
“I've got you now!”
The blade of darkness curved around and stabbed into Alexander's other shoulder from behind and pierced clean through. Alexander bit his lip hard to keep from screaming from pain. Dangersense had been going nonstop since the fight started, and Alexander found himself mildly disappointed in it. He'd hoped it would work like a knock-off spider sense, but it didn't. He was on the back foot due to the sheer difference in skill between the elder and himself. Marius... seemed like a simple brute in comparison.
His mind went into overdrive as he fully tapped into every resource at his disposal. Grandmaster Math took full advantage of his increased processing power to begin calculating anything and everything that could be of help to him. Exact made the spell circles he was crafting more powerful and efficient. Intermediate Pressure Points to designate the targeted areas for his spells. Finally, Electromagnekinesis to enhance his spells even further.
In a second, hundreds of small spell circles appeared surrounding both the Elder and Marius. They barely had time for their eyes to widen in surprise before every last spell circle fired. Every single spell circle fired at once and launched a moderately powerful bolt of lightning aimed at a specific pressure point on their bodies.
The Elder, clearly far more experienced, managed to convert half of his head into mist before the first bolt struck and broke his concentration. Both men screamed in agony as bolt after bolt struck the most sensitive and debilitating pressure points all at once. By the time the flash of light from the spells cleared, both men were on the floor twitching in agony, but clearly still alive.
Their weapons of darkness had vanished when they lost concentration on them, freeing Alexander from the Elder's blade. Alexander let out a sigh of relief, thanks to his regeneration healing up the two holes in his shoulders. He quickly stuffed the crucifix back into its inventory slot.
Alexander wasn't sure what it would take to put the two of them down, but that wasn't his goal at all. He wasn't sure how long they would be down, but it would be long enough! A spell cleared a path through the still-burning napalm fire around them, straight to where Valerie was still sitting on her throne and staring into space.
He frowned at the sight but didn't let it stop him from what he needed to do. He quickly ran through the path he'd made in the fire and right up to her. Only when he was directly in front of her did she seem to even register his existence. She clearly needed some serious help, and he hoped Red could give it to her. He scooped the girl into his arms in a princess carry.
While he conjured a teleportation circle under his feet, the Elder had recovered enough to shout, “I will find you! No matter where you run or hide! I will hunt you to the ends of the Earth for kidnapping my daughter!”
Alexander teleported out before he could reply that he was just doing what he needed to do to survive. The next moment, the light of the spell faded, and he found himself standing in front of Lucy and Red in the room Red had literally kicked him out of.
[Feat Achieved! Major Plot Divergence! +1 Random Legendary Gacha Ticket.]
Both looked at him, then at the girl in his arms. Red smirked, “Good job, kid.” His golden eyes then bored into Alexander's, “You get anything for saving her?”
Alexander slowly nodded, “Apparently, saving her is a major plot divergence in this world. It earned me a legendary roll.”
Red was practically vibrating in excitement, “Roll it! I want to see something from one of the worlds in your mind!”
“Roll the legendary ticket.”
[ROLLING!]
[Noble Beastkin, Epic Trait, Race Change - You are a Noble Beastkin, a beast hybrid that has mystical blood running through their veins. You possess potent physical abilities and greatly enhanced senses depending on your race; your natural instincts are very potent. You possess a greater affinity towards Changer and Nature-based abilities, allowing you to utilise them to greater effect with more finesse. You also possess control over your beast side, being able to completely suppress your traits or completely transform into your beast side. It is easier to command respect from beast-aligned beings.]
Alexander scoffed, “It's just a generic race change. Reroll!”
[ROLLING!]
[Uchiha, Epic Trait, Naruto - You are a member of the Uchiha Clan, granting you increased martial talent, energy reserves, fire affinity, and a natural sharingan that does not take up an ability slot. (Does not give Chakra)]
“Oh, you've got to be kidding me!”
Red and Lucy both perked up, though it was Red who asked, “What did you get?!”
Instead of answering, Alexander closed his eyes and channeled his magical power into them. They functioned off of whatever energy he had, in this case, it was magical power. When he opened them, he marveled at how his vision had been improved even further than it already was by Perfect Lifeform. He got to watch in extreme detail as Red's eyes widened in surprise and delight. He pointed directly at Alexander's eyes, “SHARINGAN! You got something from Naruto!”
Alexander deactivated his eyes and nodded, “Yeah, I'm now an Uchiha.”
He wasn't entirely sure, but it looked like Red was vibrating in excitement, “You've only got one tomoe in each eye so far, you need to develop it fast!” His lips curled into an evil grin, “Then I'm sure I can traumatize you enough to awaken your Mangekyo Sharingan!”
While Red might've been excited, Alexander was a little disappointed. An Elite result on a Legendary roll was the lowest he could get. There was a chance for Mythical and Divine rolls, and he got an Elite. It sucked.
Red rubbed his hands together, “This is too good. Now I need to find some people around your level to fight to help your Sharingan evolve to three tomoe. Ohhhh, I can't wait to see what your Mangekyo abilities are!” He paused and looked at Valerie still being held in Alexander's arms, “Ah, right. I have something for you.”
A swirling portal of kaleidoscopic colors opened next to him. He stuck his hand in and rummaged around for a second. When he pulled his hand out, he was clutching a small glowing item that made Lucy flinch and take a step back from the holy aura it radiated.
Valerie jerked in Alexander's arms and stared directly at the object Red was holding. She squirmed and wiggled, trying to get closer to it. She even made little sounds of protest when she couldn't get closer to it. Red watched her for a moment and then nodded, “I expected as much.”
He stepped closer and held the object out to her. Valerie wasted no time in snatching it from his hand and clutching it to her chest. She let out a soft sigh and closed her eyes in bliss. Seconds later, she was deep asleep.
Lucy was the one to ask, “What was that?”
Red smirked, “A piece of the Holy Grail. I'm sure that right about now the Church is going into a frenzy trying to figure out what happened to it.”
Red sighed in bliss, “This was so interesting! I'll have to poke around and see what else I can find.”
Those became his departing words as he left in a swirl of color the next moment. Alexander looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms and then up to Lucy's eyes, “So, where are we putting her?”
Lucy sighed, “This is a resort! Not a place for you to collect cute blondes!”
He gave Lucy a flat gaze, “Yeah, because this is all MY idea. How are they MY blondes when Red is the one telling me to collect them all?!”
Lucy huffed but didn't argue, “I'll find her a room. Just lay her down for now and go get some rest. I'll take care of everything, like always.”
He did just as instructed and left the room to make his way to his bedroom. On the way, he cast a simple spell that acted like a cell phone to call Sona. He'd never gotten her number or anything, so this seemed like a good idea to talk to her. The spell rang a few times before he heard her voice tentatively answer, “Hello?”
“Sona, it's Alexander.”
“Alexander? What kind of spell is this? It was like a phone was ringing, but no one else could hear it.”
“It's just a spell I made up since I didn't know your phone number to reach you. It was easier and faster than finding you in person.”
There was silence for a moment before her flat voice asked, “It was easier for you to design a whole new spell than to drive to Kuoh Academy?”
“Easier, faster, and more energy efficient.”
She let out a deep sigh, “So, why are you contacting me?”
“Two reasons. First, for our date. The dress code is casual.”
There was a moment of silence before she asked, “And the second reason?”
“The girl I rescued from the fallen on Red's orders, Asia, wants to go to school. So, I am proposing a trade. I will give you back your virginity in exchange for you getting her enrolled into Kuoh Academy and making sure that no Devil attempts to recruit her into their peerage, yourself included.”
“I see.” Sona paused for a little while to get her emotions in check, “Very well. Bring her to Kuoh tomorrow morning and I will see to getting her registered. Was there anything else?”
“No, that was all. I will see you tomorrow morning, Sona.”
He ended the spell and stepped into his room while making straight for his bathroom. He needed a good long soak after everything he'd been through. Seriously, though, what was with Great Red and blondes?
-----Line Break-----
He stared at the twin-tailed short stack standing in the middle of his room in a ridiculous pink magical girl outfit. She twirled her wand, which emitted actual star-shaped sparks, then pointed it at him while making a V-sign over her eye, “Miracle Girl Levi-tan has come to liberate So-tan's precious virginity from you, you foul demon!”
Alexander stood in the doorway of his bathroom with only a towel around his waist and continued to stare at her, “Listen. I've had an ungodly long day so far, and I don't want to make it even longer. I told you we could duel after I got the game and the dance pads.” He tilted his head, “On top of which, I already made a deal to give Sona her virginity back in exchange for a few favors.”
Serafall stared at him for a second before she scowled, “Not waiting! You haven't given it to her yet, so you can still duel me for it! So-tan's virginity will be MINE!” She waved her wand, and a summoning circle appeared in the middle of his bedroom. A massive DDR arcade machine rose from the circle and dominated his room, “We duel NOW!”
Alexander wanted to tell her to fuck off; he really did. Unfortunately, he physically couldn't. He scowled and pushed it off for a minute, “Fine, I just need to get dressed.”
Serafall scowled at the delay but allowed it, “Fine, hurry up!”
Alexander grunted in annoyance and made his way to the closet. Thankfully, it was a walk-in, allowing him to close the door behind himself and get out of Serafall's sight. When he exited, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that did very little to hide his enhanced physique. He'd need to have Lucy get him more clothing soon to replace the ones he had.
He walked over to Serafall, who was studying him through narrowed eyes. She walked right up to him and looked him up and down, “You've changed, dramatically, in the few hours since I last saw you.” She poked him in the chest, “What did you do? Your power was equal to a Low-Class Devil earlier today. Now I'd place you at the peak of High-Class, even stronger than Rias-chan and So-tan. What. Did. You. Do?!”
When all else fails, blame the god that kept turning him into its minion, “Don't ask me, Great Red did it as a reward for services rendered. If you want to know how, he's the only one who can tell you.”
Serafall glared, but didn't push it, “Whatever. Now let's duel!” She grinned salaciously, “So-tan's virginity will be mine!”
Alexander sighed and moved over to the arcade machine. Plugging it in brought it to life, and music began blaring. He turned to Serafall and gestured to the game, “Go ahead, you can pick the song.”
She strutted up to the machine with supreme confidence and started going through the menu until she found the song she wanted, the theme song to Magical Girl Milky Spiral Seven. Alexander rolled his eyes and stepped onto the second player pad. He silently activated his Sharingan. His visual fidelity was off the charts; combined with his processing speed, he would be able to track the position of the steps to the pixel.
He watched Serafall set the game to the maximum difficulty and hit start. Music blared, and dance instructions began to stream down the screen at high speed. Both of them started moving. Alexander hit every step with extreme precision and a healthy amount of grace. Serafall... flailed about like an epileptic and still, somehow, managed to hit the right spots. Their scores remained perfectly tied as they both hit the steps with perfect precision.
When the song ended, they both stared at the big letters flashing 'DRAW' on their screens. Serafall scowled and glared at Alexander, “Impressive, but it's not over yet! Next song, this time you pick.”
Alexander sighed and just hit random. He didn't care what song they danced to because they would be dancing until one of them made a single mistake.
That might take a while.
-----Line Break-----
Serafall collapsed onto her hands and knees with her head hanging low in defeat.
Almost nine hours. That was how long they had been playing Dance Dance Revolution for. They'd danced to every song at least half a dozen times, getting perfect scores every time. At least, until the last dance. Near the very end of the song, Serafall had messed up her timing by a fraction of a second, and instead of a perfect, she only got a good for the step. It led to her ultimate downfall. There, in bright letters on the screen in front of Alexander sat the words 'YOU WIN!' while Serafall's sported 'YOU LOSE!' clearly spelling out her defeat.
Only the sound of the DDR arcade machine filled the room as Serafall sulked for a bit longer. Then she hopped to her feet and grinned lasciviously while a small bit of drool trickled from the corner of her mouth, “Oh no, I lost, now I have to have a hot threesome with a sexy guy and So-tan. Whatever shall I do?”
[Feat Achieved! Deafet Serafall Leviathan in a Duel! Reward reduced due to the type of duel. +1 Random Gold Gacha Ticket.]
Alexander sighed and walked over to his bed, where he dropped onto it face-first. Ignoring the reward. He would roll it later, after Serafall left. The last thing he needed was to suddenly get even stronger in front of her. This day had been interminable, and he just wanted it over with. He turned his head to look at Serafall, “You can go now.”
Serafall's eyes turned to him, and she smirked, “Oh? Want to get to sleep so you can dream of me and Sona naked and writhing in pleasure beneath you?”
His response was a deep sigh, “Just... go. I'm exhausted.”
Serafall shrugged, “Sure thing.” She stuck a card in the screen of the DDR machine, “That's my number, call me when the threesome is on!”
She teleported out with a bright smile on her face. Alexander rolled over to stare at his ceiling and revel in the peace and quiet that came after he remotely killed the DDR machine with Unknown Dictator. His body was just as energetic as ever, but his mind, his extremely advanced, extremely powerful mind, felt like it was melting. Eight straight hours of using his Sharingan and pure focus on making the perfect movement every time would destroy anyone's mind.
He inhaled deeply and slowly let it out, “Roll the gold ticket.”
[ROLLING!]
[Tali, Rare Familiar, Mass Effect - Otherwise known as Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, is an accomplished military personnel and genius engineer belonging to the race of Quarian. As a Quarian, she has notable physical abilities but possesses an incredibly compromised immune system. Tali is a genius engineer, but is used to working with Eezo. Despite this, she is still a very experienced and flexible engineer. She comes equipped with her suit but no tools.]
He stared at the result of his roll and felt the desire to just roll over and go to sleep. He did not have the brainpower to deal with summoning Tali out of the Familiar Space of the Gacha System right now. He'd summon her after getting a good night's sleep.
He rolled over, closed his eyes, and went to sleep. Tomorrow would be better, right?
AN
10k words
Man, what a day Alex had, eh? Lots of stuff is happening in such a short time. I can't even begin to describe how much fun it is using Great Red to bully Alexander.
Also, I swear that the fact that each girl Red had Alex rescue being blonde is a coincidence. I actually had him target Asia for rescue because of her Dragon Tamer trait. Even if she couldn't truly tame Great Red, he'd probably still see her in a positive light. As for Valerie, Gasper being in Rias's peerage puts him close and gives him a connection to her.
Then we have Serafall's duel challenge. I think a DDR challenge is perfectly in character for her and is also hilarious to contemplate.
His rolls were also pretty interesting this time. Getting Uchiha after writing that Red was watching Naruto? That made me laugh hard. I swear, I didn't do back and change that, it legit happened that way as I wrote it. Perfect Lifeform was a surprise and something I had to look up. While I know of Jojo I'm not super familiar with it so I needed to wiki to understand what it was. For the record, he did NOT get actual immortality from it. His regeneration is pretty extreme, though, as long as he has magical power.
Divine Crucifix is an item he rolled when I first made his character sheet. It's just never been relevant before, so I never mentioned it. He also never used it because it could hurt Lucy.
Then we have a new familiar, Tali. I didn't even know Mass Effect stuff was in the Gacha. This should be pretty interesting going into the next chapter. An honest-to-God alien from the future plopped down into the DxD world.
It does present a question I'd like to ask you guys. Is Eezo a metal? The ME wiki doesn't say. The closest I could get was that it DOES come from ores that need to be mined, and the one image of refined Eezo looks like a crystal. Metals have a crystalline structure.
I say all this to ask: Can Eezo be made by Tinker - Metallurgy?
Anyway, I hope you all liked it! See you soon for the next chapter of either this or Chaos on the Sea.