Chapter 27: The Master of Irrevocable (Finale)

Yasaka woke up wishing she was dead. No, death was too lenient and simple a fate for her. Perhaps those thousands of reincarnations and tribulations spoken of in the Curse of Mittavinda tale would be suitable to cleanse her of her utterly shameless sin.

"How…how debased could I possibly have acted?!"

Curling up atop of the still dozing Harris' chest Yasaka pulled her ears flat and tails atop of her head, crossing her arms and resisting the urge to whine in mortification. She remembered everything. From the way she had propositioned and teased the man to the heights of ecstasy he had delivered upon her…as well as how accepting she had been of said ecstasy.

"No one can know. No one can EVER know of how completely hedonistic I acted! How unbecoming of a princess!"

This time she actually did whine, pulling herself into an even tighter ball and trying to hide away from the world within the confines of her fur…except all that did was make her sensitive nose hyper aware of the stench of sex still clinging to her skin, of the heat and solidity of the male body she was still curled atop of.

…

A heat and solidity that she distinctly remembered filling her insides time and time again, a wondrous warmth and pressure coating every inch of her most precious place as powerful arms held her close, engulfing her smaller frame as she submissively allowed a glorious cock to take every-

"No, stop it! Curse my instincts for being so overbearing!"

She was thankful for the hand that engulfed her head and began gently stroking it, bringing some measure of calm and sanctity to what would have otherwise been a frantic spiral of madly dancing thoughts.

"...Wait."

Fearfully peeking out from beneath her tails the princess was treated to the sight of her grinning husband, frightfully bright blue eyes boring into her own as she could do nothing but melt into the soothing head pat as he teased, "Hope you're not having second thoughts, we're a little bit beyond that at this point."

"Grr…"

Annoyed at the fact that her attempt at expressing displeasure sounded more like a kitten's hapless mewl than a divine beast's threat Yasaka grumbled, "Hmph. Who do you take your wife for? Some hapless maiden that would fall to pieces after one single night of lovemaking?"

"Considering your clear distress as of this moment? I'm considering it."

"Tch. Distress is such a strong word."

Taking an inordinate amount of pleasure in the way her words caused the man to laugh she resigned herself to cuddling as the man sat upright, embracing her bare form as she begrudgingly allowed herself to snuggle against his broad chest, ears and tails lazily waving as he brushed her hair and cupped her rear in a way that was more comforting than it was sensuous.

"Any aches or pains anywhere?"

"Just the one I'm betrothed to."

Another chuckle as Harris continued to pet her, cheerfully remarking, "Then allow me to state how pleasantly surprised I am with my lovely wife's flexibility. You felt simply divine."

Blushing a bit at the blunt compliment he continued with, "And you don't need to feel so ashamed or bewildered by your actions last night. I think it's incredibly enticing and alluring that you're so willing. Just one more thing I'd add to the list of reasons why Princess Yasaka makes for a wonderful bride."

Feeling a surge of something travel through her body the fox girl quickly regained her composure, huffing out a breath…and lazily looped her arms around the male's neck, burying her head beneath his chin as she allowed his breathing to tickle her ears.

"Will you be staying long?"

"No. In all honesty we were going to depart in little more than an hour, we've accomplished all that we wanted to here."

Annoyed at the brief twinge of loneliness and sadness that hit Yasaka covered it up with an arch comment of, "Oh, so you partook of my body and are now free to leave without further troubles, satiated as you are?"

She resisted the urge to smack her husband as he merely chuckled, the bass noise pleasant sounding to her ears.

"I'm leaving in order to give you a kingdom, princess. But if you would rather have me stay here…"

Huffing out a resigned breath Yasaka glumly stated, "As if you would do that. If the past few days have proven anything not even the threat of death would dissuade you from pursuing your desired course of action."

"Well don't you know me just so well, little fox."

Silence fell between them for a time, Yasaka hesitating before quietly asking, "Then may we stay like this? Just for awhile."

"Of course, princess."

Melting into the warmth and post-coital afterglow of the night Yasaka let her eyes droop closed, swimming in and out of coherent thought as she allowed herself a precious few minutes of complete vulnerability and comfort.

Their departure from Japan was looking to be a quiet affair, no one present aside from Yasaka and Akito to see them off while the male Kitsune was a decent distance away, having a private conversation with Charlotte that was clearly not meant for outside ears. Which naturally left Yasaka at the mercy of Merlin's ceaseless attempts at glomping, culminating in the Kitsune finally giving up and allowing the Magus of Flowers to swing her to and fro as she rubbed her face against the resigned royalty.

"Ahh, you're just too cute~! It's no fair that Harris gets to keep you all to himself! As a mistress shouldn't I be able to serve and fawn over the head wife?"

Robin rolled her eyes as Yasaka simply sighed in resignation, hanging limply in Merlin's grasp before dryly commenting, "And to think I was worried that you would conspire to have me killed when I became betrothed to Harris. I see he wasn't exaggerating when he warned that you may attempt to smother me to death."

A completely fake gasp of horror escaped Merlin's lips, the woman protesting, "I would never commit such a heinous crime! The world would be so much worse off with your cuteness gone!"

Setting Yasaka back on the ground but not releasing her shoulders from her overly familiar grip the Magus warned, "Now stay safe and don't go getting into trouble, we'll be back before too long and we need to have a private moment just to ourselves~!"

"I can't wait."

The Kitsune couldn't have sounded any more deadpan if she'd tried. For her sanity's sake Robin intervened, pushing Merlin aside as she more amicably gathered the Yokai's hands in her own, softly smiling before stating, "We'll remind Harris to consider his wife as often as possible, I don't doubt he'll likely get lost or caught up in schemes and plots aplenty."

"I believe every word you say."

Chuckling at the younger girl's response Robin reached into her cloak, Est still disguised as a sword at her hip before pulling out none other than a Bolganone tome, handing it off to the blinking Kitsune with a friendly smirk.

"As someone with an affinity for fire magic I'm admittedly curious how quickly you'll master this particular technique. Until we meet again."

Regarding the tome with open wonder Yasaka became lost in thought, Charlotte and Akito rejoining them a moment later as both of their lips were slightly moist, as if a rather passionate kiss had just occurred. Which it almost certainly did.

"Well, this is it for now, kiddo. Think you'll be okay on your own for the foreseeable future?"

The male fox shrugged at Harris' words, somewhat amusedly remarking, "I'll manage. Although to be perfectly frank I'm almost afraid of the next time we cross paths, each intersection seems to bring about some kind of grand and chaotic occurrence."

"I do pride myself on both following and being followed by interesting times. Until next we meet."

The Kitsune bowed slightly, a gesture more of friendliness than it was anything else as he teased, "Don't tell anyone I actually bent my neck, they despise you enough as is."

"Well if I ever need to kill someone in your pantheon all sneaky like an aneurysm might be the way to go. Take care."

Deciding any further goodbyes would be prolonging things needlessly the group departed, not sending so much as a single glance back as they began their journey outside of the capital, once again disguising themselves as simple peasants until a good few hours travel had the medieval city nothing but a speck on the horizon.

"Feel free to walk around if you want to, Est."

Charlotte started as the sheathed blade at Robin's side glowed softly before morphing into the shape of a waifish girl, expression seemingly apathetic as her lithe form was clad by a silken white kimono they had 'liberated' from an unassuming guest room during their stay.

"What the…wait, let me guess."

The Vampire sighed, dully pointing at Est as the rest of the group gazed at her with open amusement.

"She's just like Robin and Merlin, isn't she?"

The Elemental Waffe tilted her head, Robin gently scooting her forward before stating, "Go ahead and introduce yourself, Charlotte is a good friend."

Accepting the instructions without complaint the stoic girl nodded ever so slightly, announcing, "Terminus Est. It's good to meet you."

"Charlotte Carmilla, a pleasure."

Ruby eyes examined Est for a moment before cautiously asking, "Aside from being able to turn into a blade there doesn't seem to be anything particularly incredible about her. Is this the part where I'm surprised and amazed by yet another complete impossibility you pulled off?"

"Sure, why not. Est?"

Holding out his hand the girl wordlessly shifted back into her weapon form, Charlotte getting a good look at the sword which seemed to be an odd fusion of ornamental and functional rolled into one. The blade was keen-edged and polished to a killing shine while the guard and handle were almost gaudy in appearance, adorned with gold and turquoise embroidery that gave off a clear air of royalty and sophistication.

"Robin? If you would perform the honors?"

Wordlessly unsheathing her jagged Levin Sword the tactician pointed the tip at the man, Charlotte immensely curious to see what would transpire-

-and instead felt her vision go dark and ears ring as a jagged corkscrew of lightning shot from the blade to impact against Est and Harris full force, the sight burned into her retinas as the bloodsucker furiously blinked and worked her jaw, trying to work through the sensory overload before achieving it a moment later, gaping at what she saw.

Robin sheathing her weapon with a pleased smile while Est sparked with the occasional bit of electricity, Harris no worse for wear as he grinned, remarking, "Yup. Every bit as impressive as I hoped. Long story short, Charlotte, Est here can absorb just about any kind of magic with little difficulty, dispersing and absorbing it before channeling it into a target of her choosing."

The Vampire dully stared at the man as he idly twirled the blade in his hands, examining it with a pleased smirk as she clarified, "Any magic?"

"I don't see why not."

Oblivious to the young woman's resigned sigh Harris mused that this test had provided an interesting basis for all future combat scenarios. Est had originally been able to absorb the power of Elemental Spirits and their attacks, passing on the burden to her wielder and eventually killing them if they weren't resolute or powerful enough to weather the influx of energies.

Robin's ability to make use of tomes and Fire Emblem techniques in a DxD setting had proved that Est was going to be a powerhouse of an ally aside from just generally being adorable and endearing. As long as he or anyone else that wielded her could handle the influx of magic or whatever supernatural technique was being employed she was the ultimate trump card.

"Good work, Est."

Shifting into her human form Harris immediately took the chance to lightly pat her on the head, playing with her silken hair as the girl softly hummed in enjoyment of the action, Charlotte releasing a defeated sigh as she rubbed her eyes.

"I can't even imagine why I'm surprised anymore."

"Well that makes two of us. On an entirely different note do you want any assistance when you return to your people? It's going to be an uphill battle you're marching off to."

Hesitating for only a moment the Vampire was quick to shake her head, replying, "No. This…this is something I want to do on my own. What I need to do on my own. To prove that I'm not the helpless little child that needed someone to come rescue me."

"And to impress Akito, right?"

"Bite me."

Merlin snickered, playfully commenting, "Is that not the job of the Vampire?"

Shaking her head in exasperation Charlotte huffed out a breath, archly asking, "Was there any point to me disguising my gender when I was traveling with you?"

Everyone aside from Est shrugged in obvious dismissiveness.

"You were putting in the effort so we decided to take it easy on you and turn a blind eye."

"Oh for…"

A defeated sigh left the bloodsucker as they smirked in amusement, Harris cocking an eyebrow in curiosity as her ruby eyes abruptly locked onto his brilliant blue.

"You're from the future, aren't you?"

"Oh? Well thus far I've been impressed with people's deductions of who and what I am, care to continue the trend?"

Resting her chin on open palms Charlotte distantly mused, "Well it's actually a fairly reasonable conclusion if you're willing to entertain such an insane possibility. Having seen you and everyone else do the things you've done something tame like time travel appears innocuous enough."

She raised a single finger to address her first point, Harris amused by the confidant gesture she never would have previously displayed.

"When you first saved us you were just a young boy, nothing like what you are now…but then, just like that, you appeared in a new form with Merlin at your side. And don't even get me started on what you did immediately after that."

Crimson eyes narrowed in second hand annoyance, continuing with, "Plan upon plan involving Charlemagne, Beelzebub, Amoghasiddhi, Devils, Angels, the Curse of Mittavinda and every pantheon under the moon as well as just conveniently stumbling across times of great strife and importance. As if you had personal knowledge and certainty in how things were going to play out."

A second dainty finger joined the first.

"Now you had a reasonable enough explanation for all of this - you provided ample evidence that you had been involved with various campaigns and such over the years - but then I have to ask…why did you appear as a young boy before so quickly changing into someone older? It certainly wasn't to lull the Gastofield Devils into letting down their guards, they could have cared less how young or old you were."

Eyes narrowing yet again so that they appeared to be minute slits of red Charlotte mused, "Everyone else but Akito and myself saw someone who could have been old enough to do the things he said he did…but then why did you appear so young the first time? And while this point has been raised before allow me to reiterate it. If you had accomplished half of what you claim to have succeeded at your name would be known across most of the world."

A third finger joined the initial pair.

"Your thrice damned references. At first I could just write them off as being from another culture or similar origin unknown to us but seemingly no one could identify or comprehend what you were speaking about. Factor in all this odd social dissonance, perfect knowledge of what could be broadly described as historical events, strange powers and circumstances…"

She folded her hands together, neutrally remarking, "It sounds absurd…but when all of these factors are considered you being from the future hardly seems like the most absurd of explanations."

Proudly smiling as he applauded the Vampire's conclusion the male replied, "You, young lady, are correct. Or at least correct in most ways that matter."

At the woman's raised eyebrow he elaborated with, "While the history and events of this world have thus far played out in the future I'm from there exists no magic. No pantheons made manifest vying for supremacy and no ability to shoot fire and ice from one's fingertips with nothing but inherent strength."

At Charlotte's questioning look Harris continued with, "I got involved with no shortage of unusual or unconventional resources in my world, I'd like to think I of all people would have been made aware of magic or the like. Failing that, my actions would have certainly drawn attention of an extranatural kind. No, while people like Beelzebub, Amaterasu or species like Kitsune or Vampires were quite popular they were just fairy tales and urban legend, no real concrete existences that could be interacted or bargained with."

He stroked his chin, musing, "What's intriguing is that thus far history has played out quite faithfully, despite the addition of so many Supernatural factions. Charlemagne and the friction between Japan and China was quite the faithful rendition of how it went in my time."

Charlotte dully stared at Harris, eventually massaging her temples and grumbling, "You are just one horrific headache after another. So you're from a future that's essentially the same but also not? Just how far ahead are you? And why are you trying to change things so much?"

Cupping his chin Harris gave the question some thought, eventually responding, "I came from a future 1200 years ahead, give or take a few decades. And I'm changing it because I want to."

The bloodsucker could only stare, eventually taking a deep, shuddering breath before her hands clasped around her knees, back drawing itself straight as she quietly asked, "Why? Why do you have such strange abilities, the ability to summon such unconventional allies and such unassailable conviction and confidence in your actions. What are you trying to do?"

Giving his companion's genuine question the gravitas it deserved Harris took a moment to organize his thoughts, eventually responding, "Are you familiar with Gnosticism?"

"Vaguely. It's a worship of an ideal as god rather than an actual personality, right?"

"Yup, and I'm an emissary of Monad, the title of that ideal."

He smirked, adding, "And as its emissary in the lowest plane of existence I'm granted strength and power according to how I go about creating an eternal empire of as much peace and prosperity as I can feasibly imagine."

To Charlotte's credit she merely blinked, warily asking, "And people like myself? Akito, Yasaka and the rest? Where do we fit in with this grand vision of yours?"

"That entirely depends on whether you try to act like the people I spent most of my previous life trying to kill. I actually quite like the idea of you and Akito attempting to unite your people under one banner, or to at least create a bridge between them. So much suffering and conflict of the world is the result of never seeing how the other side lives, what you're building is actually quite inspirational."

"...You're a damned Archon, aren't you?"

Shrugging at Charlotte's whisper that was halfway between horrified and awed he replied, "Sort of. I actually consider myself quite human but Archon does have a nice ring to it. I'd certainly consider myself opposed to a great deal of what the world currently is."

The Vampire swallowed, helplessly asking, "But…why? Who do all of this? Why try to build this fantastical world of peace and whatever other fanciful wishes? What do you get out of it?"

Gathering Merlin and Robin in his arms while Est leaned against his abdomen the man joked, "Well them, obviously."

"And we are quite worth the effort, let me assure you."

They dropped the teasing as Charlotte seemed increasingly tense, Harris softly explaining, "I wasn't lying when I told Amaterasu my ambitions and actions were childish. Even now I'm chasing a youth's fanciful reality no different from the one I held before."

He gazed towards the sky, brow furrowing as he gave voice to his past.

"Before I was brought to this realm I held no magic. No grand power or influence and no incredible knowledge that wasn't the result of teenage boredom. All I had was a silly dream and a perfect storm of circumstances that allowed me to pursue it in an extremely limited fashion, a manifestation of skill and desire."

He shook his head, wryly stating, "To achieve a kingdom of peace and camaraderie was impossible for me. I wasn't born into the right world, the right time and the right family to make that possible. There was just too many established sources of misery and exploitation to burn away before I inevitably died, although I did make quite the dent, if I do say so myself."

A slow, unstoppable grin pulled at Harris' lips.

"Yet here I am. In a world where magic is real, my experience and knowledge is applicable and I can make manifest a child's fantasy."

He stared at the utterly silent Vampire with something approaching maddened hilarity.

"Isn't that funny, Charlotte? You've seen how I operate, what I do and how I play with people to serve my purposes. The murderer who dreams of brotherhood and peace. The betrayer who pines after transparency and honesty. The disrespectful and bullish fool who despises tyrants and despots."

He released a merry chuckle.

"The hypocrite who revels in killing those that have the power to make things better but don't."

He reached for the strength gifted to him through his latest trial, finally allowing it to simmer and race through his veins.

"You asked why I changed the future and I said because I wanted to…but that's how I'll win, Charlotte. Because that's how I've always won. How many people would have immediately embarked on this quest and thrown away one of their key advantages right from the start? How many hesitate, afraid to do something so momentous as changing the literal history of the world without due consideration because there's no such thing as a second chance? I can tell you this, it's quite the number."

He let the newfound strength begin its work, his body shifting and morphing as he grew taller by at least another head, chest feeling as if a blazing heat had coalesced upon it as a symbol reminiscent of the cross - albeit with a circle containing four equally intersecting lines in place of the topmost portion - tattooed itself onto his flesh.

"Me? I lived and then I died for that chaos and uncertainty, the perfect battlefield where others flounder and drown while I swim. I'm the perfect aligning of circumstance and environment, the monster under the bed for scum and blackened souls alike."

He spread his arms wide as if in benediction.

"My dream, Charlotte, is to create a brilliant world that stretches into and beyond the stars, to have a people that are propelled and motivated to help one another…where the violence and cruelty native to each and every person is channeled into the future of my empire where it can aid rather than harm."

The Vampire watched, spellbound, by the proclamation of a man she couldn't decide was stupid beyond comprehension or inspiring beyond description, an odd emotion thumping within her chest.

"Paradise is my dream and destruction is my means. And in the very near future…"

A bloodthirsty smirk that sent a chill down Charlotte's spine manifested.

"Foolish children that style themselves as icons of sin and malice, who torture and break those weaker than themselves to feel strong - that bear the unimpressive title of devil - are going to be visited by a real demon."