Chapter 9 Star's sequel.
OmegaKenichi Note: Here's that part 2 you've all been waiting for! Also, I am sorry to say that this is the last time I will be editing 'The Reaper of DXD'. I need to focus on my own works and I don't have time to do edits anymore. My apologies and I hope you enjoy!
Ragnorak note: yep! Remember, if you love gamer stories read Omega's. It's not only finished, a rarity among gamer fics. But it's far, far, far better written than my own. So give him some love!
[Pov Restored!]
"Good god! Why the hell aren't you done yet!?" I was, oh so, frustrated with my researchers; they were still working on the same damn project as before! I realized that it had only been a month or so, but it felt closer to two or three months since I had last checked on them. The Head Researcher gave me a vicious deadpan through the half-opened door.
"We gave you the time table, we should be done soon; perhaps, you should've focused on increasing the amount of staff or keeping those damn crusaders from barging in to bring ale. Do you realize how hard it is to clean vomit from a lab coat!?" He asked me with a twitchy eye; he slammed the door in my face before I could answer.
"Dick," I grumbled as I walked away. Bahamut wasn't going to continue my training that night, since he was still tired from the last session. 'Good lord, I'm tired in my own dream world, that can not be good for my health. . . thank god for The Gamer.' Before I had the chance to drag Bahamut into training me, I woke up in the waking world.
'Heh, bloodborne joke. . . Damn, I make terrible puns when I'm tired.' Yawning once more I hopped out of bed and brewed myself a pot of coffee. 'No wonder Ozpin was addicted to this stuff, this is like nirvana after waking up.'
"Aaaaahhh, this is my happy drink!" I happily declared as I drank my coffee(note to self: get thermos). I sighed as the caffeine finally hit my brain. Thanks to that, I managed to not walk into the school fence for once.
'Thank you, coffe-Ouch!' I immediately ran directly into the most randomly-placed lamp post on campus. My eye twitched angrily as I looked around for any witnesses to see me destroy the object in front of me. Sadly, students were starting to filter into the school yard. 'You win this round, Daemon! I will melt you one day. . . just not today!'
With my mental declaration complete, I wandered back to the Kendo club. When I opened to the door, I expected Murayama to be practicing her stancs, but Katase was there first.
"Hey, Coach! Looks like we're the first ones to show up!" Katase greeted me cheerfully; I waved back as I set my cup on my desk.
'Murayama must be sick or something; she's usualy here before either of us.' The next couple hours blurred together as I practiced with Katase and the few others that were there early that day. They eventually left for classes, leaving me with time to do the club's paperwork. Thankfully, it was a small stack of papers that was easily solved with my trusty red stamp for approving shit.
I mechanically approved some of the trivial papers. They weren't that important, most of them had just been letters from parents asking to me me or Murayama. They wanted to know why their child had come home with bruises all over their body; nothing too big or worrisome. Although, the final paper had caught my eye. It was cliche as fuck that it was the last one that was important, but hey, it's an anime world, so I wasn't too surprised.
It was a letter from Murayama's father asking if he could watch some of the training sessions. I thought it was a harmless request, so I approved it; I didn't think there was any harm that could come from it.
Just as I finished, I got a quest notification. Naturally, I checked it, only to find the entire thing was encoded. The letters were constantly shifting, so I couldn't get a pin on the actual title of the quest. The only thing that wasn't encoded was the requirement that I had to tell Murayama about my decision when I saw her.
"Strange, but this is Ragnorak I'm talking about, so it's not too far out there," I murmured to myself.
"And like all anime, the person of interest will enter in three. . . two. . . one. . .' I counted down, then looked toward the door, it stayed closed. 'Guess I was off.'
A second later, the doors slammed open.
"Took you long enough, it's almost noo-" The rest of my sentence died off as I good look at Murayama. She was barely standing upright, using the wall next to her for support. Busted lip, black eyes, hand held to her ribs, the whole street-fight shebang. Even her clothes were ripped up, it looked like whoever jumped her had used a knife.
"Good god, Murayama! Who the hell jumped you?" My concern was showing as I immediately grabbed the first-aid kit.
"Just some thugs, they ran away before I could get a good look at their faces," Murayama's breath was coming out between huffs. Bandaging her hand't taken too long, although I was still concerned for my friend.
"Just stay on the couch for now; I don't think you'll be able to practice today with those injuries," she looked ready to argue with me, but I gave her a look and she laid down onto the furniture.
"It's a shame too," I sighed as I started dialing the phone nearby. "Apparently, your father wanted to today to watch you spar."
"What!?" Murayama sat ramrod straight after what I told her, she flinched because of her injuries telling her to stay still. One of my eyebrows rose, but I finished my talk with the school nurse before I pushed further on the subject.
"No, you won't need a stretcher. Maybe a straight jacket to keep her from aggravating her injuries. . . I was joking. Look, I'll just bring her there in a few minutes. No, I'll come to you," I hung up on the airheaded nurse as I reclined in my chair.
"So, wait, you told my father he could watch one of my spars?" Murayama questioned, if I wasn't so well versed in reading people I wouldn't have heard the undertone of anxiety in her voice.
"Is that a problem? If so, I can burn the request right now," I dug out an old lighter and ashtray that the last coach had left behind; I used them to burn anything I didn't approve of. When she saw the lighter, Murayama attempted to reassure me.
"No, no, it's just that my father can get. . . overprotective, some days. He doesn't like that I'm in this club, so I'm just a little worried about how he'll take a serious spar."
My eyebrows nearly elevated into my hair from how high they went. 'She's not lying, but definitely not telling the truth. I hate dealing with half-truths.'
"Is there anything else, Murayama?" I asked cautiously as I tossed both burning tools back into my desk; Murayama shook her head. I sighed inwardly as I got up and helped her to her feet as gingerly as possible. I escorted her to the nurse's office and just as I was about to leave, I turned my head so I could look her in the eye. "If there's anything bugging you, then I do hope you can talk to me or Katase. See you at practice, after school."
I left before she could respond; the glitchy quest screen crossed out the first objective and gave me a new one. It tells me to turn in my paperwork, which I do. Then, that objective gets crossed out and the quest just tells me to wait. I decide to wander around campus in an attempt to familiarize myself with the whole schoolground while I have the chance.
'Kokabiel's attack is gonna happen soon; I should try and pick out ambush/hiding spots for myself, my friends, and my troops.' I tried to imagine how the battle would play out in real life as I walked.
I passed the rest of the day like that; taking notes of possible points of interest and marking them with a magic circle ingrained into the molecules of the walls. Can't detect things that small, especially in the heat of a chaotic battle. Afterwards, I was back in my wonderful desk. Sitting in my chair as I counted the cracks in the ceiling as I waited for the rest of the Kendo club to fill in and get to work.
{Thank Creation! If you had started counting the grooves in your armor next, then I would've' cut your arm off to rid myself of that hell!} I deadpanned at my arm, before I shook my head with amusement. I stretched myself out before I went back into the main room. Katase was fussing over Murayama's injuries, which I'm to say are looking much better.
"You got jumped!? If I ever meet those bastards I'll make their lives a living hell!" Katase declared with fire in her eyes; Murayama was smiling at her friend's eccentric attitude, as did I.
"You're still not sparring today," I told Murayama as I walked up behind her; she and Katase both jumped in surprise. I chuckled at their reactions, I can be very stealthy when I want to be. Murayama nodded half-heartedly and moved over to the other side of the room; the same place where I usually spectate from. I patted her on the back before I went over to join her. As soon as I sat down, the door opened and a middle-aged man walked in.
I called him middle-aged because of his varying amounts of facial hair; tuffs of thick hair around the jawline combined with a nine o'clock shadow. His black, neck-length hair is far too long to be a man's and he had a swimmer's body and absolutely reeked of vodka. His yellow eyes frantically searched the area until he saw Murayama behind me.
'Interesting, so this is her father?' I looked at Murayama from out of the corner of my eye and caught sight of how horrified she appeared to be. At the time, I wasn't sure if this was from the thought of her father watching her practice or something more sinister, but I erred on the side of caution.
"Excuse me, sir, but why are you here?" His gaze locked with mine, I returned his stare with a dead-eyed look. He flinched back as if struck, but shook his head to collect himself.
"Sorry, but I was told this was the Kendo club; I believe I sent a request to come watch a few spars?"
"Ah yes, I remember signing off on such a form, but I didn't think you would come today," I was immediately suspicious of the man. He was most certainly Murayama's father, but the school had never sent word to a parent that fast.
"Well, if you were hoping to see your daughter spar, then I'm afraid to inform you that won't be happening today," that one statement caused the man to straighten himself out and stare at me with a look that I could not decipher.
"Why not? She doesn't look to be seriously injured," he brought up Murayama's physical injuries and she looked more surprised than anything else.
"She was jumped by some things earlier today, sir," I informed him with an even stare. "I'd like to err on the side of caution when it comes to such things."
As I told him, the man got closer and closer to me, nearly to the point where we were head to head, but Murayama got up and slit us up.
"I can spar just fine, Coach. I'll be fine," she tried to convince me, but I could clearly see that she was in pain just trying to keep her arms up.
I wanted to argue, but her father cut me off by telling his "little girl" that she had made a good choice. I sighed, before setting up the various spars. I put Murayama's match first, so it could be over as soon as possible.
She and Katase stepped onto the mat, while I sat off to the side along with Murayama's father, who looked far too into the match to be healthy.
He was fixated on Murayama to the point where I considered throwing him out based on my gut instinct alone. However, I suppressed this feeling and simply watched the spar progress. Katase was doing a fantastic job of making sure not to injure Murayama too greatly, while Murayama was going full throttle even while injured. The spar ended when Murayama collapsed out of exhaustion; I sighed and went to help her, along with Katase.
However, her father continued to stare at her with a look that just didn't feel right to me. My skin was crawling and I wasn't even the one being stared at. Murayama tensed up, but I could feel that she forced herself to slack, as if she were pretending to be relaxed.
Katase and I shared a brief look, that was going to be a conversation later on. I plopped her to my right and sat so her father was on my left, making sure to keep them apart.
He didn't like that, if his face was any sort of indication. He even tried to stand up, but a fully powered Death's Glare made sure he stayed put. Even as the other spars played out he still stared at his daughter with a look of complete fixation. Murayama would often try and avoid his gaze, or subtly hide herself behind me. I was reaching my limit and my infamous top was about to burst. But, i bottled it up and held it down to keep my composure.
When the last spar finished and everybody started to pack up, Murayama's father got up and went over to his daughter. Completely ignoring my futile attempt to keep the two of them separated.
"C'mon, honey, let's go home. It's been a long day for the both of us and I just wanna go home and sleep away the day." He said it so casually that I would've thought nothing of it, if Murayama hadn't flinched and gripped the hem of her skirt to point where her hands started bleeding. That set off all of my warning signals, all at once.
'She obviously doesn't want to go, but why? Abusive household maybe. . . ? Wait a minute, what did her character bio say again? Observe!' I checked Murayama's bio once again and, other than her level rising to twenty, nothing had changed. What had changed was how I read it, specifically, the middle part.
'Constantly takes advantage of his daughter,' I re-read it mentally and, at first, it didn't click. 'Does it mean he's forcing her to work, because he's lazy? Is he making her get his liquor? Making her carry him home when he's drunk and overall caring for him?'
Then, I took a good, hard look at her state of dress and the nature of her injuries. While the nurse had done a fair job of patching her up; she couldn't patch up Murayama's black eye or her busted lip. Which was something a fist from an older man could do. Then, there's the state of her clothes, ripped and torn. At first, I had thought they had been cut, but a second look showed they had been clearly pulled apart at the seams; something only an adult male could do.
"Son of a bitch," I growled under my breath, quiet enough that no one heard me.
I walk-no, I stomped over; cracks formed in the wooden floor with each step I took. The bastard went to grab Murayama's arm, but instead I grabbed his and squeezed harder than a python.
"What the he- What the hell are you doing!?" I could see the pain in his eyes as I squeezed his wrist harder and harder. I was positive that, at that point, his wrist was all but dust, but I really didn't care. At that moment, the bastard could've died for all I cared. . . Actually, that's not true, if he had died, then I wouldn't have been able to make him suffer more.
I started turning my arm to the point where a simple twist would snap his arm like the twig that it was. Rage dyed my vision red; I couldn't hear anything, except for my own thoughts and, they were screaming at me to break Murayama's father into the smallest pieces possible.
"The pieces are starting to fall into place," I said with a monotone voice as I snapped his arm in half. All I saw at that moment was a world of red and a dead man who didn't know he was dead yet. I could feel something desperately try to rip my hand away from the bleeding arm; I had just notice the bone jutting out from the force of my grip. A sadistic smile bloomed from under my mask as the sick bastard cried out in agony. I had honestly felt like laughing!
That feeling shattered just like the plant that was smashed into my head, which brought me back to my senses in a very harsh way. I released my vice-grip to pluck the shards of clay out of my hair and to remove the dirt. Before I could react, I got slapped by Murayama, who had looked absolutely livid at my actions.
'I shouldn't be surprised, yet I am,' had been my thoughts at the time. 'This man may have abused her her whole life! So, why the hell is she helping him!?'
"What the fuck do you think you're doing!? That's my father, you fucking lunatic!" Murayama screamed at me; I didn't flinch at the tone, but only because I forced my body not to move.
"Murayama-"
"Don't you Murayama me! Why the hell did you attack him!?" Murayama said with righteous fury as she interrupted me. I took a deep breath in an attempt to bottle the simmering rage that was threatening to erupt.
"I think I'll answer that question with another question. He abuses you, doesn't he, Murayama?" My question was curt and hit like a baseball bat to the face.
She flinched back, panic surging in her eyes before being smothered by rage, "The hell kinda question is that!? Of course not!"
"And yet, your outfit and current injuries tell a different tale," I countered.
"I told you I was jumped by a guy!" Murayama fired back as heatedly as before; her face had turned a fiery red as she screamed at me. Her last retort gave me an opening in her story and I pounced on it.
"You did, but you also omitted any and all physical detail that you could have given me on your would-be attacker. Also, did you just say 'guy' as in only one? When I asked you just a few hours ago, you said 'thugs', as in multiple," I caught her within the web of lies that she herself had wove. Now, the fiery-red that decorated her face turned ash-gray. Murayama had been caught red-handed and her own reaction wouldn't allow her to take it back.
The other members of the club began to murmur; they had been told a similar lie as I had. With my victory secured, I pushed my advantage with a ferocity that I didn't know I possessed.
"I'm not blind, Murayama, not stupid either. When I told you that your dad would be coming here you panicked and tried standing upright, even though you were injured! Not to mention, that after your spar with Katase, you forced yourself to go slack to make yourself seem relaxed!" My declaration seemed to physically hurt her from how hard she flinched.
"Mores is telling the truth," katase added defiantly. "I helped Murayama up with him and I could feel you slacken on purpose," with that, my argument had the weight of the world behind it as far as the club was concerned. Murayama looked at Katase with a look of betrayal and panic.
"Your father got the message that he was allowed to watch the matches, which I will be revoking as soon as possible, mere hours after I turned it in. That's suspicious, especially since this school takes nearly a day, at minimum, to send notices to parents. Good God, Murayama, he's been stalking you!" My voice came out sharper than it needed to, but it served its purpose as the entire club was glaring daggers at Murayama's father.
"You're wrong," she whispered. "He's just friends with the principal and just sent me dad the message."
I doubt that Murayama even believed what she had been saying. She had been shaking violently; her head was pointed down to stare at her feet instead of looking me in the eye. I didn't know if she was doing it out of shame or mortification that such a thing was brought out in front of the whole club. That hadn't been my best move, but my emotions placed her in that situation and my cunning got her out of it.
"What else has he done to you? It isn't just physical abuse, is it?" My voice was comforting; I already had a good idea about what he did to her, but I hadn't wanted to open that can of worms in public. I had already done enough as it was. She looked up at me, her eyes drowning with sorrow. At that exact moment, I can truly say I felt like a dick for bringing out her problems into the open like that.
"Let us help you! We're your friends, aren't we?" I held out my hand to her, cheesy as it was, it felt right.
For just a moment, Murayama looked like she would accept my outstretched offer for help. She raised her hand up to mine, but instead of grasping it, she smacked it away.
"You are my coach, they are my club mates. Don't mistake that for friendship," she said coldly. I was stunned into silence, as was everyone else. I knew it was utter horse shit, but it still hurt. Murayama helped her father to his feet and then she just walked away with the monster.
With a shattering of glass, the Star Arcana leveled up to 9, 'Hell of a way for that to happen!'
Katase ran after Murayama and her father, same as I did. By the time I caught up to Katase, all we could do was watch the disappear around the corner.
'Shit. Did I push too hard?' I thought while I reached under my mask to pinch the bridge of my nose. I had really screwed the pooch on that one.
"Why?" I turned my head to see that Katase had started to cry. I. . . didn't really know what to do in that situation, so I just sorta stood there, staring out into space. Waiting for the eruption that would soon commence.
"Why did she go with him!? If you're right, he's a monster in human skin! So, why. . . why did she go with him? Why did she say things? Why?" Katase was openly bawling on the ground at that point. At the time, I didn't understand it either.
'Maybe it has something to do with family loyalty, something that ties them together. Regardless, I can't answer her questions.' I could feel my own eyes start to mist up, but I blinked away the tears.
'Men aren't supposed to cry in public,' my father's voice echoed inside my mind.
'He's right,' I bottled down the offending emotion and threw it away. Crying wouldn't help anyone. So, I got down to Katase's level and began to rub her back. 'It works on siblings, no reason it can't work here.'
Miraculously, my plan does indeed work as Katase began to calm down and she eventually stopped crying. I was surprised, but grateful that it had worked. No new skill had popped up, so I assumed that it was a given ability, like Magic Circles. When Katase finally managed to calm down, she looked up at me and wordlessly asked me to answer her questions.
"I don't know why she's protecting him. But, I do know that what she said back there was just another lie. We both know that. Now, let's go find her!" I declared encouragingly. "I'll search around and ask anyone if they know her home address. If you get it, text me. Here's my number, just in case."
I reached into my pocket to subtly access my inventory in front of Katase. I pulled out a pen and a slip of paper that I wrote my phone number on. Katase took it, stared at the number, then nodded with fierce determination. She raced off to do what I asked of her. I chuckled, while I stared at the blood from Murayama's father that still coated my hands.
'I have an idea, but I can't exactly be seen summoning them,' I ran down the road, in the opposite direction of Katase, until I was sure nobody was around. Then, I used up a bit of my Mana to activate my newest skill.
"Summon Skeletal Hounds!" My minions arose from the magic circle I had created. If I had to guess, I would've said they were German Shepherds. But, with only bones and a general shape of a large dog, I really couldn't say for sure. Their only defining feature, besides the bones, were the blood-red eyes that resembled my own.
"Find the creature whose blood coats my hands. Avoid being spotted, if all possible. A friend of mine is in trouble and, if you are seen, it will disrupt the mission," I gave my pack their orders with the utmost authority. They sniffed the blood on my hands then, when they got the scent, they dashed off.
I grew my wings and took off after them. The glitched quest screen crossed out yet another unknown objective, but then it finally unencrypted itself.
Arcana Quest: Saving a Falling Star
Current Objective: Save Murayama from her monster father.
Bonus Objective: Unknown
Rewards: ? ? ?
Penalties for Failure: Loss of the Star Arcana; Unable to use all Star Arcana Personas
Accept: Y/N
Even if the option to refuse the quest was removed, I would have still accepted.
'I need to hurry! Who knows what's going on!'
[POV Shift! Murayama First Person]
I am beyond exhausted when I finally manage to drag both myself and my father to our home. What I said to the club is still rattling around in my mind.
'They'll be better off, surely they would,' I get shaken out of my thoughts when my father yelled at me as he pours antiseptic onto his broken arm.
"That little bastard! Doing this to me when my guard was down. I'll kill him next time I see him," my dad murmurs as he bandages his arm and took multiple drugs to numb the pain. My father had always treated his own injuries instead of going to a hospital, it was just how he did things.
"I didn't expect Coach to attack you like that," I say without thinking. My father immediately looked at me with his familiar glare; the same one that he always gives me when he's beyond pissed off.
"Coach? That psycho runs your club? Who the hell elected such a madman!?" He growls at me before turning to grab some ale from the cabinet.
After hearing him say that, I can't help but remember that it was Katase and I who strong-armed Mores into being our coach. He had been so confused, but just shrugged it off and went with it; just like he did with everything unexpected.
"I did," I whisper quietly, so he couldn't hear me. But, he stopped his rummaging and to face me.
"Care to repeat what you just said?" His voice is calm, but his eyes are anything but.
"I was the one who elected him to be our coach," I tell him, slightly louder this time; his eyebrows only went up.
"He's a goddamn nutcase! Look at what he did to my arm! Why the hell did you elect him, of all people, to be your coach!?" A small spark ignited inside me, growing strong enough to overpower my fear. For the first time, I'm standing up straight in this house.
"Mores is reliable, smart, resourceful, and he actually gives a damn about helping us! He trains us until our bodies are falling apart, but we do his hellish training regardless. We do it because Mores has our, not his, our interests at heart. He's been a better friend to me in the past few days, then you have been a father in my entire life!" I screamed out the last part. When I realized what I had said, I immediately cover my mouth out of fear.
My father has a devastated look on his face, before it mutates into the snarling beast that I still have nightmares about. Before I can move to defend myself, he has his hands around my throat. The two of us go down to the floor as I struggle to breath. My eyes widen as he unfurls his belt. I try to scream, but his hands around my throat only allow a small gasp to escape.
"You ungrateful brat! I've worked my entire life to make sure you could live your own life better than I've lived my own shitty life. Dozens of hours and even more alcohol gone, to make sure your life was better; so, you can leave this shit town! I lost the love of my life, because I spent more time with your care than with her! I became a drunk fucker because of you, and I've had enough of you lip to last a lifetime!" My father's grip only tightens as his rant becomes even more visceral. I wheeze in an attempt to call for help, but I can't.
'No, God, please not again,' that thought keeps looping through my mind, over and over again.
"Now? Now, I'm going to take the payment that I deserve! I've watched you grow into a stunning woman for your age! I didn't want to hurt you again, like I did so long ago, but now? I no longer care! I'm done!" I scream bloody murder in my mind, but all that came out was more pathetic wheezes and coughs. Tears are pouring down my face from the pain and I can't stop them.
He has my arms pinned above my head and my legs pinned under his body. I can't move. I can't move!
'Get off! Please get off! Please, for the love of God, get off of me, Dad!' I want to say all those things and more, but his hands are still around my throat and I can't. I start to lose consciousness as his grip tightens, 'No. I don't wanna die. . . it's getting darker. . . why. . . why me?'
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" I can hear a familiar voice scream. I feel my father get off me and I inhaled a stuttered breath. My vision is blurry, but it begins to go back to normal as I breath in more precious oxygen. I feel something cover my body, it feels like a cape.
"Use that, I'll handle this for now," that voice; comforting as it is familiar, it reassures me. My vision is starting to come back fully now. What I see when it finally comes into focus shocked me to my very core.
Mores, my coach and my friend, is standing in front of me. The roof of my house is caved in, allowing the last dregs of sunlight to illuminate the room. My father is embedded in the plaster wall across from us. His face is broken and Mores' leg is covered in fresh blood. Four monstrous, skeletal wings stretch out from Mores' back. They're bent at an angle, so they weren't exploding out of my home. Yet, they still scratched the walls and ceiling of the house.
'Mores has wings!? That's impossible! People don't have wings!' My mind tries to deny what my other senses are telling me is true. Mores looks ready to murder my father. I try to stop him, but my legs refuse to move and my voice is still recovering from what my dad did to my throat.
He walks toward my groaning father; chaotic red flames burn in his right hand and pitch-black darkness oozes from his left.
'This is really happening, oh my god!'
[POV Return!]
I could feel myself becoming angrier the more I looked at the pitiful excuse of a man that had been in front of me. He wasn't even a man in my eyes, just a pitiful excuse for a sentient creature. My strongest elements tried to escape my hands; they wanted to destroy him as I much as I did.
Murayama's father struggled to his feet, still dazed from my entry. I wouldn't allow him even a moment's rest. He pulled himself up and tried to throw a punch at me, but it had been so sloppy that it passed by without even touching me.
I grabbed his outstretched arm with my right hand and gripped it like a vice. The raw chaos consumed his arm, melting it slowly. I wanted him to experience pain. Pain unlike anything conceived in his insectoid mind.
I kneed him in the throat the very instant that he tried to scream; his vocal cords collapsed without released his screams of pain. Murayama's father wheezed from the agony of his situation, but I wasn't even close to being through with him.
I ripped off the remains of his left arm and fed it to the deep dark that dwelled within my left hand. My chaotic flames cauterized the wound as I couldn't have him bleeding out before I was finished.
I focused my attention of the man's right arm, but I didn't let the darkness consume it nor let my flames reduce it to ash. Instead, I just grabbed the limb and ground it to dust in my hands. He wheezed from the agony of having his arm turned into a bleeding, inflatable toy.
I kicked him through the wall, this time. His ribs were shattered, if they hadn't already been broken.
I strolled over to his bleeding and broken body. I knew he couldn't escape me, so I took my time in walking over to him. My foot falls cracked the pavement beneath me as I drew my sword in order to rid the world of his pitiful existence.
I slammed my foot onto his throat to keep him from moving in any way. He tried to move his arms, but one was merely a stump and the other would move no longer. A cruel smirk lit up my face; I could tell that he knew I was smiling at him, despite my mask. I brought my blade up and, in the same instant, plunged it down.
"Wai- *Cough* *Cough*. . . Wait!"
My blade stopped mere nanometers away from my victim's eye. If he would have blinked, the blade would have cut through his eyelids. That raspy voice, I couldn't quite understand it from all the coughing. My neck snapped to the side as I turned to look Murayama in the eye. A bruise had been starting to form on her neck from what her bastard father had done to her. But, she was crying and, at the time, I didn't understand why.
"This man has tortured you, mentally, physically, and sexually for God knows how long! Why did you stop me?" I had accidently voiced my thoughts. I couldn't understand it at all. That man had been the definition of scum of the Earth, so why did she save her tormentor.
She grabbed her throat as she tried to speak; the pain she was experiencing stopped her for a moment, before she managed to force it out.
"He's my father, he's all I have," Murayama rasped out, coughing horribly immediately afterwards.
I still couldn't see what that had to do with keeping him alive. But, I gave one more animalistic growl before I stepped off the man. I popped open a lesser healing potion and forced it down the bastard's throat. It would heal his limbs, but they would be horribly scared and utterly useless for the rest of his pitiful life.
I dropped him onto the ground a moment later and rushed over to Murayama. I used every resource I had to bring her back to full health. Despite her complete recovery, Murayama still clutched my cape with all her strength; I didn't take it back. Instead, I choose to sit next to her.
"Your father will have to go to jail, at minimum," I told her; Murayama nodded slowly in response.
I went to take out my phone to call the police, but she stopped me. I nearly shook her off, but I stopped myself when I saw the broken expression on her face. I put the phone back in my pocket and she visibly relaxed. I wanted to say something to her, but nothing came out.
I had absolutely no experience in that department, nor did I know how to comfort her. So, I just sat there, staring ahead looking like a complete fool. I prayed to whatever deity I could think of to give me something to say before the situation became awkward.
"Can I stay at your place tonight?" She asked me; her voice was so quiet, it was almost a whisper.
I nodded and helped her up; I made a mental note to call the police later to take Murayama's dirtbag father away. At that moment, I just used my magic to bind him so he couldn't run away. Murayama and I walked out the front door; she nearly went for the car, but I just unfurled my wings.
"Flying is always faster," I had pointed out. She nodded, but I could tell that she hadn't really listened. She just absorbed the information. I carefully picked her up and placed her on my back. I turned my head to look at her, "Hang on tight!"
Murayama screamed in surprise as I shot into the sky; she nearly strangled me from how tight she had been holding on to me. I managed to endure her grip until I leveled out; when I turned my head, Murayama had her eyes shut tight. I chuckled as I poked her in the head with one of the bones in my wings.
"You don't wanna miss this, trust me," and she did. Murayama's eyes sparkled like diamonds as she saw the town she had grown up in from an aerial view. I didn't do any tricks to avoid ruining the enjoyment she was experiencing from such a sight. The journey to my place was as calm as it was windy; neither of us exchanged any words, we were just taking in the sight of it all.
'Wonder if New York City would look this good,' I thought as my house approached. As carefully as I could, I descended onto the walkway. Murayama hopped off my back and we went inside.
I turned the lights on as Murayama took a seat on the sofa, I joined her a moment later. Silence filled the room for a few seconds. After a while, I heard a light sniffling. The room was so quiet that I managed to hear the sound of tears hitting cloth.
I turned my head and spotted the culprit desperately trying not cry, but failing miserably. I still had no idea what I was supposed to do, so I took a page out of my older sibling handbook. I inched closer to her, until our knees nearly touched. Then, I slowly pulled her close and hugged her.
It worked wonders, the flood gates opened immediately and Murayama had started bawling like a child. I stroked her hair and said the first comforting thing I could think of that wasn't, it's okay.
"You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you here," I said this in the most calming way that I could. My wings enclosed the both of us in a bony cocoon of sorts. It was warm and even I felt calmer than before. The same thing was happening to Murayama as her breathing began to slow.
Soon, her cries had faded into whimpers and those faded into soft snores. I snorted softly when I realized she had fallen asleep. I didn't dare move for another five minutes or so, but then my legs had begun to fall asleep themselves. So, I gently moved her off my chest and onto the couch. I grabbed one of my throw pillows and laid it under Murayama's head. I also found a nearby blanket and tucked her in.
The second that I had finished, I heard a choir of voices sing triumphantly as two screens popped into existence in front of my face. The first was a screen that had told me that my stats had all increased by 10, which I was very happy about. The second was the one I had been waiting for.
Congratulations you have maxed out the Star Arcana.
Rank: 10/10
Abilities: Kendo Meetings: Since you've befriended one of the leaders of the kendo club you are allowed into their meetings and sometimes their sparring matches. Chance of increasing Dex, Vit and Wis, but it requires two-four hours of free time.
One of us, one of us!: Since you have helped them grow stronger the Kendo club and, by extension, the captains have made you their coach and confidant. This has many possibilities which means showers, you lucky bastard! Unlocks access to the club showers; 99% chance of a orgy happening if you ask while in the showers. 1% chance of them asking you while in the showers.
Best coach ever!: Your position as Coach has made the Kendo Club trust you more! The Kendo Club members are 50% more likely to ask for your help, personal or otherwise; when done successfully +10 to all stats.
Rising star: Due to your relationship with the kendo club and the star captain, not only do you have access to any and all Star Arcana Personas; you also get a special surprise when you fall asleep tonight. Note: this surprise is not sex and the second half of this message will disappear after claiming the surprise.
I wasn't expecting sex, but I was definitely intrigued by what such a surprise could be. So, I turned off all the lights and tiptoed upstairs. I collapsed in my bed the instant I stepped into my room. Eager to see what surprise I had gotten, I close my eyes and let Morpheus embrace me.
I had expected to see my castle when I fell asleep, but my present did not take place there. Instead, I had been brought to a desert; it was a very familiar desert too. One that I had remembered from the Gun-Gale-Online story arc of Sword Art Online. I assumed that meant I would get to meet a character from SAO and I only had one response to that.
'FUCK YEAH!' I screamed in my mind, fist-pumping over and over again. I wondered who I would meet. 'I hope it's Kirito! Or Asuna! Or Sinon, or Yuuki; hell, I'd even take Klein!'
I would've been very happy to meet Klein; he had so little screen time, yet so much personality. It was amazing! I had been so excited that I never noticed that I was being watched. That is, until someone shot a dart into my neck.
I pulled it out of my throat, my low-leveled Poison Resistance was enough to negate the paralysis effect of the dart.
"Only one character in this show uses a silenced weapon and he ain't a hero," I said to myself; I put the dart I had been hit with in my inventory for later analysis. [Omega Note: Because it's now a small pet-peeve of mine, there is no such thing as a silenced weapon! It's a suppressed weapon! I would've changed it in editing, but Mores himself does not know this bit of information, therefore it has to stay]
I dropped low to the ground while looking for where I'd been hit from. All I saw was sand and random debris for miles. It wasn't long before he fired another dart, but this time I had managed to catch it before it could pierce my skin. I turned around and, for a brief moment, I saw the flicker of his cloak's Camouflage skill activate.
I charged the spot where I saw the flicker. As soon as I did though, a hail of bullets rained down onto me. Now, those had actually hurt quite a bit.
I reached into my inventory and managed to pull out the tower shield I had gotten from the first mini-boss I had killed. The bullets pinged off the massive shield; I would have guessed it to be made of titanium or reinforced steel. Either way, it allowed me to charge toward to cloaked killer.
Unfortunately, I still needed to see in order to charge him, which gave the infamous sniper a perfect shot at my head. I managed to dodge most of the bullets, but he got lucky with one of them and nearly blew my eye out.
'God! That hurts!' I thought as used my spar hand to use my Healing Hands skills and fix the damage he did to my face. At that point, i was almost upon him.
My opponent's camouflage dispersed as he jumped towards me; He vaulted over my massive shield at the same time as he drew his estoc. It was at that moment that it finally became a reality for me.
I was truly face to face with Death Gun(aka Red-Eyed XaXa), second hand to the guild leader of Laughing Coffin. The most threatening villain of Gun Gale Online.
"Observe," I whispered; I shoved my tower shield into my inventory as the info screen popped into view.
Shinkawa Shouichi
Titles: Death Gun/Sterben/Red-Eyed XaXa
Level: 400
Race: Human/Devil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Bio: A die-hard member of the disbanded killer guild, Laughing Coffin. He is a extremely skilled killer and takes serious pride in his craft. He was the quiet-type until, he was trapped inside Sword Art Online. In the game, he found his true calling, being a red player. When it ended, Shouichi created a way to continue his work. Not for long, as he was soon stopped by Kazuto Kirigaya; although, he may have won that fight if it wasn't for outside interference. On the transition to this world, his body mutated, which turned him into a human-devil hybrid. What was once Shinkawa Shouichi is now the avatar he dreamed of being. It would be such a shame to let this opportunity disappear.
That bio was much longer than I was used to seeing them.
"So, you are the false swordsman the chaos god told I would meet," Death Gun taunted; I didn't rise to the obvious bait. Instead, I did the exact opposite.
"Oh yeah, that's me to a T. I don't even know how to use this thing properly," I waved around my sword as an example. My magic became fully-prepared as XaXa's mask hissed out steam. "We can't all be Laughing Coffin members who've spent over two years killing innocent people."
My joke wasn't lost on the psychopath as he started laughing hysterically.
"I guess so," he agreed with psychotic glee present in his voice. "So, you know what I do best?"
"Hard not to recognize a true red-player when I see one. That, and your emblem is on your wrist," I pointed to the poorly-concealed Laughing Coffin emblem. He also looked down at it and merely chuckled before ripping off the bandages to show the mark in its full glory.
"I have no reason to hide my mark anymore," he declared with a sick sense of pride. "Now, why waste anymore of your last breathes by talking?"
"I couldn't agree more, XaXa," I gave the killer a dark smirk beneath my mask. "But, I'm not the one dying tonight!"
[BGM Start: 'Save Yourself' by My Darkest Days]
I summoned my scythe from inside my inventory and it soared into my waiting hands. Death Gun readied his pistol in one hand and, at the same time, got into a fencing position with his estoc; it was a very odd way to fight, but I know from first-hand experience that it's deadly.
For a few moments, everything was absolutely quiet. Then, a calm wind blew past us and signalled the beginning of our fight!
Within an instant, we clashed in the air; estoc against katana. Shockwaves boomed from our clash, forcing us apart from the impact itself. I was fast with my recovery, but XaXa was already on top of me when I did.
At the moment he slashed at me, I dodged to the side and the blade missed me. But, XaXa grabbed me by the arm before I could do much else and had thrown me in front of him. Death Gun lunged at me, but I managed to get my bearings in time to parry the blow with my scythe's pole. At the same time, I countered his attack by swinging my weapon and having it slam into XaXa's shoulder.
He growled in pain, but managed to recover faster than I had been prepared for. Death Gun thrust forward with his estoc through my mask and into my eye socket.
I screamed bloody murder from the immense pain, then I used my Earth element to open a fissure in the ground under XaXa. He fell into it; I doubt he had been expecting me to use magic.
Gamer's Body healed my eye, while I used Healing Hands to restore my HP. I healed myself just in time to dodge another sword trying to impale itself on me. Being thrown down a hole had only made XaXa angrier and thus, much faster.
The sun's glare had been my only guide to blocking my opponent's small weapon. My scythe had blocked whatever I couldn't dodge, but even then, I felt XaXa's blade rake across my knuckles in an attempt to weaken my guard.
I filled the air with my mana to create an instant dust storm in the palm of my hand. Then, I slammed my storm down onto my slippery devil of an opponent. Death Gun grunted from the force of the air pressure that had been pushing down on him, but he slowly managed to stand against it.
I activated my Earth element again in tandem with my air; it kept XaXa down as I opened another crack in the ground. The Laughing Coffin member fell into my trap once again. Then, by using my Earth element, I used the ground that surrounded XaXa down below and I slammed them together.
"Almighty Crush!" I bellowed as my magic made the Earth grind into XaXa like a car crusher.
In response, the psychotic man just began to laugh more and more. Whatever he had been doing wasn't very good for me as the earth that I had been attacking him with began to shake. The ground exploded as Death Gun rocketed into the air. There were two pairs of black, bat wings attached to his back, just like me. Although, compared to mine, his were a bit smaller.
Sterben flew down towards me; breaking the sound barrier from the speed of his descent. I only just managed to guard against his wild slash as the ground around us turned into a crater.
With incredible speed, XaXa flew around my guard and stabbed me in the shoulder. I roared in pain as instinctively reached around to grab my injured shoulder. But, he punished my careless move by stabbing through my hand.
Despite the pain, being stabbed gave me an opening to attack. I used XaXa's own shadow to impale stab him in the stomach. The estoc-weilder gasped from my surprise attack and dropped his guard, which allowed m to hook him onto my scythe.
I spun around and flung him off of my scythe and into the sky. My own bony wings sprouted from my back as I launched myself skyward. I readied my katana and forced as much Fire and Dark element as I possibly could into the blade.
The blade erupted into black flames as the two clashing powers were forced to converge; although, I knew they wouldn't be like that for very long. Death Gun managed to regain his equilibrium and lunged at me with his estoc. To my surprise, he blade also erupted in flame with what I assumed had been a sword skill.
As we drew nearer to each other, a clash was all but inevitable. However, I've never dealt with inevitable.
So, I waited until the last possible moment, when our blades were so close they were nearly touching. It was when we were on the brink of clashing that I struck! I forced my wings to disappear, which made me immediately descend and fall just under XaXa's blade.
XaXa tried to bring his weapon down in time to stab my skull, but by then, it had already been far too late. My wings resurfaced and I thrust my sword into his chest as Death Gun's estoc struck my bone wings. Both of us lost our balance and we were sent plummeting back to the ground below.
I was still on him when we had begun to fall, which is why I hadn't seen the punch coming until it was too late. Death Gun wasn't quite done with me just yet. I was shocked that he was still alive, too shocked to properly block his assault.
XaXa managed to bring his knee up and flip our positions while in the air. He removed my sword from his chest cavity and threw it away in the same motion. The ex-Laughing Coffin member just kept attacking me with his wild punches, but thankfully, I got my guard up properly and countered one of his attacks. He reared back his fist to punch me and, at the same time, I jabbed my elbow upwards. It impacted with Sterben's chin which flipped him off of me. But, I wasn't done with him just yet.
I reached out and grabbed his leg as I poured as much mana as I possibly could into my arm. With strength equivalent to the incredible Hulk, I slammed XaXa into the ground hard enough to create a giant mushroom cloud of sand.
[BGM End]
"Son of a bitch. . . " I rubbed my incredibly-sore right arm to stave off the pain. Infusing that much mana into a body not meant for physical combat had not been my smartest idea. But, it had been one made under duress so I think I can get a pass. Didn't take me long to notice the pain was quickly starting to fade. 'Thank God for Gamer's Body!'
I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the battle was finally over and I had been the one left standing. But, after a moment, I realized I wasn't getting any new windows or anything like that.
I was very confused for a few moments, but then I came to a realization and peaked over the edge of the crater. Death Gun was still alive! My eyes bugged out of my head and my jaw dropped like a rock in the ocean. All of his limbs were broken and he still had a stab wound in his gut, but the serial killer still managed to stubbornly sit up.
'Even after all that, he's still kicking,' I thought with what I can only define and complete and utter respect.
'Good lord, no wonder this guy almost beat Jesus-kun. . . I know it's a dead meme, but I will keep saying it until it stops being true.' I justified to myself and possibly Bahamut, since I could feel him rolling his eyes; still don't know how I know that, I just do.
I briefly glared at my arm before I slid down into the massive crater I had made. Somehow, Death Gun managed to get on a knee and stood to his feet shakely. I could hear the sound of his bones breaking even further.
"That can't be healthy," I accidently stated aloud. XaXa tried to turn around, whether to stab me or glare at me I didn't know, but he fell on his ass instead. He just sat there giving me a weak glare. I hummed in thought, then I got a very wicked idea.
"Why don't you come work for me?" I asked him as I crouched down to his eye level. "It's not like you have anything better to do, XaXa."
"What do you possible have that I would want, Reaper?" Death Gun asked me; I could tell he was intrigued, but he wanted to see what he could get.
"Why, the chance to kill again, of course," I informed him casually. He sat up so fast that I almost forgot that his bones had been broken.
"Can you guarantee this?" XaXa asked; his bloodlust was clearly showing, even with his mask on. In response, I grinned maniacally at him from behind my mask.
"Of course! Monsters, humans, devils, fallen angels, and perhaps, even a few gods," Death Gun was shaking with murderous glee. "So, why do you say, Red-Eyes? Would you rather rot in a cell for the rest of your life or, would you like to be able to kill without the Black Swordsman getting in your way?"
He enthusiastically agreed with my proposal. I grabbed his broken hand while my other hand inscribed my own personal magic circle under his Laughing Coffin emblem. His status page opened and changed his race from Human/Devil hybrid to Reaper; XaXa's alignment changed to my own, as well.
"It'll be fun fighting next to you, Boss," Death Gun told me as he kneeled. I returned the sentiment as XaXa disappeared into a cloud of ash. It was after that the screens finally showed up.
+50 Dex for defeating 'Estoc Master'
+100 Int and Wis for using wit to gain a new ally
+20 Fire Element from continuous use in battle
+40 Earth Element from continuous use in battle
+30 Wind Element from continuous use in battle
+30 Dark Element from continuous use in battle
New Skill(s) Created!
Symbol of Death(Active) Level: MAX MP Cost: All Effect: Allows you to mark the enemies that you have defeated and add them to your own forces. There are three requirements that must be met to activate this skill:
1. The being that you mark must be identified as a 'Boss' or 'Mini-Boss'
2. They can not be apart of the DxD Universe; this skill will not affect any person, animal, or being that was born in the DxD world
3. You must defeat the Boss in one-on-one combat. If they bring help then it's fair game to summon.
Summon Death Gun(Active) Level: MAX MP Cost: 100 MP per minute summoned Effect: This skill will allow you to summon Red-Eyed XaXa, aka Death Gun, to fight by your side. You have beaten the True Red-Player and he shall fight and kill for you. And he will kill those he fights, so do not summon if you care about your opponent's life.
New Quest Has Been Created!
The Hidden Summons of the Taro
Instead of an obtaining an Ultimate Persona, when you max out a Confidant you will have to fight a powerful Boss Monster. Winning the fight will allow you to bring that Boss into your own forces. I wonder what else awaits you in your next maxed-out Arcana?
Reward: 200 Levels per Boss; Extra-Powerful Summon
Failure: Death
You can not refuse this Quest
I stared at the quest for more than a few moments, then I began to laugh. There hadn't even been a way to deny the quest, I had no choice in the matter. So, I just accepted the hand I had been dealt with a mad cackle; that cackle morphed into the deranged laughter of a madman. I continued to laugh, even as the desert sky began to fade away into nothingness.
'ThIS WiLL Be fUn," a monstrous voice echoed; I couldn't have agreed with it more if I had tried. In the midst of my insanity, I didn't even question the voice. In hindsight, I probably should have.
Waking up after that intense adrenaline rush of a battle had been something of a bummer. Although, my bed had felt a bit warmer than it usually was; my left also felt heavier than it normally did. . .
'Someone else is in my bed, aren't they?' I carefully lifted the covers with my free hand and found the most adorable sight. Lily, my adopted little sister, was hugging my arm. 'How did she even get here?'
I had been beyond confused by the situation; that is, until I saw the note laid on top of her. I carefully plucked the note off her head; Lily groaned in the process, but thankfully stayed sleeping.
'I figured that having some cuteness incarnate cuddle you while you slept would cheer you up some, you damn edgelord. Love, Ragnorak,' a tick mark popped into existence on my head.
'I am not an edgelord, dammit!' I screamed within the confines of my own mind. 'Why does everyone think that!? I know that I where my armor all the time, but I'm a paranoid son of a bitch! That doesn't make me an edgelord dammit! I am not Sasuke!'
I mentally cussed out and ranted my GM for a few moments, but then a thought occurred to me. Lily alone wouldn't have made much of a weight difference. That's when I lifted the covers up higher and found Murayama resting her head on my left thigh, while also snuggling with the rest of my leg.
'That can't be good,' I saw another note sitting on her head. 'Oh dear god, no.'
'I also thought that you might like some. . . adult company. :) PS. you'd better start pillaging this princess' dungeon, man! You've got a golden opportunity here! It's probably the only chance you have of getting laid. Once again, with love, Ragnorak,' I quite promptly burnt that note into ash. Half because of my rage and half because of the overwhelming sense of wrongness.
'She is three years younger than me, dammit! Age is just a number and prison is just a room, right, Ragnorak?' I scoffed mentally. As I started to get myself out of bed both girls, mostly Murayama, pulled me back down. 'Ah hell. . . Wonder if I can get away without getting slapped or punched in the nuts. . . shit, probably not. Help! Bahamut stop laughing and start helping me!'
Alas, my partner refused and just continued to laugh at my dilemma. {What's wrong, Partner? Don't you like having an attractive young woman sleeping in your bed?}
'It's not that; it's just that she almost got raped/killed by her father! Have some decency or tact, or both for that matter!' As the two of us continued to argue about the appropriate wait time for sleeping with a woman after she'd been assaulted by her father, I couldn't help but lament my situation.
'Why the hell did I get the troll GM?!'
Like it was said before, this will be the last chapter of Reaper DXD worked on by my good friend OmegaKenchi. So that means it's back to my normal writing style, to fans who've been with me since the beginning you know what to expect but don't worry! The Great wall of china texts are gone and never coming back! Just my bad grammar. So hopefully my story doesn't become a nightmare to read, see you next time!
Ps: If my story gets so badly written that you guys can't stay on then please go to Omega's story, he's most certainly earned it.