Made some changes, and also decided too make the tone more, serious, its been a while since the last update, work is a killer

I decided to remove like, all the complicated numbers until later. I'll probably re-insert them into the fic once I'm ready to deal with math. Anyway enjoy this chapter, leave any critique and stuff below.

No, pointing out I dislike Issei and that this is a gamer insert fic is not something I count as a critique.

Chapter 2 School Start

Honestly I should've read the fine print when it comes to merging personalities, because right now it more feels like Nobunaga is devouring my soul.

As we walked to the school, my mind slowly clouded itself more with each step. The force of personality of Nobu is too strong for some random guy that only lived 1/3rd of their lifespan. Sure there are traits and knowledge of mine that allow me to stick out, but against someone like the Sengoku warlord that just meant a little more time to absorb all of that. Honestly I should've asked for another option if I knew it was going to end up like this, my mind literally getting crushed into obedience by a foreign consciousness. While the lungs were operating within the body, I still felt myself suffocating, scratch that, I was outright drowning in the abyss. All my nerves felt numb, or searingly painful, as if they were torn and wrested without care from my control.

So each step was more confident, my vision was dimming, that's what I get for my hubris I guess from reading too many self inserts. Until finally Bernkastel spoke up. "Nobunaga, make sure his consciousness remains. Featherine pulled him, not you, and if he's gone you're going with him."

It wasn't a threat, but instead a rather blunt promise. This mentally stopped Nobunaga, who sighed and forcibly had to lesser her presence in our mind so that the merger became equal. A sigh of relief then left the lips of my new body. Had she waited a couple more seconds I would've been completely lost in the merger, but now it feels like I actually have room to breathe without worrying on getting sucked out of existence. That was definitely a reality check, sure my potential was higher, but I can still get fucked up,

"Thank you, I love Nobunaga and all, but I'd rather not have my mind extinguished, this is far.. Better. I'll still identify as Nobunaga, but its good to have an equal share up here." My mind felt a lot less suffocating now, the walk becoming a mix of the confident stride of the warlord, and the disciplined march of my own doing, letting mainly my instincts drive my wandering for now. We are now more properly one. And it'll stay that way. It feels like I can more readily draw on the memories that Nobunaga has, as well as on the experiences they brought with them in this merger. Bernkastel merely responded by rolling her eyes and giving a small sigh as she continued leading the way.

This must be how Shirou felt, but he probably had it even worse whenever he used Archer's arm in the Heaven's Feel route. I still feel like dog shit mentally, but at least I'm allowed to rest and not continue to struggle. This also finally gave me time to poke around the newly gained memories. Nobunaga lead an interesting life, more than mine by a long shot. I recognized a lot of figures as the fate rendition of those characters, like Mitsuhide, Chacha, Nobukatsu, Mori, and some others. The rest I could guess, like Yasuke, Kitsuno, and other figures important in Nobunaga's life. It still feels more like recalling a video game, rather than past events.

During this entire thought process we finally arrived at the school, and walked in through the front gate. We are earlier than expected, so myself and Bernkastel should leave a good first impression. It didn't take long to find the student council room, which had me step forward and open the door for the both of us, using observe.

Only Sona was in the room, the rest of the council must be out.

Sona Sitri

The Sitri Heiress, The New Student Council President

High Class Devil

She look at us, she seems very pleased. Looks like the arriving early bit paid off. On the topic of devils, I'll likely avoid directly involving myself in supernatural related things with them. Keep things normal until something like running into eachother while fighting a stray happens, or, something a bit more important like them directly confronting us.

"You're both here early. Oda-san and Bernkastel-san correct?" She addressed us with a serious expression and tone, and in response we both nodded. "Yes, that'll be us, I hope all of our paperwork was already handled?" She just nods in acknowledgement.

"It has been handled, thank you for being vigilant Oda-san. Now, you are both supposed to be in my class, though I don't often appear there due to student council duties. I'll give a tour and lead you two to class afterwards." She responded and then stood up, walking around the table to lead us properly to our new classroom, with myself and the Witch just following behind Sona. I took the opportunity to soak in our surroundings and map the place out. I'm glad I chose Nobu to merge with so now I can read all the Japanese writing everywhere, and understand the language easily. On another note, it's a good thing that Sona is one of the first DxD girls we met, my vision is now some mix of anime and reality, but I can tell that she is still very much stunning. She is my favorite from DxD honestly, so its reassuring that now even in front of my own eyes she looks even better than when merely a drawing.

This is also a year before canon, so I'll have time to get to know her before shit hits the fan. And from what I can see so far, I'm one of the 'experimental samples' of males here, because so far I've seen all female students in the hallways. Though with my disguise they probably thought I wasn't a guy. Sona might eventually realize, so if I wanted the greatest possible reward from that quest, I have to keep her mind occupied by distracting her with other things about me. That reminds me, this is only the second time I have cross-dressed in my life. I did it once as a kid for a play I was acting in, but other than that this is new. Then again in my old life I didn't look feminine enough so I never tried. Now though, mm, this is a bit fun. The Scottish were definitely right about skirts, this feels quite liberating.

The tour ended up in front of a classroom door, brining my thoughts to a halt. Sona opened the door for us, and stepped to the side, and when I stepped through I recognize a couple faces, mainly Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima, and Tsubaki Shinra.

Bernkastel was facing towards the class once she walked out to front, and I swiftly joined her. The teacher stood from her seat and smiled at us politely. "Welcome to the academy young ladies, you may introduce yourselves whenever you're ready." Alright cool my disguise works, at least for normal people. Bernkastel went first, I guess she just wants to get this out of the way. "I am Frederika Bernkastel. Just call me Bernkastel. Don't shorten my last name and don't use my first."

Yeah, I think she want's to keep quite a distance with people so I can't blame her. Next I smiled and stepped up to give my own introduction. "I am Oda Nobunaga, Yes, named exactly like the warlord! Am I related to them? Who knows, but I am my own person. Either way, a pleasure to meet you all!" A more bombastic introduction than whatever Bernkastel did, and in the most Nobu like tone I could muster. It definitely got attention with the perked brows, and flabberghasted looks. Even the teacher looked out of her depth before doing a handwave which was the equivalent of 'find your seats'. With a shrug I went to one of the empty seats more towards the back. Bernkastel sat nearby as well.

Tsubaki stayed in the room, glancing down at a notes she likely took before I arrived, meanwhile Sona was talking to the teacher briefly before leaving. Rias was giving me sidelong glances before turning back to the front. Fuck, I forgot about her whole predicament. She's going to be looking to recruit me, but I want no part in being a literal pawn. Devil society is fucked, an becoming another cog in it wouldn't do me any favors. Instead I need to uproot it through another method, make the politics simpler yet also more complicated while preventing myself from getting strings attached. Getting into her peerage is a strategic fumble for short term tactical gain. Oh well I guess I'll have to fend off her advances to join, and try to find a way to help more indirectly. There are a lot of stories of that sort that I read, and we do have an extra year so maybe I can jump start her self improvement drive, and get her peerage out of their funks if I manage to befriend them.

Preparing for a Chicken Dinner

Rias Gremory is a nice king, but she spoils her pieces a bit much. Prepare them properly for the eventuality of fighting for their master's freedom and have her obtain it.

Overall Reward: 100,000,000 Yen, +50 affection with all members of the Occult Research Club, +25 Affection with Sirecha Lucifer, +20 Affection with Grafia Lucifuge

Bonus Objective, A Raven That Feels No Shame: Solve Akeno's personal issues. +40 Reputation with Baraqiel, +20 Reputation with the Grigori, Gain 'Keeper of Crows' Trait

Bonus Objective, A Red Light Freed from Lock and Key: Convince Gasper to actively contribute to the team. Reward depends on outcome.

Bonus Objective, A Kitten Afraid of Their Own Shadow No Longer: Convince Shirone to come out of her shell. +40 Affection with Kuroka, Gain 'Yokai Handler' Trait

Bonus Objective, A Knight Blinded by Hate Opens Their Eyes: Get Kiba on the right path. Reward depends on outcome.

This Quest Has Hidden Objectives

Goddamn that's a huge quest, then again I have a lot of time for it, though I should get working on it rather sooner than later, rushing a shit ton of development into 10 days like Rias is supposed to get for training would be a pain.

Either way, would this sort of thing kick off the plot earlier? Will the fallen angels notice my presence and do something about it, or will they twiddle their thumbs for a whole ass year?

The Black Feathers Drop in Fall

The Fallen will be active earlier due to your presence, and will go after you and Isa Hyoudou, take care of them before they become a nuisance. The more powerful you become, the sooner they will notice you.

Overall Reward: 2,000,000 Yen, +50 affection from Isa, Gain 'Fallen Foe' Skill, New Story lines until the rest of the main plot catches up, Gain Asia as a possible companion depending on quest outcome, Gain some of the Fallen Angels as a companion depending on quest outcome

Bonus Objective, Knight in Shining Armor: Save Isa during her date. +25 Affection from Isa, Gain 'Protector' Skill, Gain 'Tracking Allies' Skill, Gain 'Perverted Observation' Upgrade.

Bonus Objective, First Impression on the Moon Lit World: Spare or Kill all, some, or none of the Fallen Angels. Reward depends on outcome.

Well that certainly answers my question. Does the game give me quests just by prompting it? Mmmm. No, the long term objectives beyond the whole Riser stuff didn't pop out for me. So there is a certain time limit, at least for now, and for the specific stuff I am trying to go for. Both of these technically are long term, and that back to school one is the very definition of a filler goal. So I need me some intermediary things to go for. Probably after I talk to Bernkastel again

Quest Complete

Back Again

Both versions of yourself have graduated from schooling already, but if you want to make good connections here, going to Kuoh will help you massively. You have around two hours to get dressed in the uniform of your choosing and get to the school.

Reward—+5 Reputation with Student Council. Gain 'Student' Skill.

Alright, that means class should start soon, lets see if anything they have to teach is interesting.

As expected, I nearly fell asleep. I need find some ghost writing spell so I never have to do this shit seriously again. Bernkastel is also emanating sheer 'get me the fuck out of here' energy. So when lunch comes around, and before we can get dogged for questions, I yank on her sleeve for us to go, she didn't even give a glare or complaint this time. We manage to get up to the roof, and got to a nice tucked away corner. Bernkastel then did a handwave, likely soundproofing whatever direction our conversation will go in. I sighed out in exasperation, and rubbed my forehead.

"Alright, start from the top." I mumbled out, sitting down.

Bernkastel needed no preamble and just started exposition dumping on me. I'm pretty sure she was just waiting to drown me in words.

"First and foremost, this multiverse right now is on training wheel mode, once those are taken off, other 'gamers' can come here, as well as you going to their worlds. this isn't a power fantasy for your sake, this is a game that is meant to entertain witches. We are admittedly excruciatingly cruel compared to the average human, so wars have broken out before in this mass game. I recommend taking your time before peeking your head out. You have the advantage of having me, and that this is a new round. You won't be 'spawn killed' as you would call it."

Well that's bloody reassuring. Unlike the fictions I read where usually there is a single gamer that gets a playground, this is more akin to inter-dimensional battle royale, all to get some weirdos to giggle. "So, is there a way to ensure we are the only ones?"

Bernkastel genuinely smiled, though the way she grinned, her teeth baring in the light, canines a bit sharper than what you would expect on a human, was uncanny, it made me very uneasy. "Kill them, or subjugate them. Then this whole sandbox becomes yours to toy with. To be fair, this won't be your concern until after you finish the plot to a couple series, but, eventually it'll rear its ugly head, and you'll have to decide, kill everyone before they have a chance, or passively join them, knowing that at any time, they could ram a sword through your back."

So my final hurdle isn't overcoming 666 here, or even beating up a Marvel god, or something fictional, but instead, dealing with people just like me, who may have had more or less time honing their power, who may have made better or worse decisions, and who are trying to live out the same dream of freedom, which comes with a downside. We are all marionettes dancing to a tune. I stayed silent for a little while before asking more.

"So is you giving the opposite suggestion how you ended up punished here?" Her smile immediately drops, and a grumble leaves her throat. I can feel her contemplating between tearing my eye out and actually answering. The eventual sigh mixed with a hiss gave way to the latter answer.

"Yes. I was the administrator for one of these mass games. These were crafted by the collaboration of the whole Senate, as unlike our normal picks of sating boredom, these games spawn millions if not billions of stories and possibilities. Admittedly, I liked the group on the last game board, so I told them not to kill eachother. Yes, rare of me, I am aware."

Bernkastel is an odd entity, her personality more matching the role she is supposed to play, rather than her true self. For example in Umineko near the end it was revealed that sometimes she and Lambda change roles on who is the good guy and bad guy of each game. She has no true ideology, no true motif, not even a way of going about things other than being entertained. To be fair she is the amalgamation of all the negative emotions Rika Furude had in Higurashi so her preferring an evil role does not surprise me. She is unheedingly cruel to everything during her story, but, that can't be the only thing to it. Witches are perhaps some of the most easily bored people of all time, I'm sure most people could get by doing their hobbies, then again, it is likely that this unyielding cruelty most of them have is their coping mechanism for their trauma. The various Beatrices, Lambdadelta, Bernkastel, even Battler all went through some truly fucking awful shit. So maybe some of them turning people into food, and all the other crazy stuff is mainly a way to come to terms with how damaged they are. A coping mechanism. Sometimes a hint of kindness will peek through that utter blackness of hatred and pain, but normally it is fake.

"The Senate tossed the board in the bin, Auaurora punished me by sending me here with you. No one tried to stop her, though I can't blame them even if they wanted to. Lambda gave some encouragement, but it doesn't help now that I'm stuck here stripped of most of my power." Her tone is usually steady, but, there was a bit of wavering with it now. I guess the one act of kindness that part of Rika influenced Bernkastel to do something nice that backfired, even if she is supposed to be this negative mass. This is the one scenario where being nice got her one step forward, and ten steps back.

"I'm guessing that if I do well then, some restrictions might be lifted, and maybe even Lambdadelta could visit you? I'll do my best on my end, since we are riding together on this." She hummed in response to my inquiry, before nodding, a satisfied hum.

"Do not disappoint me, both of our skins are riding on this." She regained a smile, though now without that malicious edge. Honestly, a much better view.

+20 Affection with Bernkastel, for listening through and not being an idiot to be stuck with

And thus her smile was dashed away by the notification, and I tried very hard to not burst out laughing. Looks like she has a bit more kindness to spare after all.

As much as I casually talked about 'waifus' and 'harems' before during the initial process, this situation is a lot more serious as Bernkastel revealed. After I clear out a certain number of worlds, I am basically then stuck on two options, keep my head in the sand but potentially get pruned for being boring, or go out and confront what is outside of my game board. This also gives an advantage to visiting more advanced worlds, though the last I will likely visit before going on to confront the other players is Dies Irae. While dealing with that world currently would put me in a casket, by the time I confront it I'm sure I have enough to face the weaker members of the Round Table. This change also means eventually I'll have to travel to the Nasuverse to gain more power as well.

Turns out this isn't my dream, my fantasy, my perfect world where I just have to put some elbow grease in to get what I want. No, I have to potentially murder and crush the dreams of an untold amount of people with similar aspirations, to show them my ambition is stronger than theirs, and to grind their skulls into new drinking cups. Would I really feel bad doing so? Well, it is either them, or me. And I know which side I'm on, the one that benefits me the most. If I have to kill them, then that shall be the outcome.

For now I will make do for DxD, all of that shit about the game has to wait, and I need to focus on the now not the much later. We both got off the rooftop and grabbed something from the school cafeteria after the talk, eating together in comfortable silence. I definitely will not be treating this as a game, sure initially I was real gun ho, but now, with that truth being hammered into my skull, no thanks.

But while I was going through all of this in my head I got a sudden notification.

Quest Complete

Girls Get It Done

Wear the Kuoh Girl's uniform and see how long it takes for others to realize you're a boy.

Reward—A rank in Presence Concealment depending how long you went without being spotted, the boys of the school won't be annoying idiots even when you do get a harem.

Reward—Presence Concealment D

Son of a bitch, who spotted it that easi- Rias must've sent Koneko to spy on me. I thought she wouldn't be here because she is supposed to be in the middle school division but well, looks like devils can bend the rules a bit, honestly dumb move of mine. I should've used the Demon King skill to change my gender outright and technically cheat, but oh well. What's done is done. Bernkastel and I make it back to the classroom after getting some snacks to pass the time better. She of course grabbed as many plums as possible, and I don't blame her.

It was another droll couple hours of going over things both of us already knew, before finally managing to get out of there. We managed to slip by our classmates again and went straight for the school gate, exiting the area. I see that we are the only ones of the few to leave, so everyone else must be caught up with club time. Instead of walking in silence, I decide to initiate a little talk. "So, do the other gamers know about what you told me?"

"Some do, some don't, it depends on which witch picked them up really. The Beatrices collectively have a champion they push for and would likely be one of the other favorites besides you. Lambda is just observing, and Battler dropped out when they threw away the last game for its peaceful ending." I hummed in response, that covers the main cast at least. "What about the others? Dlanor, Erika, those lot?"

She gave a small scoff in response, her lips neither moving up or down, but her tone clearly amused. "Dlanor is swamped by paperwork, Erika is throwing a fit because I'm stuck here with you. Hmmm, only other person I can think of is Willard, and he is just on vacation with Lion." Well that covers everyone. I let out a small sigh as we finally get to our house and I open up the door, time to get to work and set things up.

3rd Person

Two women were sitting in the Occult Research Club, two figures Nobunaga saw already. Sona Sitri, but in the school being known as Sona Shitori, and Rias Gremory. Mainly exchanging information on the two new students. "Since I won the election I was able to access their files quicker, but I'm running some probes anyway in schools across Japan in case we were duped."

Sona addressed, putting a folder on the table, and sliding it over to her red haired childhood friend. "Home schooled up until now for both. Oda as far as I have seen is connected to their ancestor in paperwork, but Bernkastel has no stated relatives or even an orphanage. I tried to track down their home school teacher, named Tohya Hachijo, but I have no leads." States Sona factually and to the point. Rias then hands her a document in turn as she picked up the one Sona gave her.

"I had Koneko come from the Middle School campus to here and scout them out during lunch. Oda-san is a he, she described him as devil like, smelling of sulfur and fire. Bernkastel-san though.. she describes her to be both empty and full. A cat but not a yokai like herself. She would've stuck around to get more, but Oda-san seemed alarmed, as if he knew he was being watched, and decided not to risk it." Rias relayed, as she opened the document Sona gave her, which had more in depth documentation compared to what was said. Meanwhile Sona read the report which Koneko wrote up.

They both put the reports down after skimming them over to fill any blanks they had, and continued their conversation. "Do you think they have Sacred Gears? Or that they outright aren't human?" Inquired Rias, as Sona put her hands together in a small bridge, formulating an assessment.

"The latter, I got to meet both close up, and neither had any feeling that would indicate a Sacred Gear. We don't know what they are, but the fact Oda feels devil like is a bit odd. Meanwhile Bernkastel being a cat but not a Yokai could potentially make her a western cat spirit, like a Cat Sith. We can't be too sure on this though." Sona presented her line of thought, before moving on to another. "I will personally invite them to the student council, they could make for interesting assets, I'll try to convince them to help you, though I cannot guarantee that they will join your peerage. I'm not sure if they would even join mine."

That perked Rias' interest up, a brow quirking. "What makes you say that?"

Sona took this moment to correct her glasses, and sat back. "Oda's eyes. When he looked at me, there was an immediate recognition, he knows who I am, I saw the same glint again when he saw you and Akeno. If the two of them were interested in being devils, they would've approached us. And its not like they are with the church or dislike us, I sensed no malice, at least directed at us." She took a small break to copy the papers Rias shared with her, before sliding them back. "Bernkastel is.. I sensed some maliciousness from her, directed at everything around. Koneko must've snooped on them at a time she was in a good mood.

That made Rias grimace and sigh. "We can figure something out, they could always help in other ways if not directly, though I prefer the direct option. Though with what they are, I don't know if evil pieces would even work on them. There are some very specific entities that do have exceptions, and I would rather not test the theory if it comes with backlash."

Sona simply agreed with a nod. Rias was thinking that there is a chance of seducing Oda over, but with how close he and Bernkastel seem, it could be a liability to go with that option. So she will let Sona help out. While the Red Head doesn't accept help often, she's become more and more desperate when it comes to Riser. Sona then broke her line of thought with a response

"On the topic of that Rias.. Riser according to our siblings' reports has been adding more to his harem recently than in the past 5 years combined, it could be an indication that he is getting, impatient. I would expect him to press you within a year, and not the two we were hoping for." That made Rias nearly freeze. While both Kings have great tactical acumen, Sona outclassed Rias when it comes to outright long term strategy. That is how she wasn't as bothered with her engagement, she already thought of several plausible solutions.

But to be fair, her fiancé wasn't Riser, the utterly pig headed man who would only take no as an answer if it was some sort of sex play. So Rias was stuck with the Rating Game option. Picking up the two newcomers would help a lot, but she doesn't want to rush. Even Sona said she had a year left, and when it came to predictions like these, she hardly ever misses.

Sona decided that they have gone over all important topics so far, and stood up, taking copies of the documents to peruse over and formulate how to set up a meeting with the two tomorrow. "I'm glad I could help Rias. If Oda is willing to join a peerage, I will point him your direction, but if he wants to join mine, I won't stop him. His ancestor is infamous for being a brilliant strategist after all, so if I could get my hands on a brain like that, it will improve my chances of making that Rating Game School."

Rias had no hard feelings, it was rather selfish of her to try and pick everyone super strong that enters the school after all. Her aspirations really end where Riser begins, getting rid of him is her only true goal. But Sona has a true dream to follow, one she is putting in potential jeopardy just to help her best friend. The two of them really are too nice to be devils at times.

"I won't complain, as long as you are willing to let me borrow him potentially. I'll owe you of course, that is simply how it is." Rias smiled and took it in stride, reclining in her seat as Sona nodded, moving to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll inform you on what happens." The student Council President says last before she walks through the door, shutting it behind her.

Rias just completely slumps back, sighing out, and closing her eyes. "Every little bit of aid helps."

Boom, complete, next chapter will be the gacha, the dungeon exploration, and then the talk with Sona. We shall see how that goes once I get to writing to it. Anyway, for the gacha I am a bit stuck on which character I should send to assist the duo of the psychopathic cat, and the demon king way over his head.

I'll leave two choices below on who they get stuck with. put it in the comments which you wan to see more, otherwise I'll just throw 'em in a randomizer and pick best out of 5.

Hina (Blue Archive)

Lappland (Arknights)

I will see you all next time.