italics - Thoughts
Bold underlined - Spells/Sword Skills
[Bold] - Ddraig
[Ddraig] - Ddraig mental speech
{Bold} - Albion speech
[Issei] - Issei mental speech with Ddraig
[Issei] - Issei speaking with Ddraig
Underlined - Timeskips/Flashbacks
"Bold" - Rating Game Announcement
Disclaimer: I do not own Highchool Dxd, Sword Art Online, or any of its characters. All rights belong to their creators.
Chapter 21: Their battles for personal gains Pt8
After Vali entered his Balance Breaker state, everything ended in a somewhat anti-climatic manner.
Vali lowered the thick aura surrounding Issei. Then, Rias had to remove her top to expose her oppai to Issei. His hands naturally went towards her nipples, resulting in his transformation disappearing in a shower of light. At that point, everyone goes back home, most of the incidents that had occurred in the Rating Game space having been resolved. Mostly because, let's face it: NOTHING ever get's tied up when the two Heavenly Dragons are involved.
Then, Issei and Asia are sent for treatments back in their home, with Kazuto and Asuna following them and giving a detailed(and edited) version of events that had occurred, plus the revelation of them being SAO survivors being revealed to the Gremory Peerage.
…at least, that was supposed to be the case…
…It was supposed to be simple, really.
Then again, when two characters who seem to be involved with events meet, things never are simple with them.
A half hour before Kazuto got to Rias, ARGUS building
The moment he pressed the button, an explosive pain erupted in the centre of Kazuto's chest, causing him to double over in pain.
"Kirto-kun!" Asuna quickly rushed towards the black-haired boy's side upon seeing him collapse. "Commander…" She growled out. "What did you do to Kirito-kun?"
Before she could do anything rash, Kazuto quickly held onto her arm.
"It's…fine, Asuna." He groaned out. "I was just caught unprepared, is all."
It was true. He had not been expecting such a violent reaction from his body. If Kazuto was being honest, it felt like a small object had been ripped out of his chest, before a larger, denser one replaced it and tried to force its way into the cavity left behind by the first, smaller object. But, as the seconds ticked by, he could feel his body adjusting to this new sensation. Now, his chest felt a dull warmth, instead of the feeling of a scalding hot iron being pressed over his lungs from earlier.
"Are you sure?" Kazuto could sense the worry behind Asuna's gaze.
"It's fine." Kazuto comforted her, this time patting her head. She froze at the sudden action, but she made no move against it. "Kayaba just gave me something. I doubt he expected such a reaction."
"Indeed I did not." Said man was looking over him with an apprising look. "I expected some mild discomfort, not that burst of pain you seemed to have felt."
Not really helping your case Kayaba. Kazuto saw Asuna's body stiffen up.
"Nevertheless, congratulations on becoming the new King of your Peerage, Kirito-kun." Kayaba smiled. "I am under your command as a Pawn, so feel free to command me as you wish."
"Wait, so does that mean Kirito can revive Yuuna?" Eiji shifted his gaze from the keeling form of Kazuto to Kayaba.
"He can." Kayaba nodded his head. "However, time is of the essence. I had managed to seal Yuuna-san from the outside world, thereby slowing down her internal error pileup. But that was only available to me as a King. Without that, I have a much weaker demonic energy output. I may have the reserves, but my output would not be able to match up to the required amount needed to keep the isolation spell going. In 300 seconds, Yuuna would be exposed to the outside world again, and 60 seconds after that, she would have self-destructed from an internal error pileup."
"No way…" Asuna muttered in shock.
"So, how do I reincarnate her?" Kazuto had heard the specifics from Rias before because he was curious, but…
"You would need the regular reincarnation spell, as well as a catalyst. Something to tie her to the physical realm." Kayaba frowned slightly. "As it is right now, she is hovering between life and death. Her soul is a foot in death's realm, a foot in the realm of life, and a foot in the realm of immortality. She is in a precarious position where if we attempt to reincarnate her, it would not be enough to bring her over fully into the plane of the living. And because of her foot into immortality, it means that there is a need for a catalyst, which we would use would ensure that she is able to stay in that realm."
"Tell me what the catalyst we should use?" Kazuto looked back at the cocoon of light which contained Yuuna, or rather, the AI copy of Yuuna. Four minutes left.
"Creator would not know." Yui interjected. "Neither would I. The catalyst he is talking about varies from person to person, but it is in essence a memory core. Data, or something similar, that represents the most precious memory for them."
Three and a half minutes left. "Most precious memory, eh?" Kazuto mused to himself. What would it be? Her last concert? First time she sang with her parents? Or would it be–
"Here." Eiji called out to the boy, before he tossed something bright towards Kazuto. Reflexively, he caught it. When he looked at his palm, he saw a small jaw, half-filled with brightly coloured lozenges.
"It's something that Yuuna used to carry around, even before we entered SAO." Eiji explained. "She passed it to me before I joined he Knights of the Blood. This should be the best catalyst."
"…Thanks Eiji." Kazuto nodded his head towards the adult. "I'll bring her back."
"You better." Next, Kazuto looked at Kayaba, who quickly told him the details of the ritual.
..
Taking a deep breath, Kazuto stood before the large magic circle, which was shrinking and growing duller with every passing second. Let's do this.
"I order, in my name Kirito." Kazuto's voice was unwavering, echoing slightly in the large space around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the other three players(two of them a part of his new Peerage) standing not too far away. "You, Yuuna, to be resurrected as my servant, and have you reborn as a devil. You, my Pawn, be delighted with your new life!"
…
…yet, nothing happened. No lights, no changes besides the magic circle.
Kazuto immediately became worried. Was the catalyst wrong? We have less than two minutes left.
"Kirito." Kayaba drew Kazuto attention to him. "You need to be more specific. You would have to define yourself. Normally, you would have to say your full name, but since I modified it to work under names which you associate with yourself, that means just your avatar name would not do. You would need to add a title to your avatar name. Something that sums up your entire experience, your entire life, as this persona, and as the person behind the persona."
"Got it." Kazuto nodded his head.
He knew of many names that plagued him over the years. Beater. Cheater. Solo player. Trap(this one is because of GGO). Dual Swordsman. Hero of Aincrad.
But in his heart, he knew which one he had to use. The one which he had no qualms about using. No strings attached to it beyond what felt right.
"I order, in my name Kirito the Swordsman of Aincrad!" Kazuto could feel the demonic power pulse through his virtual nerves. "You, Yuuna Shigemura, to be resurrected as my servant, and have you reborn as a devil. You, my new Pawn, be delighted with your new life!"
This time, as the last words left his mouth, a circle of light expanded outwards, originating from Yuuna's form. Then, she slowly got out of her foetal position, getting into a sitting one instead.
It was hard to see how she looked like. Her outline was blurry, like they were watching a bad quality show on a static-filled television. But, as the seconds passed, her image solidified, taking on a more defined human shape.
"…Yuuna…" At first, Eiji did not seem to know how to respond, but when he realised that Yuuna was moving, he allowed tears to stream down his face. Taking hesitant steps forward, he enveloped the shape of Yuuna in a tight hug, "Yuuna! You're alive! Yuuna!"
" –Eiji…" The girl's voice sounded like it came from a tunnel, but the more she spoke, the more it resembled her voice from when she was an idol. "…it was so lonely there, so very quiet…Neh, it is you right, Eiji? This is not dream, right?"
"Yuuna…"
Kazuto and Asuna turned away from the sight. They would give them their much needed privacy.
Timeskip, A few minutes later
"Well, Yuuna-san will stay here for a bit longer."
After the two hugged each other and cried for a bit, Kayaba had interrupted them. And for good reason to.
"Why?" Eiji had let go of the form of Yuuna, now instead choosing to stand in-front of her, as if to prevent any harm from getting to her.
"Well, firstly, Yuuna-san needs some time to sort out her current form." Kayaba pulled out a screen showing it to the ones around him. "We had just saved her from being permanently disposed off. What's more, we were cutting it very close too. It would take some time for her to remove most of the errors piled up in her new existence. Another reason would be she would have to settle on a physical form, and design her digital one as well."
"…what do you mean?" Asuna asked, confusion clear in her voice.
"Her nature is that of an artificial intelligence, Asuna-san." Kayaba dismissed the screen with a wave of his hand. "If that was all, it would have been a simple matter of just waiting for her to recover, and then summoning her as a familiar. That would then allow her to interact with the physical realm. But because we reincarnated her in here, and not when she had a physical body, this opened up some new doors for her, while also closing a few of them off for her."
"For starters, Yuuna-san would need to decide which is her digital form, and which is her physical form." Kayaba cleared his throat. "Like me, she is now part-digitalised data. This means that as long as there is a place where she stores her base code, she is basically immortal, unable to be truly killed."
"Really?" Yuuna spoke up.
Kazuto observed the glowing girl.
At first, she had no distinct features, just a general outline. Like that show where you guess the character(*1*). But right now, one could see the outlines of her clothes, and her face was more defined, able to show emotions and such. And right now, her eyes were practically shining in excitement.
"Do you hear that Eiji?" Giggling, Yuuna pulled on the boy's arm. ""I won't die that easily! So you won't have to worry anymore!"
"But you still can die, Yuuna." Despite his exasperated tone, Kazuto could tell that he was truly happy that Yuuna was with him again. "That means nothing much has changed. I WILL protect you. And this time, I intend to keep that promise."
"Young Nautilius is right." Kayaba sighed lightly. "Yuuna-san would need to decide on her physical form, as it would be the form you would be spending the most time in. You will also be able to make it such that things which devils are usually unable to do, can do it. Like, make them invulnerable to their weakness, or gain the ability to grow a tail. Of course, that would come at a cost, which I will tell you when we are alone Yuuna-san. There is also another reason why I say she can't go with you."
"It's because technically, she is dead, right?" Kazuto flinched at the blunt admission from Eiji. He was no stranger to death, but to hear the person who was close to the 'deceased' in question admit their nature was more than a little…disconcerting.
"Correct." Kayaba did not bat an eye at that. "We would need to forge documents and such to ensure that Yuuna-san and 'Shigemura Yuuna' have no connection at all. Thanks to our society, cameras would be able to identify the current Yuuna-san as the deceased 'Shigemura Yuuna'. If we do not prepare for the suitable documentation, there is a high chance that certain individuals would go after Yuuna-san for 'research purposes'."
In other words, kill her and study her body, huh. Kazuto's face twitched at that hidden message.
Sure, the society of devils were pretty good from what he had seen. But that was it. He had only seen the tip of the iceberg. The rest of devil society, the hidden parts, would no doubt attempt to study Yuuna, and attempt to replicate it. And for good reason too. A practically unkillable Peerage? That would give some devils reason to attempt to topple the current society. And from what I have seen since I became one, I don't like the chances of it happening. Kazuto's mind went to the story he heard from Issei about stray devils he had encountered, as well as the story about Koneko.
"When will she be able to be out and about?" Kazuto asked, trying to push the horrifying prospects about Yuuna being experimented on out of his mind.
"In around a week." Kayaba looked at his wrist. Surprisingly, there was a watch there. "It would take her some time to get used to this new form. It is very handy. The rest of the time would be spent on creating and designing her physical body for her to be summoned in like MHCP-, I mean, your daughter." Kayaba hastily corrected himself when he saw Asuna glare at Kayaba.
Good. At least he is learning. Kazuto would have said something, only to see something crack in the corner of his vision. What…
Using his mind, Kazuto opened up the menu for his Sacred Gear…and found the red scale that Issei had given him to be cracked. The only reason the thing would have cracked was if something damaged it, or…
"We need to leave soon." Kazuto stated.
"Indeed you do." Kayaba's eyes glinted. "But before you do, allow me to tell you about your new Evil Pieces."
"What about them?" Kazuto wanted to move quickly, but he knew that this was just as important.
"Well, because of my meddling, the Evil Pieces are now a part of your soul." Kayaba raised his hand over his heart, tapping it. "If you ever want to use the, just think about it, and it will appear. Other than that, it would function like any other Evil Piece."
"Thanks for the info." Kazuto hurriedly grasped onto Asuna's hand. "Well, off we go. Yuuna-san, see you in a week."
"Bye Kirito-kun!" Yuuna giggled.
The moment he opened his eyes, he felt something was off.
Then, his eyes adjusted the darkness rapidly, and he could see the looming shadow of something over him, a pointy object grasped in its raised hands.
Kazuto's body moved as his mind kicked into overdrive.
Hugging onto Asuna, Kazuto kicked against the boxes, causing the looming shadow to be forced back, even as it stabbed downwards. But because of the flying boxes, the stab only hit the cardboard, never drawing blood from them as it was knocked away by the numerous flying and falling boxes.
Rolling away from their would-be killer(again), Kazuto allowed Asuna to roll out of his grasp, before he got into a crouching position, Dark Repulsor already summoned into his grasp.
"What the-" The unknown figure batted away the box and its contents that had flown into his face, surprise laced into his tone. Surprise that only lasted an instant.
In that split second, Kazuto could sense the signs of devil magic being used. So, he acted accordingly.
Hah! With a shout in his mind, Kazuto leapt at the figure, his sword glowing the tell-tale signs of a Sword Skill activating. "Rage Spike!"
"Kuh!" Acting quickly, the devil conjured a magic shield, the tinted light barrier large enough to cover his entire frame. It barely slowed down his attack.
But it was enough for the devil to get out of the way with only a minor cut along the length of his arm, where it had conjured the shield.
"You lowly humans…" The devil growled, before its eyes widened in surprise at seeing the blade in Kazuto's hands. "A Sacred Gear user?!"
"Wrong on the first account, right on the second!" Kazuto took that chance to swing his crystalline blade down at the devil, forcing him to raise his weapon, a shortsword, to block the attack.
Just like he had planned.
"Asuna!"
"Got it!" The called girl used her speed to rush to the unguarded side of the devil, her hand glowing with the sign of a Skill. A Martial Art Skill.
"Shi–" The devil never managed to finish his sentence, the glowing hand tearing away at his throat, very nearly separating it from its body, besides a piece of skin and some fragmented bones bits. Blood would have sprayed all over the duo, had the skill Asuna used not cauterised the wound with the heat in generated, a by-product of the tinkering they had done in their spare time.
One down. Kazuto grabbed onto the shortsword from the falling devil, whirling around to look at Eiji-
-only to see a dagger thrust through the struggling teen's chest at that exact moment, his legs flailing about from trying to et away from the second devil-in-nature killer.
"Damn it!" Activating yet another skill, Kazuto threw the shortsword like he would have a throwing dagger.
The second devil, sensing the danger, attempted to evade. But it was too late.
The glowing sword pierced straight through his chest, before it carried him forwards and straight into a wall, where the glowing blade pinned him. The devil attempted to pry itself off the wall, but the cross guard acted as a barrier, preventing it from escaping.
And that's two. Quickly, Kazuto expanded his senses. Thankfully, it came back empty, meaning no enemies were near them for the moment. Which gave him the time needed to treat the dying boy.
Rushing towards him, Kazuto pulled out some low-grade potions he had made in his free time.
..
Kazuto's Sacred Gear was very unique. That was something that the boy himself had figured out some time ago.
He could store things inside a separate space from reality. It had a limit, but acted like an inventory from a game. Meaning he could have hundreds of thousands of items in there, but as long as the items were the same, he could just take up a few slots of his inventory.
He could regenerate lost limbs and such, without the use of a Phoenix Tear.
He could call and recall his weapons, make them, and bring them to even stronger levels.
And to top it all off? It also acted as a miniature shop, where he could buy obtain, and sell the goods he obtained via his Gear for (surprise surprise)Col, the in-game currency of SAO.
And it was from there that Kazuto learned that he had gained the ability to craft his own potions. Granted they were low level, but if enough of them were used, or if they were at a high level, they had the ability to heal serious wounds.
Including the one that Eiji was currently suffering from right now.
..
I hope this works. Kazuto had not gotten the chance to use his potions yet. Sure, he could make them, but it was unknown if others could use them. He would have gotten Asuna to help, but…
There were a couple of reasons why he did not do so. For one, he did not wish to bother her with this experiment, as at that time, she was doing her favourite thing: Cooking. And he would be damned if he stopped her from cooking(Her making Sandwich-kun did not influence that decision whatsoever). The other would be he did not want her to purposefully hurt herself to see if the potion would work. That, and right now, he had no clue on whether it would work on those that he had not registered as 'friends'(which is something he was unable to change, much to his chagrin). No time like the present!
Opening up the cork that sealed the potion, Kazuto ripped open Eiji's shirt before he dropped a few drops onto Eiji's chest experimentally. "Please work…"
At first, nothing happened. Then, he noticed that Eiji's thrashing had lowered in its intensity. The blood flow also stopped for a moment, before it started again from the blade still in his chest cutting open the scab that had formed around it.
Yes! Passing a few of the potions to Asuna for her to open, Kazuto swiftly removed the embedded dagger from Eiji's chest, before he dumped the numerous potions he had on hand into his hand.
"Krgh." Eiji winced in pain at the feeling of liquid being poured over his wounds, but his face slowly relaxed as steam started to hiss from the open wound, rapidly losing in on itself in the form of a large scab, before that too faded, leaving only a faint scar.
"It worked…" Kazuto sighed in relief. With this, I now have a means to heal my team whenever we are unable to do so. Right now, I can only make the lower-tier potions, but if I am right, I would be able to substitute some of the 'in-game' ingredients with other real-life ingredients to increase the potency of the potions. But that is something for another time. But for now though…
Standing up from his previously crouching position, Kazuto approached the still struggling devil. In the dim lighting, he was a little surprised to see the devil was female. "Who are you?"
"Bastard!" The female devil snarled out, still gripping onto the impaled shortsword. Blood dripped from her hands, evidence of her attempts to free herself. "Why in the Maou's name is there Sacred Gear user here?"
"I am the one asking questions here." Kazuto frowned. "Do you not realise your position?"
"Do you know yours?" The female shot back. "I am of a higher species compared to yours, human. All of you should squirm like the worms you- kargh!"
"Shut up." Asuna appeared beside the female in an instant, her glowing hand retracting from the newly opened up hole in her stomach. "You attacked us when we had no quarrel with you. And right now, we have the choice to either spare you, or kill you right here and now."
Hmm, now that I think about it, Asuna and I are less squeamish about killing other living things. Kazuto noted as he saw the enraged expression on her face. And more brutal too. Guess that is part of being transformed into a devil. Reduced emotions? I could ask Argo about that later.
"…You might as well kill me right now." The devil glared at the duo. "I won't bend to the lackeys of Kayaba Akihiko."
"Kayaba?" Kazuto blinked in surprise at that. He did not bother to correct her misconception. After all, anyone would think the same if they saw random people. Plus, it would be wasting time to get to Issei. They were already doing so by interrogating this devil, but he would rather get some info for the best info broker he knew to help him, rather than just a face. "Ah, are you one of those who were trapped by him?"
"No." The devil spat out. "He has something I want. I was very close to getting it too. But it looks like you got it first."
What is she talking about? Kazuto was confused, but he quickly pieced together what she said. "…You mean his Evil Pieces."
"I am surprised that you humans know what it is." The devil smirked. "Well, then again, it looks like you are aware of the supernatural, so it should be obvious."
Well, looks like that solves a piece of the puzzle. "Why di– "
Whatever Kazuto was about to say was quickly cut off by the gurgling screams of a boy. Eyes wide, the two devils turned towards the source.
Eiji, who had been lying in a relaxed manner, was now foaming at the mouth. His face had turned purple, and his limbs were slowly turning black, like they had been affected by necrosis.
"Eiji!" Kazuto cursed under his breath before he took out a few more potions and antidotes, before he splashed it over the boy.
…yet, nothing happened. The boy's trashing did not lessen. It was then that Kazuto noticed the slightly purplish mist that was covering the area. In the rather dim lighting, it was hard to notice it, but because of Eiji's thrashing, he could clearly see the droplets that were staining his clothes. It was at waist height, so there was no way for them to see it clearly. The only reason why Eiji had been ffected this fast was because the boy had been laying down.
"What is this…" Kazuto blinked in shock. Turning her head quickly, Asuna looked at their pinned captive
"What did you do to Eiji-san." Asuna growled, facing the pinned devil with a glare.
"Me? Nothing at all." The devil smirked. "It's your bodies that are doing all the hard lifting. My mist makes your mana run rampant in your body, causing it to shred organs to bloody chunks. It also acts as a poison that kills my enemy slowly." Her smirk grew wider. "You, who have no way to disperse the mist, will die here right now, just like the worms you are!"
"… …" Kazuto and Asuna deadpanned at the pinned devil, before they spread open their wings and beat it strongly once, dispersing all the mist around them. Simultaneously, Kazuto threw Dark Repulsor at the doors, the heavy and large blade wrenching the closed(and apparently locked, if the screeching metal was anything to go by) open, causing most of the mist to be displaced through that opening when they flapped their wings.
Leaving the small, enclosed room they were in free of said poisonous mist.
"…well, shit. Should have just killed you." The nameless devil uttered as she realised her situation, before her head was cut off from her body by Asuna, who pulled out the shortsword from her chest, and then swung it across the devil's neck, ending in a spin that simultaneously separated the head from the body, as well as removed any blood that was on the blade.
"You could have tried, but you would have failed anyway." Asuna muttered. Then, louder. "…How is he, Kirito-kun?" Asuna held onto the blade, walking over to Kazuto's position.
"…dead." Kazuto sighed. He had not wanted this. Not at all. "Ah, damn. I was hoping to have collected my Pieces by asking the people in question, but it looks like our first member is going to be someone from the recently deceased instead."
After that, Kazuto left Asuna behind with Eiji to teach him how to control his newfound strength and such, before he made a corridor crystal(which had just popped up into his crafting menu) and used it to get to where Issei and Rias were.
Which then led to Yui being exposed to the lecherous song.
One would think that would be the end of it, right?
Well, not for him.
Mere moments after Issei reverted back into a human form, and had Rias's entire Peerage crowding around him, Kazuto found himself suddenly brought a fair distance away from them. Right next to the swordsman of Vali's group, Arthur Pendragon, in fact.
"What in the world?" Apparently, Arthur was not the only one surprised by these turn of events, if his surprised expression was anything to go by.
"…what are you doing, Black Swordsman Kirito?" Vali asked, arms folded.
"No clue." Kazuto shrugged, his surprised face for all to see. "I was going to head back, but I just found myself here, right next to you, the moment I took a step. Do you guys have any clue why is that?"
"I see." Vali hummed. "That is very-"
*clang*
Whatever Vali was about to say, he was interrupted by the appearance of a particular sword.
"Excalibur Ruler…" Arthur's eyes were wide in surprise, as was Kazuto's.
This is one of the seven fragments of Excalibur? Kazuto's eyes wandered over the glowing blade. Now that he could see it, he was a little…unimpressed? In awe? He wasn't really sure. On one hand, this blade was the real thing. A real fragment of the famed sword Excalibur. Such a sword was right there in front of him. On the other hand…
This sword, Excalibur Ruler, was a little simple. It's pommel was rounded, and it had a gold-coloured cross guard that was curved slightly forward. The spine of the blade was also covered by a red piece, exposing only the edges. As a sword, it was both beautiful and functional as a weapon. But compared to the one he had in ALO, it gave off a less…mystical feeling. It was nothing at all like anything he had imagined the famous sword of the Britain's true king, King Arthur Pendragon, to be. Then again, it is a fragment of it, so…
His thinking was further disrupted by two things:
First, the glowing blade expelling some golden dust that surrounded Kazuto, before it dispelled itself, returning back towards where it had once came from.
The second one was his Sacred Gear manifesting without his intention, forming the coat and all. But that was not all.
His Gear absorbed the golden dust that had manifested.
..
Conditions for Excalibre(*2*) creation - Achieved
*Conditions for Photon Sword creation - Acheived*
*...*
*...Error. Unable to create weapons.*
*Error.*
*Error.*
*Er-*
*...alternate route found.*
*Generating blueprint.*
*Obtaining materials.*
..
"This is…" Arthur was in shock.
"My, my." Vali, meanwhile, smirked. "Looks like I found a new foe to fight against."
"…" For once, Bikou was speechless.
Everyone stared at the sword that was resting in Kazuto's hands.
*Excalibre(temp) created.*
*Blueprint for Excalibre(true) has been unlocked*
*Alternate Versions of Excalibre have been found. Unlocking methods have been unsealed.*
*(1/8) Excalibre modes have been unlocked.*
Out of the corner of his gaze, Kazuto read the pop-ups that his Gear was sending to him. With a single mental hand motion, he dismissed them to read later. He wanted to look at the Excalibre in his hands at the moment.
The sword was a two-handed sword, just like the ones he had in ALO and the one that had shown itself to Kazuto. Like the two of them, they both had a golden cross guard, and a rounded pommel. But that was where the similarities ended.
The cross guard was curved downwards, like the rapier that Asuna preferred. But it also had pointed ends, making it resemble the Excalibur that he had in ALO. The cross guard also had a single, blue gem in the middle, and it's entire blade was made of gold, with a tinge of red along it's edges.
"Excalibre… " Kazuto breathed out.
"To see another Excalibur..." Arthur shook his head. "Vali, we should hide this from them."
"We should." Vali agreed with his companion, before he turned towards Kazuto. "Kirito. Keep this weapon of your hidden. Your factions may be at peace right now, but as a warning, you should not use that sword of yours unless you have to. It's a powerful weapon. I do not know why the holy aura is not hurting you, but it definitely gives off the aura of a genuine Holy Blade."
"…thank you for your warning." Kazuto silently dispelled the Excaibre in his hands. "I will take it to heart."
"That's good." Vali nodded his head. "Bikou, Arthur, we're leaving."
Wordlessly, Arthur took out the sword at his hip and used it to slash the space before them, opening up a rift, before he walked through it, pulling Bikou along, too shellshocked was he to properly respond. Vali followed not long after, closing the rift behind him.
Leaving Kazuto alone in the collapsed ruins of what was once a temple, with only his thoughts about the new revelations he had received from his Sacred Gear to keep him company, until a devil under the Maou's command came to get him.
After that, everyone went to the hospital for treatment in some form or the other.
Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Kiba, Xenovia, and Gasper went through a basic check-up to see if they were injured.
Asia went through a more thorough one, since she was exposed to the Dimensional Gap for a small period of time.
Issei went through the same thing, but regardless of the results, he would have been confined to a bed for the night. He had pushed himself rather hard during the fight against Shalba Astaroth, with Juggernaut Drive being the result of that fight.
Similarly, Kazuto had gotten the devils to check up on Eiji. He knew that the Evil Pieces could be used to resurrect a recently deceased person. It was how Issei had been turned into a devil after all. But with the modifications that Kayaba had done to the his(now Kazuto's) Evil Pieces, he did not know how much had changed. Would the Pieces still heal the person fully? Would it give them some sort of invulnerability of some period of time? If the person being resurrected had been killed by a still active poison, would it purge that poison, or would it still remain in the body? There were too many questions, and too little answers.
And honestly, Kazuto did not want to take any chances. He had no idea if Eiji would still be fine. The devil had said that the poison would cause the mana in a person's body to run rampant and shred their internal organs, as well as act as a slow acting poison to ensure death.(Thank goodness for overconfident devils). But that said, Kazuto did not know if there was a need for a small bit of the mist to have entered the bloodstream to work, of if a large does was needed. Similarly, he did not know if the mist shredded a person's organs on command, or if it was depending on a person's mana reserves, or some other factor. There were just too many unknowns to consider. Sending him to the hospital was the best move.
Well, after that, Kazuto went to the Maou, Azazazel and the angel Micheal to tell them about his Sacred Gear being able to create holy swords. Not only that, but the specific Holy Sword Excalibre. It was different from the ones that the higher ups knew, but there was no questioning the fact that it emitted a holy aura similar to Excalibur.
This resulted in his Sacred Gear being revaluated, and getting its official name.
Reality Mould. A Lower-tier Longinus, ranked 14.
..
There was already considerations of letting Kazuto's Gear be added to the ranks of Longinus due to it's ability to create powerful swords that harmed the supernatural(and not so recently, was able to slice off the claws of a God-killer animal by the name of Fenrir, with no harm to the blade itself), but with the creation of a version of the Holy Sword Excalibur, as well as the fact that it holy aura was on par with said weapon, it pretty much guaranteed the placement of Reality Mould in the ranks of the Longinus.
The only reason why it was a low tier was due to three facts.
The first fact was this was likely the first appearance of such a Gear. Micheal had checked the system, and found no evidence of Reality Mould. Meaning, it was an unknown, and largely mysterious, Sacred Gear. They had no history to check it with.
The second fact was because at the moment, Kazuto was yet to be pitted against a god. Sure, they could ask Odin to go against it, or perhaps set Loki on him, but there was a chance that they could kill him in the end. After all, Issei's Boosted Gear was said to be able to kill gods, but the wielder himself was unable to do so. Yet. They could only draw these conclusions from past records, and the current data they had. Something they lacked from Kazuto.
And the third fact was something the Leader of the Griggori hypothesized.
Reality Mould was linked to a person's, or a wielder's, mindset and view.
Because Kazuto spent a large amount of time playing VR, and being trapped in SAO, his mind was more inclined and more accustomed to fighting to the death than most. Add on to the skills that could be directly translated over to the supernatural via imagination and demonic power, and you had a person who had rather broken abilities in real life. Especially given the fact that his base form(the one he first appeared and manifested in) was practically a berserker that was able to keep going until his head was cut off. He had shrugged off, dodge, parried and weathered through the attacks hurled at him, with Rias's Power of Destruction the only thing that dealt any lasting damage. And if his limbs got cut off, his Gear would create a prosthetic that would act and feel like the original until said original was fully healed. In Azazel's words, 'How much more broken can that Gear be?'
So, if another person who played VR, but not to the life-threatening degree that Kazuto did, had this Gear, they would be weaker. But that did not mean they would be any less powerful in the long run. After all, Kazuto had only unlocked his Gear, and it was still evolving and becoming more powerful with every event and day Kazuto went through. Case in point, Kazuto's ability to make Excalibre, a version of Excalibur that was weaker than the original in specs, but had the same damage potential as one.
..
Well, after some complaints, shocked faces and words, and some time arranging tests in the future, Kazuto was allowed to go meet Eiji.
"How you feeling?" Kazuto pulled up a chair, sitting next to the bed-ridden boy..
"…like a squirrel clawed up my insides, before I was smashed by a Floor Boss." Eiji groaned out, clutching his stomach.
"That's to be expected, I guess." Kazuto pulled out a potion from his inventory, his headgear's green visor appearing for a split second before fading away. "Here. Take this. One of my last potions."
Eiji stared at the familiar crystal container that held the red healing liquid. "How did you..."
"Make this?" Kazuto finished for the boy. "My Sacred Gear did it." I'll explain what it does more specifically at a later date, but basically, it is able to replicate many of the things from SAO, or bring out things and make them from SAO. Corridor Crystals, health bars of party members, even the inventory. Though, all of this is at the cost of my stamina and my mental strength."
"…sounds broken."
"Well, not denying that." Kazuto smirked. "The doctors said some of the poisonous mist had remained in your lungs, but they managed to get rid of it pretty quickly. What do you last remember?"
"… …" Eiji frowned, holding his head as he leaned back into the pillow he was resting against. "…I…we were logging out from the main terminal that hosted the SAO servers at ARGUS, and when I opened my eyes, I saw someone stabbing something into my chest. I…distinctly remember something itchy happening on my chest, before I felt a searing pain hit every part of me. Then...nothing."
"I see." Kazuto narrowed his eyes. Seems like Eiji does not recall everything. Well, that is to be expected, since he was nearly killed when we got out of SAO, and then he DID die because of some poisonous mist. And that itchiness…perhaps the potion only accelerates and increases our own healing factor? I could tear off some of my limbs and use my potions to make sure. Would have to stop my own passive regeneration though.
"…I…died, didn't I?" Eiji's words brought Kazuto back to the present.
Sighing, Kazuto closed his eyes. "You did."
"Huh." Eiji's voice did not change in it's volume or tone. "Since I am still talking to you, I should have been reincarnated into a devil then?"
"Yeah." Kazuto winced, opening his eyes to look at the boy. "Sorry about that, reincarnating you into a devil without permission."
"It's fine." Eiji waved his hand...or attempted to anyway. Wincing, he placed his hand down, his other rubbing his chest. Looks like he still feels that poison mist that had affected his lungs. Guess that resolves the question of if the reincarnation process purges foreign entities from the body. "Besides, I would have asked you if I could joined, so that would have meant I would have joined anyway. To protect Yuuna."
"You mean to be with her." Kazuto poked fun at the boy.
"Oi."
Timeskip, a few days later
After a few days, Issei and any other person who was sent to stay at the hospital was sent back home.
At that point, everyone found out about Issei's new business prospect. Of being the star of a children's show.
Everyone had a good laugh at that, until Issei, and by extension, Azazel, revealed that everyone had a part to play. Rias is to be the heroine the 'Switch Princess'. Koneko is a mascot/ally of the 'Oppai Dragon', 'Hellcat-chan'. Gasper is Danball Vampire God. Kiba is a main antagonist, Darkness Fang Knight. Akeno is a sadist/machostic healer, 'Hit-me-miko'(*3*). Kazuto is the second main antagonist, 'Blackie', and Asuna was his wife, 'Speeding White'.
That was when Rias and Asuna attempted to throttle the Fallen Angel Governor. Especially when they heard that Rias was going to be put in a princess outfit, and Asuna was most likely going to have to fight against Issei's 'Dress Break', even though said person had no intention of doing so.
There were also plans to include Argo and some of her Peerage as well for the second season of the show.
It was funnier when it was happening to other people… Kazuto sighed in sorrow. He was not going to say no to the thing, since it would be a good way for them to gain some funds to start up a business prospect he had on his mind…
Oh, and the Maou also knew that Kayaba was now a part of his Peerage. Alive… but not well? Because technically, all that remained of him was his A.I., and barring the few times he manifested a physical body to eat some food and help the supernatural as a consulting firm for technology, he kept under the radar.
After a meeting with the man, as well as some negotiations, they got Kayaba to work under them, as well as work with Ajuka in a small project he was working on. Other than that, Kayaba was allowed to go anywhere he wanted as long as there was a familiar following him, and to be under supervision if he was working on a project of his.
Oh, and Eiji was not living with them. He bought a place not too far from Kuoh, which he would be working as a new PE teacher, along with Rossweiss who was acting as a History teacher.
The plan was for after Yuuna managed to manifest a physical form, she would live with Eiji in his smalll apartement.
Kazuto hoped that they would not get too frisky on school days. They did NOT need the government getting on their cases for teacher and student relationships.
…although, considering Yuuna's age was 18 and Eiji's was 19, that might be fine.
(*1*) – Yeah, it is a reference to Pokemon.
(*2*) – The spelling is mainly to differentiate between Kazuto's weapon, and the one in DxD. Their pronunciation would be the same. Also, it is a partial reference to One Punch Gamer, whose spelling is similar to mine.
(*3*) – This is actually a gag of mine. Pronounced 'Himemiko', and written as 'Hit me miko'. The rough translation or both would be 'Imperial princess' and 'Hit me princess'. It can be interpreted as 'hit the princess', or 'get the princess to hit me'. Perfect for the daughter who inherited the quirks of a sadist/masochist parents.
AN
Well, this chapter is pretty nice climax to this arc.
The Astarooth Vs Gremory game has been concluded, Yuna has been saved, the revelation of Excalibre's creation and Kazuto's Gear's blatant disregard for equivalent exchange, and everyone being fitted into the Oppai Dragon show!
The last one especially was something I had intended to do. Not only would this solidify the trust that is being made between Kazuto and the Gremory Peerage, it would also allow the Black Swordsman to gain income passively, and as a way for him to blend into crowds when doing so information gathering. All hail cosplaying!
The next chapter would be about the Phenex rehabilitation OVA episode. After that, I would be doing the long awaited interlude where Kazuto awakens his Gear! From that point on would be season 4 of the anime.
… …but still, did no one notice the fact that I referenced a Fate/Stay Night a few chapters back? And with this new piece of info, that means I also gave Kazuto Denial of Nothingness, the first True Magic.
Coincidence? Yes. Was it planned after my first mistake in my AN, which turned into a nice twist? Absolutely.
Anime is Life, and please review!
