When Sasuke decided to test his Rinnegan latent and promising ability to travel between dimensions, there was both concern and confidence in the expected outcome.
Concern because it was the first attempt and confidence in the fact that Sasuke was a genius.
Arrogance? Perhaps, but it was true nonetheless. Besides, there was another reason to take a chance on something so uncertain.
Otsutsuki Kaguya.
She was sealed and should remain so since killing her seemed impossible. However, it might be paranoia, but Sasuke wanted to be able to keep an eye on that seal and at the same time research more about the origins of this goddess who almost put an end to the entire world. That way, there was a chance of preventing another calamity of such proportions from repeating itself.
Reason enough to take the risk and try to venture into the unknown.
On this day, it had been half a year since Sasuke had left the village to see the world with eyes devoid of hatred and pay for his crimes, no matter how insignificant they were.
Besides deserting, trying to kill Naruto more than once, murdering those samurai in the Land of Iron, trying to kill the five Kages, and threatening to destroy the village and all the people in it... Well, he certainly wasn't a saint, but apart from all that, he didn't regret anything else he did.
Still, Sasuke felt he needed to redeem himself, and following in his brother's footsteps seemed like a good start, as well as losing a part of himself to serve as an eternal reminder of something not to be repeated.
Or so it should be.
Honestly, I don't know what to think about this. His previously lost left arm was now pale as if it was devoid of blood, but its vitality couldn't be greater. Explaining the obsession and dangerousness of those with this power.
For Sasuke, someone whose favorite word was 'power' for most of his life, having this arm was even worse than having no arm at all.
It might be the left one, but it still reminded him of Danzou and all the other Uchihas who caused destruction using the cells of the first Hokage... something he already had running in his veins and certainly helped him in his attempt to take over the world.
So what was the difference?
The cells in his blood were not visible and so well distributed throughout his body that they were almost imperceptible.
The same could hardly be said for an entire arm.
He should never have let Naruto and Sakura talk him into accepting this transplant, just because he believed it was a way to apologize and show that he could change.
What was done was done. Sasuke couldn't change the past, no matter how much he wanted to, so he would ignore the implications of having this arm, as much as he could, and be sure to use this power for something different this time. Starting now!
His hands came together in a seal and by sheer irony, Sasuke was almost thankful to have this damn arm, because manipulating continuous space and time belonging to another person consumed an absurd amount of Chakra.
Then it happened.
Just as the Jutsu began to have the desired effect and was familiar with what Kaguya herself once demonstrated in trying to trap him in that desert dimension, something similar to black smoke distorted the surrounding air and Sasuke wasted no time, projecting the image of the desired place as best he could and only then sensing that something wasn't right.
In the midst of his efforts and attempt to stabilize the portal, a power that didn't belong to him was manifesting in a way...immeasurable and almost obscured by its apathy, interfering with the whole process and resulting in the worst when his control was completely gone.
"What in the world..." Sasuke got chills when long-forgotten fear showed itself to him again. At once he tried to stop the Jutsu and run away, but his body would not move as the darkness seemed to come alive to lace his body and hold him in place, leaving only one thing left to be said by him, "dammit..."
His voice was cut off by the portal closing and so, in the blink of an eye, Uchiha Sasuke disappeared from the Elemental Nations without a trace.
As Sasuke stepped out of the portal, his Eternal Mangekyou and Supreme Rinnegan were watchful and his power burning around him in purple flames, ready to go with everything the second he needed, only to come across a deserted park.
What? Sasuke was quick to scan his surroundings and use his sensory ability awakened in the war to the limit to find who or what had gotten in the way of his portal, only to get even more confused, as the number of living beings he was picking up within a space several times smaller than the Land of Fire was ridiculous; in the millions! Still, although there were some relatively high and strange powers, of a form unknown to him for not being Chakra, in the midst of this anthill of people, he couldn't find what he was looking for. How?
That thing, whatever it was, seemed to be... endless, so how could it have disappeared like that?
Unless...Sasuke remembered that Kaguya could do something similar, being able to hide even with her almost transcendental power. In that case, if this entity doesn't want to show itself, I won't find it so easily.
That was a problem and he needed a quick solution.
If I can't find this thing, the least I can do is make sure it doesn't find me either. Sasuke suppressed his Chakra only a few seconds after it was released and made use of his speed, which only Naruto could rival, to vanish from his current location and almost choke on what presented itself to him. Where am I?
Before him, was a city of previously impossible proportions, explaining the absurd amount of people he had sensed.
This is not the Elemental Nations, Sasuke defined immediately, knowing full well that the world population of his home barely compared to what he had around him at this moment. If it was, a city like this would be known throughout the world... as well as desired to the extreme.
Unfortunately, that was the way his world had always been. Although, there was a significant chance that things would change in the future after the last war, with all the alliances formed.
That aside, Sasuke was taken out of his contemplation when he sensed something...corrupted, almost rotten that seemed suppressed, but it was right near where he was and stood out in the midst of this endless city and strange powers.
This way... He focused on a specific direction and moved again, so fast that it took no more than a second for him to find himself in some kind of abandoned structure in a part away from the general population. What is that?
Given the corrupted Aura, it was certain that something bad awaited him, but Sasuke didn't expect this. What he found was an inhuman thing, but at the same time, it resembled one, even if only in part.
If he didn't know better, Sasuke would say that Orochimaru was conducting experiments with the Cursed Seal again and creating things even more disturbing than usual.
A worrisome possibility, he needed to say.
"Hyaaahahahahahah," the thing laughed in a manner as grotesque as its appearance suggested, being something similar to the upper part of a man attached to the body of a scorpion, a very large one at that. "Yes, yes, yes!" there was delight in its broken voice with each bite into that being savored and when Sasuke realized what it was all about, even more so by the unbearable smell of rotting blood and the human bones scattered around, he cooled to the point of finally having the attention of that thing unconscious of his presence. "Huhhh?"
Abi, an S-class Stray Devil, finished eating the last leg of this juicy girl, almost as much as her sexy body was before it was torn apart by his demonic claws, to feed his growing power when he noticed that he wasn't alone.
It had been a while since he had made this area his territory and thanks to his barrier, no one, not even that little slut from the Gremory family, could find him in this place.
So, having a boy in his lair, a handsome one that made him angry to see and strangely whetted his endless appetite, surprised him...in a pleasant way.
"Look, look, look!" he spat blood with every word and it eroded the ground like acid, creating an intimidating shadow with its demonic size over the powerless one who couldn't have chosen a worse place to enter. "What came to me, a little lost human?" There was a bittersweet scent similar to that of a Youkai, but devoid of apparent Chakra, and his mouth salivated at such a delicacy. "Ahhh," Abi rejoiced as another detail permeated the air; that familiar hatred emanating from this little one whose eyes were shaded by his black hair and it made him laugh out loud! "What is that I feel? The little human is angry? Perhaps this girl was your little friend?" The lack of an answer only served to excite him, mistaking such a reaction for expected fear disguised by anger. "Who knows, maybe was she your girlfriend?!"
Sasuke was merely listening to this thing blabber on, trying to find out more about the situation, but as he saw the head of a girl younger than him roll from the middle of this exposed graveyard to display a bloodied expression of pure terror, there was the disturbing understanding that she must have been eaten alive, suffering to her last breath and nothing else mattered.
Such a thing did not exist in his world; this kind of monster whose corrupted power could be felt in more places around this city, should not exist.
The others he could feel were the same, but different; with less...malice.
That was, however,
Irrelevant, Sasuke would know more about that another time, but for now, all that mattered was what he was going to do with this thing; How I will make it suffer.
"Still no answer?" Abi had enough of this mindless act of bravery, eager to hear the pleasurable cries of despair and pleas for mercy as he delighted in the suffering of this boy or any other human in this world! "Then let me reunite you with the scum of your flawed race that only serves to fill my stomach!"
His claws capable of cutting through iron like paper moved forward to tear apart another human that night and continue his feast when what should have been impossible happened.
The cowering human disappeared from his vision and his claw, used to shatter everything and everyone that stood in his way, was severed from his body!
Then there was pain.
"Gyaaahhhh!" Abi felt the wound burn as if he had been electrocuted! Every nerve in his body was strained in shock! "Y-you! Where did you go?!" Looking around, there was nothing but what should be and the fear forgotten by madness was beginning to gain space again in his broken mind. "Damn you," he growled in rage, "I will tear you apart, rip out your guts and make you watch as I devour you alive!"
As soon as his threats stopped, more pain came, and this time his left arm was gone, leaving only a clean, scorched cut to set his entire body in agony, even if only for a second.
This wasn't going the way it was supposed to.
Especially when more parts of his body began to disappear with a clean, painful cut.
This human was slowly and deliberately tearing him apart!
"N-no, that's not possible..." Abi couldn't believe it, didn't want to, and wouldn't. The slow and deliberate pain, however, brought back cursed memories of a life of servitude to an ungrateful master who loved to torture the members of his Peerage; one he had been part of for most of his life and the thought of finding himself in that miserable position again finished to break what was left of his rational mind, where fear of uncertainty gave way to anger and his demonic power responded accordingly, emanating from his body in waves of pure hatred! "A mere... human," Abi spat in disgust, "a bloody lamb that the supernatural world creates for entertainment, dares to hurt this Devil?!" His body mutated, even more, recreating the lost parts with nothing but bones, and new armor, which even high-level Devils couldn't get through without some considerable effort, formed with his growing power! "You and your insignificant race are nothing but food and slaves!" Magical symbols appeared in all directions and Abi would make this little pest regret being born! "Don't be so full of yourself!"
An acid like bloody goo that melted everything it touched rained down in all directions to consume this abandoned building and everything in its path!
Only...none of it seemed to have had any effect at all, where he couldn't confirm that he'd hit his target before he lost all feeling in his body and connection to his power, leaving only his vision that kept spinning in mid-air.
"What...just happened?" Abi was not understanding, soon hitting the ground and rolling until he stopped and saw his body from afar; fear returning in the face of reality. "N-no, this...this shouldn't be possible!" he couldn't accept this outcome! "I am a middle-class Devil; a damned Bishop who has given himself over completely to his desires!" The ultimate sin of his race! "I devoured my master and countless humans!" All done to gain more power and never submit to anyone else again! "It is not possible for me to lose to a powerless human brat!"
His frustration born of denial died in his cut throat as black flames surged from nowhere to contradict his words, burning his body and the remains of all those devoured that his own acid had not destroyed to understand what was happening.
"Chakra..." he knew, recognizing this power hitherto hidden by this human, having seen it in other reincarnated Youkais, especially that Kuroka, and...there was something else in the middle of it, something ancient that was beyond him. Only, that was not what surprised him, but the memory of the stories that spoke of this supposedly inextinguishable flame. "The black flames of the goddess Amaterasu..." Abi suddenly wanted to turn and run for his life without looking back, he only lacked the body to do so and his fate was already defined. "How..." he couldn't understand! "Just how can a mortal; a mere human, like you, holds the power of a dead goddess?!"
Sasuke ignored everything around him, including the fact that this thing could still speak after it had been beheaded, wondering if there was some kind of immortality at work for him to have to deal with later. For now, he chose to kneel before what remained of the devoured girl; one of many he was sure, to finally close her lifeless eyes that had the image of fear etched even in death.
"Rest knowing that you have been avenged, for that is all I can do for you," Sasuke said as he ran his hand over her cold face before letting his black flames consume her completely. If I were her family, I would rather never find her than find only...what was left.
Sometimes not knowing the truth could be the best thing, especially if what this...Devil said was true, about the humans of this world.
Humans are nothing but lambs created to entertain, serve and feed those belonging to this "Supernatural World".
His eyes cooled as much as his aura, not liking at all the implications of such absurdity.
Humans were not weaklings, toys, or slaves, much less food for anything or anyone.
Not where he had come from.
It seems that something similar to a race of Otsutsuki rules this world from the shadows and does as they pleases. Sasuke had his eyes on this thing that was taking its time to die, but he could see the corrupted power slowly draining away toward the deserved death. Not fast enough.
Just as he was about to put an end to this disgusting thing that wouldn't shut up, he paid some attention to the incoherent mutterings being uttered, surely born of the frustration of falling by the blade of a mere human.
However, as annoying as it was, there was something intriguing about it all that interested him.
"Was there a goddess in this world called Amaterasu?" he questioned the decapitated head, stepping over it with enough force to shatter the ground below and extract screams of pain with the cracking of its skull. "Answer the question and I'll give you the quick death you don't deserve."
"Y-you..." Abi had his eyes wide for a reason besides pain, staring into a pair of eyes he hadn't seen until then, but would recognize the pattern adorning that red one anywhere. Not only him, but almost every supernatural entity and human in this country would also recognize it, and so would they do with those black flames. "Y-your right eye...those are tomoes, aren't they? A-also known as magatamas?" a rhetorical question, in case the slight twitching of facial muscles that stared at him with iron stiffness was a sign of that, and a realization hit him hard. "Y-your looks, divine powers, and apparent ignorance for a vastly known goddess... A-are you a bastard son of Amaterasu?!"
Only that could explain the existence of such a strong and unknown human; one devoid of Sacred Gear!
One capable of wielding the power of a goddess!
Sasuke said nothing, still processing what was being said and the veracity behind such claims. Obviously, he was not the son of a goddess at all... Well, Uchiha Mikoto was a goddess in his eyes, but not a real one. The point, however, remained that he didn't share blood with this supposedly dead goddess.
Sasuke didn't even belong to this world.
However, that didn't change the claim made; in the apparent fact that the black flames he could summon and control were part of the identity of this divine entity. Also, having the same name and sharing some resemblance to him; enough to confuse him as her son.
"In that case," Sasuke smashed the head of this thing, delivering the promised but undeserved quick death, "it's better not take any chances."
Whatever was burning vanished without a trace, preventing any powerful entity from being able to track him using such flames.
Time to go, Sasuke needed to learn more about this place, better understand where he was and what brought him there, and why. Deal with this problem and return home.
So, just as he was about to leave, considerable powers began to show themselves; popping up around the city.
Damn it, Sasuke cursed his emotional carelessness and moved again as fast as he could, hiding his power to the limit to throw off any of these unknown entities from finding him and at the same time being able to learn what this was all about. Are they here for me?
The answer proved to be yes when more than one of these entities met where he was only a second ago.
They are fast, Sasuke noted, comparing this speed of movement to instantaneous. Teleportation, perhaps?
If so, that left him with a bad taste in his mouth.
The ability to manipulate space and time in the Elemental Nations currently belonged only to him and very poorly, still in the process of learning and being extremely costly to him, the person with the second largest Chakra reserve in his world, second only to that bottomless pit that Naruto was.
Here, on the other hand, it seems to be a trivialized ability... Sasuke felt something akin to indignation about it; at the fact of all he had to go through to obtain this power. And the worst of it all is that while each of them is a force to be reckoned with, they are weaker than I am.
At least, based on what he could sense.
For starters, there were different auras, and how unique each one was. While there were some similarities to that corrupted one from just now, they didn't feel malicious, and others felt sacred but dark.
One of them was...so pure and kind, in a way that made even Naruto look like someone bad, almost like the comforting glow of a spring day, capable of making Sasuke feel like evil incarnate despite his change for the better.
This particular aura wasn't the strongest of them and seemed to belong to a woman in shape; one with...twelve wings? It intrigued him to the point that he wanted to know more about her.
Besides this one, there was another woman with a...contradictory aura, to say the least. While she also felt pure and gentle it was in a colder way, yet soft as snow. There was that demonic nature similar to what that thing from just now had, yet without the expected malice.
This entity was also in the shape of a slender girl and possessed only a pair of wings, holding some of his curiosity.
Then there were four men.
Two of them felt demonic but differed vastly from each other. Both had this ancient feeling, one being rebellious and arrogant, while the other was hard to describe, but Sasuke knew it was destructive and definitely the most powerful of all those present.
Both had wings similar to the snow-cold girl, except that one had more wings than the other.
So there were two more holy entities, where one of them was also contradictory because it was...obscure?
That doesn't even make sense. Sasuke was having a headache, especially since these beings that seemed to be so different were not in conflict. As for the last of them...
This other man, he also felt pure and righteous, yet vastly distressed and despondent, almost like he was tired or depressed even and he also had twelve wings.
This all confused him because he didn't understand what they were, why they felt so different, and if they really were as that demonic thing said.
Because if they were, there was the problem that they were all above the level of a Kage; way above.
Worrying. Especially since Sasuke didn't know how many other of those entities were out there, if there was another even more powerful one to show itself that certainly included the one responsible for bringing him into this world, leading him to take a less direct approach and decide to walk in line, for now, to go unnoticed as much as possible, just like a shinobi. At the same time, I can also use this.
Information was needed and as soon as this small meeting ended without any conflict, four of these beings disappeared without a trace, probably returning from whence they came upon finding nothing, and two others moved to their original positions, which he decided to follow up to where they were to come across a type of school?
Kuoh Academy? Sasuke read the sign at the entrance and focused his senses on the school to discover another... Den of Devils, apparently.
There were more than ten of them inside, and it put him on edge for a second, imagining a scene similar to that abandoned building repeating itself, with people being devoured alive.
Calm down, Sasuke, he restrained the sudden urge to storm this place by force and kill them all. Analyze first, act later.
So he did his best to stay rational, to check if there was anyone else inside besides these Devils, and really calm down with the fact that it wasn't the case.
Great, Sasuke would also rule out the possibility that they had already feasted on some students due to the fact that the aura of these Devils wasn't evil like that thing from before because some of them contained even too much goodness. So, I don't need to expose myself.
His focus was on the most powerful aura he has felt so far, not to mention the one that brought him into this world by force, being that ancient and destructive one of a man.
This Devil, he seems to be really strong. Enough for Sasuke to consider him a threat, possibly being much more, and suddenly the absurd statements made about the submission of humanity were beginning to gain merit. Not for long, though.
If Sasuke was stuck in this world for the moment, he might as well help this populous and fragile version of humanity; save them from these theoretically oppressive entities, for that was something Naruto would surely do in his place.
After all, the path to redemption didn't need to know boundaries, and Sasuke wasn't in hurry to get back home.
So what did you guys think?
DxD is a pretty incredible world, for addressing nearly all mythologies and providing a lot of material to work with, which explains why there are so many fanfics... Well, the girls and all the perversion certainly have a part in that.
That aside, I intend to approach a more negative and heavy side of the world like in this chapter.
I mean, when I decide to write more. Until then, think of this chapter as a one-shot.
If it's well received, I'll give it some focus. If not, I'll continue with my other fics until I have more free time to work on this one.
Let me know what you think.