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He was affected. It was clear as day to Grayfia, but that was alright.
The real test would come soon after. She would see if Harry could snap himself out of the illusion or if he would get stuck in it. Grayfia would usually think the former, but she had seen that Harry had a proclivity toward attractive women. Even toward herself, though he tried his best to seem disinterested.
That wasn't all that much of a surprise. Harry was a man barely out of his teens. It would have been shocking if he was somehow immune to the opposite sex.
However, Grayfia hoped Harry had the mental fortitude to resist the creature. It wouldn't be a dealbreaker, not at all. Just that lust would be an easy way for Riser to exploit Harry in the rating game.
Fixable, but hopefully, it's not something to worry about.
Grayfia's eyes sharpened as Harry stepped closer to the creature, ready to move at a moment's notice.
Dames Blanches were generally peaceful spirits that didn't need any attention from the broader supernatural community. The worst that happened to men that displeased them were minor pranks and annoyances that didn't have long-term consequences.
This one was different.
Grayfia found it a curiosity when she found out about the situation. Especially once she learned how it came to be, but it was still one that she would have raised an eyebrow at and quickly forgotten if not for Harry. Even though the creature had turned murderous due to some experimentation, it was at a low enough level that it should have no chance of being fatal for Harry.
When Grayfia saw that he didn't immediately comply with the creature's command, she prepared herself.
Inside, Harry was wondering why he wanted to do as the beautiful lady said.
"Dance?" Harry felt that was a good idea for some reason, but it didn't make much sense, "Er, maybe later? Do you happen to know is anything else is here? Something dangerous?"
[Honestly… What are you doing?]
The woman froze at Harry's reply for the briefest of moments before restarting her dance. It made him feel highly uncomfortable, like she was glaring, even though an opaque veil blocked her face from being seen. It reminded Harry vaguely of the time a damned basilisk was after his life.
Remembering the near-death experience during his childhood did the trick and broke Harry out of his strange state.
[About time, too. It would be embarrassing if I had to save you from a low-level creature like this.]
"What the hell is this thing? It's not human!"
Pseudo-death ignored Harry, but he wasn't too focused on that.
"Are you sure," The woman's voice was pleasant. Still, there was something added to it that Harry couldn't recognize immediately, "All I ask is for a simple dance. Can you not do this for me?"
Harry stepped back when it seemed like the woman moved closer to him. He reminded himself that this was a world with devils, gods, and Merlin knew what else was wandering around. For all Harry knew, a careless answer could mean he was trapped in a pact he had no intention of joining.
The meeting with Rias couldn't be held as the standard for what to expect. While it would be fantastic to his ego, ridiculously gorgeous women wouldn't constantly be looking for him as a partner to lose their virginity with.
Especially since Harry wasn't sure if this thing was a woman. Sure it had the curves of a woman, shown by the flowing white dress that occasionally revealed the near-perfect body underneath as she danced. But when there was a white veil that never showed any facial features, it heightened one's unease.
Not trusting himself to speak, Harry shook his head while preparing to cast magic. He was confident that this thing wouldn't kindly take to being denied.
"Oh?" This time the dancing continued unbroken, "That's a shame. Some other men came here that made the same choice as you. So uncultured, declining a lady's request for a dance."
It was coming. Harry could practically taste it in the air. He ran through his repertoire of spells that would be of use and settled on a couple that were his favorites.
When the lady stopped dancing, Harry's hand shined with concentrated magic as he readied himself to blast her into smithereens.
"I supposed I can't expect every man to match my high expectations," She moved away from Harry, almost looking like she was floating, "Very well, you may leave. Let's not disappoint each other any longer."
"What?" Harry felt rather foolish, "Just like that?"
"Of course," Her voice was carefree, "I'm a lady, not a barbarian. Did you expect something else?"
Harry most certainly did. He didn't see the need for Grayfia to lie about what he needed to do here. While he wanted to look back at her, Harry had no intention of taking his attention off the woman in front of him.
[Could you get this over with? Kill her!]
Harry wasn't a wizard that could kill someone that didn't mean any harm. He had been an Auror… a rookie Auror, but still, not a Dark Lord.
"Er, sorry for intruding," Harry stepped back toward the door.
"Your apology is accepted," Harry saw the veil flutter a little when the woman nodded, "However, it takes more than that for a gentleman to say goodbye to a lady."
"Oh, right. I sincerely apologize, my lady," Harry did his best Victorian-Era impression since that was what this woman seemed to prefer.
"Even in something so simple…." The woman's disappointment was practically visible, "You may kneel before you leave."
Harry looked at her like an owl, wondering if he had heard right. If he wouldn't agree to a dance, in what world would he agree to kneel?
"Right, I'm going to go ahead and not do that," Harry said as he groped around for the doorknob behind his back.
"So you refuse both my simple requests," The lady's flowing dress became unnaturally still, "Just what should I do with you?"
Harry stopped his attempt to leave as the feeling of a predator staring at him like he was a hungry meal returned.
"So I suppose you're not going to let me leave then?"
"I want to, especially with that one looking over you, but what is a lady without her pride?" The white dress started to flutter again around her.
"You said she was a low-level creature. How is she not terrified of Grayfia if she is aware of her presence?"
[If you want answers, call me Tom.]
Harry was willing to go along with pseudo-death's antics at this point, but the woman made her move before he could.
"Fucking hell!" Harry cursed when she shot at him like a bullet, confirming that this was no human he was dealing with. With a quick raise of his hand, Harry raised a barrier from the floor to give himself a little time to gather his bearings.
That was an absolute failure when a white figure emerged from the solid barrier like a silent wraith and continued to rapidly close the distance.
"She's a fucking ghost!" Harry yelled as he strengthened his muscles with magic and jumped out of the wraith's path.
"What the hell is this thing?!"
[You know what to do if you want my help.]
"Fuck! Fine, Tom!" Harry had already flung multiple spells at the thing, but all it did was pass through without any effect. It wasn't much of a surprise since he was casting spells that weren't meant to affect ghosts.
[Was that so hard? Now do yourself a favor and stop wasting time with magic. Use my all-powerful weapon and vanquish this foe!]
"Honestly, what the hell is wrong with you?" Harry scolded pseudo-death, or Tom, out loud, "Where the hell are you getting this personality from? I thought you were a blank slate!"
Harry's annoyance with Tom didn't stop him from doing as he suggested. A frankly pathetic pocket knife appeared in Harry's hand as he tensed in preparation for the wraith's next attack.
"What's wrong with me?" The creature roared, "The only thing wrong here is your manners!"
"Oi! Shut the hell up!" Harry lost it with the stupid thing, "I wasn't talking to you in the first place! And who the hell attacks someone about manners?"
"Me!" The wraith screamed as the veil fluttered rapidly around her face.
[Well, she is not wrong. She did attack you about your manners.]
Harry really wanted to punt something in his frustration. He had already realized that the wraith didn't pose much of a threat after the second time he had easily evaded its attack. The only thing was his inability to attack it, and Tom's unneeded comments added to his annoyance.
The wraith lunged at Harry again, her white dress fluttering behind her as she flew at him head first. Instead of getting out of the way, Harry gripped the pocket knife tightly.
He slashed at her face, almost crowing in victory when the lower half of the veil separated from the top and disappeared in a wisp of smoke.
"Yes!" Harry celebrated being able to cause damage.
The wraith immediately stopped her attack, clutched at her face, and let out an ear-splitting scream of rage.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
[… Well, that is rather unsightly.]
"No wonder you covered your face," Harry said without any tact, engaging the wraith even more.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Harry nodded in sympathy. He would want to kill him too in her position. If her body could be called perfect from what Harry couldn't see under that loose dress, her face was the literal opposite.
Only the lower half was visible, but that was enough for Harry to hold back the puke threatening to come up. There weren't enough words in the English language that were descriptive enough for what Harry could see.
Grotesque or horrid came close, but those could also describe Umbridge or Voldemort. It wouldn't be fair to them if Harry used those words to describe this wraith.
"Tom?"
[Yes?]
Harry had to use more magic than usual to reinforce his body to dodge the newest attack.
"What happens when I kill something with this knife of yours?"
[The being the sealed my power seems to want to use your kills to evaluate what should be unlocked. Maybe I absorb a part of it?]
Harry knew that should unnerve him, knowing that some god created a test for him, but plenty of things should unnerve him at the moment. There was no use worrying about what a god wanted to do.
"So," Harry toyed with the knife as the wraith attacked again, "You could say you'll be letting this inside you."
The second Harry finished his sentence, he stabbed the knife into the screaming wraith's head the moment it was in reach before jumping back to avoid her outstretched arms.
Harry winced at the pained screams as the wraith tried, and failed, to grab the knife stuck into its forehead.
"Well, that's convenient," Harry commented as he watched her scramble to save itself, "Am I the only one that can touch that knife?"
Harry didn't get an answer like he expected. "Tom?"
[I think I am angry at you. Expect to be ignored.]
Harry snorted in amusement.
"Help me," The wraith suddenly had the soothing voice Harry heard at the start, "Save me, please."
Harry wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but her unsightly face seemed to improve rapidly.
"Sorry, but no," Harry had no intention of keeping around something this murderous.
"What a shame," A gentle sigh accompanied the sentence, "I would have loved to kill the devil that made me like this."
Harry's eyes weren't wrong. The grotesque skin turned a supple white, nearly flawless, if not for the tiny beauty spot at the corner of her red lips. Call Harry shallow, but he suddenly felt a little sympathy. Not enough to do anything to save her, but enough for a bit of curiosity.
"Made you like this?"
"Hmm," She didn't seem to be bothered about the fact that she was disappearing into wisps of smoke starting from her feet, "The one that took me away from my sisters to turn me into this. I suppose this was for the best. I won't be able to hurt anyone else."
Harry's fingers twitched, wanting to help even more but stopping when he reminded himself that this could be an act. Still, it wouldn't hurt to comfort her before she vanished.
"If what you say is true, I'll find that devil for you and take care of him."
Harry had to blink from the stunning smile he received as her neck was starting to disappear. It made him feel quite a lot of regret that half of the veil was still covering the top of her face.
[I bet you would have saved her if she was beautiful enough.]
Harry couldn't be bothered to deign Tom with a reply as he watched the last part of the woman vanish. The pocket knife fell from nothing holding it up and clattered as it bounced on the ground.
As he bent down to pick it up, a voice spoke up behind him.
"It took longer than I assumed, but that was a unique way to finish the fight."
"Fuck!" Harry yelped as he turned quickly and held up the knife threateningly.
Grayfia stared at him with an unimpressed look until Harry sheepishly made the knife vanish. "Ah, sorry. I didn't expect that."
"Clearly," Grayfia's tone was dry, "How did you feel about the fight?"
"Fairly simple," Harry admitted, "But I wasn't ready for a ghost. That is a weak point I need to fix."
Grayfia nodded, "I noticed that your attacks had no effect on the Dame Blanche until you used the knife. Luckily, this weakness can't be exploited in the rating game, so it's not something to worry about immediately."
"That's good," Harry paused before asking, "So, this, uh, Dame Blanche mentioned a devil…." Harry trailed off, wondering if Grayfia would get angry.
"Yes," Grayfia briskly confirmed, "We are aware of this."
Harry shifted uneasily, more than a little queasy about killing something that had probably been under mind control.
"There is no need for sympathy," Grayfia broke Harry's train of thought, "While the Dame Blanche was certainly experimented on, nothing was compelling her to go on a murdering spree. She was drunk on her newly acquired power."
"So she was trying to trick me!" Harry grabbed onto the excuse he was given.
"In a way," Grayfia agreed, "Shall we leave? I can sense heaven's watchers getting uneasy with our presence."
Harry purposely didn't think about what heaven's watchers meant. He didn't think it would be good for his mental state if he did.
"Uh, sure, I guess," Harry followed Grayfia's surprisingly quick steps. It was most definitely faster than the leisurely pace they had when they first arrived in Paris.
"So, did I get anything unlocked?"
[Yes, it's strangely similar to healing. Considering my former existence, I'm surprised this is possible.]
Harry supposed that was better than nothing.
During the few minutes of silence that followed, Harry couldn't stop thinking of the smile that the Dame Blanche gave him before she had vanished. Even if she had been a murderous bitch and had been influencing his mind, Harry had given her the promise to search for the devil.
"Grayfia?" Harry asked hesitantly, making her glance at him from the side of her eye, "Would it be possible to find the devil that experimented on her?"
"Would you like to know his location?"
Harry blinked at the unexpected question.
"That'd be great!" Harry happily replied before quickly asking, "Wait, what's the likelihood I'd die if I go there?"
"It'd stand at zero percent, but you might prefer death over what would happen."
Harry gulped as his desire to fulfill his promise disappeared. "Maybe later then."
"How about this, Harry-sama," Grayfia had a smirk, which Harry was half-convinced wasn't real, "If you can meet this devil and escape unscathed before the rating game, Lucifer-sama has promised you a favor from him."
While it was a highly attractive offer, Harry was more worried about the part where he would wish for death over whatever that devil would do to him.
[Did you miss the part where Lucifer happened to promise you this favor before you fought that low-level creature.]
"Wait!" Harry exclaimed, "This was all arranged!"
"Correct," Grayfia didn't bother to deny it, "Lucifer-sama had me plan a road map for your fights before the rating game. If you surpass expectations, you will be rewarded."
[Has a god of luck blessed you when I wasn't looking?]
"I don't know about that, but I'm going to distract myself by bending Rias and Akeno over the closest thing I can find."
[… Of course you are.]
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