I've been thinking as much as I could, but I just can't find a solution to transfer Reina's soul to the new magic stone. It seems like it was just impossible.
I have to admit, the thought of giving up passed by my head, but then I remembered a little something. There was a single person in this world that could supposedly do whatever he pleased.
That was none other than the Devil King, Barbatos Gandou.
Of course, I know that he can't really do anything, and in reality he's simply the ruler of both Human and Devil Worlds, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. Maybe he knows something I'm not seeing.
So I tried visiting him on the lunch break. But I was met with a response I didn't expect.
"Mm, sensei understands. But I have an… important meeting now. Can Yuuto come after classes?"
"Oh, sorry. I shouldn't have dropped by suddenly like this. I'll come after classes."
"Y-yeah. Just remember to knock first, alright?"
Strange, it's not like I have the habit of just bursting in, but I suppose the Devil King has his reasons, so I just said "fine" and left.
But still, to think that Barbatos Gandou, the Devil King who I figured left all his work to others, was actually working. I'll have to rework my evaluation of him.
So I went back to classes. There are still topics I have difficulty with, but I can leave that for later. Sorry Nagasawa-sensei, saving Reina takes priority now.
Once classes were done, I told Miyabi where I'd go so she could inform Lizel-senpai and Reina. All that was left now was to hope the Devil King knows a way to help.
As I was almost reaching the headmaster's room, I saw 2 girls heading the opposite direction from me. They were leaning on each other, as if they were tired.
"I really meant it when I said I was sorry about earlier."
"Aah, that's fine, I've already forgiven you. The Devil King's methods were… very helpful in that."
"Yeah, after all the embarrassing things he made us do, it's hard to stay mad at each other."
"But we might have to cause trouble again…"
"I was thinking the same thing~"
Huh, I only managed to hear part of the conversation, but out of context it sounds… hum, maybe it's best if I don't say it. I'm sure it's a misunderstanding.
Anyway, just as the Devil King had asked me, I knocked on the door and let him know it was me. It took him about a minute to reply.
"Come in, Yuuto."
I entered the headmaster's room. There was a smell of air freshener around, a lot of it actually, and the windows were also open.
"Sorry about this, sensei just barely managed to finish with those girls in time."
"Oh, were they here before?"
"Yeah. One of them is a known troublemaker, so sensei's already dealt with her before, but she involved another girl in today's incident, so I had to 'discipline' both of them. To be honest, if not for Yuuto, sensei would have probably gone into the night with them."
"O-oh… sorry?"
"It's fine. Sensei's sure they'll do something again. Aah, these kinds of jobs are the only things I don't throw on Amon's back. I'm sure Yuuto will also enjoy it if you become Devil King."
I think it's best if I let this topic end here before he loses all the respect I had given him. I'm pretty sure I know what went on here, but I'll pretend it's just my dirty mind and move on.
I thought it would be a good idea to breach the topic slowly, so I started by asking if the Devil King was knowledgeable about magic and what kind of magic he knew, and stuff like that.
Eventually though, I got to the point I actually wanted to know: souls.
"Are there any spells that can like… send a soul from one place to another?"
"What? Like an isekai anime? Sensei's never tried it, but maybe…"
"N-no, not like that. Say I wanted to send a homunculus' soul from their current magic stone to another, is there any spell that does that?"
"I thought Yuuto was serious for a second there. A homunculus' soul, hahaha!"
The Devil King started laughing, but he soon stopped. I didn't notice at the time, but I was glaring at him so much it was like I was trying to kill him with my eyes alone.
"Sorry about that. In any case, as far as sensei knows, there aren't any spells like that. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. In fact, thanks to what Yuuto said before, sensei has an idea of how to do it."
"And how would that be?"
He said he had an idea of how he could do it. If I can get him to tell me, or maybe even do it for me, then I'll have found a way to save Reina.
"Hold on, sensei can't just go helping Yuuto this much. It was just last week when sensei gave Yuuto a chance to have any 1 wish granted, and Yuuto used it immediately, so don't regret it now."
Is this really going to be the hold up? I don't regret the way I used my wish, but I also have to save Reina.
Should I apologize? Maybe ask to take it back? No, I don't want that. How can I do both things?
"Sensei has already told Yuuto enough. So you can just work by process of elimination now. Sensei will even tell Yuuto a little more: you have already met the Candidate with the power you want, and it's none of the dead ones. So neither Devil or Moon."
Wait, Moon's dead? I don't really remember him from the Unveiling, just that he was with Sun's Candidate or something.
But that doesn't matter now. What's the Devil King even talking about? How did Devil King Candidates get into this topic?
"Wait, how did we get from talking about something you can do to talking about the Candidates? What do these topics have to do with each other?"
"… Ah, does Yuuto not know about the Devil King's power? It's basically common knowledge with devils, but I suppose Yuuto's human. Sensei'll teach you then."
Ah, so it's some kind of common knowledge. It's a bit embarrassing to not know these things, but it can't be helped. I didn't even know about devils until a few months ago.
"You see, a race like devils would never respect a king without power. The Devil King's title was an empty one, that is, until the Arcanas came. The Devil King has the power of all 22 Arcanas, that's why everyone obeys the Devil King, no matter what. In a way, it can also be said that Yuuto's the closest to becoming the next Devil King, since you've got both Lovers and Devil's circuits on you now."
I see now. That's why the Devil King can do whatever he pleases. A single Arcana already grants immense power, having all 22 would make the person unstoppable.
And I did copy Devil Arcana's magic circuits from Ibiza, so in a way I guess I'm ahead of everyone else. It really doesn't feel like it though.
But, back to what really matters, now I got why the Devil King suddenly started talking about the Candidates. It's spread out, but in theory, all 22 Devil King Candidates together have the power of a single Devil King.
Let's get to thinking. Barbatos said a Candidate I'd met and that wasn't dead had the power I wanted. So that removes Ibiza. Let's think of every Candidate I've met so far.
There's Ruki for Judgement, Stella for Star, Neith for Chariot and Fleminar for Priestess. There's also Marios as Tower, Rikumaru as Strength, Seigi as Justice, Lost as Death, Rinne as Wheel of Fortune and… oh yeah, Aspite as World.
I don't really know a lot of their abilities, but Fleminar told me she couldn't help with that, and Neith's Top Runner doesn't seem like it would fit, so I can eliminate them. Taking out Rikimaru also seems plausible, since strength isn't really what I'm looking for. I can also discard Lost for a similar reason.
So that left Ruki, Stella, Marios, Seigi, Rinne and Aspite. Still a big list, and out of those, I only know Marios, Rinne and Aspite's power…
Maybe it's Rinne? She did revive me and Reina once. But it doesn't seem like what she used was some kind of soul manipulation…
"Yuuto seems to be thinking a lot, so sensei will repeat the tip. Sensei got the idea for the solution with what Yuuto said before."
What I said before… that thing Barbatos thought it was about going to an isekai?
Wait… isekai… another world… there is a World Candidate, Aspite, and his power was…
"Aaaah!"
I think I got it! If it works like I think it does, then Aspite has the power to save Reina!
"I see Yuuto has found the answer… wait, you're going already?"
"Ah, sorry, but I want to solve this as quickly as possible. Thanks for the help, and sorry about getting in your way before."
I almost left without thanking the Devil King. But this is a good chance. Classes are over for the day anyway, I'll immediately go to Aspite and get him to help.
On the way, I remembered it would probably be a good idea to tell everyone where I'd gone, so I sent them a message.
It's been over a month since I've been here, actually, now it's closer to 2 months. Aspite had kidnapped Lizel-senpai, so Miyabi, Reina and I came here to rescue her. It was my first time fighting against another Devil King Candidate.
He did kidnap Lizel-senpai, but I'm willing to look past that if it saves Reina. Besides, if he's still a bad guy and doesn't want to help, I could always just do the same thing as I did with Ibiza and copy World's magic circuits.
[Not recommended. Installing more than a single Arcana's circuits puts a great burden on the body if the Devil King's ritual isn't used. As Devil's circuits have already been installed, it is best to not risk anymore.]
Ah, alright. I'm guessing this ritual the Arcana mentioned happens once someone wins the Devil King War. It's probably meant to ease the other Arcana circuits in.
So I guess I just have to convince Aspite to help me, no matter what.
I arrived in front of Aspite's mansion, but I couldn't see any signs of life. Come to think of it, I probably should have asked where Aspite was. Maybe he'd moved somewhere.
"Oh well, I'm here, might as well check it out. Transite."
I teleported in. I remember the first time I did that, I was almost immediately out of mana. Now I could teleport in without much worry.
The inside looked as abandoned as the outside. Even the holes on the walls we'd opened during our fight were still there.
Maybe Aspite really isn't here anymore…. no, this is a big place, so I should probably look around.
I must have spent like a good 10-15 minutes walking around without finding anything, but then something came up. A locked door. And I'm pretty sure I heard an "eh?" from inside.
Was Aspite in there? I tried knocking on the door to see if whoever's inside would open it, but nothing.
I don't have time to waste, so I decided to break down the door. Sorry about this.
"Heya."
"Hiiiii!"
When I burst into the room, I saw Aspite there. He was covering himself with a blanket like a child scared of a monster.
"Hum, I know this is a little sudden, and the last time we met wasn't the best, but I need a favor from you, Aspite."
I tried approaching him a bit, but then he completely covered himself with his blanket, as if he didn't want to see me.
"G-go away! You're not real, like the ones before."
Looks like this isn't my first visit from Aspite's perspective. Has he been having nightmares about me ever since I beat him? I only gave him a good punch.
"I'm real, and I really do need your help. So can we talk?"
Aspite wasn't replying to me. Now that I look around, all the windows and curtains are closed. I figured I might as well give Aspite some time and open them up while I was at it.
Once I opened all the windows, I noticed Aspite was looking at me. I tried talking with him again, but he hid himself again.
I got fed up, so I tore the blanket from him. He immediately jumped back to gain some distance.
"Bastard, you really are real, Yuuto Morioka!"
"Should I apologize for what your nightmares of me did to you? Anyway, I need your help, Aspite."
"Huh? Why would I help you? Just go away and leave me be, you've already humiliated me enough."
What should I do? Aspite doesn't seem like he's willing to cooperate, but I really need his help and I don't have a lot of time to waste.
"Listen, I'm sorry about before. I only fought you to save Lizel-senpai, but I really need your help, so I'm even willing to forgive that."
"Forgive? I'm the victim! I've been telling you since then that Lizel's been playing you, Yuuto Morioka. If anyone has to forgive anything, it should be me!"
"What are you talking about? You kidnaped Lizel-senpai, and that's why we fought. Or maybe you hit your head and forgot?"
"Bastard!"
This isn't looking like it'll end well. Maybe I should just hit him in the head hard enough so he forgets everything and we can start from a clean slate.
It really looked like a fight was going to break out, but then someone stopped us. And that person was none other than Lizel-senpai herself.
"Lizel-senpai?!"
"What are you doing here, woman?"
"There's no reason for either of you to fight the other. Both of you are victims, and I'm the culprit."
Huh? What's this about? How could Lizel-senpai be guilty of her own kidnapping?
Lizel-senpai entered the room where Aspite and I were about to start fighting. She first looked towards me.
"Yuuto, first of all, I need to tell you something. Aspite didn't kidnap me, I only pretended to be kidnapped so you'd fight Aspite. I wanted to make Yuuto stronger, to make Yuuto unlock Infinite Lovers. Aspite wanted to make peace with Yuuto, but I forced the fight."
"Eh?"
Wait so… what? Lizel-senpai wasn't kidnapped by Aspite? Huh? I'm confused.
While I was confused, Lizel-senpai turned to Aspite and talked to him.
"And you, Aspite, you shouldn't feel ashamed you lost to Yuuto. I set everything up to give him an advantage, it's only natural you'd lose to him in that scenario. In fact, the mere fact you're still alive is commendable. Yuuto fought Ibiza not long ago, and Ibiza is now dead. And yet, you fought him when he had the advantage, and lived to tell the tale."
"Ibiza… Devil's dead. Yuuto Morioka killed him?"
To be fair, I was stronger when I fought Ibiza, but I get what Lizel-senpai is trying to do here.
Honestly, I'm still confused, but now Reina comes first. I'll ask Lizel-senpai about everything later.
"Aspite, I really need your help. Please."
"… Speak, Yuuto Morioka."
Somehow, I was able to get Aspite to help me save Reina.
