The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his chair after a long night of binge gaming the devil may cry series for what could have been the millionth time since the fifth game had been released.
That was his normal as a pro-gamer and over all devil may cry addict.
So why...
"Why the hell am I waking up in the middle of a church filled with toxic gas!?" He shouted as stumbled to his feet and coughed from both the gas and the effort of moving his body.
Speaking of... he felt a lot shorter than he remembered being...
"Food for later thought." He mentally chided himself on how sidetracked his brain was getting.
He coughed again, this time a small glob of thick blood splattered to the flood.
He felt his eyes widened in horror before he frantically looked around for anything that could be an exit.
"I have to get out of here..." He muttered before he spotted that one of the windows was broken open from the inside.
"Jackpot." He muttered the iconic catchphrase to himself before he forced himself to move as fast as his pained body would allow.
Once he'd made it to the broken window he climbed, as best he could, out the shattered window. He didn't even care about the small shards of glass that cut his palms as he pulled him though the hole.
His body fell in a heap on a large pile of snow below. Picking himself up with a shudder, he noticed that the pile had clear signs of another indentation made from another person's weight, likely a child's judging by the shape.
"Someone else got out I guess.." He mused before looking over his surroundings.
The church window he had crawled from, overlooked a winter stricken forest. From what he could tell, the forest surrounded the church on all sides, without even a dirt path to mark a direction towards any kind of civilization.
"Who the hell builds a church in a forest smack dab in the middle of nowhere?" He muttered confused.
The kind of person who had something to hide.
He knew that was the case.
Taking the chance to check himself over he immediately noticed one glaring fact.
"Holy shit I'm a kid again!?"
Indeed he was, his body was far smaller than it had once been, and his now smaller hands weren't as bony and his skin was pale.
"What was that?" A voice of a male called out.
He didn't know why but he felt like he shouldn't answer the voice. The feeling was primal in nature, like he knew that whoever had spoken was not a friend.
Instead he did the only thing he could think of.
He ran.
Bounding into the treeline he ducked and weaved between branches and trees as he pumped his arms and legs, praying all the while that whoever had been at the church wouldn't find him.
After was seemed like an hour of running, but was in reality only 15 minutes, he came to a stop at the edge of a small lake, completely frozen over.
He knelt beside the lake in hopes to find a thin patch to break for water. His reflection in the ice caught his focus as his breath hitched.
The face he saw both was... and wasn't his own. It was a face he recognized from when he was still in middle school but with key differences.
For starters his eyes, once green, were now a shimmering shade of silvery blue, and his hair, formerly a shade of black was now pure white.
"The hell?" He muttered under his breath as he stared at his reflection.
He couldn't help but be reminded of Dante, Vergil, or even Nero with how his appearance now looked.
If he was being honest that suited him just fine.
He was so busy admiring his new appearance that he didn't noticed that he was no longer alone.
"Hey kid. What the hell are you doing out here?" A grizzled voice called, snapping him from his thoughts.
He whirled around to see a bear of a man dressed in a priest garb, however around his waist was a belted holster that held a unique looking pistol that looked strangely familiar to him.
The man himself was middle aged, and had once been handsome if he had to guess. His large red beard and the numerous scars on his face had done much to damper his looks.
"It's rude to stare brat. You from the local church?" The priest questioned with narrowed eyes.
He didn't answer with words, instead he nodded his head slowly.
The man relaxed his aggressive stance at his affirmation.
"So there was a survivor after all... good." The priest sounded relieved, before he knelt down a short distance away from him.
"I'm Father Isaac McCormick, I'm an exorcist from the Vatican. I was supposed to prevent what happen to the church and your friends but I arrived too late. You have my sincerest apologies." The newly introduced Isaac McCormick.
"An Exorcist? From the Vatican?" He wondered what kind of exorcism required a gun, and that's when he remembered where he'd seen that pistol before.
"You're shitting me... Did I get isekai'd into fucking Highschool Dxd!?" He thought with incredulousness.
"Oi brat... You gonna introduce yourself? Or are you gonna keep looking at me like I'm a fae with herpes." Isaac snapped at him.
He shook himself from his thoughts and made to introduce himself, but his eyes focused on something behind the priest and widened with horror.
"Look out!" He shouted with his left arm outstretched to point at the space behind the man.
The man's face sharpened as he instinctively dodged to the side. Unfortunately this meant that he was now in the path of an attack fro. the thing he had seen.
The sickening sound of flesh tearing reached his ears before the pain even registered.
"AAAAAAAAARGH!!" He screamed as he clutched the remains of his left arm, which had been severed just below the shoulder in a diagonal fashion.
"Shit- Hold on brat!" McCormick rushed him and used his belt to act as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding.
"This can't be happening! This can't be happening! I-I'm dreaming! I have to be!" He thought with panic as he looked in horror at the remains of his arm.
"I'm going to die..." He whispered just loud enough for the priest to heard.
"No you aren't kid. I'll make sure of it." McCormick said with a solemn tone.
He knew the man was likely saying that to ease his nerves, but it didn't help at all.
He glanced behind him to see what had maimed his arm.
The object was long, thin and wickedly curved, like a scythe blade, but it was completely covered in some kind of writhing organism with steel gray tendrils and fanged mouths. It could only be described as... Lovecraftian.
He shuddered at the sight of the blade that had severed his arm.
"You know... you shouldn't make promises you can't keep Priest." A sinister voice called from seemingly all directions.
McCormick whipped his pistol out and fired a bullet of light in a random direction, or so it seemed to him.
"Come out devil!" McCormick demanded with fury in his tone as he scanned the trees.
"As you wish." The owner voice of the voice whispered directly in the priest's left ear.
The creature he witnessed behind the priest was horrific. Long distended limbs connected to a bony and hunched spine. It's face was spiderlike, but instead of two mandibles it had eight that formed a circle, giving it a mouth like an octopus.
It's long legs ended with reptilian feet. A set of bat wings were connected to its lower back.
Several blades identical to the first, protruded from the creature's shoulder blades like porcupine quills.
"Surprise!" The creature hissed out a cackle before it swiped at the priest and sent him flying. The force knocked the man's gun from his hands.
McCormick flipped himself over in mid-air and nursed his newly battered arm, all the while cursing at the loss of his pistol.
Quickly reaching behind him he pulled out a sword hilt.
He knew that the hilt was actually a medium to create a blade of holy power, but that didn't mean he felt any safer.
"What business do you have so close to the house of God, Devil?" McCormick demanded as he raised his light blade to the creature.
"This devil has a name Priest. It's Aetna, a reincarnated devil formerly of house Phenex." Aetna hissed with amusement as he began to circle the priest.
"I couldn't give two shakes of a kelpie's arse who you are! Just shut up and die!" McCormick rushed the devil with his blade and unleashed a series of vicious slashes at the creature, who dodged them effortlessly.
"Hahaha! Is this the best you got? I'm not even breaking a sweat!" The devil cackled as he dodged every attack from the exorcist.
McCormick grit his teeth before he channeled more power into the blade, making it shine brighter than before.
Aetna hissed as all six of his spider eyes were blinded by the light.
McCormick took that chance to grip his weapon with both hands and deliver a devastating attack to the creature's torso, severing the left arm of creature.
He felt vindicated at the sight of the same arm that had been removed from himself had been mirrored on the creature, but fear still overwhelmed his senses.
"Hsssssssst!" The devil hissed in pain at the loss of its limb, prompting a smirk from the Priest.
The hissing however, turned to laughter as the severed limb regenerated as insane speeds.
"Hahaha! See that?! I was half-fallen before my reincarnation! Light does little more than sting!" Aetna cackled as it pulled several of its curved blades from its back and held them aloft, the tendrils wrapped themselves around the devil's wrists and arms like a pair of crude feathered wings.
And just like that... his hopes for survival felt abysmal.
Aetna cackled madly as he took the offensive.
He could only watch as McCormick struggled to dodge the attacks, several times he received deep gashes from the attacks he couldn't dodges.
Even from where he sat in fear, he could tell that McCormick was being toyed with. Aetna could finish the man off anytime he wanted.
He didn't know why but he felt that he needed to help, but didn't know what he could even do.
Soon enough he felt blood loss settling in and he felt himself getting faint.
"Damn it all... if only I had some way to fight back..." Those were his thoughts as he collapsed backwards.
As his eyes drifted shut he saw something glittering in the snow.
"Ah... the light gun..."
Then darkness.
He floated in darkness, he could not feel anything, see anything, taste, hear or smell, anything. He was simply... nothing.
"Am I... dead?" He wondered to no one in particular.
He didn't want to die... if only he had one more chance. He wanted to survive!
But what was the point... even if he did survive, he'd have to face that Devil again... and he was powerless against it.
"Without strength... you can protect nothing... let alone yourself. Truer words have never been said." He mentally quoted Vergil as he could only float.
For some reason however... he felt the words stir something within him, like a small flame had been lit within him.
He didn't know why but he felt a strange sense of anticipation as the flame seemed to grow.
"Power... I need power." He thought as the flame reached a peak in its intensity.
"And if you become a demon?" A disembodied voice asked.
"So be it. I'll do whatever it takes... to survive!" The flame within him erupted in a flash of dark purple light.
[《Welcome to the Game》]
McCormick was at his limit, he could barely keep up with the devil. He was bleeding heavily from the various gashes along his body.
Aetna was by far in better condition than the exorcist, any and all wounds that he'd been inflicted with healed almost instantly.
However healing did take a toll on the devil's stamina and demonic power, as such he was breathing a little heavier than previous.
"Not bad priest." Aetna complimented with clear mocking in his tone.
"Shut it devil!" McCormick snapped at him between puff of breath.
The devil rolls his multitude of eyes at the originality of the priest's comment.
He was planning to mock the man but froze when an explosion of demonic power rippled across the clearing.
Two sets of heads swiveled to face the source of the power.
To their shock they saw that the boy who now stood with his back to them, looking no older than thirteen was the origin point of such an insane amount of demonic power.
"What the fuck?! That brat's a devil?!" Aetna hissed in shock, up until that point the kid had the scent of an ordinary human, albeit with a slightly denser smell of holy energy than most, but now all that holy had shifted into a, dense, dark and primal power.
For some reason the devil began to salivate, he seemed to instinctively know that if he devoured the boy then his power would increase greatly.
Aetna's body rushed the boy before his mind caught up to what he was doing.
"Come here brat! I'll devour every last piece of you down to the bone!" The devil madly proclaimed, clawed fingers outstretched to tear apart the boy.
McCormick, due to his wounds, could only watch as the devil closed in on the boy, devil or not he was just a kid.
In a last ditch effort to save the boy he lifted his light blade and held it like a javelin, before throwing it with all his might at Aetna who was now dangerously close to the boy.
It was fruitless however when the blade pierced its flesh and it kept moving.
"I've got you now!" Aetna cackled as his claws raked through the air down at the boy.
A flash of purple blinded the devil for a second before a heavy impact to the devil's arachnoid face sent him flying backwards into the snow, where he tumbled head over ass for several dozen feet before slamming into the base of a tree.
McCormick looked to where the devil landed with a cartoonish look of shock.
Aetna groaned as he picked himself up.
"What the hell was that?" He muttered before looking back to the boy.
"The fuck?!" He hissed in surprise at what he saw.
Suspended in the air was a demonic spectral arm! A left hand specifically, much larger than any normal sized arm. The left arm floated parallel with the boy's own, now regenerated and equally demonic left arm.
The new arm was covered in black armored scales with cracks of pulsing dark purple energy covering the forearm, and palm of a single clawed hand.
The boy gave an experimental motion of closing his fingers into a fist, the phantom arm copied his movements exactly.
"Not bad... so this is what the devil bringer feels like." The boy noted before looking down at the gun that lay in the snow at his feet, the light sword that McCormick had thrown had deactivated and joined the other weapon in the snow. He also saw the blade that had removed his arm, its tendrils still writhing and lashing out for something to grab.
He suddenly had an idea and acted before completely thinking it over.
He lashed out with his new arm and used its power to grab the demon blade, all the while his foot kicked up the pistol which his right hand caught and held it up at the approaching blade.
The tendrils lashed automatically onto the pistol and it screeched as the boy poured his demonic power into it to force the blade to his will.
Seconds later the blade had completely fused to the pistol forming a wicked looking gunblade.
The boy inspected the newly formed weapon.
"Not bad..." He muttered, before he used his now free demonic arm to pick up the light sword.
"What to do with you?" He wondered aloud, only for his arm to glow bright purple and the sword hilt seemed to dissolve and be absorbed into the limb.
[《Exorcist Light Sword acquired. Skill gained: Conjure Holy Energy Blade. Type- Devil Bringer.》]
The boy blinked at the game window that had popped up before his eyes
"Well that works.." he muttered before another popped up.
[《Tutorial Quest initiated. Mission assigned: Slay Devil Aetna. Reward: 10 to all stats. 10,000 Red Orbs. Additional Rewards assigned based on Style Score. Failure Penalty: Death.》]
He blinked at the screen.
"The fuck... what am I, a manhwa protagonist or something?" He mumbled with annoyance.
"Neat trick brat. You had me scared for a second there, but you used up most of your demonic energy with tht stunt! Now you're easy pickings-! (*Bang!*)" The devil's monolog was silenced by a bullet of purple energy to its throat.
"Oh shut up will you?" The boy rolled his eyes at the now fuming devil.
"H-how dare you!" The devil spat out once its vocal cords regenerated.
"Easily, like this." The boy snarked before pulling the trigger at the devil again, this time it lost an arm.
"That was payback and there's more coming." He said whilst summoning his phantom arm.
"Now why don't you come over here." He motioned his fingers in a "Come here" fashion, like Bruce Lee, and the arm copied the actions before vanishing
Aetna growled at the boy and charged.
Said boy stood still with a cocky grin on his face.
"Die you little pest!" Aetna roared as he flew at his prey.
The boy's smirk widened as the devil descended upon him.
At the last possible second the boy swiped up in a grabbing motion with his demonic arm, instantly calling forth the phantom arm to grasp the dumbstruck devil.
[《Crazy!》]
The boy whirled the devil around like a rag doll before slamming him down to the ground, leaving a small crater from the force.
The arm released the devil as he bounced into the air from his impact.
[《Badass!!》]
Next the boy pointed his demonic gunblade at the airborn devil and shot a barrage of gunfire that peppered the devil with holes.
Due to the devil's exhaustion the holy enhanced bullets caused a great amount of pain to the creature and prevented its healing factor from activating.
Deciding to test out the skill he had acquired from the light sword, his devil bringer summoned forth the phantom arm, but this time it held a bastard sword proportioned to its size made of pure light.
"Sweet." He whistled before brandishing both his Gunblade and the light blade. He launched himself at the devil and unleashed a crude but vicious assault at a pace that McCormick could barely follow.
[《Apocalyptic!!!!!》]
At the end of his assault, the phantom arm thrust the light blade deep in the chest cavity of the utterly devastated devil.
The large light sword buried itself into the dirt and left the devil suspended in midair.
[《Savage!!!!!》]
The boy's devil bringer began to glow a deep purple, due to a build up of energy, so the boy aimed with his Gunblade and charged up a shot with the weapon.
The barrel glowed a bright mixture of white and purple before he pulled the trigger. Four arching bolts of white and purple energy homed in on the still suspended devil's limbs, completely incinerating them, leaving the devil with only his head and torso.
[《SSmoking!!!!》]
The boy gave a theatrical bow to the limbless devil, his devil bringer held out to the side with his human arm over his heart.
(*Snap*)
The boy snapped his demonic fingers and as if on cue the devil's body exploded with thousands of smaller light blades orginating from the larger light blade.
[《SSStylish!!!!!》]
Returning to a standing position he watched on as the deceased devil evaporated into wisps of black ash, the only sign that the devil had been there was a orange ball of fire that floated in place.
He rose a brow at the orb, before it shot towards him and into the gunblade he held.
[《Devil Arm: Satanael acquired. 》]
The gunblade flashed orange for a second before several smaller blades, each about an inch in length, sprouted along the larger blade, like feathers.
He spent little time with inspecting the upgraded weapon and instead looked to another window that popped up before him.
[《Tutorial mission completed. Mission Rewards applied and delivered to Inventory. Calculating Stylish Score rewards...》]
He blinked as another window pupped up.
[《Achievement Unlocked! Received SSS score during the tutorial mission. Rewards: One store Item of your choice. Choose now!》]
The next window to pop up was clearly for some kind of store.
He scrolled through the options before he found something that definitely caught his attention.
[《Skill book: Alpha Stigma; The Eye of Destruction. Analyze, Understand and Copy magic/Items at a glance upon activation. Warning: Cannot understand/copy Rule Fragments/Sacred Gears. Possessor may become host for a lonesome demon.》]
While he didn't like the idea of potentially being possessed by the same thing as Lute Ryner, but considering he was now a Sparda and by extention a devil, he figured he should be fine to choose that.
Claiming the item with but a thought he wasn't surprised when another window popped up.
[《Skill book acquired. Use now?
Yes. No.》]
Without hesitation he accepted the prompt and felt a slight tingling in his eyes before it faded.
With that finished he looked around and saw the dumbstruck McCormick kneeling in the snow, mouth gaping like a fish.
"Uuuuh... hi? My name's Cassius." He introduced himself to the shell-shocked man.
Location: Heaven.
Michael and Gabriel stood over a large halo of light that hovered about two feet off the floor.
"So the system was correct..." Michael sighed.
Gabriel looked to her brother.
"Then that's finally chosen a host?" She asked him with a hint of worry.
Michael nodded.
"But in all the years since its creation it has never chosen a host! It's the only reason that it's not classified as a Longinus! We don't even know what it does..." She continued.
"That is correct... we have no clue what it does... only Father knew." Michael replied.
"What about Metatron? Surely he knows?" Gabriel asked.
Michael didn't even have an answer for her.
Metatron had been missing since the death of God, and there had been no sign of him for millennia. It was widely accepted that Metatron had likely perished.
"Can we possibly track down the host?" His sister asked him with hope.
Michael mulled it over. Typically the system monitered those who relieved sacred gears, but couldn't choose the bearers of the objects.
"We should yes." Michael said before he placed his palms onto the halo. Immediately a window popped up and displayed a wintery landscape with a church in the middle of a forest.
Gabriel gasped in recognition.
"That's where Archbishop Galilei was discovered to be experimenting on orphans to create artificial Holy Sword wielders! I sent Father McCormick there to rescue the children!" Gabriel informed her brother.
"Perhaps the host is one of those children." Michael deduced.
"Look!" Gabriel pointed at something on the screen.
Michael looked to where she was pointing and zoomed in on the image.
They witnessed McCormick's duel with the spiderlike stray devil, before they then saw a one-armed child in the snow awaken with a new demonic limb before utterly destroying the stray devil.
For some reason the window displayed words like SSStylish or Crazy.
Michael was speechless from the scene. McCormick, one of their best Exorcists, had stuggled against the stray devil but a boy of thirteen had utterly decimated it and was showing off in the process!
He knew then and there... the boy was too dangerous to be allowed to his own devices. He would need to be recruited, demonic arm and all. Exception could be made occasionally.
"Gabriel go to where they are and bring the boy to the Vatican." Michael instructed with a serious expression.
Gabriel didn't need to betold twice, in fact... she was already gone before he finished talking.
Michael sighed.
"I hate it when she does that."
Cassius and McCormick returned to the church together to bury the deceased children as best they could in the frozen earth.
They also discovered that there was one more survivor, who Cassius knew to be Tosca, due to the barrier surrounding the girl's comatose form.
McCormick couldn't lift the girl in the barrier due to his wound so Cassius stepped in with his Devil Bringer's phantom limb.
The younger of the pair was uneasy however.
McCormick hadn't asked a single question about what had happened. Not about the demonic arm, not about his sudden ability to kick the asses of devils, or even how he'd absorbed and practically stolen his weapons. Nothing!
"So... uh... you're pretty quiet about the whole... me killing a devil with suddenly awakened powers thing." Cassius stated with a nudging tone.
McCormick shrugged.
"Not the first time I've experienced things like that. Sacred Gears tend to initially awaken when their host is close to dying. It's a defense mechanism. Plus not the first time I've dealt with a half-devil. Although the ability to absorb and manipulate holy energy is a new one." McCormick admitted with a shrug.
"Ah... right... half-devil..." Cassius looked down in thought.
McCormick glanced at the boy with a critical eye before sighing.
"You don't have to worry. I won't try to hurt you kid. I only hunt stray devils anyways... and maybe vampires, long story." McCormick said, having mistaken Cassius' thoughtful look as worry.
In reality Cassius was looking at various system windows that displayed his status, current equipment, known skills, and his inventory.
His status screen was where he primarily focused his attention for the time being.
[《Name: Cassius
Lvl: 15
Race: Half-Devil
Title: Kin of Sparda.
Vit:24
End:22
Ftg: 60%/100%
Str:23
Agi :21
Int:26
Wis:20
DP:30
Hol:15
DT:Locked. Requirements not met.
Description: Summoned by the prayers of the deceased and forsaken you have been bestowed access to the last creation of God, the Sacred Evolution System. The system has taken your obsession with video games and Devil May Cry into account and has changed your race to suit you.》]
The description gave him some basic information about his situation.
"So what... I'm like Jihan Han or Sung Jinwoo, but with Devil May Cry?" He thought as he and McCormick walked through the forest toward where the priest's vehicle sat.
McCormick froze in place, which caused Cassius to accidentally bump into him, nearly dropping Tosca on his head.
"Lady Gabriel! To what do I owe this Honor?" McCormick bowed while making the sign of the cross.
Cassius peeked over the large frame of the priest and found himself breathless.
"Gorgeous..." he whispered at the sight of the woman.
Long golden curled hair framing a literal angelic face that held innocent and kind sky blue eyes. Her white robe left little to the imagination of how voluptuous her body was.
Cassius had seen her several time in the DxD manga but to see such a beautiful woman in person was different.
Crap! He could feel his face turning red! Quickly shaking the redness away, Cassius stepped out from behind the priest and into full view of the angel.
"Well met Father McCormick and you as well young one. My brother Michael sent me to collect you both and bring you back to the Vatican." Gabriel said with a smile.
That set Cassius on edge, out of reflex he flexed the fingers of his demonic arm.
Gabriel noticed his tension and gave him a disarming smile.
"No need to be afraid. My brother wishes to recruit you into the church. He is even willing to see past your demonic heritage." Gabriel said naively thinking that would make him relax.
It didn't.
His eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"He intends to use me as a weapon against the churches enemies I take it." Cassius stated.
Gabriel shook her head, a little flustered.
"No of course not! My brother would never do such a thing!" Gabriel defended her brother.
Somehow he didn't doubt that she said what she thought was the truth. It was Michael himself that he did doubt.
He decided to at least believe her. Gabriel was too innocent to lie to anyone.
"Fine. I'll go to the Vatican... however I reserve my right to choose whether or not I join the church." Cassius consented.
McCormick sent him an exasperated look, like a parent that just heard their kid peed in a public pool.
"Oh that's wonderful! I guarantee you're going to love it!" Gabriel beamed at him whilst opening a golden portal.
Somehow... Cassius seriously doubted he would.
He was right... he hated it immediately, for reasons you'd might expect.
Being a Devil in Vatican City was a death sentence in itself... but being a devil escorted by the most beautiful woman in heaven wasn't a good look, especially with the men they passed on the way to the Headquarters of the Vatican.
Oh did he mention that Gabriel was holding his hand?!
"Dammit McCormick why did you leave me alone with her?!" Cassius mentally cursed the priest, who had left with Tosca, accompanied by a pair of nameless exorcists.
"What do you think of Vatican City so far Cassius?" Gabriel asked him with a innocent smile.
"Uuuh... it's nice?" He said in an unsure tone.
Truth be told the place was beautiful... but he was agnostic. He believed in a higher power sure... but he didn't worship. Ironically being a Devil in Highschool Dxd where God is an actual person... well was.
Gabriel beamed at him, practically skipping as she led him through the city and into a building that he was pretty sure didn't exist to the public... if the hidden staircase leading down into some unknown part of the city was any indication.
"This way." Gabriel chirped as she descended..
Cassius looked on with trepidation, he just knew that something was going to happen. With a sigh he followed after the angel.
The descent didn't really take that long, about fifteen minutes by his count, and upon reaching the bottom he had to blink at the sight of an entire underground city of various styles of Christian themed buildings.
"Come! We're almost there. My brother will meet us there." Gabriel practically dragged him towards a large white building.
As they made their way through the city, numerous Exorcists noticed them. At first they were happy to see Gabriel, but then they noticed him and his arm and immediately looked on edge.
Gabriel didn't seem to notice and kept chatting on about the various sights and buildings.
Soon enough they arrived at their destination.
"Ok I'll go in and let my brother know we're here. This building isn't really allowed to anyone but angels in terms of access so he'll have to come to us." Gabriel explained.
"Ah so it's the gateway to heaven then." Cassius pointed out.
"Exactly." Gabriel gave a cute wink before skipping into the building.
Cassius sighed.
"She's gone! You all can come out now." Cassius called out to seemingly no one.
On cue trio older teens, faces Cassius had seen while walking with Gabriel, stepped from the shadows.
"Sorry for the intrusion but... you see my boys and I couldn't for the life of us figure out why Lady Gabriel, an angel of god and one of our leaders, would bring in a no good devil spawn like yourself." One boy asked.
Cassius shrugged.
"Your guess is as good as mine dude. Supposedly old Mikey wants to recruit me." He told them with a snort at the end.
They all bristled at his nickname for the archangel.
"Show some damn respect demon!" A teen shouted at him.
Cassius merely picked at his ear, as if clearing a ringing from it.
"And why should I? Respect is earned not given." Cassius asked with a look that clearly stated "or what".
"Then I guess we'll have to show you why you shouldn't mess with the church!"
"Awww... sounds like the puppies need to go for a wittle walk! Come on puppies!" Cassius clapped his hands together like he was talking to actual dogs.
Ironically they growled like animals just before they charged him.
He gave a smirk and spoke one single word.
"Jackpot."
The next few minutes featured Cassius absolutely beating the dog shit out of the teens. Exorcist or no, they were still bound to the limits of the human body, but Cassius was now a Sparda, and possessed the powers of a video game character.
The first already gave him a significant bonus when it came to overall stats, but add in the ability to freely strengthen individual stats and there was no contest.
The fighting ended with Cassius having pummel them into looking like three bunches of grapes with how many purple welts they had.
Cassius clapped his hands to brush off any dust and dirt that may have gotten on them.
"Now be good puppies and stay." he mocked the trio one last time before he turned around and froze at the twitching smile of Gabriel and Michael, the later of the pair looked like he was about just turn around and leave.
"What? They started it." Cassius pointed behind him with a thumb.
(*smack!*)
Those nearby looked aghast at the sight of Gabriel facepalming! Even Michael looked shook.
"What were you thinking! Attacking three members of the church?! You may be our guest but violence shouldn't be a viable solution! And you three! You know better than to attack a guest! Shame on all of you!" Gabriel scolded the three like a mother would.
Michael could only sweatdrop at the sight of Cassius and the three teenagers, whom ironically looked like kicked puppies.
"Note to self... never make Gabriel mad." Everyone in the vicinity made a mental note.
"Ahem... Cassius please come with me, so so we can discuss the terms of your... employment." Michael motioned for the boy to follow him.
Cassius was more than happy to follow, whatever it took to get away from an angry Gabriel! He did make sure to childishly stick his tongue out to the other teens as he followed behind the archangel.
Hey, he was technically 13 years old. He needed to act the part of people would get suspicious.
"Tell me young man... do you know what you hold within you?" Michael asked him with no nonsense tone.
"Hmm? Oh you mean the SES? Or would you rather call it the Last Creation of God?" Cassius glanced at the angel to guage his reaction.
Michael flinched at the word "Last".
"So you know that-"
"That God is Dead? Yeah sure whatever." Cassius said plainly, like he'd stepped on some gum.
Michael was at a loss for words.
"Do you... not care?" Michael asked incredulous.
"Not really. Never was religious. Closest thing you can consider me is being Agnostic. Do I believe? Sure. Will I worship? Nah not really." Cassius explained simply.
"I see... well that was what God had intended in the beginning when he gave humans free will. He wanted them to believe in him but not worship him." Michael stated.
Cassius snorted.
"Don't tell the Catholics that. Otherwise every little boy named Timmy might have a harsh weekend." Cassius joked.
Michael gave him a look that clearly thought the joke was in bad taste.
"I'll have you know that the priests who are found conducting such acts are sent to Hell while they're still alive." Michael informed.
"Noted however seems a bit... redundant if you ask me. Considering that Devils could reincarnate them while in Hell." Cassius pointed out.
Michael blinked having not though about that.
"Oh Damn it all..." He muttered at their collective stupidity.
"Eh no worries man, pretty sure those priest become strays more often than not." Cassius said with a shrug.
Michael looked at the boy again.
"You seem quite knowledgeable despite being an Orphan raised in the middle of nowhere." Michael looked a little suspicious over his intellect.
Luckily Cassius was prepared for such things.
"You can thank the System for that." he said.
Michael looked at him curiously.
"The system?" he asked for clarification.
"Yup. You see the last creation is actually some sort of evolutionary system that bears a distinct resemblance to an RPG." Cassius explained.
"And that means...?" Michael wasn't one hundred percent sure what he was implying.
Cassius sighed.
"It means that I have the customizability of a video game character." Cassius restated.
"And what...? This system told you all there is to know about the supernatural side of the world?" Michael asked.
"Yeah pretty much. It gave me the basics at least." Cassius lied smoothly with a shrug.
"I see... and how did you discover God's death?" Michael narrowed his eyes.
"Well... given that I possess something literally called the "Last Creation of God" ... you kind of connect the dots. Plus I'm thirteen not stupid." Cassius deadpanned at the angel.
"Touche..." the angel replied with a heavy sigh.
"Don't get your feathers in a twist. I don't plan on saying anything. Not really my business to." Cassius said to ease Michael's tension.
It did a great deal.
The angel let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you Cassius." he breathed
Cassius just shrugged off the words of thanks and continued to walked beside the angel.
"So... I'm guessing because of my having the System you wanted to recruit me?" Cassius figured.
Michael nodded.
"Yes. You see God never told anyone of the capabilities of his final creation. In fact... before you, it's never had a host. So we know absolutely nothing about its capabilities. But if it is all you say it is... then I think I have nothing to fear." Michael said.
"Pfft." Cassius couldn't contain the small bout of laughter that escaped his lips.
"What is it?" Michael asked confused.
"Hold on let me show you something." Cassius said as he went through a series of gestures in the air.
[《Player: Cassius has invited you to his party. Accept? Yes. No.》]
The system window that popped up in front of Michael made him blink.
"Just tap yes with a finger." Cassius instructed.
Michael did as told.
"Okat what now?" He asked.
"Think or say Status." Cassius said again.
A quick thought later an Michael was staring at another window.
"What is..." He breathed.
"Those number you see are your stats. Your strengths and weaknesses given a numerical form. The average human would maybe have about fives for their base stats. Some stats can be improved through hard work, like strength or intelligence. But others are difficult to increase. However as a game character I get points that I can put into those stats to make them better. Given enough time I could theoretically surpass you in terms of stats." Cassius informed.
"I... I see. So I suppose it would be a good idea to have you on our side then.." Michael said.
"Pretty much. Plus I don't mind working as a stray devil hunter or monster hunter for you. So long as I'm free to take jobs from other clients as well." Cassius said.
Michael mulled it over for a few second.
"Very well you have a deal. But I have a condition of my own." Michael said.
Cassius rose a brow at the angel, who in turn held up three fingers.
"Three years. Train and work as an Exorcist for three years and we have a deal." Michael said with a sly grin.
Cassius narrowed his eyes before he returned the grin.
"You sure you aren't a devil?" the boy joked.
Michael snorted slightly at the joke.
"Well considering Lucifer and I were twins..." He joked back, trailing off.
Cassius snickered at the joke.
"Well you got yourself a deal. Three years of my services, exclusively for the church." He said as he held out his right hand to shake.
Michael took the hand and with that the deal was made.
"Fantastic. Then I shall show you to your new accommodations, where you shall be given a partner for the next few months." Michael informed him.
"Okay? I'm guessing I have to go through some sort of Exorcist bootcamp or something?" Cassius asked.
"Mmm or something. More like an apprenticeship under one of our Exorcists. Your new partner is an up and coming Holy Sword wielder. Her teacher runs an orphanage and a church by herself. She is also the least discriminatory towards half-devils like yourself." Michael said fondly.
Cassius blinked.
"A holy sword wielder... and a female teacher who runs an orphanage and a church... don't tell me..." Cassius thought with growing disbelief at who his partner would be.
Michael swiftly opened a portal and pushed him through.
"Woah! Hey!?" Cassius looked back to Michael who was smiling and waving him off, before the portal closed faster than it had been opened.
"That dick!" Cassius cursed at the angel before looking around.
"Another fucking forest... What's with orphanages and the fucking forest?!" He grumbled to himself.
"Who's there?" a young voice called out.
"Uuuh... hello? I'm Cassius. An Exorcist in training I guess... I'm supposed to train with the one who runs the orphanage?" He said unsure of what else to do.
"With Mother Griselda?" The voice asked.
A rustling in the bushes alerted him to the approaching person.
She was his age, with blue hair cut short a single green streak in the left side of her bangs.
"Huh... Xenovia was quite the cutie at this age." Cassius noted.
She was definitely shorter than him by a almost a head so she ended up having to look up to look him in the eyes.
Her figure, as expected was far less buxom than her future self, but she was still far ahead of those her age.
She cautiously approached him and caught sight of his demonic arm. Immediately she was on guard.
"Liar. What are you really doing here Devil?" Xenovia glared at him.
He sighed, he really needs to find a way to hide his arm... maybe a sling and glove? Like Nero had in DMC4.
Food for later thought.
"Half." He said with a scratch of his hair with his devil bringer.
"Excuse me?" She blinked confused.
"I'm Half devil. And an Orphan just like you." He reiterated for the girl.
"So? A devil is a devil! And as an Exorcist of God it is my duty to destroy you and your kind!" Xenovia said before she charged at him, pulling out a larger than average light sword hilt which then ignited with a large golden blade of light.
Cassius rose a brow at the blade before quickly sidestepping the girl's attack.
"Listen... I'm not here to fight." He said, before sidestepping another attack.
"A devil on God's lands is grounds for a fight!" She retorted with a horizontal swing of her blade, which he ducked under.
He sighed again.
"Would you please just hear me out?" He asked her, before dodging to the side of a vertical slash, one that nearly took off his right arm.
"Never! There is nothing you can say that will save you from me!" Xenovia denied his efforts for a peaceful solution yet again... and it was starting to tick him off.
His eyes narrowed as he dodged yet another slash of her sword.
"Fine... have it your way... you better grit your teeth girlie." he said in a low tone, his demonic arm clenched tight into a fist.
For some reason Xenovia felt like she'd made a mistake but still she pressed her attack.
Only to be met by a demonic fist that completely shattered the light blade and buried itself into her gut. The fist twisted at the point of impact and sent her cartwheeling through the air before impacting a tree.
[《Savage!!!》]
That slightly startled him, he'd all but forgotten about the style gauge
Xenovia's body ached all over as she tried to sit up, only to vomit all over the grass due to the force of his punch.
As she coughed out the last of the vomit a pair of battered and broken shoes entered her sight.
She slowly looked up to the devil that had sent her flying, she was terrified. She'd heard tales of how cruel devils can be and knew for certain that the devil before her was no different.
She was proven wrong the second she saw his face, he was apologetic.
"Sorry... My temper got the best of me... I'm still kind of new to this whole Half-Devil shtick... in fact... it's only been a few hours since I gained these powers... Are you alright?" He asked her sincerely with his normal arm outstretched.
Her cheeks flushed slightly out of embarrassment, and she slapped the limb away and forced herself to stand.
"This isn't over Devil! I'll be back!" She then proceeded to sprint into the woods leaving confused and dumbfounded Cassius behind.
"You know... I'm starting to think I have rotten luck with women." Cassius sighed as he quoted yet another line from his favorite game.
"Indeed." a feminine voice chimed in from behind him.
"Gah?! Don't do that lady! Scared the shit out of me." Cassius jumped from being startled and neded a few seconds to slow his pounding heart.
Turning to see the source of the voice, he immediately knew who she was.
Northern European features like an actress, and blue eyes and despite being in a nun's outfit, her body was far beyond a normal human's.
With looks and a figure like hers, there was no way this wasn't Griselda Quarta.
"Sometimes I love being inside the world of an Anime..." Cassius thought as he stared at the very attractive woman.
Griselda's smile creeped up a little higher.
"Well at least we know you're a healthy young man." She teased him for staring.
"That I am." Cassius shot the woman a wink.
"You must be the young half devil that Lord Michael has recruited... Such a charmer. Hmm... you might do." Griselda mused mostly to herself.
Cassius blinked at the woman with confusion.
"Pardon?" he asked.
That snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Oh nothing dear. Just thinking to myself. Oh and I apologize for my daughter Xenovia. She's a bit bullheaded at times." Griselda waved of his concern with a smile.
"Yeah I noticed... sorry I punched her into a tree..." He said with a sheepish expression.
She shook her head.
"No need to apologize. I saw the whole thing. You tried to dissuade her many times before defending yourself. You have restraint and that showed in your actions." She said with a smile.
Cassius blinked as he could have sworn he saw a beam of light over Griselda as she spoke.
"Truly she's angel material..." he thought in slight awe over the woman's kindness.
"Please follow me. We'll get you some new clothing, food and a place to sleep. Tomorrow I'll put you to the test so rest up." She said with her angelic smile.
His stomach growled and he suddenly became aware of how hungry and how tired he was.
A glance at his Fatigue meter showed that it was now 82% out of 100.
Some food and sleep definitely sounded nice, especially after the day he'd had.
"Thank you very much Ma'am." He said as he suppressed a yawn.
She shook her head.
"Please just call me mother. I consider all under my care to my children." Griselda said.
Cassius looked at her before glancing down at his arm.
"Even if they're the very devils you kill?" He asked unsure.
Griselda looked at him with something akin to pity.
"You aren't the first half-devil or non-human child to be under my care. And you won't be the last." She said with a soft tone.
He couldn't help but smile at her words.
"Alright then Mother. Lead the way... but uh... do you by any chance have a pair of gloves or a sling? Just something to cover my arm really. I'd rather not draw attention to myself for what I am... for now anyways." He asked her.
She gave him a pensive look.
"I will see what I can find. But for the night you should be fine. The other children have gone to sleep... Xenovia is just a special case. She has a hard time sleeping at night so she trains until she's tired enough to fall asleep." She explained to him.
He shot her an appreciative look before nodding.
Thank you." He said.
"She's truly an Angel amongst man." he thought once more. He truly did not understand why Xenovia feared Griselda so much. She was so kind!
She smiled again before gesturing for him to follow. Neither noticed that Xenovia had been watching from the brush with a conflicted expression.
Meh not much in the way of explanations for this one. Basically your typical Isekai/Gamer fic but with a slight twist.