A Nascent Kaleidoscope - Chapter 467

Chapter 467: Part 2








Chapter 467: Part 2

Serafall POV

Midlife crisis!?

Who's having a Midlife crisis!

Everyone loves me! I'm Magical Girl Lev-tan!

Who does he think he is!?

"Azazel! I'm still cute and lovable, right!?" I grabbed him to double check.

"S-Serafall, you're choking me...."

"Serafall....don't kill him..." Red tried to get him out of answering.

"It was rhetorical anyways!" The answer was obvious. I don't know what I was getting worked up towards.

He obviously just didn't have any taste.

Besides, my ratings were already up 2.7% from last year. That's steady growth! Which meant that I'm not only still popular, but even more people were watching me!

Midlife Crisis my perfect little ass!

He just wanted to get under my skin. Not that it worked at all, I can see through his lies. But I should retaliate. Hmph, I'll just seduce him and then finally reject him once he's fallen for me. I could always ask Momma Gremory for some tips there.

And I'll do it dressed up as Magical Girl Levi-Tan, that'll show him.

"Alright it's decided. Sirzechs, I'm going to seduce your son!" I declared.

"Serafall....what the hell are you going on about?" He looked at me strangely.

"Don't worry about it!" I smiled happily.

Actually, I wondered if I can get in with Momma Gremory if I did it. Might be worth it just for that....

"Are we just going to ignore the Saintess standing by Lucifer Jr's side?" Azazel finally brought up.

Might have been more awkward to bring up if Michael and Gabriel were with us. We were supposed to go 'together' as a show of unity or whatever crap Azazel was spouting, but that sort of went to the wayside after what happened.

They apparently needed a few minutes to themselves.

Couldn't blame them honestly, one of their most famous Saintess suddenly popped up next to Red's Bastard.

"Please don't call him that." Red sighed.

"No." Azazel immediately rejected. "But seriously, Saintess, yeah? Questions, concerns, what the fuck?"

"What do you want us to say, Azazel?" I sighed. "It's not like he's our problem!!"

".....Father damn it." Azazel groaned. "I just....why does this shit keep getting thrown at us at the worst possible moments?"

"He probably does it on purpose." The little shit. "But was she seriously a Saintess? Not like...a Spirit Inheritor, I know you guys were all freaking out, but she didn't really seem much different than some normal Holy Powered human."

Azazel shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. She had Father's direct blessing. Like direct blessing, not just something Michael did to anoint some Holy Maiden or whatever he gets up to these days."

"...oh." I blinked. "But isn't he Dead?"

"Yes, Serafall." Azazel groaned. "Father is dead, kicked the bucket, went to the farm in the countryside." Azazel waved his hand flippantly. "So yeah, that's why we were all freaking out, cause Father's Direct blessing was on her and that shouldn't be possible."

"I mean....resurrected Saintess." I pointed out. "Shouldn't two and two equal four here?"

"She only stayed in Heaven for a little while. Went back to the 'cycle' via the System because she felt like she could still help." Azazel explained. "Which is why her 'Spirit Inheritor' pops up so frequently. It's not just like an echo left behind, but her actual Spirit that someone inherits."

I guess that made sense. I was about to question why some people who are still alive, still got 'Spirit Inheritors' popping up. I think the list that Momma Fox gave said that the 'Hero Faction' that attacked him had a Hercules Spirit Inheritor. Which....was weird in hindsight because Hercules was still alive on Mount Olympus.

Though, he did technically die once. I guess that's what Azazel meant by an 'Echo'?

Whatever, I didn't really want to think about it too hard.

"You sure his Blessing just didn't stay with her?" I asked.

"Considering that it's never appeared before? Yeah, pretty sure. Not to mention, the previous 'Inheritor' died...what, a few months ago?" Azazel muttered.

"Maybe she's just bluffing and got lucky? Super charged Spirit and this Saintess got all the good juice from the first one?"

"The Spirit goes back into Heaven's System, it shouldn't even have been sent back to Earth at this point. And even if it did, it would be with an unborn soul." Azazel clarified.

"So something is fishy."

"Serafall, we've been slapped with the fish repeatedly in the face. At this point, it's a whole damn Fish Market." Azazel deadpanned.

Yeah yeah, I'm not dumb.

He had those other people too...doesn't take Ajuka's smarty pants to see the picture being painted.

"Let's just focus on the important thing for now." Sirzechs finally interjected. "I'd rather they not see us so...distracted."

"Agreed." Azazel sighed. "This is already going to be a headache."

"Fine." I'd ignore the stupid head for now.

MidLife crisis my perfectly round bottom.

Clearly, he's just acting out because he was intimidated by me. How many other women of such caliber have the confidence to dress up like a damn Magical Girl and rock it for the world to see?

I have nothing to be ashamed of.

Besides, I'm the most looked up search on the Devil-net for Devils aged 14 to 23, and that's not because of my show.

But maybe I should make some adjustments anyways. Maybe a few inches off the length of my skirt? I could even wear some sexier panties every now and again and 'accidently' flash them. Mmm, I'll go borrow some of Sona's skimpy lingerie.

It's a shame she doesn't wear it outside of her room.

"Look alive boys and girls." Azazel muttered as we got close to the entrance to the meeting.

I lightly pat my cheeks, getting into a good character. "Alright, let's go make some friends." I put on my best smile.

Because we were going to need it...

Red nodded and silently pushed open the doors.

He's lucky, his whole 'character' was basically the stoic hammer that we wave around to keep all the others off our backs.

I actually had to do work.

The room was rather large, big enough for a few hundred people in total, but even that probably wasn't enough for the sheer ego combined from the current residents.

A large round table situated in the middle with everyone taking up seats as they desired.

The Heaven peeps were already sitting. Big ol' Father Swole – as Lucifer Jr called him – was easy to pick out. Nex to him were Gabriel and Michael. A little further down was Baldie and Ajuka. They were holding down the fort well enough.

Azazel quickly took his seat between us and Sirzechs and I joined our fellow Satans.

"How gracious of you to join us." A drawl accompanied a hint of thunder to it.

I was still surprised that Zeus came here.

He hates us. Well, he hated any other Pantheon or Faction not under his control.

"Apologies, Lord Zeus. We did not anticipate how excited you would be to come so quickly, otherwise we would have arrived as early as you did." Red immediately went to work acting as our deterrent.

The Olympian God's nostrils flared as if he was about to go to blows. He obviously didn't have many people telling him off to his face if that was enough to elicit a reaction.

"Come now, can we at least get through one meeting without fighting?" Nuwa's gentle voice seemed to calm the tension. "It's rare for so many of us to cross borders to come together."

"There's a good reason for that." Zeus snorted.

"I don't disagree, but there is also a good reason for us to break that tradition in this circumstance." Nuwa retorted.

Zeus grumbled, but didn't dispute her claim.

"I suppose I will begin then since it appears we're all here?" She looked around and no one stopped her so she continued. "I am Nuwa, representing the Heavenly Courts. I have with me two of my disciples." She gestured to the two girls wearing veils behind her. "Their Daoist names are Jade Lilly and Sky Dance. They are my two youngest, and I brought them to broaden their horizons. Please be gentle with them."

The two girls cupped their hands and bowed to everyone else without saying a word.

"Hoh, already achieved Immortality then?" Sun Wukong eyed them with a warm smile. "Must be talented to do so at their age."

"Yes, I'm quite proud, not even five hundred and they were already invited into the Heavenly Court." Nuwa said with clear pride in her tone.

Their method of power was already interesting. It was systematic with clear paths. Even if you had mediocre talent, you could get strong eventually. The flip side was that it was a long and arduous process, so not many people wanted to use it.

Big reason why Devils didn't practice their Cultivation. Devils needed immediate results to keep them interested. It's already an issue getting younger Devils to train, if you told them it would take them 10 years to get to 'Mid-Class' from 'Low-Class' then they wouldn't even bother. Even if it meant that they could eventually achieve 'Ultimate Class' that they normally wouldn't be able to on their own.

And it's too late if you get high enough and realize you can't go any further by yourself.

You need to use their 'cultivation' from the start or it doesn't work.

Every Faction had their good points and bad points.

"Guess we're doing this then." Sun Wukong went next. "I am here representing the collective Buddhist Societies – the Victorious Fighting Buddha, Sun Wukong." He introduced himself. "I won't say they have much interest here, so I'm mostly here on my own merit and reporting back if anything important happens."

He sat between Nuwa and Indra, the latter of which let out a grunt once he finished.

"I will be settling all matters of the Hindu Pantheon." Indra said bluntly. "If you don't know who I am, you shouldn't even be here."

It was obvious he didn't want to be here himself.

Most of us just rolled our eyes at his way of addressing everyone. He didn't even introduce the Gods he brought with him, but whatever.

"I'm Lugh, God of Light. I'm here on behalf of the Celtic Pantheon. With me, I have brought The Morrigan –" he gestured to a woman with a cowl covering her face, but it was difficult to hide those curves of her. She also had a large pair of Raven wings coming from her back. "And Cernunnos" He gestured to the last.

The second God standing behind Lugh wore some kind of tunic covered in leaves that made him look a bit bigger than he actually was. It was woven with straw and other natural resources and two eyes glowing from the piece that covered his face. His most notable feature were the two large Antlers that sprung from his head.

We just continued going around the table.

"I am Vidar, King of Asgard." The Norse Head slammed his closed fist onto the table. No one called him out on it, that's more like a greeting for these guys. "I have brought Tyr and my Father, Odin."

Simple and to the point.

Then, it was the big guy's turn.

"I am Zeus!" The Greek God slammed his fist down, not unlike Vidar, but intentionally to cause a commotion. "I have brought Athena and Ares with me."

Right, as if that wasn't intentionally to send a statement that he was 'prepared for war'.

The two War Gods of the Greeks were asymmetric/ mirrors/night and day/on different ends of the spectrum of each other. Area had vicious Greek Armor with lots of pointy bits and glowing red eyes. Athena on the other hand, while still looking militaristic, had a certain decorum about her with a well kept 'uniform' and a stern but gentle nature.

Our turn then?

"Hello Everyone, I'm the Archangel Michael along with the Archangel Gabriel and Father Vasco Strada here on behalf of Heaven." Michael politely started for our little group.

The Big Birds brought along Vasco Strada so they wouldn't look weak. It's funny to consider that by themselves even Michael and Gabriel would lose to one of the Humans under their command. Obviously, that was without considering how they could use the Power of Heaven. But even the Gods here were respectful of Father Swole's strength.

"And I'm Azazel, representing the Grigori." Azazel cheerfully continued after his siblings.

Despite not bringing anyone, I don't think anyone was going to underestimate him.

Azazel was....the most crafty out of all of us in our three factions. Definitely not the strongest, nor did he have the most support, but it was impossible to guess what he's thinking or planning at the best of times.

And that wasn't to say he doesn't have his own trump cards. His adoptive son was apparently the White Dragon Emperor, and he also has another known Longinus User under his command that was fairly powerful himself.

Not to mention he'd been collecting Sacred Gears for centuries.

There's honestly no telling what he's hiding in his sleeves if the situation turned fubar.

"And as the super host for everyone, I'm Serafall Leviathan!" I smiled brightly. "We have all four Satans gathered here. Me, Ajuka Beelzebub, Falbium Asmodeus, and Sirzechs Lucifer!" I finished on our biggest stick for emphasis because this was definitely going to be a stick measuring contest.

Now, basic pleasantries are out of the way....

"Let's cut to the chase." King Vidar was the first to speak. "We all know why we're here and what we want. Let's just agree to work together for our combined interests."

"Bah, why would we need your help?" Zeus was the first to rebuke him. "I was handling the many enemies of Olympus before you were even born, why would we need help now?"

"And how many times have your enemies come from foreign borders, Zeus?" Lugh asked.

"It doesn't matter." He harrumphed.

"Then why are you here, thunder crotch?" Odin snorted.

"What did you call me!?"

"Did I stutter?" Odin's eye glowed in response to Zeus's sparking with Lightning.

Zeus slammed his fist on the table, cracking it.

Odin stood up, but instead of escalating, he instead pulled down his shirt, ripping it to show a freshly healed cut. Or...mostly healed, there was a strange energy lingering, and it made Zeus falter.

Zeus visibly released his annoyance and anger, slowly falling back into his seat.

"Lord Zeus, we are not pointing any blame." Vidar spoke again. "Right now, everyone's been having problems, and we're also not here to revel in each other's losses. I was not alive during the great wars that marked History, but I know that everyone willingly put down their swords for the peace we have today. That peace is now threatened by a combination of beings that are linked to us all. There has been an uprising of Jotun in our lands. Asgard has been probed many times in the past months and even our people have suffered attacks in what used to be safe borders."

"The Fomorians move the same." Lugh quickly added on. "The timing is too much to be a coincidence, the obvious hand that moves behind the curtain has been revealed and we know their name."

"Our Old Satan Faction had become far too confident in recent years and even dared to kidnap our families." I also spoke up, recalling how Momma Gremory and Millicas were originally taken leading to this downhill snowball in the first place.

"As annoyed as I am to admit it, it's not a secret that some trash attacked me as well." Indra grumbled. "They were dealt with swiftly, but the fact that they even had the gall in the first place means there is something giving them that confidence."

Well, despite how much I disliked Indra, he wasn't wrong. Not many would throw the first punch his way unless they were able to back it up.

Or they were Sirzech's Bastard.

Still wrapping my mind around the fact that Lucifer Jr threw down with Indra and came out intact.

Zeus looked uncharacteristically tired. "Fine." His voice boomed, but without the normal presence to it. "I relent that there is a valid reason for us to gather." He paused for a moment, looking very conflicted before seemingly relenting. "My Father and one of his Generals escaped from Tartarus. I do not believe I need to say who was behind it."

That.....wasn't good.

Then realization dawned on most of us here as we looked at Odin.

Two and Two wasn't hard to add here.

"Damn bastards ambushed me while I was traveling the branches of Yggdrasil." He grunted.

Also not good if they were hiding out there of all places.

So that's even more than the Khaos Brigade presumably had at their disposal...

"Wait, wasn't Hades listed as one of the members of Khaos Brigade, did he –"

"Do not presume to question my brother!" Zeus roared in fury.

Before I could do anything, Sirzechs responded by releasing his own pressure. "Zeus." He said in a warning tone.

"It's a valid question, Zeus." Odin agreed.

Zeus snapped his head towards Odin. "You dare to assume –"

"I know the Underworld brat didn't have anything to do with it, but they don't know so stop getting all angry and just answer them properly." Odin huffed in annoyance.

Zeus scowled and pulled his pressure away. "I do not know what nonsense about Hades being part of this 'Khaos Brigade' but I do know for a fact that he would not be part of anything that allowed our Father to escape Tartarus."

"We're willing to believe you." Sirzechs said calmly. "If you simply explain it, we don't need to do this every time."

"I don't need to explain myself to you." He snorted.

Vidar let out a long sigh. "Can we skip the posturing? I did not come here to hear petty banter. I already have my hands full ruling Asgard. If this continues, I will go home."

"I am in agreement with the King of Asgard." Nuwa added in. "I would rather my Disciples not see such esteemed beings throw petty insults and the like."

"Let's keep to the point" Lugh took the opportunity to continue. "We were talking about the points where we've been hit recently. It paints a rather dire picture if it's all to be assumed to be from the same source. And I am doubtful that we've noticed all their movements."

"I should mention that the Vampires have been attacked." I raised my hand.

There was a beat of silence as I waited for everyone to respond.

"Who cares about those disgusting blood suckers?" Indra was the first to be dismissive.

"Look, I'm not going to defend them. We barely have any communication as it is, but I felt it appropriate to just point it out, considering." I clarified.

"I do not have a good impression of those creatures, but you are correct. To know is better than to not." Nuwa nodded. "Are you sure it was our common enemy?"

"Evidence points to yes, but frankly, I have no idea what their purpose was. They just went in, killed about half the vampire population, and left. The Tepes faction – the one dominated by their male members, was hit especially hard. Their leaders are all dead and it's a bit chaotic figuring out who is in charge."

Not that we were going to stick our hands over there. There was literally nothing worth the effort in this case.

The Devils may be the most disliked faction, but the Vampires were the faction that people cared the least about. You might feel a tiny bit sad if you heard that some random faction got slaughtered. As for vampires....well, it's mostly indifference.

Probably because of their overwhelming arrogance about their own species, so much that they look down on anything else.

"Unfortunate, but unimportant." Azazel hummed. "We need to share everything we have, together. Piece any kind of track record across all our borders."

"Agreed." Lugh was the first to respond. "We have been trying to backtrack the current movements of the Fomorians, but it's been difficult at the best of times. I can say with some certainty, that the list that was given to everyone at the Peace meeting, was not the entirety of their members, or that many took the opportunity to join after the fact."

Oof, someone's house wasn't as clean as he thought it was.

And by the looks on everyone's faces, it was a shared sentiment. Not that we could throw stones over here, we've been dealing with the Old Satan Faction for far too long. And now, they've basically gone to ground. Well, their main people were still up and about. We didn't actually have any 'evidence' to throw them down into a pit and it would kick up far too much of a fuss if we did anyways.

Still dealt them a massive blow, but not enough to kill them just yet.

"The Jade Emperor has confided in me that a few members of the Court have been...considering other pastures, as it were. Some were forthcoming, some were not. However, we have yet to experience the same upheaval that has been occurring elsewhere." Nuwa added on. "Their reach is too far and it is worrisome. Are we sure that The Serpent God is not still with them?" She looked around.

"I can vouch for it." Odin surprisingly spoke up. "Talked to the brat a few times, yeah Ophis isn't in cahoots with them anymore."

"And by that you mean...?"

"Wilhelm, yeah." Odin said bluntly. "The kid who gave Indra a black eye not too long ago." Odin jerked his thumb to Indra.

"Odin." Indra's eyes narrowed.

"Anyways, no Ophis, so they must still be feeling pretty confident because of something else. It's obvious they know we're all banding together, so they have to have a game plan since they haven't disappeared yet." Odin tapped on the table.

"So far, it seems they have merely been shoring up their forces." Michael frowned. "As if they are preparing for a conflict."

Well, he said what everyone was thinking.

"As my father stated. The only question now is what goal would align with so many different ideologies?" Vidar finished. "Zeus, your insight would help."

"Speak, King of Asgard." The King of Olympus replied.

"Do you believe you can decipher your Father's desires after awakening into this era? What would he do, what would his goals be?"

Zeus frowned, crossing his arms. Perhaps not really upset at the question, but more so the topic of it. It wasn't hard to guess that Kronos was a sore topic for the King of Gods. "I admit...I do not know what my father will think, nor what actions he will take. He is an arrogant, vindictive, and paranoid creature. I am surprised that his first notion was to not immediately beset Olympus and attempt to retake his throne. However, beyond this...this era must be far too different for him to understand. He.....is many things I could say, but he is not a fool. He fought against his own Father, which needs no introduction. In that Primordial era, he faced off against other Pantheons –" Zeus swept his gaze around the table.

"The tales of Kronos are known throughout the world. His prowess cannot be denied." Nuwa acknowledged.

"Yup! It'll be fine." I ignored him for so long and everything went bad....I'm not going to be a coward.

"...alright, I'll go with you."

Well, my Peerage wasn't far away. They were ready to act in case Riser did anything.

I threw my hair back, and walked towards him.

And he noticed me coming over.

I smiled.

I tried to make myself as open as possible, I didn't want to make it look like I was going to do something wrong or anything like that.

"I –"

"I had sex with your mom." He spoke before I could even get a second word out.

"What!?"

"Damn, that worked last time."

[***]

Wilhelm POV

Shit, I thought that would work again.

It got me out of talking to one person I didn't want to, I thought for sure it would work again.

I'm going to need to try harder next time.

I glanced at Jeanne. "If you keep hitting me, I'm going to start hitting you back. Exclusively on your butt."

"Neeh!" She hit me more. "Be nice!"

Alright, so how do I just disappear from right here without causing a scene?

Or, well, fuck it. I don't mind causing a scene.

"Shimoda." Another annoying person showed up right behind the red head. "We meet again."

"Yes we do...you." I scrunch my nose.

"Don't pretend like you don't know me!"

"Oh no I.....totally know who you are...."

"You blew me up!"

"Right, right good times." I smiled.

"So you admit it!"

"Admit what?"

"Blowing me up!"

"That doesn't sound like something I'd do."

She made some very aggressive growls and was pulled back by another girl in glasses.

Weird.

"Ufufufu, you sure love riling Sona up, don't you? Makes someone wonder if it's intentional teasing~" The black haired girl next to the mirror image of Venelana was smiling lewdly.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" I didn't actually remember her name.

She was some popular girl back at school, busty and with good curves, which is why 90% of the school's population lusted after her, but that was basically it.

"I'm Akeno, Rias's Queen." She introduced herself. "I handle all the strenuous and hard tasks for her." She had a sultry tone in her voice.

"Right, so you're definitely a Virgin." I said dryly.

"W-what?"

"You're trying way too hard. I give it a 4/10, you need to work on your delivery better."

"How dare –"

"You're giving off major stripper energy. Just thought you should know that. I wouldn't be surprised if your next words were like 'I'm only doing this to pay my way through college.'"

She was gaping at me for some odd reason I couldn't put my finger on.

"Hey, don't talk to her like that!" The familiar fluctuation of Aura shimmered with his words.

Well, now that's interesting.

In a bad way, I mean.

I flicked towards him, letting his Aura take a tiny invisible hit. "Christ, have you even trained your Aura?"

"My what?" He blinked.

I raised my hand and slowly pushed it against my face.

.....why did I even bother?

There was also a smol girl looking up at me....menacingly. "And what's your deal?" I looked at her more closely. "A Youkai? You seem familiar....oh right, you're what's-her-names sister. The other Cat Youkai."

"Y-you know my sister?"

"Hmm? Oh somewhat, Yasaka took her in recently." I waved my hand flippantly. "And how's your Senjutsu coming along? I vaguely recall your species being exceptionally good at it?" Something I could report back to Yasaka. She may or may not want to know.

"I don't practice that!" The smol cat's eyes narrowed. "Dangerous. Bad."

".....you don't....practice what your species is predisposed to learning...?"

"Bad!" She hissed.

I found myself unable to formulate a response.

".....okay then." I found myself just pushed that thought to the side. "And what's wrong with you?" I looked at the last member of this little 'peerage'.

"Hello." He tilted his head, "I don't think we ever met before, I'm Kiba Yuuto."

"Ah, I think I remember you. You helped me once with cleaning up the Theatre room after a particularly nasty spill." I recalled.

"Oh." He blinked. "I forgot about that."

"How do you remember him but not me!" The glasses girl practically screamed indignantly.

I ignored her. "How are you doing?"

"Alright..." He said a little awkwardly.

"And what's your thing?" I asked.

"Uh...I make swords?"

"Sacred Gear?"

"Sword Birth." He nodded.

"Neat, what does it do?"

"Makes....swords?"

"...and?"

"That's....it"

"Just plain ol swords?"

"Well, they're Demonic Swords." He clarified.

"Alright, that's something. What can you do with them?"

"Um...I make some that hit harder, some that make me faster, some that are sharper....Oh, and I recently made one that shoots smaller swords." He smiled.

"....that's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you have any imagination at all?" I sighed. "You can make swords with esoteric effects and you're settling for....being faster? Am I understanding that right?"

"...what else should I be doing?"

I held my hand up, pointing to Bikou. "Him."

"Me?" Bikou pointed at himself. "Hey, I'm just having fun watching you verbally tear through them, don't bring me into this."

"He has Ruyi Jingu Bang, make a fucking sword that copies it. Gets longer, gets bigger, weighs a metric shit-ton."

"....huh, that sounds neat." Bikou mused.

Then I pointed at Boy band. "Divine Diving."

"I'll kill you if you copy me." He scowled.

I pointed at myself. "Boosted Gear. If you can make yourself fucking faster for some inane reason, increase all of your stats not just your speed you idiot. Make bomb swords! Make heat seeking swords – Arrows are just different shaped swords. Make swords that slow down time, or speed it up. Make swords that curse wounds to not heal. Make swords that can reverse causality –"

"You're bullshitting on that last one." Bikou snorted.

"You'd be surprised." I laughed.

"....I never thought about any of those." Kiba muttered.

"How long have you known about your Sacred Gear for?" I raised an eyebrow.

He...looked down onto the ground awkwardly.

Shit....

I....really didn't mean to kind of lash out like that. I honestly don't know where it came from, it sort of just spilled or so suddenly and I didn't stop. I can't say I don't have a temper sometimes, but I usually don't lose my cool like that.

....I should apologize, that was uncalled for.

"None of what he said was wrong." Sairaorg crossed his arms, grunting.

"He called me a stripper!" Akeno growled.

"You heard the man." I shot back.

Okay, that was just me being petty. But I don't take back...half ot he things I said about her. Seriously, pick a lane, go full seductress or don't do it at all.

"Um.....I didn't mean – "

"We know what you meant, Sai." Venelana's daughter smiled towards him. "And what about me?" She looked at me with a huff.

"Pass."

"What?"

"Pass." I said again. "I would rather Venelana not be mad at me."

I was already anticipating a wonderful few nights together, I didn't want to sour that any.

"You were the one who hit Riser, right?" She suddenly asked.

"Nope." I denied immediately.

"He was." Jeanne replied.

I looked at her in utter betrayal, and she just smiled.

But why was the red-headed Venelana clone smiling so happily at me?

"You were the one who hit Riser!?"

I scrunched my nose. "What smells like cheap cologne?"

Said annoyance was walking right towards us.

"I thought you were just making a joke, but I smell it too." Bikou held his nose.

"I don't smell anything?" Sairaorg looked around.

"My nose is sensitive." Bikou grumbled.

"Hey this is random, but do you ever shrink the staff and use it for anything weird? Like a chopstick?" I suddenly asked because I wanted to ask this before, but I got distracted and I would rather ignore the idiot who was approaching.

"Oh all the time. It's strangely handy." He grinned. "I was hanging up some stuff in my apartment, and I couldn't reach high enough, so I used it as a ladder too. I forgot to buy a shower rod so.....it fit perfectly."

"Don't ignore Riser!"

I let out a long sigh. "What do you want?"

"An apology." He demanded.

".....no."

"You attacked –"

"Bakudō # 61, Rikujōkōrō." I lazily held a finger, pointing at him as six beams of light slammed into his midsection, preventing any movement as he fell to the ground. I quickly followed it up with a Talisman, throwing it at his face. It covered his mouth perfectly, not allowing him to speak. With another sigh, I grabbed him by the foot, picking him up. With a bit of aim, I tossed him towards the large and intricately decorated window nearby.

Yeet.

It shattered quite easily, and the annoying kid went sailing through to the outside.

"I swear, some people have absolutely no survival instincts." I wiped my hands clean.

"...is he going to be okay?" Jeanne asked softly.

"I think he's a Pheonix or something, lots of regeneration. You could probably lop his head off and he'd be right as rain a few seconds later."

"Yeah, it's kind of annoying. Nice practice target, but most of his family use it to wear down their opponents." Sairaorg answered.

"Oh....okay then." Jeanne seemed pleased with that answer.

I looked at the flaming idiot's...peerage as they stared in shock. "Go, shoo shoo" I gestured for them to disperse and it seemed like they regained their senses as they ran for the door after their presumed king.

"Can they regenerate from anything?" Bikou asked.

Sairaorg shrugged. "I've seen his older brother come back after getting chopped up in all sorts of ways. Blown up by magic...lots of stuff."

"Dang, that sounds cool. Makes me want to take a crack at one of them." Bikou rubbed his chin.

"You said his brother is strong?" Boy band looked interested.

"One of the strongest." Sairaorg nodded.

"How....how did you get so strong?" Red Venelana looked at me with a mix of awe and envy.

"The normal way." I said dismissively.

"B-but I train! I train every day..." She whispered. "There has to be some secret, right? Some method you used to get so strong so quicky?"

"When was the last time you've been in a real fight?" I frowned.

"I train with – "

"No, not training. When was the last time you've been in a fight with someone who wanted you dead, and had the capability to kill you? When's the last time you've gotten into a fight and there was a very real possibility you could be killed? When was the last time you fought something that you absolutely had no chance of winning against? When was the last time you thought you were going to die?"

I can't deny I've experienced my fair share of luck on my ascent to my current level. I can't say that everything I've gotten had been earned through blood sweat and tears. But I'll be damned if I let anyone say that I used some shortcutto reach here. I put in my effort to reach this point, and I have most assuredly bled along the way.

It felt insulting for her to imply otherwise.

I was being...polite before by not telling her to fuck off.

I....didn't want to speak with her and I was already annoyed. Jeez, why was I being so overly emotional?

I was being polite for Venelana's sake because something inside of me really wanted to be more rude.

"I—" She was about to say something, but the building shook.

It startled everyone, but more so something was very much amiss.

On a fundamental level.....something changed around us.

I experienced something like this before, and I was having trouble placing it. However, I felt my instincts flare up, and realization dawned on me.

Without a second thought, Mirage appeared in my hand and I flicked it, producing several of my Sword Phantoms. The Birds were sent flying in several directions, but most notably I swiped Mirage to the side deflecting something hidden that was aiming for the neck of Venelana's daughter, and Glasses Girl.

Simultaneously, my Birds collided with something very firm, producing a loud 'clang' noise that hung through the air.

They were aimed at other people, some of other factions that were around, some that weren't.

And I realized where the familiar feeling came from.

It was similar to when Jinn took us outside the immediate time-line for answering her questions via Relic of Knowledge.

"Mortals are really fierce these days." A strange voice reverberated throughout the surroundings.

Someone appeared, stepping into the middle of the floor.

He was...big. Easily 9 feet tall, perhaps a little more than that. He had black hair, and wore something reminiscent of Greek clothes. And his facial features were.....off. It was as if his head was slightly elongated, his nose was a tad too large, and his eyes too wide.

Something distinctly inhuman, but still reminiscent of them. Almost like if a human was compared to their predecessors on the evolutionary chain.

But the weapon he held was a dead give away given the other clues.

A large scythe held at his side, the edge of which seemed to bleed against the fabric of reality.

Kronos.

Welp, things just got much more complicated.

[***]

A/N

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