When I followed the energy signature that felt similar to my own, I expected many things.
I expected to find some kind of monster with a holy attribute or maybe even some kind of native creature that would give me a clue as to what is going on with this world.
However, what I definitely did not expect was to find a rather small town that was full of peaceful people moving about their daily lives with nothing out of place.
In fact, these people were so unguarded that some of them did not even notice when I sneakily used my superior stats to nick some money from their pockets. Granted, I could have used [Time Stop] to achieve the same effect with none the wiser, but I did not want to use a Tier-10 spell for something as mundane as theft.
After stealing from a lot of people, just enough to not be noticeable but enough for a good stack in my inventory, I quickly began the next step in the plan.
Information.
Surprisingly, it was rather easy to locate a local library and easily get access to it. And just like the stories said, the information inside really was free for anyone to access. An unfathomable fact for someone from my time.
It was thanks to this unrestricted access to general information, combined with my overwhelmingly superior mind that I gained, based on my Avatar's stats. It did not take me long to figure out where exactly I was.
From what I found out, I am in a small town called Kuoh, located in the Kanagawa prefecture of Japan.
The very same country that was the most oppressed in my time by the Conglamorates and was still a rather hostile place for common people of this era, given the existence of the infamous black companies and terms like death by overwork.
Fortunately, it would seem that I have somehow ended up in a place where not much goes on, and it is a rather quiet town. This means that I can take some time to reorient myself and conduct a few experiments to see just how much of my abilities and equipment I still have with me and how much of my body and mind has changed with this sudden transition from a human to a game character.
The only problem now is a place to stay.
I could make a base of operations for myself with the resources found in the forests nearby, thanks to my crafting skills, but any base I make with such low-level resources will not be good enough to handle my experiments.
I could also use the Tier-10 [Create Fortress] spell to make a place for myself that can easily resist all of my testing, not to mention that the space it would provide inside would be more than sufficient for me.
However, the problem is that the fortress that the spell creates is so vast that it would stick out like a sore thumb in this small town and easily attract the wrong kind of attention.
This means I will have to go the mundane route and get a regular apartment or something for myself, which is rather hard to do without any kind of identification- Hold up!
Now that I think about it, aren't there supposed to be those criminal groups called Yakuza in this country who can do nearly anything for enough money? Maybe I should track some of those people down and use a Tier-4 [Charm Species] spell to make them get me an ID and some money?
Worst comes to worst, and they somehow resist that spell, I could still use a Tier-10 [Control Amnesia] spell to erase their memories of me completely.
Yeah, sounds like a solid plan for now.
Now, to find them.
Sitting on the fresh and unpolluted ground of the forest, I concentrated inward and called upon the spell that I would have once used through the Console in the game.
"Widen Magic: [God's Eye]"
In the game, this magic allowed me to see my surroundings in a bird's eye view. As a Tier-9 magic, it is a spell that can see through everything. Illusions, stealth, items, nothing could stop me from seeing everything and identifying them on the screen.
Yet, here, it felt completely different.
It was as if the very sky had become my eyes, allowing me to peer down at the Earth below me and to see anything that I wished to see.
From the sneakiest mole hiding underground to the criminals hiding within their dens, I could see everything within this small town and the surrounding area.
And unlike in the game, where labels were added to everything that was detected by my spell. Here, I did not need any kind of System interface to tell me what I was seeing.
I could instinctively tell what I was looking at.
A small cat called Taro is running away from its home. A shiba is dragging its owner with it as it chases after a squirrel. A man called Ryu was dealing with some shady stuff in a back alley near the mall. A biker gang bickering with the local yakuza. A man of faith called Masaomi Yaegaki is going on a date with his devil girlfriend, Cleria Belial-
...Ok. What was that last part?
I peered down with my [God's Eye] and refocused on what I just saw. And sure enough, what I just saw was not some hallucination.
The young man with long black hair and eyes, clearly of Japanese descent, was identified as Masaomi Yaegaki by my spell. It told me that he is a man from the Protestant Church and something called an Exorcist.
Truth be told, it is hard for me to contextualize what my spell is telling me. I know that Christianity was a major religion during this time, but I don't understand what Protestant means in this context.
By the time of my generation, religions of all kinds were banned from being practiced. A ban that the Conglamorates enforced rather thoroughly by destroying any and all artifacts, holy sites, and anything else that could be associated with any religion in the world.
They said that religion poisons the mind and divides people. But everyone knew that what they were doing was taking away the solace and hope that common people could have through religion. After all, if there is no hope, no solace, no cultural and religious identity to call your own, then what would you fight against the Conglamorates for? What would motivate you to go against such behemoths?
Anyway, back to the topic. The boy seems to be someone from the Church, and he seems to possess some kind of holy energy that is partially resonating with my own power. An interesting development, one that I will study at a later time.
But for now, it is his companion that has garnered my full attention.
Cleria Belial. A child from the Belial clan of devils. That is what my spell is currently telling me about her.
But the thing that is making me interested is how I felt a sudden surge of unease and rage the moment my spell told me that she is a Devil.
An interesting reaction considering that I never felt like this back in the game. I mean, I have met a lot of players with different types of races, ranging from Undead to Slimes, to Dragonoids, and many more, including Devils and Demons, yet I have never felt this way when meeting them.
This means that the source of these emotions must be this new situation I have found myself in.
Truly, how intriguing.
I continued watching the duo as they moved towards the local mall. However, when I tried to take a close look at the woman's face, her head suddenly snapped towards the sky, straight into my God's Eye with her eyes wide in terror.
Interesting. Looks like she has detected my observation. A shame.
With a thought, I cut off the flow of my mana to the spell, allowing it to fade and making my vision return to my physical body.
'A devil, huh? So my conclusion was not wrong after all. This really is an interesting world.'
I will need to investigate her and her boyfriend later on. But for now, I need to take care of the shelter issue. And given that I already found the local Yakuza, it is time I pay them a little visit.
A strange feeling of elation and anxiousness flooded my heart as I thought about what the future might hold from here on out.
Excitement. An emotion that I have only ever felt in YGGDRASIL.
Who would have thought that I would be lucky enough to feel such an emotion in real life?
"Hopefully, I will feel more of this emotion in the future. [Fly]"
With the flight spell activated, (a necessity since I chose to hide my wings) I shot into the sky while also activating a Tier-9 spell called [Perfect Unknowable] that rendered me invisible to the eye, removed my scent, muted my sound, and removed my presence, making me impossible to detect by anyone that does not know the God's Eye spell.
Time to get a temporary home for myself.
Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:zn13, aymdrim, LurkerOfTheFics and 226 othersRuijardThursday at 1:10 PMReader modeNewAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks Chapter 6 New Threadmarks RuijardMaking the rounds.Thursday at 1:11 PMNewAdd bookmark#6Agony.
That is the only thing I could remember as I jerked awake.
My vision did not exist. A blindfold?
Panic.
Panic flooded my mind as I tried to move my arms. Yet they did not respond.
What is going on? Why is my body not responding?
"Hm? Oh, you have awakened. A shame, I did not want you to feel this pain. But, then again, given what you did to those poor girls, I think this is justified."
I felt a chill in my heart as soon as I heard that smooth, magnetic voice.
I knew that voice.
I heard it just before-
Before I was knocked out by an Angel.
'No. No! NO!!'
I started thrashing again, trying to escape from my captor, but the bindings would not budge!
"You are that eager to escape? Unfortunately, you won't be going anywhere until I am done examining your internals. Quite the interesting biology you got there."
Once again, I felt unspeakable agony as something sharp sliced upon some part of my body. I don't know where, my mind is all muddled, and everything hurts.
The pain is too much! I can't endure it!!
I felt my teeth bleed as they bit into whatever restraint this Angel placed within my mouth, and miraculously, I managed to bite through it.
"P-Please, let me go! I don't want to die-"
My words stopped as a scream tore through the air.
Was that my voice? Was I the one screaming? I don't know. The pain is too much! I can't think straight!
I don't know how long the scream resounded in my ears before it was abruptly silenced by agonizing pain coming from my mouth.
Even through my delirious mind, I could instinctively identify the Holy Energy that burned my mouth shut.
This Angel, he forcefully sealed my mouth shut by burning it close.
"Hoh? Interesting. So my theory was right. Your body's true nature is closely related to the evil alignment, and holy damage is significantly amplified against your kind."
I did not want to stay awake for this sick and twisted torture that this Angel was committing on me. I want to go unconscious! I want to die already!
Wait a minute! I know what to do!
I forcefully mobilized the Demonic Energy within me and forced it into the Pawn piece within my heart.
If I detonate the Evil Piece, I can die in the explosion! I will be free-
"[Ultimate Disturb]"
Once again, agony dominated my mind as those words rang out across the tapestry of reality.
I felt my magical resistance and physicality in general, be enhanced far beyond what I could have ever dreamed of, but I could no longer mobilize my Demonic Energy.
"Good. Looks like it worked exactly how I wanted it. I can't have you dying so easily, and neither can I have you attempting suicide like that. So, I made your body stronger so that it can withstand some more experimentation. The downside of this spell is that your ability to mobilize your mana or whatever equivalent you have is now rendered impossible."
Suddenly, despite not having my eyes covered, I could tell that I was being stared at by a burning gaze.
I felt my body shiver in terror as the Angel's calm words rang out in my ears.
"Do you wish for mercy? Weakling? Do you wish for this suffering to end?"
I could not have nodded faster at those words, but my only response was another bout of agony as I felt one of my ribs being forcefully ripped out of my body.
"Unfortunately, I have no mercy to spare for a monster like you."
I felt another rib pulled out of my body.
"Do you remember the screams? Beast? The screams for mercy that your victims called for?"
My right arm's skin was torn away, after which he pulled out the tendons beneath. And yet, I felt a spell take hold of my mind and make me remember exactly what he was speaking about.
"Do you remember how that girl begged you to let her go? How she pleaded to leave her be as you ravaged her before eating her alive?"
Ten days ago. I came across a college student walking home by herself late at night. No other human in sight, and neither that bitch of the Belial seems to be around.
Enchanting black eyes and silky black hair that fell to her well-proportioned back.
A perfect prey to satiate my hunger.
So, I did what i wanted and took her to my nest.
I enjoyed her tender body for a day before I ate her up to fill my belly.
Once again, pain shot through my body as he pulled apart my leg, slowly and carefully extracting my leg bone.
"Do you remember the little boy? The one whose parents are still searching for even now?"
A ten-year-old boy.
I remember him.
It was when I first fled to this town after leaving the underworld behind nearly four months ago.
After I killed my master, my Demonic Energy was going out of control, and my body had just started to deform. So, I was desperate and starving for unpolluted life energy.
That was when I found the boy playing all alone in the park without supervision.
I ate that brat whole and was astonished to find that his lifeforce satiated my hunger for nearly four months, allowing me to sleep without hunger for all that time.
My burnt shut lips tore open as I screamed myself hoarse, as the Angel dug into my back and slowly started to pull on my vertebrae.
Finally, the blindfold fell from my eyes as my body thrashed under the agony.
But I soon came to regret it.
The visage I beheld was beautiful.
Long blond hair tied back into a tail. Beautiful blue eyes that felt like they would pull me in. A charming face that would make anyone swoon, regardless of gender. A divine radiance that would make most humans kneel almost on instinct.
Yet, such a beauty could not hide the burning rage I beheld in his eyes.
The holy energy around him was thin, like wisps of smoke that would coil around a person who had just come out of a hot bath. But this did not fool me one bit.
Because I could feel the colossal weight of his holy energy tightly restrained within his body. It was a testament to his skill and ability that only those tiny strands of energy were leaking from him despite his apocalyptic rage.
A beautiful, melodious voice escaped from his mouth. A voice that could enchant any god or devil and make them do anything he wanted.
Yet, all I felt was terror as that beautiful voice slithered into my ears like a poisonous snake, proclaiming my doom.
"Such an evil being like you has no right to beg for mercy. Mercer the Stray Devil. With your own memories that I have seen as the proof, I hereby proclaim you guilty."
"Your punishment is death."
"[Holy Fire]"
If what I experienced before was agony, then this was so beyond it that I had no words to describe it.
Beautiful white flames danced in the air in such a way that they would mesmerize anyone who beheld them. Yet I felt soul-chilling pain as these holy flames burned me on a conceptual level.
I wanted to scream, curse, beg for mercy, and many more things. Yet, I was denied that as the flames quickly consumed me.
And then, I knew no more.
(Aetherion POV)
I felt pure disgust as I watched the Stray Devil burn in my Holy Fire spell, his disgusting form reduced to atoms by the pure energy of the spell.
A week. That was all it took for this damned world to show its ugliness to me.
Things were going so well.
I had gone to the Yakuza, convinced them to make me an identity to blend in. Got some money by using the Create Greater Item spell (In hindsight, maybe that is what I should have done from the very beginning instead of stealing from others), and even got myself a rather quaint apartment at the edges of the Town.
However, just as I was getting ready to hunker down and test out my abilities, I was overwhelmed with disgust as a rather weak energy signature washed over me.
It was as if I had smelled something particularly foul, making me gag in reflex while my instincts practically demanded that I annihilate this offensive thing before it spread its filth in the area I lived.
So, it is exactly what I did.
I flew into the air using my hiding spell and came to the source of the smell in a small warehouse nearby.
What I saw inside made my blood boil.
A grotesquely deformed humanoid creature was feasting on the corpse of an elderly man. Given his clothing and the discarded bag nearby, he must have been an employee of the firm that is right across my apartment complex.
The curious thing was that this creature reeked of the same kind of demonic energy as that of the Belial girl that I was observing when I first came to this world.
The only difference was that this creature's energy felt much more corrupt, darker, and evil compared to that of the girl.
I wanted to smite that creature then and there. But given the lack of information that I had on this world, I wanted to know more about this thing before making a decision.
So, in a foolish move that I am still regretting, I activated the spell Retracognition after knocking him out and restraining him.
In the game, this spell allows the user to sneak a peek into their opponent's character setting, their karmic value, their spell repertoire, items, and many other such things. The only downside was that this spell cannot be used on players and monsters that are equal to or above the caster's level.
However, in this world, the spell worked differently.
I saw everything that this creature ever saw. All his knowledge and memories became mine.
And all I felt was absolute disgust, enough to make me consider scrubbing my own soul if that was even possible.
Somehow, I felt tainted by just looking at his memories.
I saw how this monster relished in killing and violating innocent people to satiate his endless hunger, I saw how he felt glee in lording his power over the common people that unwittingly walked into his path.
I saw the monster for what it was.
And I decided to punish it for its actions.
I could have simply ended its life then and there, or maybe even tortured it some more, now that I knew what exactly it was, what its status was in the pecking order of this world, and how exactly I should harm it to prolong its pain.
Yet, I wanted it to experience pain. The same pain that his victims felt. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.
So, this creature suffered agony, the payment for his sins, as I used a level 50 Blessed Knife to cut him open and see how his body functioned. A win-win scenario.
And yet, even as his body was reduced to dust, I felt no satisfaction.
Just because he died in agony does not mean that the poor girl he killed would come back home to her devastated parents. Just because he died does not mean that the old woman who was waiting for her husband would find solace. Just because he died does not mean that the innocent child who died at his hands would come back to life.
If their corpses were intact, I could try to use Resurrection magic to see if I could bring them back. But unfortunately, this monster had long since devoured them whole. Even the old man that he was in the process of eating when I stumbled upon him, only had his bottom half and clothes left behind.
I felt it was too cruel to leave parts of his body behind for wild creatures to eat or for the police to find and tell the devastating news to the old woman. So I destroyed his remains and only kept his ID so that I could track down his address later on.
With a sigh, I cast a Tier-1 [Clean] spell to get rid of all the blood and gore, then put away the body parts I harvested from the creature before I left the warehouse and slowly walked towards the cemetery near the edge of the town, right by the pristine Church.
As a player with my Alchemist, Herbalist, and various other crafting classes maxed out, I could always see harvestable resources marked for me within my view as highlighted objects.
But here, I did not see things like that. Instead, I could instinctively tell what things I could use for my crafts and what I could not.
And the body parts that I pulled from the Stray Devil were definitely good materials for Alchemy, even if they are not that high quality.
Soon, I arrived at the graveyard by the church, which was unguarded, showing that people were not really afraid of graverobbers.
Making sure that nobody was around, I used Create Greater Item to make three nameless gravestones and placed them in the ground.
The damned Stray Devil did not even know their names, so I had nothing that I could carve on these headstones. So, I had no choice but to leave them be.
Once again, I spread my senses across the area, making sure that nobody was nearby, before I let go of my disguise.
My wings unfurled as my Halo erupted with pure light above my head, illuminating my surroundings.
Remembering what I once saw in the videos of old, I took a knee and clasped my hands together in a praying motion.
"I do not know how to pray properly or how to say final rites for those who have departed. But if there is a God in this world, I want you to listen to my words. I ask that you guide these unfortunate souls to the afterlife unbothered. I ask you to tell them that I have avenged their unjust deaths. I ask that you prove yourself better than whatever god existed in my world who could not care less about us, and protect these poor people who died so horrifically."
Once again, I reigned in my wings and Halo, returning to my human visage, and bowed down to the three headstones.
"I hope you find peace in whatever afterlife you end up in. As for your families, I will try to find out who they are and try to guide them indirectly to your graves. At the very least, they need to know that you are all in the afterlife."
I know that I would be killing their families emotionally by taking away their last hopes that their children and the old woman's husband would come back safe, but I cannot have these unfortunate people live with false hope for their entire lives.
As someone who once lived with such false hopes, I know how painful it is if such a hope is not nipped in the bud.
"Truly, such a strange world I have found myself in."
I cast my invisibility spell and used Fly to take off, heading straight home.
The knowledge I gained from the Stray Devil is too vast for me to take at face value. I will need some time to contemplate and understand what I received.
As the otherworldly Angel left the cemetery, he was unaware that wisps of pure holy energy gently curled down from the heavens and tenderly stretched into the ground, exactly where he had placed the graves of the three victims.
The tendrils of holy energy originating from the very system of Heaven, a hidden part of the System that nobody alive knew about, slowly and carefully held onto the three human souls and gently pulled them into the sky, straight into heaven.
Once upon a time, it was said that the Heavenly Father would welcome any lost lamb through the pearly gates of Heaven. That anyone deemed free of sin, those who were deemed innocent, and those who once lost their path only to find it again, would be welcomed into his embrace.
In those days, when the Lord walked among his people, it was common to see the System of Heaven guide the lost souls of people who had died unjustly to the gates of Heaven, welcoming all who chose to follow his teachings.
Yet, after certain events, such was no longer the case.
It had become sadly common for many a soul to simply slip through the net as it were. For those who died unjustly to be left on the mortal plain, doomed to roam around as restless ghosts or wraiths, slaves to accomplished mages or exorcised as evil spirits.
Mortals who were born with weapons and tools that He had created to protect them were either killed before they could bloom or were tempted away from their race by darker beings that lurk in the shadows, all because his children no longer performed their duty as the guardians of the world.
Mortals looked up at the heavens for salvation, a salvation that would never come, for the denizens of the seven heavens had shut themselves away from their charges. With no other choice, the mortal then looks to their fellow men and women of the cloth, only to find darkness lurking within their white robes.
All the while, the Heavenly System, the very thing that the Lord created to prevent all these tragedies, tried and failed to react in time, trying to follow its original programming, yet failing to do so, all because its true wielder, the one who would supply it with his potent Light, was no longer there and in his place was someone who was simply not strong enough to bear such a burden.
But now, after nearly a thousand years since it was last seen, the heavenly system acted on its own once more, piggybacking on the absurdly potent Holy Energy it had felt in this area. Its programming running at full power for the first time in a millennium, as its power was felt across the seven heavens, jolting awake all of the Seraphim who were 'busy' with their own things.
For the first time in a thousand years, the daily prayers and heartfelt pleas of those who follow Heaven's teachings were rewarded.
Lost souls that wander the world were snatched up by the System, guiding them to their destination as it was meant to be.
For a few precious moments, the entire world came alive as the Heavenly System reigned supreme across the territory of what is known as the Abrahamic Faction, spooking many a God and Pantheons that were eying these territories with ill intent.
Unfortunately, just as quickly as it came alive, the System soon reverted back to what it was before, as the small fragments of pure Holy Energy it gathered were spent.
What did all of this mean for the world moving forward? Nobody knew. But one thing was for certain.
Things were finally starting to change, and the future that was once fixed had now become muddled.
I closed my eyes and concentrated inwards.
There, deep within myself, I felt for the so-called 'Light' that the Stray Devil believed I had. And sure enough, I found it.
It was a strange form of energy, intrinsically linked to my mana and indistinguishable unless I am looking specifically for it.
But now that I am aware of it, I can easily call upon it.
So I did exactly that.
Using the Stray Devil's memories as the guide, I pulled on the light, trying to shape it into a light spear as the native Angels of this world could supposedly do with ease.
Yet, my power refused to comply.
I could manipulate the light energy just fine, making it move within my body as I wished and even making it form a thin film around my body. But the moment I tried to materialize it, it refused to obtain a coherent form, as if my very being was being suppressed by something unknown.
With a sigh, I stopped trying and started writing in the small journal that I was quickly filling up after my experiments in the past two days.
"Light Spear experiment result: failure. Same issue as the other native 'Holy' spells that I faced before. My Light refuses to manifest according to the system of this world, only materializing when I use spells from YGGDRASIL."
"My theory is all but confirmed. I cannot use any spells or abilities that fall outside the system of YGGDRASIL."
'Unless I use a certain object.'
I stared at the black ring on my thumb, shaped like a serpent biting its own tail.
The Ouroboros.
A World Item that could literally break the game by overturning the rules that govern the system.
Back in the game, some guild once used this item to keep Ains Ool Gown from claiming the Seven Hidden Mines, one of the rare few sources of the Prismatic Ores.
I would know, since I was contracted by that guild along with many other top solo players to mine those resources for them since the time limit given to them by the shitty devs for only a single month before the effects of the ring would fade.
Of course, they were not foolish enough to advertize their name so that the legendary Heteromorphic players guild could track them down for retribution and kept their identity hidden, so I don't know who they were, only that they used that specific world item to achieve their objective thanks to the Developer message and compensation that was given to all the players as a result of that item's usage.
The payment for that task was a good chunk of real money and some top-tier materials, along with a good chunk of the Prismatic Ores that I stole from under their noses.
It was this large chunk of money, combined with my own whaling attempts at the Gachapon website, that helped me gain my own Ouroboros ring. (Seriously, I lost nearly a third of my income to the gacha, along with the small fortune I made from that harvesting job.)
But all of this was in the game. Right now, it cannot be denied that I am in a real world with its own strange circumstances.
Truth is, I don't know what will happen if I try to use this ring, so I am not too keen on using it right away.
Thankfully, I could test things out with a few other items and spells that have similar properties.
Concentrating on my spell repertoire, I called upon a particular Super Tier spell.
"[Wish Upon A Star]"
In the game, when invoking this spell, a special effect similar to a meteor shower would form around the user as they are presented with options to choose from. The number and quality of the options available depended on how much EXP the player was willing to pay for invoking this spell or using it through an item of the same name. In some ways, it was a drastically less effective version of the Five Elements Overcoming World Item, which was itself a lesser version of the Ouroborous.
However, it was no longer the case here.
The moment I invoked the spell, I immediately felt like the world itself held its breath. As if all life had come to a grinding halt in awe of the power I just called upon.
As if a part of creation itself was now peering down at me, willing to do anything that I asked of it.
Frankly, it felt a little intimidating to feel all of this.
Holding the spell, I tried to imagine some of my EXP disappearing into this spell, and immediately felt something within me drain at a rapid rate until a good chunk of it was gone.
However, I did not find any menu manifest in front of me, and neither did some instinctual knowledge about what I could do flood my mind.
Instead, I felt like I could literally wish for anything under a certain threshold that I could instinctively tell, and it would come true. That the world itself would bend over backwards to make my wish come true.
Looks like this is a success.
Without making any wish, I cancelled the spell, making the EXP go back within me since I did not make any wish. Although I did lose all the mana that I used to invoke that spell, along with one of the three uses of the ring Shooting Star, which makes this spell possible.
Once again, I started writing down the result of my experiment.
"Super-Tier Spell, Wish upon a Star, is capable of being executed in this world and seems to be much more powerful and versatile than it was in the game. It serves as strong evidence that Ouroborous can be used in a similar way to allow me to grow without hard limits inherited from YGGDRASIL."
"But first, I need information. I need to know if there is anything in this world's supernatural scene that is worth me breaking my limits by using such a unique item."
"I cannot waste such a cheat code unless I am absolutely sure that things in this world cannot be dealt with my current repertoire of skills and spells."
"Best option is to access the supernatural version of the internet and then find a way to get some general information about the global supernatural scene."
Easier said than done, since I don't know where to get access to said network. The Stray Devil's memories told me that there were things like smartphones for the devils and many other supernatural creatures in the world, but the distribution of these things was handled by proxy companies that were under the control of the devils.
This meant that I would have to leave the safety of this town and find such an outlet to buy one, which is also an issue since these people have ways to identify counterfeits or magically conjured money, so I will need some real money.
Which brings me back to square one.
Maybe i could use Wish Upon a Star to will one of those phones into existence?
No. I can't do that just yet. I will need to see if I can still earn EXP in this world before I spend any of my reserves. If I cannot get EXP, then I will end up losing levels by consuming EXP and end up weaker than I am right now, which is unacceptable until I am sure that nothing can threaten my life for now. But I can't know if I can gain EXP unless I consult some EXP to give space for newly gained EXP, since I am already at the Level cap for all of my Job Classes and Racial Class.
Such a headache-inducing situation!
With a sigh, I got up from the chair and put away the journal into my inventory before casting my concealment spell and taking off into the air through the window.
I guess I will use that spell after all and try to see what I can manifest from my immediate needs that cost one or two percent of my EXP.
After that, I need to find some kind of monster to kill and see if I can gain EXP.
So much work to do. I guess that old saying about free lunch was right after all. I had to pay the price for this once-in-a-lifetime chance at a new life somehow.
Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:LurkerOfTheFics, AppleGrowth, Seadrake and 225 othersRuijardThursday at 1:11 PMReader modeNewAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks Chapter 8 New Threadmarks RuijardMaking the rounds.Thursday at 1:11 PMNewAdd bookmark#8Seventh Heaven Gates, the Realm of Heavens.
At the gates that lead to the Seventh Heaven, a place that was once home to the God of the Bible and the place where the central core of the Sacred Gear System and Heaven's System resides, a beautiful angel paced with worry.
Her beautiful blond hair fell like a waterfall behind her as her blue eyes kept going towards the gates, waiting for her brother, who had gone in to confirm what they were worried about.
Soon, the gates started to open, making her perk up and head towards the entrance, her twelve wings fluttering as she shot forward with immense speed and came to a stop in front of her brother.
"Michael? What did you see?"
Michael, one of the first Angels created by God and the current Supervisor of Heaven's System, shook his head at his sister's question.
"I did not find the source of the anomaly, Gabriel. I think whoever had initiated the salvation system has hidden themselves again. Worse yet, the system is refusing to track them even at my request. It says that my authority is not high enough for that."
Gabriel could not help but feel confused at those words.
"But why would any Angel hide themselves like that? Given the power we felt, they have to be someone on par with the Seraphim, so it should be an occasion of celebration for us to have gained another Angel of that caliber."
Michael could not help but smile wryly at his sister's words.
"Gabriel, have you forgotten that we, the Angels, created by Father, are incapable of growing in strength, unlike true living beings?"
Gabriel simply nodded her head with a pout.
"Why are you asking me such a basic question? Of course, I remember that fact."
"Then, can you tell me how an Angel of such power suddenly appeared out of nowhere?"
Only with this question did Gabriel see what the problem was.
God had originally created the Angels as his helpers in shaping the world into what he wanted. To protect the original natives of this world, the Humans, whom he had grown fond of shortly after he arrived here and saw them.
Back then, his creation method was not as refined as it would be later on, so the first generation of Angels had more in common with automatons than actual living beings.
The first-generation Angels were incapable of growth. Incapable of change unless their very nature was twisted, like in the case of the Morningstar and the Fallen. Incapable of growing outside the set parameters that they were born with.
Eternal, unchanging, incapable of growth and change. Such is the fate of the first-generation Angels, including the Seraphim.
That is why, in this day and age, where the Devils replenished their numbers and strength through the Evil Pieces and legitimate children born of their flesh, just like with the Fallen who gained the ability to grow stronger after they were banished from Heaven, the Angels were left in a precarious situation where their numbers could not be replenished in any way.
This meant that the death of every angel, even the weakest of them, was felt dearly.
Worse still, unlike the Devils and the Fallen that could reproduce with each other or with other races, the Angels could not do something like that unless they used a very ardeous ritual that lasted an entire day and would not be allowed to have possessive or lustful intentions when procreating, something that is borderline impossible with how attractive the angels generally are, which meant that any such union would lead to the angels falling from grace, so nobody even tried that anymore.
It was because of all these reasons that the Angels had no choice but to shut themselves in Heaven and ignore everything that was going on in the mortal world, abandoning the very duty for which they were originally created, all in the name of self-preservation and the preservation of their species.
Watching his sister's contemplative face, Michael placed his palm on her head and spoke softly.
"We will have our answers after we find our missing brethren. Whoever they are, they are obviously hiding themselves from harm. So it is imperative that we don't accidentally expose them to their enemies because we are in a rush. We will need to carefully investigate and find them as covertly as possible and then welcome them back into the fold."
"We cannot afford our kin to be divided in these trying times, even if the holy energy that the system felt from them was the strongest it had ever felt from an Angel."
Gabriel nodded her head to those words before an idea flashed in her mind.
"How about I go down there and try to search for them myself?"
Michael shot that idea down with a shake of his head.
"No. That is far too risky. Not to mention where that energy signature was detected, we do not know what will happen if our enemies learn that you are down there all by yourself."
"Then, how about I take brother Uriel and brother Raphael with me?"
"Again. No. They have their own duties that they need to attend to, so you can't disturb them."
Gabriel once again pouted at her brother's words as he chuckled at her expression.
"I'll send a message to Vasco Strada to start investigating. Given that the Church has a presence in Kuoh, it only makes sense to use that to our advantage and try to be subtle about our intentions."
"Fine! But I want to go with you when we find our kin so that I can greet them with you."
"Very well. Now, let's get going."
The two angels soon left the Seventh Heaven and headed back to their abodes in the Sixth Heaven, where Michael sent a message to Vasco Strada, who, in turn, sent the message to Masaomi Yaegaki, not knowing that something truly explosive was about to happen in a few days' time.
Something that would shake up the Abrahamic Faction's future for good.
As for the focal point of all this mess, he was right now buried deep in countless online articles that he got from the newly created phone that allowed him to access the supernatural internet.
Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:zn13, LurkerOfTheFics, AppleGrowth and 217 othersRuijardThursday at 1:11 PMReader modeNewAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks Chapter 9 New Threadmarks RuijardMaking the rounds.Thursday at 1:12 PMNewAdd bookmark#9"Magic Girl Levi-tan is here to save the day~"
The video continued playing, showing the devil girl shooting ridiculous-looking pink beams at her 'enemy', ending the show at that point.
As the credits rolled, I did not know how to feel about what I just saw.
'...Fuck. So this is what it feels like to be bamboozled.'
Ever since I created this smartphone with the Wish Upon a Star spell that surprisingly cost only one percent of my EXP, I had been going through the supernatural internet to understand the power dynamics of this world and what kind of beings existed here. (It still hurts to lose some EXP, especially since I don't know if I can regain it in this world, but I have no choice in the matter).
Surprisingly, it was rather easy to access most of this information, except for some things that were only referenced but were kept out of my reach due to their classified nature.
However, during this search, I came upon a particular link that spoke of how the true power of one of the devil race's superiors, one of the four Satans, will be shown in a TV show of all things.
So, I decided to check it out, only to feel like I needed some bleach for my eyes.
'How the hell is this woman one of the four strongest devils? This is clearly a chunni girl, far too lost in her own world!'
Truthfully, the girl was not bad, either in acting or in appearance. At least, she is far better than what passes for 'professional actors' in my time, who could never hide how dead they were inside from showing in their eyes and expressions.
But the issue here is that I end up feeling second-hand embarrassment just watching this woman, who is centuries old, acting in such a way. (Yes, Serafall Leviathan is supposedly more than eight hundred years old. She was supposedly a teenager during some kind of conflict called the Devil Civil War that took place eight centuries ago).
With a sigh, I put away the phone and leaned back into the couch, thinking about what to do from here on out.
From what I found out, this world has all kinds of supernatural creatures that belong to various mythologies. Ranging from ghosts, spirits, and other such things, all the way to top-level beings like Gods and Dragons. Something that gave me quite the pause.
Even in YGGDRASIL, Dragons were considered quite the dangerous monsters to hunt.
The damned things even manifested as Raid bosses sometimes, especially when you least expect them.
The last time I faced a dragon, it took me a whole lot of luck, trickery, and cash item spamming to defeat one all by myself, earning me the title of One-Man Raid.
Conversely, the bodies of Dragons are freaking treasure troves. Everything from their bodies could be harvested into rare items if someone had the right crafting class equipped, not to mention the rare quality Data Crystals and high-end Artifacts they always drop.
The fact remains, however, that the danger that I can face in this world could very well be on the same level as those Raids, maybe even on the level of World Enemies. The damned things that require entire guilds to bring down, like the Lords of the Seven Deadly Sins, or the Ten Archangels of Sephira that forced Drakovahn and I to hire a guild that would help us take out those monsters in exchange for a fifty percent share of the drops.
Worse yet, unlike those monsters that had set patterns and areas that they would not move out of, these beings in this world have free will and can literally appear anywhere should they want to, which means that I am in serious danger if one of those top-tier beings comes after me.
Once again, looking at the Orobourous ring on my thumb, I felt trepidation and determination fill me.
'There is no choice. I will have to remove the level cap and learn the native magic system if I am to become stronger. I will have to use up this trump card of mine. If I end up dead down the line because I was not strong enough and wished to preserve this power, it will be too late to cry about it at that point.'
The problem here is, where do I even attempt such a thing?
The use of a World Item leads to one hell of a light show that can be seen from a long distance away, not to mention the long casting time. The shitty devs designed it in such a way to balance the game-breaking powers that a custom World Item has.
However, in this world, this also means that I can easily attract the wrong kind of attention if I am not careful.
So, the problem remains. Where do I even make this wish on my item?
'Looks like I will have to use that fortress after all- Hold up! Why not find an isolated location on the internet?'
The moment that idea entered my mind, I immediately got on my phone and started searching for an isolated place where I could do what I wanted.
And wouldn't you know it? There was such a place available in Scotland. A small cluster of islands that nobody bothered with, either in the mundane world or in the supernatural community, given that the group of mermaids that were renting this island cluster on the net were rather blatant in listing it as a barren land that is practically worthless to anyone.
It also helped that the rent that they are asking for a day is rather reasonable. Either a kilo of Silver, which is roughly two pounds or so, or the equivalent of mortal currency. Not a bad deal, given that I could make a whole lot of that metal with some regular metals thanks to my Alchemist Class.
Those barren lands should serve as a good place for me to use my Create Fortress spell, which will give me a secure and isolated place where I can use Orouborous without anything or anyone disturbing me during the process.
With the decision made, I immediately contacted the Finfolk who listed the place and got down to negotiations.
Hopefully, all of this effort will pay off, and nothing in this world will no-sell my World Item's attempt at removing my level cap and getting stronger.
The powerful winds of the Scottish highlands swept through my hair as the scent of the sea dominated my senses. The crashing of waves on the island and the sheer breath of life that I could feel all around me reminded me once again of what my world lost because of a handful of people and their greed.
Such beauty, such nature, deserves to be protected. And if I can have my way this time around, I will make sure that this beautiful world will not walk on the same path as my own.
Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I turned back to the huge patch of barren rock that made up the main island between the cluster that I rented out for this day from the local Finfolk.
Supposedly, this land was artificially created after a battle between something called a Boobrie, a native monster in the area, and some kind of lesser Dragon. Since both the creatures left the area soon after, the island fell under the ownership of the Finfolk, who decided to list the place on the supernatural net to make some profit out of it. Which was fair, I guess.
I mean, compared to many other isolated islands that the same group lists on the web for exorbitant prices because of their scenery and some of them having something called leylines (another subject to study later), this place serves well for my purposes.
Spreading out my senses, I made sure that none of those curious Finfolk were close by, I pulled on my mana and invoked the spell that I wanted to cast.
First things first, the fortress.
"[Create Fortress]!"
The Tier-10 spell took hold of reality immediately as the very earth rose from beneath my feet.
The stone morphed like liquid, climbing into the air like living tendrils before taking on a defined shape. The moment it attained the form of a thirty-meter-tall fortress, it solidified into what looked like ordinary brick and mortar. But I knew the truth.
This damned thing is a defensive structure in the same league as the Tier-10 defensive Druid spell, Nature's Shelter.
The only thing that can pierce its defences are absurdly powerful Super-Tier spells specifically designed to destroy defensive magics, like Sword of Damocles.
With the structure created, now it's time for concealment.
"[Mirror World]"
The moment I invoked the spell, a hemispherical barrier sprang into existence around the castle, completely hiding it from the outside world. In some ways, it could be said that this screen acts like an isolating spell, completely separating this island from the outside world in every way.
In the game, it was even capable of absorbing or reflecting a certain percentage of any attacks leveled against it, if it was discovered in the first place, which is hard to do.
With both spells done, now it is time to go inside and take care of this issue immediately and get to work on learning this world's system.
One of the many features of the Create Fortress spell is that it is bigger on the inside than what its outward appearance would suggest, giving me plenty of space to use.
It is a shame that this fortress is temporary and will fade when I will it. If it were a permanent structure, I would not mind trying to buy this island from the Finfolk.
Then again, it is not wise to have my base of operations located in a place that is known to others.
Walking into the massive chamber within the fortress, I unfurled my wings and halo, illuminating the space around me with the holy energy. But what I am more concerned about is the ring on my thumb.
Truthfully speaking, I am very reluctant to use Ouroboros so early. It feels like I am using up one of my few trump cards merely because I am afraid of the adversity I would theoretically face in the future.
But the same thought also leads to the various articles and information I read about the dangerous creatures of this world, and my determination once again grows stronger.
An item is only useful as long as I am alive. What use is a world-breaking artifact if I am no longer there to use it?
So, with my resolve once again going strong, I gritted my teeth and activated Ouroboros, making the ring shatter as a strange effect took place.
The strange roar that felt like a mix of a snake's hiss and a dragon's roar rang out in my mind, followed by a strange dark void enveloping everything in the area, including the fortress.
Good thing I used Mirror World earlier. If not, who knows what kind of beings I would have ended up attracting with such a commotion?
'Alright, enough distractions. Concentrate on the present.'
Closing my eyes, I waited for a few seconds until the phenomenon of activation stabilized. It was only when my instincts told me that the spell was ready that I made my wish out loud.
"I want all restrictions and limits removed from me. I want to be able to continue growing in every way possible without being restricted in any form. I want all level caps removed from all my classes and race classes. I want to be able to learn all the magics and abilities from this world without any kind of restrictions or obstacles getting in my way. No kind of limits, restrictions, obstacles, or caps shall exist on me anymore. I want to be able to gain Exp from anything that I kill in this world."
I blurted out everything that came to my mind without thinking. I don't know how this spell will work in this world, so the safest method that I can think of is to spout out every wish that I have and see what sticks.
I really hate wasting such a precious item even when I have no guarantee that it will work, but I really don't have any other choice. So I simply gritted my teeth and waited for anything to happen after speaking everything out.
Thankfully, it would seem that my loss of a World Item was not in vain, as I felt something within me break.
But the moment it happened, I felt agony as something else tried to reach my very soul!
Whatever it was, my instincts told me that it was pure and filled with holy energy, but I could also tell that it was not a living thing.
Thankfully, whatever it was, it retreated after that initial probe as I flared my mana and Light outward-
'Wait! Am I seeing this right?'
I am sure that my face held a stunned expression as I tried to move my Light energy with my mind, and it easily responded to my thoughts, forming tentrils of energy in the air which I slowly morphed into a spear, a sword, a blade, and then into a ball.
The same energy that resisted my attempts to materialize it in the past was now responding to me as naturally as my mana, as if I were born with the ability to manipulate it.
"It worked. It really worked! Hell yeah!"
I grinned happily as the initial results showed that my gamble was a success.
With this, I can now really start learning about the spells and abilities that he natives have and blend in better.
With the happy grin still on my face, I dissolved the fortress and the Mirror World before taking off back to Kuoh.
Now, all that is left is to earn a steady income for my stay in this world, and I already have an idea of how to do it.
Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on