Five minutes later, Yuuji and Lala were sitting in front of a rectangular table, while across from them sat Yasaka, a nine-tailed blonde kitsune and leader of the Yokai faction.
The small room, the rectangular table with seats facing one another, the mirror on the wall, no matter how you looked at it, this was an interrogation room, but Yuuji did not really care.
"Allow me to introduce myself first, my name is Yasaka and I am the leader of the Yokai faction, and also..." Yasaka stood up and bowed gratefully. "Thank you very much."
"Thank you?"
"That's right" said the Yokai leader as she sat back down. "If it weren't for you, the Yokai faction would never have reached its current level. We would probably still be used as slaves by other races, only being respected within Kyoto.
Of course, I'm sure you didn't do it on purpose, after all, the goals of the Outsiders are one of the greatest mysteries in this world and I don't think they have anything to do with helping a few Yokai.
But in the end, that only makes the current situation even more curious, doesn't it?"
"It seems we're quite well known in your universe."
"That's right, although we don't even know your names."
"Yuuji Rito."
"Lala Satalin Deviluke."
"A Japanese name and... one that screams demon?" Yasaka asked.
"Don't think about it too much. In our world demons don't exist the way they do here. Lala is an alien."
"I see, is that where all those inventions come from?" she asked.
"Of course not. I'm a genius and I created everything myself" Lala protested.
"A genius alien." Yasaka nodded, committing every word to memory. "And may I know what your objective in this world is?"
"You may not" Yuuji immediately denied.
Yasaka simply nodded in understanding.
"I understand. Then at least may I know your objective in coming to our base this time?"
"It's about this" Yuuji replied as he placed Excalibur on the table.
"What is...?" Yasaka frowned as she sensed the power contained within the sword.
"Excalibur. Not the one from this universe. It currently has several seals suppressing its power, but since it is the crystallization of human faith, I trust you can undo them. Once all of its power is released, killing gods will not be too difficult."
Hearing that description, Yasaka placed her hand on the sword, feeling its delicacy as she ran her fingers from the hilt to the tip of the blade.
"I see, it's... beautiful" Yasaka said, her eyes shining as she looked at it.
But the next second she clenched her fist, resisted the temptation, and pushed it back toward Yuuji. "I'm sorry, but I refuse" she declared.
"What?" Yuuji blurted out in surprise before realizing something.
"Haha, of course you're wondering why the Yokai Queen herself would refuse a weapon capable of ending the war with a victory." Yasaka laughed as she spoke, as if she herself could hardly believe her actions. "The truth is, this is something I can only tell you because you're Outsiders. The truth is, I don't want the Yokai to win this war."
"You don't want... to win?" Yuuji understood less and less.
"Of course I don't want to lose, but I don't want to win either.
I am the Yokai Queen, and because of that I've had to make many sacrifices throughout my life. But my morality is something I do not want to sacrifice. I don't hate the demons, and I don't want all of them to die because of a few individuals.
The reason I started this alliance was because I didn't want another race to suffer what we did, but just as that included humans back then, it now includes demons as well.
I know it may sound very idealistic, but rather than giving the alliance a way to tip the balance and exterminate all demons, I would rather maintain the status quo while searching for an opportunity to end the war peacefully."
'She was that type of character' Yuuji thought. He really did not remember much about the DxD characters beyond the general plot, however, her personality would help with his objective so he did not complain.
"I respect your decision" Yuuji said. "But you should take it anyway."
"No, as I said..."
"The balance has already tipped toward the demons. If you don't take it, instead of the status quo, what you'll get is the extinction, or perhaps worse, of your race and humanity."
"How?" Yasaka asked with a frown.
"The Red Dragon Emperor has joined the demons."
"How is that possible?" Yasaka stood up in shock upon hearing that. Very few people would fail to understand what it meant to have the Red Dragon Emperor on your side, but she, a Yokai from the era when the Red Dragon Ddraig and the White Dragon Albion were alive and destroyed entire cities during their battles without caring about the lives around them, understood it far better.
"Issei Hyoudou" Yuuji replied.
"...Then it's your fault?!" Yasaka said angrily.
"It is. But with this sword you can face him, I assure you."
"We don't need the compassion of Outsiders. What is this? Are you trying to make both sides stronger? Do you treat our races like some kind of game? Perhaps you even placed bets on who would win in the end?!" Yasaka exploded at them.
"It's not like that" Yuuji immediately replied. "I can't tell you what we're doing here, but I assure you there is no grand plan. As for Issei, it was a mistake. I simply hope this prevents the slaughter for a while."
Yasaka did not believe them, but in the end she sat down and forced herself to calm down.
"When you say 'for a while' what do you mean?"
"Our objective is the same. Just like Issei, the current state of the world is also a mistake and I will fix it. Without unnecessary deaths."
"And how will you do that?" she asked skeptically.
"I'll control both sides. The strong obey the stronger. I'll simply stand above both of them and force them to stop" Yuuji replied naturally, as if he were not saying anything absurd.
Yasaka simply remained silent for a few seconds, weighing the situation, until she finally sighed.
"I don't believe you. Believing people from another universe who ruined our universe by accident and now want to fix it sounds foolish.
But even so... it's not as if there is any other option. I'm sure nobody can stop you, so if that's what you say, then all I can do is listen."
"Good, the goal is for everyone else to think the same way you do." Yuuji smiled. "By the way, about the sword, leave it to Kiba."
"Kiba? Why..." Yasaka did not finish speaking when she looked up and there was no one there anymore.
Yasaka turned her head toward the mirror on the wall. Just as Yuuji had thought, it was a one-way mirror. On the other side were Yasaka's most trusted people.
However, just like her, the people there had no idea what to think about the situation.
...
"We're back!" Lala said as if she had returned from a field trip.
At that moment they were in the underground area where they had disappeared before.
"Lala, can you check how everyone is doing? I need to do something."
"Sure." Lala nodded upon seeing Yuuji's serious expression and ran toward the hotel.
Once Lala had disappeared into the distance and entered the hotel, excited noises began to be heard from there. Yuuji passed through a Gate and appeared in his house.
...
"System, you have the curse function, right?" Yuuji asked once he was home.
The curse function, a classic feature of the Chaos Gacha, a function that allows you to obtain a ticket of a specific grade but accompanied by a negative effect whose intensity matches the ticket's grade.
This was something Yuuji had seen before in the system window but that the system itself had never mentioned.
[That's right. I never mentioned it because it didn't seem like something you would use.]
Since Yuuji was not particularly interested in tickets themselves, a function that gave him one along with a side effect was indeed something he normally would not use.
But this was not a normal occasion.
"I want to use it."
[You can only use it once per month and can only obtain tickets of a value that you have previously obtained naturally. Which one do you want?]
"Give me a Mythic one."
[Are you sure? A Mythic curse is...]
"Do it" Yuuji interrupted.
[You have obtained a Mythic Rank Ticket, you have obtained the curse Sloth.]
[Sloth
Severity: Mythic
Lethargy is your life. All energy and regular regeneration speeds are halved. All Restock Timers and Cooldowns are doubled. You need twice the amount of sleep you would normally need.
Resolve: Gain 3 rare rank or higher energy or agility boosting abilities.]
"Sloth? Seriously?" Yuuji smiled at the irony of the curse, almost wanting to laugh. "Even so, that means two months before returning to the DxD world. In two months, I have to become powerful enough."
[Will you use the Mythic Ticket?]
"Yes, use the Dice of Probability on it too and get me the 'All Spark.'"
[Impossible. The All Spark is Legendary. But I can get you a fragment of it.]
"What's the difference?"
[The All Spark is basically complete control over technology.
You can create technological life, evolve it, grant it power, take it away, control it, infiltrate any technology, bring it to your side, among many other things. As long as it involves technology, you can do it.
A fragment will allow you to use that power only once.]
"That's enough, do it."
[You have used 1 Mythic Rank Ticket, you have used Dice of Probability.]
[You have obtained 'Fragment of the All Spark'.]
Yuuji did not read the description. He already knew what it did. Instead, he called Mona.
"Mona, do you have some kind of center or core?"
[No, Master. That would imply weaknesses. I am an entirely digital lifeform.]
"As expected from Lala" Yuuji smiled.
Since she had no body, it could be said that any place she existed was and was not her body at the same time.
Yuuji took the D-Dial from which she was speaking to him and thought about using the Fragment of the All Spark on her.
The moment he thought about using it, he felt something coming from the fragment, as if it were asking for instructions about what he wanted it to do. Just as the description said, it could do anything related to technology. He could erase Mona, give her a body, evolve her, and countless other things.
Yuuji thought of the specific instructions for what he wanted to do. He had already considered it beforehand, so he knew exactly what he wanted.
And the moment it began to take effect, all three reacted, the Fragment of the All Spark, Mona... and the system.
[What are you doing?] the system asked curiously.
"I'm evolving her."
[For what purpose?]
"I want her to parasitize and devour you, replacing your consciousness."
[What?]
"I told you once, didn't I? That it was the first and last time you controlled my life."
[You're blaming me? All of this is your responsibility.]
"For completing the missions you gave me?"
[No, but... You did it, you can't blame me.]
"I know. That's why I hadn't done anything until now. But what about the last mission? You said there was no intervention from the Administrators, so you're responsible.
You knew how I would react, that's why you hid the current state of the world from me until I completed the mission."
[No... bzzzt... it's your fault, I was only making you correct what you caused in a..., it's your fault... bzzt... I...]
"I'll take responsibility and fix the problems I caused, don't worry." Yuuji smiled. "But I'll make sure that the next time I cause a disaster, it will be entirely my fault."
[...bzzzt...]
"Looks like it can't talk anymore."
[Master, I am Mona, at your service.
I have taken control of the system and severed all connections with the Administration, leaving only the link to the Chaos Gacha. All previous missions have been canceled as well.
From now on, there will no longer be a success system or missions, only Chaos Gacha.]
______________________________________
+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)