[John POV]
TWANG.
The rhythmic beeping of the GDA medical ward and the sharp stench of antiseptic vanished as my bare, dirt-caked feet hit the polished cedar floorboards of the Great Hall.
The silence of the Infinity Castle hit my ears like a piercing emptiness. Without the chaotic noise of the reactors, fighting, and hospital to keep my brain firing, my body finally realized the battle was over.
The last lingering drops of adrenaline evaporated from my bloodstream in a fraction of a second.
I looked down at myself. My clothes were completely shredded, hanging off my frame in stiff, dark rags. My skin was coated in a sickening, crusty layer of ash and blood—some of it mine, most of it belonging to Conquest, Nolan and the heroes I had just spent the last hour putting back together.
I tried to take a single step toward the center of the room, but my knees gave out.
Gravity ripped me downward, and I braced myself to eat wood.
Before my face could hit the floorboards, a pair of slender arms slid under my shoulders and wrapped tightly around my stomach. Nakime caught me, her incredible demon strength halting my fall instantly. She pulled me back against her, lowering us both safely to the floor.
I leaned into her, feeling the slow, steady rhythm of her chest rising and falling against my spine, and damn if that wasn't the most comforting thing I'd felt all night.
"Nakime…" I croaked. My throat felt like it was lined with sandpaper from all the smoke I inhaled. "Could you port me to the bed? I really need to…"
"Master, look at yourself." Her voice cut me off. She gently but firmly turned me around, forcing me to face her. "Your skin is matted with blood and dirt, and you are wearing rags. Please, clean yourself first."
Before I could even muster the energy to argue, her fingers struck a single, resonant note on the strings of her biwa.
TWANG
The wooden architecture of the Great Hall dissolved.
The dry air of the castle was instantly replaced by the thick humidity of the indoor hot spring. Pale steam rose off the surface of the rock pool, the warm water lapping invitingly against the stone edges.
The heat felt like a physical invitation and I didn't hesitate. I tore away the ruined, stiff remnants of my shirt and pants and slid directly into the water.
As the heat finally penetrated my aching muscles and newly mended ribs, a long, ragged moan tore out of my throat.
"Fuck me, that feels good…"
The water immediately began to leach the dried grime from my skin. But before I could even lean my head back against the smooth rocks, the water rippled.
Nakime stepped down into the spring. Stripped of her heavy robes and the matte-black armor of Ship's nanites, she was completely bare.
The steaming water lapped against her pale skin as she waded deeper. Just an hour ago, half her body had been cooked down to charred meat, but the healing with my blood had wiped the damage completely clean. There wasn't a single burn or scar left on her- just the smooth, unblemished curve of her back and collarbones sliding beneath the surface.
She settled into the pool right beside me, the warm water rising to cover her chest as she reached out, her single eye fixed entirely on my shoulders.
"Please, let me clean you, Master," she asked softly.
"No… no need," I mumbled, trying to wave her off. "I can manage—"
"Please, John."
Her voice broke as she spoke my name. It was a rare fracture in her usual stoic composure. Tears pooled at the edges of her eye, spilling over her pale cheeks and dripping into the hot spring.
"You died, out there", she whispered, her hands trembling as she reached for me. "I felt our connection snap so suddenly and violently. And now… now even if you're here, my mind won't stop screaming that it's an illusion. Please… let me feel the proof that you are here. That you are with me."
Seeing her unfiltered terror laid bare, I stopped resisting and nodded, letting her slide closer, allowing her to wrap her arms fully around my torso.
Her naturally cool demon skin felt like a shock of ice against my heat-flushed body, and the contrast sent a shiver down my spine. The feeling was purely relaxing, pushing my exhausted mind even deeper toward the desperate need for sleep.
But I couldn't just pass out. Not while she was holding onto me like a lifeline, completely vulnerable. I needed something to keep my brain awake and active, if only to take my mind off the hellish meat-grinder of a night we had just survived.
I swiped a wet finger through the air, pulling up my system interface.
I had a mountain of tickets to burn through, yet I noticed only a single Bronze ticket sitting at the top of the pile.
Keeping the Gambler trait firmly toggled off, I mentally tore it.
The gacha wheel began to roll and finally landed on—
[Witch's Rejuvenation Potion]
|Uncommon Item|
Hunter x Hunter - A bottle containing 100 pills that each make you physically one year younger when consumed. Restock Timer: 168 Hours
A heavy, apothecary-style amber glass bottle materialized directly into my Item storage space.
'A tired smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth. One hundred years of youth, fully restockable every single week.'
I wouldn't have to stress about burning through hundreds of millions of dollars for my healing sessions anymore. Neel was going to have the global elite throwing their entire net worths at our feet just for a single goddamn pill.
Spurred on by the win, I moved to the remaining two Silver tickets and tore them simultaneously, watching the holographic wheels spin rapidly before clicking into place.
The first silver roll came to a halt.
[Cement Manipulation]
|Rare Ability|
MHA - Allows you to conjure and manipulate cement allowing you to shape it into constructs, walls, weapons, and even turn it back into a less solid form.
A bizarre, dense sensation instantly rippled through my marrow. My connection to the physical world shifted, anchoring itself to something artificial—something stiff, yet entirely moldable.
There wasn't a speck of concrete inside this wooden fortress to test it on.
'Guess I'll have to test this once I go back outside.'
The second silver roll snapped into focus right beside it.
[Arc Reactor]
|Elite Item|
MCU - The Arc reactor is a revolutionary technology created by one of the greatest minds of the universe, Tony Stark. Even a tinker would find it difficult to replicate the technology due to the new element. The Reactor is so efficient that it can run indefinitely without replacement and provide more than 5 gigajoules of energy per second.
A fist-sized, metallic cylinder appeared in my item storage, pulsing with a faint blue light.
It was an unlimited source of clean energy—completely useless for my radioactive guzzling Glowing One trait.
'Maybe Ship would love it,' I thought, a genuine smile breaking through my fatigue as I imagined the little Mechamorph's excitement.
'The boy pushed himself to the brink today. He deserves all the treats.'
I shifted my focus to the four gold tickets. I tore the first three while setting the last one aside safely.
'These guys… Pepsiman, Neel, Nakime, Ship…' I mused as the system processed the command. 'Without them, I wouldn't even be breathing right now. I really need to reward them properly.'
The three golden wheels spun and slammed to a halt one after another.
[Fair Use]
|Epic Trait|
No cheating. Anything you create, people cannot use without your permission, acting as a Blacklist and Whitelist. Even if you were to leave your spaceship with the keys in, no one would be able to pilot it. If you leave potions you created, they will act like water if someone else uses them.
The moment the trait integrated, a profound, dominant layer of authority snapped into place across my entire arsenal.
It felt like an invisible, unbreakable thread tying my soul to every single item, potion, and machine I owned.
'This is going to work fucking flawlessly with the potions and steroids I plan to use to grow my capital', I realized.
'Ultimate DRM for my entire empire.'
As I was musing on this, I saw the second golden roll come to a stop.
[I - The Magician]
|Elite Item|
Tarot Card - Increase the rarity of an ability temporarily for one hour. 240 hour cooldown.
A heavy, ornate card with a shimmering golden border dropped into my Item storage.
'Another Tarot Card? Is there a hidden feat for collecting the whole deck?'
I wondered, stopping myself from trying it out, as a ten-day cooldown meant this wasn't a toy to play with.
I had barely gone a full week without a life-or-death crisis since getting in this damned world. This was a trump card meant for a very desperate pinch.
Finally, my eyes hit the third and final Gold roll and froze.
[Full Coverage Insurance Plan]
|Epic Trait|
Your Familiars get a full coverage insurance plan. As long as a familiar is in the Familiar Space for 24 hours straight, uninterrupted, they are completely and absolutely returned to perfect health. If a familiar dies, they will be resurrected in the familiar space after 48 hours have passed in perfect health.
My eyes widened as I stood up and read the description once. Then twice.
"Fuck yeah!!" I screamed as I jumped to my feet, and water cascaded off my body.
The volume of my voice echoed off the cavernous rock walls of the hot spring.
A soaring spike of pure adrenaline instantly replaced the lingering lethargy in my veins.
"Master?!" Nakime perked up, her eye wide with sudden alarm.
"Nakime! We're going to see Sebas soon!" I laughed, grabbing her slippery waist beneath the water and hauling her flush against my chest. The cool, wet friction of her naked skin sliding against my hot torso didn't even register as I twirled her in a tight, joyous circle, sending a heavy wave of warm water splashing over our shoulders. "I just pulled something that guarantees Seb will be back with us within a day!"
She yelped in sheer surprise at the sudden movement, her bare legs tangling briefly with mine under the water as her hands desperately gripped my slick shoulders for balance. "But… don't you already have a blessing allowing us familiars to be revived?"
"Yes, I do!" I answered, finally setting her back down and trying to regulate my breathing. "But that ability had no time limit for the revival process. It could have taken months, maybe even years, for him to revive. But this… this means we won't be trapped waiting in the dark. Forty-eight hours, Nakime. That's all it'll take."
The tight, haunted lines around her mouth finally dissolved as a radiant smile broke across her pale face.
"That… that's such good news, Master," she whispered, her voice trembling with relief. "Finally, I can speak to Sir Sebas again."
We shared the quiet high of the victory for a long moment, the water settling back into a gentle ripple around us.
But as the excitement began to wane, a stray detail from the battle flickered in my memory.
"By the way, Nakime," I asked, wiping the water from my eyes. "What happened to the Split Soul Katana out there? Why did it just disappear after the fight?"
Nakime's posture instantly stiffened and the warmth in her expression vanished, replaced by a sudden rigidity as she looked down at the water.
"Umm… Master," she murmured, her fingers tightly weaving together beneath the surface. "I used your Diamond ticket you gifted me. And instead of getting something permanent and reliable, I pulled…"
She quietly explained how she had acquired Diamond Draw—an ability that allowed her to temporarily summon an item from the Diamond Gacha pool, only for it to exist for exactly one hour before dissolving into nothingness.
As I listened to her monotone explanation, the residual high of my golden rolls died.
A massive wave of guilt slammed into my chest as I looked at her small, tense shoulders and realized exactly what I had done.
Nakime's human life before she ever became a demon was destroyed by a gambling addict. Her husband had pawned her life away, driving her to murder and ruin.
And by giving her the ability, I had accidentally forced her right back into that same trauma. I had handed her a slot machine and made her gamble with my life on the line.
"I'm sorry, Nakime," I whispered, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her back into my chest. "To give someone with your past an ability that's so close to gambling… I'm so sorry."
She didn't pull away. She just patted my back with a soft rhythm, her voice dropping into a hollow whisper.
"It does not matter what I feel, John," she replied. "As long as it can be of use to you, I will go to any length."
The words hung heavy in the steamy air.
'Well, I definitely can't continue to roll now, can I?' I thought, reading the downcast mood settling over the Hot spring.
The thrill of the gacha, the dopamine hit of the new abilities, the relief of Sebas's return, all of it was replaced by a quiet understanding.
I wanted to tell Nakime that she wasn't just a tool for my survival. I wanted to tell her a lot of things. But as I held her there in the water, feeling the smooth, wet skin of her bare back under my hands and the steady, reassuring beat of her heart, I realized we didn't have to fix everything tonight.
We had survived. That had to be enough for now.
The last stubborn drop of adrenaline in my system finally burned out.
'I'm bone… scratch that, I'm soul-deep tired.'
My eyelids felt like they were lined with lead. The heat of the water stopped being just a physical sensation and turned into a heavy, comforting blanket, coaxing the last lingering tension of the war from my battered muscles.
I let my head drop against the soft, pale curve of Nakime's bare shoulder. My consciousness finally slipped away, accepting the quiet, peaceful embrace of sleep before I could even drag myself out of the pool.
[A/N]:
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