This work is a piece of fiction. While inspired by real events, cultures, and practices in human history, the story blends factual history with fictional characters, dramatizations, and creative interpretation.
It is not intended to promote, glorify, or encourage any illegal activities, substance use, or harmful behavior. All depictions of sensitive topics are included solely for narrative and historical context.
For effects of the story, all characters are to be considered above the majority age.
Reader discretion is advised.
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╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗
DxD Multiverse, Urakyoto, Japan.
In a place normally oozing authority and family comfort—where the 'royal' family of the Urakyoto's Daiyoukai (Great Spectre) dined, a place that had seen generations of Supreme Youkais grow, where their meals were shared between generations just as Yasaka had done with her daughter just a day before... In this place of such history, a silence of discomfort so great that it was beginning to even affect the particles of air in the dining room was permeating into the hearts of most of those present.
Of course, this didn't include the Infinite Dragon God, whose life purpose revolved around the very concept of silence, nor the shard of the cosmic force who had found interest in how the laws of this multiverse affected her breasts.
Ophis, not at all different from an inanimate doll, was seated at the midpoint between a child's feeding chair—at some point, this very same chair may or may not have belonged to Kunou—and a bar stool. With a blank expression as flat as her usual mood, Ophis was staring across the table at the other participant in this silence, who shared the same fate in seating arrangements—Kunou.
Yasaka, the owner of this locale, who was not feeling very in charge at the moment, was cursing her past self for having decided to change the classical Japanese dining table to a more modern Western approach; now she had a freaking dragon god seated in one of her child's chairs.
As evidenced by her pointless worries, Yasaka believed, first, that Ophis was in a bad mood, and second, that the origin of this mood had anything to do with having the same seating arrangement as her daughter.
Phoenix, having pulled back inside her flaming wings and returned to a full Jean appearance, was eyeing with clear curiosity her own breast and Yasaka's jugs. When it appeared that two samples were not enough for her studies, she would look at the kitsune servants standing around the large room. "Hiek!" they would always muffle out in a panic when they felt her cosmic gaze on them.
"Ophis," Phoenix called out.
"Nn?" Ophis, making use of her infinite vocabulary, responded.
"The reason for your childish form," Phoenix asked while pointedly staring at her flatlands. "Does it have anything to do with this?" She pointed at her bountiful chest.
Jiggle Wiggle
"I, changed because children are handed treats," Ophis explained, with as much eloquence as her passiveness allowed. "I, was an old male human before. No one handed me sweets."
"I see," Phoenix said. Indeed, no other explanation was needed. Ophis' motives could be simplified into 'Silence' and 'Sweets'.
After her moment of introspection, Phoenix paid attention for the first time to her hosts, other than to their chest area. Her eyes immediately locked onto Yasaka's tails and ears. She turned to Kunou and found the same vulpine traits.
"I think now I know why Aragorn chose this place," Phoenix commented.
"Nn?" Ophis asked. Eloquent as always.
"Aragorn likes soft-furred beings," Phoenix said without a shred of concern for the nigh-inexistent dignity of her companion.
Ophis and Phoenix observed the tails and ears of the mother-daughter duo.
After hearing Phoenix's words, Yasaka couldn't help but forcibly stop her ears and tails from bristling. She was scared of what it meant to be liked by a being like Aragorn. Kunou, innocent like any girl her young age, tilted her head to the side and gazed with a look of query at Phoenix and Ophis.
"Soft?" Ophis asked the kitsune child.
"Mother helps me comb my tails," Kunou said with a nod. She brought one of her nine tails to her lap and ran her fingers through the soft, fluffy fur. Her petite digits sank pleasurably into the soft coat.
"Aragorn, likes that?" Ophis asked Phoenix.
"Yes, he has a few nine-tail fox daughters," Phoenix said.
Yasaka perked up at this and wanted to ask more about it, but her instinctual dread stopped her from doing so. She was not daring enough to interrupt the conversation.
"Wolves, cats, and rabbits, among others," Phoenix added.
"Youkai?" Ophis asked.
"No, they are mutant deities," Phoenix clarified.
"Powerful?" Ophis asked. A hopeful gleam passed through her eyes.
Phoenix didn't need her billions of years of existence to comprehend that if Ophis was asking, then it was related to Great Red or sweets.
"No, they can't help you with that," Phoenix crushed Ophis' nascent dreams. "They are too far away."
Ophis, with her aspirations for help in regaining her silence crashing and crawling through the underground, returned to her default setting—silence. Phoenix, having fulfilled her daily quota of active interactions, returned to studying the laws of reality.
The kitsune standing around the table felt the urge to do something, anything! Whatever it took not to return to the silence. That dreaded silence!
Yasaka was too busy going through the implications of the new info, and Kunou was wondering why the guests were so strange.
So, like any child with boundless care for the when, where, and what, she said, "You guys are weird!" and giggled.
In the silence, what sounded like a strangled shriek coming from one of the servants echoed loudly.
"Please forgive my child's words, esteemed Dragon God-sama and Guest-sama," Yasaka lowered her head subserviently without hesitation.
Jiggle Wiggle—of course, her breast reacted to the sudden motion.
Ophis turned from Kunou to Yasaka and then to Phoenix and asked, "Introductions?"
It took Phoenix a second to process the meaning behind Ophis' question, and then she said, "Right, I haven't introduced myself." She turned to the still subservient fox and said, "You can call me Phoenix."
"Phoenix-sama," Yasaka said, her concern about the forgiveness for her daughter's 'affront' still weighing on her.
"We don't concern ourselves with pettiness of that level, even less when coming from a cub," Phoenix said.
Before Yasaka could express her thanks, Ophis interrupted with an "It's here!" that sounded the most energetic Yasaka had ever heard from her.
The doors to the dining room opened, and a procession of assorted youkai walked in carrying trays with various plates.
In the background of this procession, the voices of Aragorn and the Head Chef could be heard.
"Beyond flavor, obsess over texture. A truly great pastry isn't just sweet or tart; it's a symphony," Aragorn spoke like a teacher. "Think about that satisfying crunch of a perfectly baked tart shell, the yielding softness of a sponge, the creamy silkiness of a mousse, the slight chew of a macaron, and the delicate crackle of a glaze. How do these textures harmonize? How do they provide contrast? A dull pastry, however delicious, is often one-note in texture."
"T-This... Thank you, Aragorn-sama. I've been told I sometimes overlook the basics of the consumer experience," the head chef spoke with respect.
"Nah, don't worry about it, you're a great cook," Aragorn reassured. "Cooking is about so much that having all of these little key details in mind is already a gargantuan task."
While Aragorn and the Head Chef exchanged pleasant words and made their way into the dining room, a certain loli dragon's eyes were shining like those of a Labrador in front of a chicken bone. The smell alone was already testing the leash of her restraint.
With the food served—which made for quite the high-calorie breakfast no matter how you looked at it—Aragorn took a strategic seat next to Kunou. He paused for a moment, eyes on Ophis, and scoffed. "That's some self-restraint, Ophis," he said.
He made a sponge cake hover over to her plate and said, "Go ahead."
Ophis, with the eyes one gives his most beloved, took a bite that almost looked ritualistic, like a prayer, and her eyes seemed to gain light. It was almost as if Biblical God had resurrected through her and a pillar of light had descended from the heavens to baptize her. She almost lost her clothing in an explosion of blissful taste. She spoke no words—none were needed—and continued to the next bite.
"Well," Aragorn said. He looked at Yasaka, who seemed frozen, unsure of how to proceed, and continued, "What are you waiting for? Dig in."
He used his telekinesis to serve some food for Kunou and nudged her to eat.
"Itadakimasu," Kunou said before taking the first bite. Her eyes turned into a faithful rendition of Ophis' just seconds ago.
Phoenix and Aragorn, just like Ophis, needed no sustenance. However, Aragorn liked eating for the same reason he liked shutting his mind for a few hours at night, and Phoenix had inherited some of her hosts' love for food.
"Daiyoukai," Aragorn asked while eating. He spoke by making the air vibrate with telekinesis, so his mouth being full wasn't an impediment to the action. "Have you had the time to gather yourself and think about the proposition?"
"How are you doing that?!" Kunou interrupted before Yasaka could reply.
Yasaka's heart almost jumped out of her chest, and she feared the worst.
"Mmmmm, this?" Aragorn asked with a faint smile. The air began to vibrate to a pleasant tune, and then Kunou heard someone whispering to her left, but when she turned, there was no one. The whispers then came from the right. Following that came the sensation of being patted by something invisible, and finally, something tickled the soles of her feet.
"Hehehehe—" She giggled, and for the first time since their arrival, Yasaka saw a truthful smile on Aragorn's face.
"You worry too much," Phoenix remarked, using the same telekinetic speech trick as Aragorn.
"Don't mind the formalities," Aragorn said after being done teasing the cub fox. "The peaks of this world are not as stuck up as the deities or the powerhouses of the other factions." Of course, he referred only to the two real peaks of the world.
Yasaka turned to Ophis for confirmation, but Ophis was in her sweet world.
"Is it servitude for protection, Aragorn-sama?" Yasaka asked after taking a deep breath.
"By definition it is," Aragorn turned to look at the transfixed dragon loli. "The most accurate description is that you'll gain a NEET cat-like dragon loli with a reputation that will keep the rats away."
"Ophis is also naive. You might want to educate her on the darkness of the world," Phoenix added.
"Naive? Who would dare to harbor hostility to the Infinite Dragon God?" Yasaka asked. This was not kicking the bull, or poking the bear; in her eyes, anyone having negative thoughts about Ophis and acting on them was metaphorically jumping from a cliff to a spiked base while carrying nitroglycerin jars and then getting a nuke dropped on them and expecting to survive. It was beyond stupid.
"There are people who only want to see the world burn," Aragorn shrugged. "She looks all cute and cuddly eating her dessert like that, doesn't she?" Aragorn pointedly stared at Ophis. "Well, somehow that idiot got herself a seat as the nominal leader of a terrorist organization composed of powerful individuals from all races and factions."
"Idiot, me?" Ophis asked. It was not that she was paying attention to the conversation or that the name-calling offended her enough to pause her sweets time. It was simply that when Aragorn called her an idiot, she had coincidentally finished her first sponge cake and was moving to the next.
"Yes, you," Aragorn said. His words made Yasaka flinch, and she was an instant away from jumping over her daughter to protect her from the upcoming clash, or at least die with her.
Yet, there was no clash. Ophis stared silently at Aragorn as if saying, 'Well? Go on, explain.'
"Have you thought that they have been receiving the power you've offered without actually intending to join you in battle to recapture the Dimensional Gap from Great Red?" Aragorn asked.
"No, why would they?" Ophis asked.
Phoenix almost facepalmed, but she had already noticed her naivete, so she was not as shell-shocked as some of the others present.
Kunou, to her credit, in her childish mind, understood that people could lie. Yasaka felt like pulling her hair when she heard that the Infinite Dragon God had been sharing her powers with a terrorist organization.
"That's what I meant," Aragorn hovered another dessert—a flan this time—to her, and just like that, Ophis put aside the revelations of common sense and focused on her precious.
"..." Aragorn turned to Yasaka but spoke no words; his gaze said it all—'Do you see this? Can you understand what we are dealing with?'
"They could have lied," Kunou helpfully pointed out. Sadly, her comment went unheard—Ophis' single-minded focus was on her flan.
Kunou wondered for a moment if she had said something that spurred the weird-oneesan into ignoring her.
"Don't mind her," Aragorn said. He reached for her head—Yasaka tensed—and petted Kunou between the ears.
Purr—A vulpine purr unconsciously left her small mouth—Yasaka let the tension go. "What is this?" She sounded as if she were on a vibrating massage chair, and the vibration was meddling with her voice.
"You don't like it?" Aragorn asked, his hand patting her head, his fingers skillfully combing her hair and occasionally rubbing her ears.
"Don't stop," Kunou said while almost melting.
Yasaka's eyes widened at the scene. Not only was her daughter showing a face she would only show herself, but Aragorn's face naturally reflected tender care, even though he had met Kunou just hours before.
"Could I tentatively agree?" Yasaka asked. This might be considered disrespectful—not only was she possibly denying their goodwill while taking advantage of it, but she was also skimming on self-interest.
"Yes," Aragorn nodded without looking away from Kunou's ears. His eyes were golden nebulae like Kunou's golden irises.
"I'll be staying here for a while, though," he added. "What about you, Phoenix?"
"Ophis passed me the information about some of the sacred users in her scamming terrorist organization. I'll probably drop by and take a look," Phoenix replied. "I don't know how long it'll be until I can create my own."
"Alright," Aragorn nodded before turning to Yasaka. "For now, you'll have the NEET dragon loli and me, with maybe the occasional visit from Phoenix.
"I have no reputation, but you can rest assured that while I'm here, no youkai of neutral or positive karma will be harmed," Aragorn said.
"What is th~at?" Kunou asked, half melted.
"It means that no neutral or good youkai will be harmed," Aragorn explained.
"All youkai are good," she declared. Yasaka smiled at her cub's naivete.
"Then that means that all youkai will be protected," Aragorn smiled. His eyes kept slowly changing between pink and golden, sometimes in a heterochromatic pattern. This caught the girl's curiosity.
"Why do they change colors?" Kunou asked while lazily reaching for Aragorn's eyes.
Aragorn lowered his face to her level and allowed her to place her small hand on the side of his left eye.
"They express the emotions of my soul," Aragorn said. "Do you want one?"
"Hehehe, that's silly. I can't have your eye," Kunou giggled. "You need it, and I would hurt you."
Aragorn smiled tenderly and pulled one of his long, translucent hairs. The hair grew thicker and spiraled into a coil. Then it was bisected vertically, resulting in thin, open rings. Under his control, the rings closed onto each other and turned into a thin, translucent chain.
Aragorn covered his right eye with his palm and then made a pulling motion. When he opened his hand, his right eyeball was in his palm—but before the kitsune girl could panic, his right eyelid opened, and she saw that he still had his eye.
The eyeball in his hand then shrank until it was no larger than the nail of the girl's pinky. The chain and eyeball—which looked like a color-changing jewel—floated to her and affixed to her fair neck.
Kunou pulled at the chain, brought the eyeball to her face, and inspected it with unmeasurable curiosity. The colors of the eyeball reflected in the clarity of her eyes. "It's pretty," she said absentmindedly.
"I'm glad you like it," Aragorn said, returning to his breakfast.
Yasaka didn't know what to make of this 'gesture.' Was he putting that around her daughter's neck to hold her hostage? Was it simply ornamental? Surveillance?
"It's protection," Aragorn said, as if replying to her inner panic.
"T-Thank you, my Lord," Yasaka stuttered.
"Titles and honorifics will get boring soon," Aragorn said.
"You can consider 'Aragorn' to be a title," Phoenix interjected. "Equally so, Phoenix is akin to a title to me. You can think of the title itself as carrying the honorific."
"Nn," Ophis nodded. Again, it was not that the conversation broke her from her sweets trance—she was simply done with her dessert and was reaching for the next, so she caught word of the exchange.
"Please allow me time to acclimate myself," Yasaka implored. She personally doubted she would ever get used to them—it was impossible!
A week later...
Late at night, Yasaka walked through the long halls of her palatial residence. Kunou was in her arms, their tails swaying in a good mood.
Knock Knock
She knocked on a door, and it opened as if by magic.
"Aragorn, could you do our tails before getting to bed?" Yasaka asked while walking inside. She spoke with such ease that some might wonder if the receiver of her words was a long-time friend or family member.
"Sure," Aragorn said from inside.
'Biokinesis, telepathy, a bit of pheromone-stimuli, a pinch of bioelectrical stimulation, and a dash of fluffing magic. These are the ingredients for the ultimate combing experience no beast-person will ever be able to resist! My hands are beyond divine to them!' Aragorn rejoiced in his mind.
It took Yasaka seeing the lustrous, fluffy, and perfect finish of Kunou's tails after one session with Aragorn for the fox woman to cave in and basically demand the same miraculous treatment.
Since then, for five nights, Yasaka had been visiting his bed as if she were doing some nightly oyakodon visit. As is to be expected of this ecchi multiverse, Yasaka mewled and moaned like a fox in heat under Aragorn's hands. Worst of all? She wasn't being suggestive on purpose—she was a victim of the ecchi rules of the DxD multiverse.
Normally, after the first or second night, rumors should have been spreading and such, but when the kitsune servants heard from their princess what was happening—and when they noticed the lustrous gleam in her tails—jealousy was the prevalent feeling.
━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━
Kuoh Academy, Occult Research Club.
It had been a week since Rias, proud host of the Grinding System, had begun her journey to plunder the heavens, sever her destiny, and gain enlightenment in the Dao of The Grind.
The first to notice her change were those closest to her—her peerage.
It all started the next day after Rias 'came up' with Requip magic. Early in the morning, she was first spotted by her Knight, Yuuto Kiba, following after him during his usual morning run.
"Buchou?" the knight asked, wondering if he was still half-asleep.
"Hey, Kiba!" she enthusiastically called out. "I'm tagging along, I hope you don't mind."
"No, buchou, you are welcome," Kiba shook his head. "I'm surprised, that is all."
"Hehe!" Rias chuckled before playfully ruffling his hair like an older sister does her little brother, her breasts accentuated by her stretching motion. "I'm just trying something new."
That morning, Rias made it to the finish line about an hour into Kiba's sword practice. She was completely spent—her legs akin to those of a newborn fawn, her eyes swimmingly lost—but she completed the run.
⌈30km run completed. Efforts in the physical department of the host's development can be sacrificed for consolidation and benefits of the physical aspect. Do you wish to proceed?⌋
'Yes,' Rias replied in her head, too tired to physically agree.
⌈Efforts successfully sacrificed.⌋
Soon, as if by a miracle from the god whose name she couldn't call, Rias felt something change. Her running technique felt smoother. Her stamina wasn't exactly replenished, but she felt that if she wanted it, her body could output more. Overall, she didn't feel like a couch potato who had just taken her first run in years—no, she felt as if running was a somewhat practiced sport for her.
That was the start of it all. Next, she pestered her knight to teach her the basics of swordplay.
"Buchou, wouldn't it be better to focus on your demonic power control?" Kiba asked.
"I think I would be a better king if I could at least understand my opponents better," Rias said with a confident grin that did nothing to assuage Kiba's worries.
"You'll indeed have a better understanding of swordplay if you have a semblance of experience with it," Kiba said while scratching his cheek. His action didn't speak of confidence. "But that's why you have me, buchou."
"... So you can't teach me?" Rias used puppy eyes.
"... It's not like I can't." It was super effective.
Kiba gave her a crash course on how to hold her sword—how to regulate the hilt securely but not too tightly, ensuring proper leverage and control. Emphasis on alignment of the hand and wrist with the blade, and understanding the balance point of the weapon.
He walked her through the ready stance, basic footwork, and her first strike.
⌈Beginner [Swordplay] practice completed. Efforts in the skill and physical department of the host's development can be sacrificed for consolidation and benefits of the skill and physical aspect. Do you wish to proceed?⌋
'Yes,' Rias, breathing heavily on the ground, agreed in her mind.
⌈Efforts and learning experience successfully sacrificed.⌋
Rias went over what she had learned in the session, and the sense of cluelessness she initially felt was gone. The sensation of clumsiness whenever she slashed was gone, and like with the run, she felt a new physical understanding of the motions.
Later that day, under a relaxing hot shower, she asked, "System, why is it called a sacrifice? I don't feel like I sacrificed anything."
⌈Experience is needed for the host to recognize what was sacrificed beyond the time and efforts currently invested in self-improvement.⌋
"Mmm, I really don't feel like anything was sacrificed, but I guess I'll figure it out," Rias said. It may not have been a very well-thought-out approach, but Rias was Rias, and this was the way she did things.
Like not going to her brother when a suspicious system of suspicious nature by suspicious methods began speaking into her mind right in the middle of an orgasm. That was the way Rias did things.
"System, I'll take that strange mission," Rias said after having thought about it for a day.
⌈Mission Accepted:
-> Angels in Heaven, Devils in the Underworld, Dragon Gods in the Dimensional Gap, please take the wheel.
Mission requirements: Complete a series of random short requirements, and upon completion, by the draconic hand of destiny, your fate will guide you to a path that will allow you to gain the maximum possible benefits with your power and luck.
Reward: ???
----> First Requirement: Build pain immunity to Holy Water.
----> Second Requirement: Take your first steps as a Glaceier.
... Click to see more.⌋
"Ugh," Rias winced. "That's basically torture! And what even is a Glaceier?"
⌈Do you wish to open the [Web Browser]?⌋
"Yes," Rias said.
⌈A Glaceier (pronounced gla-see-ay) is a specialized culinary professional, typically found in high-end hotels, restaurants, or large catering operations, whose primary expertise lies in the creation of frozen desserts.
This includes:
Ice creams
Sorbets
Gelato
Parfaits (frozen parfaits, not the layered yogurt type)
Bombes
Granitas
Other intricate frozen confections
...Click to view sources.⌋
"What? You were not joking with the 'random' requirements," Rias questioned. However, the system didn't reply.
"Ugh, I guess that beats public shaming and exhibitionism," Rias muttered. "I think Onii-sama can get me some Holy Water—if not, Grafia-san or Okasan could help me."
The following day, Rias continued to trail behind Kiba and was left biting the dust. Still, her improvement could be easily appreciated. If Kiba finished the run one hour sooner before, this time it was 50 minutes before Rias.
Her sword strikes flowed more easily, and even her knight began to think that maybe she had a knack for swordplay.
"Rias, it's so refreshing to find you training," Akeno commented after handing her King a towel and bottle of water.
"I feel like you're enjoying this due to my suffering," Rias quipped.
"~Ufufufu, whatever gave you that idea, buchou?" Akeno said. Her expression didn't match her words.
"You'll see. This is my training arc. Soon I'll be Super Devil Rias, and then you'll feel inadequate as my queen," Rias boldly declared.
"That is the day I hand you a whip and offer my buttocks," Akeno purposely teased her King.
"You'll see!" Rias spoke with the confidence only a small fry system user would find immediately after obtaining a system.
On a side note, she decided not to comment on how losing the bet for Akeno might be equally rewarding.
The following day, her Rook, Koneko Toujou, joined the peanut gallery and—missing one member—her entire peerage became part of Kiba's morning training regime.
"Buchou, are you not going to request training from me?" Koneko asked her at the end of her swordplay session.
"Eh? Why?" Rias replied amid ragged breaths.
"Kiba is training you," Koneko said.
While the logic was faulty at best—
"... Okay," Rias said.
—to those large, upturned eyes, she found it difficult to say no.
On the fourth day, Koneko and Akeno joined their morning run.
Jiggle Wiggle
Jiggle Wiggle
Jiggle Wiggle
Kiba, like the almost asexual devil he was, saw not his seductive surroundings but his objectives and focused on the grind. Koneko, the poor flat thing, felt like the bobbing jugs to her left and right were mocking her. Hence, she decided to go rough on her king during her next training session.
After their run and after training her swordplay, Koneko started Rias on CQC.
"Ugh, why are you being so hard on me, Koneko-chan?" Rias complained as her military nekomata trainer drilled her through the basics of CQC.
"It's for Buchou's improvement," Koneko's tone betrayed none of her inner sense of delight.
"..." Akeno, watching this from the sidelines, felt something click, and a small smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.
On the fifth day, Akeno said, "Rias, if Koneko and Kiba are allowed to torm—train you, I should also provide my assistance."
"Akeno, what were you going to say?" Rias narrowed her tired eyes at her queen.
"I believe the fatigue is making you hear things, Rias. ~Ufufufu," Akeno laughed with a dark heart.
On the sixth day, Akeno became Rias' sparring companion. Aside from her growing physical prowess, Rias also trained and tested her magic with Akeno.
And now, seven days since the start of what she dubbed her 'training arc,' Rias finally realized what she was sacrificing.
"I won't ever get used to it, will I?" Rias asked.
⌈The host's invested effort, time, commitment, and drive are sacrificed to the Grinding System for consolidation and benefits related to the sacrificed efforts.
Effectively, from the host's perspective, you never underwent seven days of effort and discipline. Effectively, from the host's perspective, aside from the gains, you never went through the process, you never experienced it because you sacrificed it.
A sense of discordance is inevitable. A paradox, of having the experience but not, is creating this disharmony.⌋
"It feels strange," Rias complained, having a hard time putting her sense of dissonance into words. "This morning I felt like I was the same Rias from the start and that now I had to complete this impossible trial of running and training with my peerage."
To Rias, it felt as if suddenly a salaryman was told to compete in an Ironman, and despite magically having the physical disposition for it, the sense of dissonance between the task, the effort, the skill, and the body's capability would throw anyone into a loop.
Akin to experiencing that your body was not yours. The opposite of the usual 'You'll get used to it with time.' Rias would never get used to it. If the first step was the hardest, then Rias' every single step of the way would be just as hard.
Evidently, Rias, devil or not, was not a Therion with a naturally given draconic disposition for the psionic arts who could use her powers to forcibly adapt her mind and body to its new state. She had no [Adaptation] to overwrite her dissonance.
Indeed, the Grinding System operated under different principles than those of The System. And clearly, the Ritualistic Exchange Spell Aragorn was using in the Grinding System was different from the one used in The System, but then again, Aragorn was not only handing Rias a system because he wanted to mess with her—he also turned her into his beta tester for some of the system-related techniques he had picked up from the Voice of The World in Tensura.
"Is there a way to fix this?" Rias asked.
⌈The host can reduce the number of sessions sacrificed. Another alternative is the use of external sacrifices or completing missions.
Please note that when external sacrifices are used, the aspect to enhance is randomly selected. However, with a great sacrifice, a specific aspect to boost could be chosen.⌋
"... Maybe, that's better," Rias muttered. "What's considered a great sacrifice?"
⌈A possession of value, for example, the host's remaining peerage pieces. An item of intrinsic value, such as a Sacred Gear. Beings of higher power, such as four- and six-winged fallen angels and beyond, or devils within the higher percentile of the High-Class level.
The host can also follow the mundane definition of sacrifice and part with possessions of great personal importance, such as feelings, peerage members, family members, body parts, and more. However, this path is not recommended by the Dragon God of System, as it would invalidate the purpose of the Grinding System, which is to assist its host.
Lastly, so long as the host impresses the Dragon God of System with her achievements, you might receive charity/pity in the form of scales, which can be used as payment for enhancements.⌋
"There's no way I'm sacrificing my precious peerage," Rias declared with conviction and resolve.
Feeling stressed and overwhelmed by the situation, Rias' legs began to unconsciously rub against each other, one thing led to another and, after this time making sure the door was locked, she reached orgasmic bliss.
With her bountiful chest heaving up and down, her painfully erect nipples enjoying the caress of the cool air, and a thin film of sweat covering her fair skin, Rias went to sleep after a long, tiring day.
The next day, Rias surprised her peerage once more.
"Stray devils, is it?" Kiba asked.
"Yes!" Rias nodded with abundant enthusiasm. "Let's go hunt a few hundred of them!"
If Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko had been drinking something, this would have been the time when they spit it all out in an impressive spray.
"Buchou lost it," Koneko spoke the words in everyone's minds.
"~Ara, ara." Akeno decided to go for a default 'ara, ara' to not wound her king's pride even more than the cat's words had.
"Buchou, where would we even start to find that many strays?" Kiba asked. He felt the weight of being the voice of reason on his shoulders.
"You guys," Rias said with a half-pout. "Stop making fun of me! Of course, we are going to hunt them one by one!"
Under the questioning eyes of her Rook, Knight, and Queen, Rias marched to the streets of Kuoh Town in search of stray devils.
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Earth-199999.
~502 BE (Before Emergence) ~ 1526 CE (Current Era).
It's April 21, 1526. I bear witness, from high above the clouds, on the highest floor of the closest Obelisk to the battlefield, to a decisive clash between Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, and Ibrahim Lodi, the Sultan of Delhi.
(Babur.)
The saying, 'Bring a knife to a gunfight,' could almost perfectly illustrate this battle. Babur's forces, though outnumbered, utilized gunpowder weaponry and defeated Lodi's larger, more traditional army—marking the beginning of the Mughal Empire in India.
The Mughal Empire would grow to become one of the most powerful and wealthy empires in the world, renowned for its architectural marvels (like the Taj Mahal), its advancements in art, literature, and governance, and its extensive control over the Indian subcontinent.
However, the grandeur of this empire—under the constraints of human scale—is not the reason why I'm here observing the clash.
I'm here because this marks the first time in history that a Duskari is participating in an armed conflict between humans.
'Head, did we ever mindlessly clash like this?' Ardarion, the Lucelvi present on the battlefield, asked through the telepathic channel I opened to him.
'Not out of your own interests,' I replied. 'Most of your clashes originated from our will. Sometimes because you stagnated, sometimes because you needed a catalyst for change, and a few of them to teach you to stand up for yourselves. Still, most of your conflicts were not so deadly because we took it upon ourselves to handle your healing.'
'In that case, were you doing something like this?' Ardarion asked, gesturing to his hands quickly suturing a bloody gash.
Ardarion was participating in the battle as a medic to all forces. He created a neutral ground and made a pact with both fronts for their wounded to be hauled to his tent.
'Similar, yes,' I said. 'We mostly healed you from a distance, but the result was all the same.'
Through our channel, I felt a wave of empathy, pride, and resolve flow from Ardarion.
Human history was already bloody enough; I didn't need the Duskari escalating it, which is why I prohibited them from joining sides in armed conflicts. It wasn't a big deal—aside from a few of Kitty's devouts, most Duskari were not belligerent warmongers. So, of those present on Earth, the ones who wanted to be part of the multiple armed conflicts did so by acting as neutral healers.
Based on the glimpses I've taken of the future, Ardarion and a few others of the Duskari children would be known as Sages of the Custodians in human history. Not only because of their healing, but also because, as renowned neutral parties, they would often be called to officiate pacts, deals, and such between conflicting parties.
A few years went by, and Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, published De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) shortly before his death. In this seminal work, he proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system, asserting that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun—rather than the Earth being the center of the universe (the geocentric model).
(The one where the Sun (Sol) is not between Mars and Earth (Terra) is the Heliocentric model.)
The Church did not like this. But, well, few truly believed Copernicus, so there was not much fuss over it.
Soon we entered the 17th century, and in 1607, the Virginia Company of London established Jamestown in what will be known as Virginia, marking the first permanent English settlement in North America. The initial years were fraught with hardship, disease, and conflict with native tribes. I dropped by a few times to help them with supplies and sometimes even healing.
In the following decades, news of the celestial observations providing 'revolutionary' empirical evidence supporting the Copernican heliocentric model arrived at the Isthmus and the Libralisk.
In the years that followed, one Galileo Galilei, an Italian polymath, became famous for his observations and discoveries, which included: the four largest moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, mountains and craters on the Moon, the resolution of the Milky Way into countless individual stars, and finally, he managed to observe some of the truth I had inscribed in the North Scale.
The Church was not happy.
They had managed to conceal the truth for almost a century, and the crazy Italian went and sought high ground before aiming his telescope at the northern face of my scale. He went and published his findings, which coincidentally were about the eras before humanity. He even observed as far back as where I depicted Arishem creating the universe and me bearing witness to it.
Needless to say, the Church went haywire. Galilei boarded a ship and fled desperately to the Sanctum Ingeniorum with half of Europe on his tail. He barely managed to port and board a carriage to the Libralisk and implore for protection from Selene and Hestia.
With a wide, almost manic grin, Selene made a deal with him and turned him on the spot into a vampire.
It was all a shitfest of geopolitical and religious consequences; Europe was about to declare war on the Sanctum Ingeniorum and label them as heretical as Islam was to them.
Well, that motivation found no future after Selene stormed the Vatican. A few months later, the pope abdicated, and the whole business died down. Still, some 'heretics' wanted to know about the truth inscribed in my scale, concealed by the Church, so from time to time, one or two would pop up with a telescope during clear days.
"What did you do to the mortal?" I asked her. I was visiting my vampire secretary and Hestia.
"~Hahaha," Selene laughed with a classical evil smile. Galilei, who was in the room acting as Selene's new toy to show off to me, grinned slightly, evidently pleased with his master's mischief. "I showed him the memory you passed us of Arishem's creation work. His faith buckled over when he understood that the universe was created by one who wasn't his God."
"So cruel," Hestia commented, shaking her head in disapproval.
"Maybe," Selene scoffed. "But the alternative was Europe declaring war on us, and that would have ended with a lot of dead... not ours though. Besides, for the past decades, every time some piece of knowledge made it out of our island, the Church swarmed to it like bloodthirsty bats, and whenever it wasn't convenient to them, they drowned the knowledge in the depths of oblivion."
"I do concede that their censorship has been disappointing, if not despairing, for the island's scholars," Hestia said. "But I can't help the pity I feel for that human whose belief was uprooted and upturned."
"You're a softie," Selene said. "How you keep being a softie after so long is beyond me."
"Of course, a darkened-soul, black-hearted secretary like you would never understand," I said.
"Hey! That's the spiritual version of racism!" Selene quipped.
"Spiritism?" Hestia pondered out loud.
"Sounds marketable," I approved and nodded to Hestia.
"Say no to spiritism!" Selene cried out like a child.
"Isn't the original 'Say no to drugs!'?" I asked.
"Ah, yeah—wait, no! There was a 'Say no to racism' slogan too," Selene said.
"Wasn't it inspired by the drugs one? I think for racism there were 'Racism stops with us,' 'Black lives matter'—but that one then turned into 'All lives matter'—and a few others I never paid attention to," I said.
"What are you guys talking about?" Hestia asked.
"It's about racial discrimination from the future," Selene said.
"Actually, now that I think about it, chattel slavery was introduced back in 1619 in Jamestown. That happened not so long ago," I remarked.
"That's the first time in America," Selene said. "But I remember in Rome the concept already existed since long ago."
"The same for the Aegeans and those who worshipped us," Hestia added.
"Mmmm, yeah. Slavery, and all of its forms, is an ancient practice of humanity," I said. "Not as old as prostitution, but close enough in the larger scale of time."
Is it racist of me to think so? Well, I don't necessarily view prostitution as a bad thing. About slavery... Isn't humanity enslaved by its desires already?
Hestia and Selene shook their heads in disapproval after my words. I understand Hestia—that woman has been nothing but good throughout her life—but why in Aniki's name is Selene shaking her head? Didn't that secretary invent maids because she couldn't make another witch a slave?
Bloodshed, conflict, a few sparks of invention, men in power making the sacrifice of thousands of lives they considered their property, a few saints here and there, earthquakes, and one or another idiot trying to capture a Duskari later, years passed and the 1760s were here.
With James Hargreaves' Spinning Jenny (c. 1764) greatly increasing the speed and efficiency of spinning cotton yarn, and James Watt's improved steam engine (patented 1769), significantly more efficient than earlier models, becoming a versatile power source for factories, mines, and eventually transportation—the Industrial Revolution began.
"This... I like this," Phastos said with a smile as wide as his facial muscles allowed, while we inspected the revolutionary inventions of the era.
"How much of this is thanks to you?" I asked. I knew Phastos had a thing for helping the humans of this universe advance their science—for example, gunpowder, the plow, and the blast furnace, among others.
"No, this is mostly the result of human innovation," Phastos denied his involvement with a smile—a proud smile.
From that point, humanity began to take the form I—before arriving in this universe—was more familiar with.
In the early years of the Industrial Revolution, on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, formally proclaiming the thirteen American colonies' separation from Great Britain.
Whether because I once imagined my name written in the act, or simply because I found it funny, I squirmed my way into being the official witness of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.
Though, just my name 'Aragorn' with no last name felt less impressive when compared to the others, so I used my human persona's last name, 'Abner', and a star ★. That spurred a shitload of questions because, to humans, a last name meant ancestry.
Abner was a Hebrew last name for 'Father of light'—or 'My father is a lamp.' So, as they always do, the humans tried to find meanings where there were none.
Whatever, I chose to let them do as they pleased. Half of them would be dead by the next half-century.
Another outcome of my 'autographing' was that it was taken as endorsement that I supported emancipation from royal cages. Now, this may not have meant much on Earth-5H1N3, but considering that more than half of the kings and queens of Europe had either white hair or/and purple/violet eyes as a sign of royal blood on this Earth, it meant a lot.
Why? Because after I altered the blood of Romulus and Remus, it was taken as a form of 'Aquila Protection'—akin to Divine Protection—for the rulers to have one of these two traits. Now, with me supporting the independence of the Colonies, the 'masses' could also claim a form of endorsement from my part and combat the rhetoric of the kings and queens—the rhetoric that it was their birthright to rule over the 'lesser.'
Balanced, as all things should be, if I must say so myself!
With the Treaty of Paris officially bringing an end to the American Revolutionary War—formally recognizing the independence of the United States of America and its new territorial boundaries—I decided to step out of global geopolitics for a century or two.
When the time to return arrives, I intend to bring the Isthmus with us. Although I could simply rip the entire Isthmus out of the terrestrial mantle and warp it away with the Halo and the rest of the Imperium's territories, I'd rather not cause the end of the world with our departure.
Hence, I needed to work some things out to take a more subtle approach. For one, I plan to leave behind the outer faces of Noona and my scales, while taking the inner faces—which carry importance for the Duskari and the Drachantheon Therion.
I also had to determine how to handle the tectonic plates and the hydrography of Central America.
It wasn't until Charles Darwin asked for permission to study the megafauna of the Isthmus in 1839 that the world outside the Isthmus got word that I still existed.
The thing was that the wild megafauna of the Isthmus only listened to the Drachantheon Therion. Mindee was quite busy, so she asked me to guide the naturalist.
Initially, like most 'modern' humans that met me, he went through a combination of shyness, fear, awe, reverence, and more fear when we first spoke. But after the months I spent guiding him and his crew through the wildlands of the Isthmus and explaining things, he eventually acclimated to me.
It was in this found familiarity that one day he asked, "Akila, where do you fall in my theory of evolution through natural selection?"
"I don't fit in it," I carelessly replied. "I'm from a time before the 'natural' part of your theory. Didn't Galilei release a bunch of info about that a few centuries ago?"
Well, my answer made it to the final publication. It was the first piece of information about my origins—the one they call the protector of humanity—so the impact that his theory was meant to have exploded in an overblown combustion of fame and renown. To the point that even kids got to know by proxy of the theory of evolution through natural selection.
The church did not like that.
How surprising!
Anyway, time passed, the decades flew by, and soon the power of the Isthmus over transoceanic traffic began to grow. With its growth, the 'Human Power' of the Isthmus started to leave behind the other powers.
By 'Human Power,' I meant money and resources that the Imperium uses to deal with humanity.
The thing was that the disparity between the Imperium and the rest of Earth was so stark that there was absolutely no way for the Imperium to interact with the humans without crashing economies. Hence, it was decided that the Imperium would only use money/income acquired through the tolls of our two canals to deal with Earth.
With the Industrial Revolution making strides in every sector of the economy, including shipbuilding technology, more commerce due to the export and import of products began to move through our canals.
Now, this time it wasn't only the church who didn't like this, it was the rest of the world. But what could they do?
So in 1905, the same year Albert Einstein published his work on the theory of relativity, his explanation of the photoelectric effect, and his observations on Brownian motion, in Mindee's Obelisk, Mindee, Emma, Alflyse, and I were meeting to decide the course of humanity's next century.
"So..." I began, dragging my words since I didn't want to talk about this bullshit. "I'll possibly spark World War I in the following years."
"Is this about the rising tensions with the Isthmus?" Mindee asked.
"Yeah," I nodded. "I don't need to tell you, but the rest of the world is jealous of the Isthmus' prosperity. They also covet the 'secrets' held by the 'Divine Land'."
"I imagine that their archaic weaponry is giving them a false sense of power, isn't it?" Alflyse asked.
"Yes," I nodded. "Ever since the invention of repeating firearms, our cute apes have been itching to bring us down from our throne."
"How sure are they that their firearms would even work on the Duskari?" Mindee asked. "As far as I know, not a single Duskari has fallen in human territory. Not even been shot at, right?"
"They probably have theories," Emma answered. "I bet they reached their own conclusions that even with magic, so long as they shoot first, they might catch the kids off guard."
"That's just stupid," Alflyse scoffed. "What type of caster wouldn't have an automatic defense for surprise attacks of the magical and natural classes?"
"These guys don't know much about magic," I said.
"Still," Alflyse shook her head. "They shouldn't even fathom the thought."
"On that, we agree," I said.
"They probably haven't fired the first shot because of you, right?" Emma asked after turning to me.
"Partly so," I replied.
"With Grandfather being out of the picture for so long—in human terms—and with the last time any mortal saw you fight being during the events of Troy, I don't find it strange that they have been getting ideas," Mindee said, evaluating the situation from humanity's perspective.
"I imagine that the geopolitical climate between Britain and Germany didn't help," Emma added.
"What's happening between them?" Alflyse asked. She had about as much interest in humanity as I did in the grains of sand on Vormir.
"Germany has been growing their fleet to fight over Britain's maritime control," Emma explained. "There are also two major groups who made mutually defensive pacts that could, and possibly will, explode into a continental war so long as any nation is attacked."
"They also underestimate how deadly a continental war fought with 'modern' firearms and chemical weaponry could be," I added.
"It's—Ah, what was the term? I have it on the tip of my tongue," Alflyse voiced out.
"A powder keg?" Mindee asked.
"Yes, that's the human term!" Alflyse thanked Mindee through her mind. "It's like a chain reaction waiting to happen that could be initiated by a powder keg placed dangerously close to a fire."
"That's quite an accurate analogy," Emma said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, the problem is that this powder keg won't explode because even with their ascending tensions, they have their eyes on the Isthmus," I said. "There are even some stupid recurrent rumors about the key to immortality being found in the Isthmus, and that this was why the Duskari live so long."
"I fail to see how that's a problem," Alflyse said. "Let them start the war, and then we'll have the Duskari and Dark Elves annihilate as many as you need."
"Ah!" Mindee exclaimed. "I think I see the problem."
"It's the children," Emma said.
"As Mother says, it's the Duskari, isn't it?" Mindee asked while waiting for my answer.
"The Duskari are the problem," I nodded.
"The Duskari?" Alflyse asked, confused. "Why would they be the problem?"
"It's because, after the massive gains left by the war with TVA, they gained a taste for it," Emma said.
"They are overachiever gremlins," Mindee giggled. "I bet that a day after the official declaration of war, half of the European population would be gone, and then they would ask us what other continent needed razing."
"They might also simply decide to conquer Earth and become their overlords," Emma said. "In their eyes, especially after the Sages have been sending data back to the Imperium of their experience and observations, humanity is a bunch of wild animals that need some regulation lest they kill themselves to extinction."
"And because they look up to us," I continued, "they might decide to assume the role the Drachantheon Therion played for them—that of overseers."
"...Now that I think about it," Alflyse muttered, "they would not even see it as overlording humanity. To them, it would be like nannies making sure toddlers don't harm themselves in their ignorance and stupidity."
"Yeah," I nodded. "That's why I'm thinking of breaking the balance that is keeping the European powers from jumping each other. Explode the metaphorical powder keg."
"What's stopping you, Love?" Emma asked.
"The Isthmus will have to join as a neutral party, otherwise they'll 100% attack the Isthmus in the following war," I said.
"..." The three girls realized the reason for this meeting was beyond gossiping about humanity's latest mishaps.
"Healers?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, and possibly provide provisions support for the civilians that will seek protection inside the Obelisks," I said.
"If fewer soldiers die, won't the war drag on?" Mindee asked.
"This is part of the points to discuss," I said.
"Is there a problem with the war dragging on?" Alflyse asked.
"The longer it drags, the more Human Power the Isthmus will consume, and the more the timeline will change from what I require of it," I explained.
"Ah, right, we would be limited by the Isthmus' Human Power," Alflyse said after understanding my point.
"Hopefully, it won't be that bad," Emma commented. "Are you going to get that archduke killed?"
"I don't know if that will be enough," I said. "I might need to blow up a few important buildings, too."
"Is terrorism a new profession for you, Love?" Emma asked with a faint smirk.
"I think stealing the little former widows from the Russians was considered terrorism," I replied.
"Ah, then we don't have to worry about Grandfather's qualifications," Mindee declared.
"The right dragon for the right job," Alflyse said with a mocking grin.
"You girls are just making fun of me," I ignored them.
From then on, it took a few meetings over the span of several years to coordinate the Isthmus' response to the ever-changing geopolitical climate. The Duskari eventually inferred that we were preparing for war, which was not hard to figure out considering that they had a good grasp of the human world due to the Sages.
It took seven press conferences with Mindee, Emma, Alflyse, and me repeatedly telling them that we were not going to raze humanity and become their overlords for them to finally get the message.
In the middle of the last conference, Kitty snuck in and started to 'boo' us. The idiot cat got a timeout in my stomach for being annoying.
Regardless, the time came, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia (then part of Austria-Hungary), by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist. In the same week, several military institutions were bombarded across both fronts, and just like in most Earths, exactly a month later, World War I exploded.
It was an intriguing conflict. The first of its kind in my eyes. Not because there was anything new in humans killing humans for the interests of the humans in power, but because they had to plan and work around my Obelisks.
The Obelisks were considered neutral ground—the inside only—since I had declared that during war conflicts, any soldier who stepped inside would be held for the remainder of the war. This meant that the wounded we deemed too injured to return to the battlefield were kept inside even after recovery.
Then there was the protective shadow of the Obelisks they had to consider. Unlike human structures, the Obelisks couldn't be toppled or occupied. Hence, when the artillery bombardments became too much to bear, they would reposition their forces behind the shadow of an Obelisk.
The enemy would reposition themselves to get a better shot, and then the whole thing would turn into a classic chase-around-the-parent children's game.
"Ugh, what's with Germans and gasses?" I questioned.
The smell of phosgene was as pungent to my nose as the smell of CO₂ was. Disgusting! That's why I normally shut my sense of smell off. Lucky humans who can't smell shit!
However, they could indeed smell phosgene. Their panic and cries of anguish confirmed this.
Hovering through the battlefield, stopping the occasional bullet fired at my shiny self—I forgave them for the affront because I knew how much of an eye-catching target my bright eternal flame was—collecting for transport the half-dead, half-alive humans, relocating the unlucky animals caught in the conflict, reaping the souls of those that didn't make it to our treatment facilities (Obelisks), and sometimes even sharing some words with the Duskari deployed as ambulances across the battlegrounds—that's how I spent most of the 4 years, 3 months, and 14 days that World War I lasted.
And with that, with millions of soldiers and civilians witnessing and receiving the Duskaris' healing, the idea of jumping the Isthmus evaporated into oblivion. No nation didn't owe the Imperium. Not only due to the healing services provided, but also because after the war, the Imperium used its Human Power to fund their collapsing economies.
Their populations, no matter how nationalistic they were, all held a sense of gratefulness for the Imperium and the Duskari, and with the improved channels of communication, everyone knew it.
With this, I managed to prevent them from firing a nuke at the Imperium in the future and the Duskari responding in overwhelming kind.
Be grateful, humans! Yes, I might have lit up the powder keg, but I prevented your enslavement and probable annihilation. If you want someone to blame, take it upon your greedy asses who thought they could do with the Isthmus as you did with Africa just because you could throw rocks (ammunition) faster and farther.
Well, enough rambling. I returned to the Empire and began preparing its migration with the Drachantheon Therion. Now we were less than a century away from returning home, and there was a logistics problem of gargantuan scale to resolve in migrating so many star systems.
We needed to coordinate where we were gonna drop the Imperium in Earth-5H1N3, the changes in the star charts that the Imperium had been using for millennia, the transdimensional adjustment needed—unless I wanted the Imperial citizens to begin glitching like the spiders in that movie—the slight changes in casting needed to account for those using the Abeyance, Hell, Heaven, and the Chakra Dimensions as sources due to the change in coordinates, and countless other 'small' adjustments to consider.
It was a task even by my draconic standards.
Years flew by, and on September 1st, 1939, World War II began, and to no credit of my own.
'Should I feel proud of that?'
>Considering our (my) track record with crimes against humanity?<
-Definitely yes.-
|We (I) give just a tiny bit more than we (I) take.|
{Th4t'5 3N0U6H, R167?}
'Void-chan! I can understand you more easily!'
>Omedetou, Void-chan!<
-Sasuga Void-chan!-
|Yatta ne, Void-chan!|
{1'M 5HY}
'Ugh, my kokoro!'
>Is it wrong to feel like taking a bite of Void-chan?<
-Will Noona allow it?-
|She might want to take a bite of Void-chan as well.|
'Let's stir our (my) monologue/conversation back on track. Now is not the time for horny.'
-Should we (I) do something about this war?-
>We (I) didn't collect babies during the last war.<
|But that was because civilian casualties were kept to a minimum due to the shelter found in any Obelisk.|
'The most famous Austrian painter has already barricaded access to most Obelisks in the territories under his control.'
-I suppose this time is different, with our (my) German humans going for a holocaust.-
>What would we (I) even do with that many Jews? It's not like all of them will renounce their religion and join the Imperium.<
|Could we (I) do to them what we did with the Dark Elves?|
'Too much work for a time when we are routing so much of our time and resources into the Great Migration.'
-None of our (my) Therions have the time for that. It would rest on our (my) shoulders to care for them.-
{JU57 848135?}
>Void-chan is right. We (I) don't need to save all Jews.<
|Indeed, we (I) could save just the babies. I bet the Austrian painter would be happy to part with them for funds for his war.|
'It's a solid approach.'
-It's not like we (I) are (am) not already the largest buyer of slaves in any and all eras.-
|Indeed, nothing would change.|
>Yes, let's buy all J-Babies there are in Nazi-controlled territories!<
Like so, I hovered over to the nearest balcony in Mindee's tower and prepared to visit the Fuhrer.
"Are you going somewhere, Grandfather?" Sarah asked. She, like the other Therions present, was temporarily staying on the Isthmus while we planned and coordinated the Great Migration.
"I'll pay the Fuhrer a visit, see about making a deal for some Jew babies," I replied.
"Wasn't there some almost international edict about not selling you humans?" Sarah asked.
"There are a few here and there, but normally, all restrictions are lifted when they need money. War, being the hungry beast that it is, means a need for resources, and with Germany waging war on virtually the entire Old World, they'll want my resources for sure," I said.
I approached the blonde dragon woman and combed her long, golden hair before asking, "Do you want to come with me?"
"I'm tempted," she replied while leaning into my caress. "But I'm busy coordinating the calibration of navigation systems of our star systems."
"Ugh," I complained. "Everyone is busy."
"It can't be helped," Sarah said.
I leaned down and planted a smooch on her forehead and hugged her tightly. "See you later then. Please inform the Therions that I'll be busy on the battlefield, Sarah."
"It's alright, Grandfather," Sarah said while returning my hug. "The Duskari acting as healers were already requesting your presence. Something about the military getting overbearing and having a figure of authority to prevent them from becoming stupid."
"The usual stuff, then?" I asked with a grin.
"Say no to human racism, Grandfather," Sarah said and pulled away from our hug to slap my shoulder reproachingly.
"..." I gave her a look that said 'Really?'. To which she replied with a chuckle and waved me off.
I jumped from the balcony and shifted to my draconic form. My sprawling wings caught the icy air of near cruising altitude, and the tender light of the full moon reflected through my crystal-like body.
I flapped my wings once, and the action propelled me to the outer rim of the atmosphere.
Like an intercontinental ballistic mission, I corrected my trajectory to fall into Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria. Specifically, I was aiming for The Berghof, Hitler's private mountain retreat and essentially his country home.
I flapped my wings again, and, as if by the magic of teleportation, I appeared above The Berghof. My arrival, as peaceful as still water as it was, was soon noticed by the units of the Schutzstaffel (SS).
Under their astonished and anxious eyes, I shifted to my male form before landing. This time, I was wearing my classic three-piece Dragmani suit with a red tie.
Now that I think about it, aside from that time I fought the Olympians, I think this is the first time the humans see what's below 'Aquila's' cloak.
"Tell your Fuhrer Aragorn/Aquila is here," I instructed one of the shell-shocked soldiers.
Let's see how many J-Babies I'll be able to buy, hopefully, all of them.
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{A/N:
Please check out my P@treon account! There are already 10 chapters ahead for premium members, which is at least 100,000 words. Premium members also gain access to a new chapter every week.
[email protected]/ExistentialVoid
Free Members get access to all free chapters, and I upload free chapters about 12 hours earlier on P@atreon.
}