A few minutes after Verethragna vanished, Saint Raphael and Erica returned one after another.
"Holy Son-sama, this is your Tablet."
The blonde girl, like a golden lioness, respectfully presented the "Prometheus Tablet" to Sai Akuto.
At this moment, the Prometheus Tablet already contained three divine incarnations: the [White Horse], the [Camel], and the [Goat].
The instant he took the Tablet, a system notification sounded in Sai Akuto's mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, for triggering the main storyline quest — Prometheus Tablet.]
[Quest Rank: Gold → Red.]
[Quest Description: The Prometheus Tablet is a powerful divine artifact that contains Prometheus's Authority of "theft."]
[In myth, Prometheus stole heavenly fire and gifted it to humanity. Therefore, the Prometheus Tablet possesses the tremendous power to steal a god's Authority…]
[Quest Requirement: Use the Prometheus Tablet to "steal" at least one god's Authority.]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained a reward: one opportunity for Conceptual Ability Evolution.]
[Ding!]
[Host's "Weapon Concept Imbuement — Sever Fate (Gold)" has been upgraded to "Conceptual Ability — Usurp Fate (Red)"!]
[Conceptual Ability — Usurp Fate (Red): In addition to upgrading the original ability to sever fate, it can also usurp another person's fate onto oneself, or usurp and graft another person's fate onto someone else.]
[When usurping and grafting fate, the two targets' fates must not differ too greatly. Aside from the Host, [Usurp Fate can almost only be performed within the same world.]]
[Note: Only those who carry the Host's energy within their body, or possess the Host's chess piece, may undergo fate grafting.]
…
"Hm? This ability is…!"
Sai Akuto rarely showed a trace of excitement.
Because this ability could not only ensure his clearance of the Campione world, it could also ensure he fully exploited every resource in both the Campione world and the DxD world.
In the Apocalypse world and the Akame ga Kill world, Sai Akuto had once subdued all the female characters of those two worlds.
But as for the male characters, he had not fully utilized them.
Takashi became a zombie, and Sai Akuto killed him.
Tatsumi did become a general and established great merit while campaigning for the Empire. However, because he never underwent the trials and tempering of the original storyline, his rate of growth was extremely limited.
"But now, it's different."
"With the ability to usurp and graft fate, not only the heroines' luck, but also the male characters' luck can be fully exploited."
"For example, Tatsumi. If I can graft the fate-force on Tatsumi onto Esdeath, I can definitely cultivate an upgraded Esdeath."
"And besides that, fate grafting seems like it can also be used together with fate overlap."
"Aren't there also a large number of lingering souls of previous users stored inside the Holy Cross? If I can resurrect them, and then graft the identity of 'Holy Cross user' onto the three people currently sharing the Holy Cross…"
Sai Akuto felt this line of research had tremendous value.
It was just a pity that he did not have suitable test materials on hand right now.
…
While thinking through his future plans, Sai Akuto brought Erica and Saint Raphael to a hotel.
Erica very consciously went to hypnotize the front desk staff and helped Sai Akuto and Saint Raphael check in.
What else could they do?
They could not exactly have Sai Akuto and Saint Raphael submit IDs and then pay, could they?
"Holy Son-sama, this is your room."
"Saint Raphael-sama, this is your room."
"My room is 0721, at the end of the hallway. If there's anything you need me to handle, you can come to my room at any time."
Erica knew Holy Son-sama was very modern-minded, but considering Sai Akuto's values might differ from ordinary people, she still took on the responsibilities she felt she should bear.
"Mm. Good. I understand."
After taking the key, Sai Akuto looked in the direction where Lucrezia Zola was.
Even across quite a long distance, Sai Akuto still saw the "Witch of Sardinia" stretching on a sofa, idly working a pair of long legs through yoga poses.
"Holy Son-sama, do you have any plans next?" Erica asked thoughtfully.
"Mm. Not really."
"I plan to pay a visit to the Witch of Sardinia and give her this Tablet. Because this Tablet was originally hers."
Sai Akuto looked down at the Tablet in his hand.
"Th-that's so…"
Erica gave an awkward smile, her feelings complicated.
Are you kidding?
A blank "Prometheus Tablet" would be one thing, but the current "Prometheus Tablet" already held three divine incarnations.
If they truly handed this Tablet to Lucrezia Zola, she would probably renounce ownership on the spot and transfer it to Sai Akuto, wouldn't she?
[Holy Son-sama's objective… was it this from the very beginning?] Erica could not help thinking.
In truth, this really was Erica misunderstanding Sai Akuto.
At least before Lucrezia Zola renounced ownership of the Tablet, Sai Akuto had always acknowledged that the Tablet belonged to her.
In fact, if Lucrezia Zola truly wanted it, Sai Akuto was willing to give her the Tablet even with the three divine incarnations inside.
Because… what Sai Akuto wanted from the beginning was Lucrezia Zola herself.
If the person herself belonged to him, then did it matter who held the Tablet?
…
The Campione world was extremely powerful, and its fate resources were exceptionally abundant.
So Sai Akuto decided to return to the DxD world first, research the concrete operational method of fate grafting, and then come back to the Campione world to harvest resources.
"Raphael, go rest first. At eleven tonight, come to my room. There are three things I need you to cooperate with me on."
As one of the only three beings in the Campione world whose body carried Sai Akuto's power (Shizuka, Athena, and Saint Raphael), and with Athena and Shizuka not present, Saint Raphael naturally became Sai Akuto's first volunteer for a preliminary experiment.
"Yes. I understand, Holy Son-sama."
Saint Raphael answered reflexively.
Only a few seconds later did she suddenly realize something and jerk her bowed head up.
"Eh?"
What did Akuto-kun just say?
He wanted her to come find him at night? Why at night?
Could it be…
"Guh…"
Saint Raphael intended to ask what, exactly, Sai Akuto wanted her to help him with.
However—
Thump.
As Saint Raphael replied and froze, Sai Akuto had already walked into his room.
…
After hesitating for quite a while, Saint Raphael ultimately did not knock on Sai Akuto's door again.
The calm and composed strongest female holy knight in Europe, when faced with matters between a man and a woman, displayed an unprecedented awkwardness and shyness.
After thinking for a long time, Saint Raphael decided to seek Erica's help.
"Erica, what do you think Holy Son-sama means?"
"Eh? Me?"
Erica blinked, then came back to herself. Wasn't this the kind of thing those three Sakura Heaven girls who had never dated would be better at?
"Do you think Holy Son-sama has that kind of intention?" Saint Raphael was clearly grasping at straws.
After thinking for a while, Erica answered haltingly.
"M-maybe? After all, for a god, the meaning of doing that is very different compared to mortals."
"A god, huh…"
Hearing Erica still insist Sai Akuto was a god, Saint Raphael gave a helpless smile and abandoned the idea of asking Erica any further.
Erica and the information she had were not on the same plane at all. Naturally, she could not understand Saint Raphael's state of mind.
"Alright. I already understand what I should do."
"Erica, I'll go back to my room too. If you notice any abnormal movement on the dragon-qi compass, you must notify me and Akuto-kun immediately."
The compass Saint Raphael referred to was the compass Sai Akuto had given them earlier when he sent them to collect the divine incarnations.
"Mm! I'll monitor the compass at all times!" Erica replied seriously.
Soon, under Erica's watch, Saint Raphael also returned to her room, leaving behind Erica, whose face carried a faint trace of confusion.
[If I remember correctly, earlier Saint Raphael-sama addressed Holy Son-sama the same way I did: "Holy Son-sama."]
[But now, she called him "Akuto-kun." What is going on?]
With a head full of questions, Erica went to carry out her task.
…
Night.
Before midnight, Sai Akuto completed his research task in the DxD world.
In the DxD world, Sai Akuto had Augusta, Walburga, and "Rinte Seran," three generations of Holy Cross users, arranged for experimentation.
Ultimately, after an hour or two, Sai Akuto successfully grafted part of the "Holy Cross user" fate onto them.
It was "partial grafting" because the experiment time was too short, and Sai Akuto had not yet had time to resurrect the past Holy Cross users.
After completing the preliminary experiment, Sai Akuto returned to the Campione world.
The moment he returned to his room, Sai Akuto saw Saint Raphael waiting with her hair down.
The reason her hair was down was because, before coming to Sai Akuto's room, Saint Raphael had deliberately bathed, and her hair had not dried yet.
"Raphael, you're very beautiful right now," Sai Akuto said. It was his first time seeing Saint Raphael with her hair down, and he praised her sincerely.
"Mm…"
Saint Raphael did not speak. She only came obediently to Sai Akuto's side and looked into his eyes.
[As expected. You really are the Akuto-kun from back then.] Saint Raphael confirmed her thoughts once again.
Letting out a soft sigh, Saint Raphael lowered herself closer, letting her slightly damp long hair spill over Sai Akuto's legs.
"Akuto-kun, did you start liking me from back then?" In the end, Saint Raphael still decided to confirm her guess.
By "back then," she meant the time when the two of them attacked Duke Wolfriquin together.
"Not back then. But now, yes."
"After all, if I didn't like you, why would I have used such a special method to grant you a blessing?"
"Haa… I knew it." Saint Raphael exhaled softly. She had known that, back then, Sai Akuto had used "granting a blessing" as an excuse on purpose.
"Still, since you want it, I won't refuse. Because you are the only man who has ever made my heart move."
Saint Raphael placed her hands together with Sai Akuto's, her voice quiet but resolute.
The rest of the night, the door remained closed, and the light inside the room burned long into the dark.
(End of Chapter)
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