[Sleight of Hand detected. Billionfold Return activated.]
[Throwing detected. Billionfold Return activated.]
[Training detected. Billionfold Return activated.]
[Cooking detected. Billionfold Return activated.]
After waking up on the morning of the Third Day, Dio had decided that it was time to start putting Billionfold Return through its paces and turn all the skills he'd obtained to the same level as his combat skills.
And the results were hard to ignore.
Hand of the Shadow God - 30,000,000,000
Dimension Toss - 50,000,000,000
Auto-Training Body - 200,000,000,000
Chef God's Ancestor - 10,000,000,000
Hand of the Shadow God was the evolution of Yumeko's Sleight of Hand skills. Not only did it let him steal anything without someone noticing unless he chose to let them notice, but he even had a range of 20 meters where he could sense everything on his target and steal from that same range. A perfect crime. It also vastly increased his dexterity with his hands, allowing him to perform tricks and top of the line sleight of hand with even expert magicians- such as Penn and Teller- not being able to catch it.
Dimension Toss allowed him to throw anything, and it would always land exactly where he wanted it to. While it sounded simple, it really did mean anywhere. So long as he could picture it in his mind clearly, he could throw something, and it would break through dimensions and barriers to reach it. In other words, once you were within his sights he would always be able to hit you, regardless of how many barriers or dimensions stood in his path.
Auto-Training Body was self-explanatory. His body now trained automatically on his own- he'd never need to do another push-up again for the rest of his life. His body would be in a state of constant training, becoming stronger with every breath he took. On top of that, he'd also have perfect control over his own strength- that was how powerful this skill was.
And Chef God's Ancestor was simply an expression of just how amazing his cooking skills were. Even if all he did was plate food, that food would be elevated to the God's realm in terms of taste. Any food he touched would become like ambrosia; any drink he touched would be as though it were nectar. On top of that, his five senses had also been enhanced- allowing him to perfectly judge when food was cooked to perfection. Sort of like Nakiri Erina's God's Tongue, but for all his senses. And, of course, these sensations could be turned off at will.
Of course, he did with these powers what any rational man would do- he uploaded them to the Chatroom and then dipped as he savoured the meal together with Nobu, who was eating faster and almost as though she were a ravenous animal.
Before, he hadn't been cooking and instead simply hacking SE.RA.PH to get already cooked food. This time, he'd taken the time to cook himself- resulting in his skill appearing and now Nobu eating like she was dying of starvation.
"Sho guuuuud~" The Demon King mewled as she shovelled rice into her mouth. "Rice never tasted sho guuud~"
"I'm glad you like it," Dio told her, marvelling at the taste... Now he understood Erina and Mana's struggle with the God Tongue- after eating such delicious food with enhanced senses, if he couldn't turn his senses off then he would struggle to eat normal food made by other people again.
"You're cooking all the meals from now on, I order it!" Nobu proclaimed between bites.
"What a cruel Demon Lord... Well, sure," he shrugged, he was planning to do so anyway.
Nobu merely grinned at him widely as she continued to eat, having helpings of seconds and thirds before she was finally satisfied.
"So," Nobu watched him as he changed into his usual uniform. "Will that seaweed head cause us any problems today?"
"We'll see," he shrugged as Nobu astralised and the two left. He walked down the hall, and saw Shinji was trying to flex on Rin- who was sufficiently unimpressed.
He just leaned on the wall behind Shinji and watched with a smirk, which Rin caught, and the girl's eyes sparkled in amusement as she saw an opportunity, goading Shinji.
The arrogant boy, annoyed, said, "Heh, just wait until you feel the wrath of my Armada! Then you'll be sorry!"
"Oh my, your armada?" She cupped her chin. "Well now, off the top of my head, the most prominent armada battle in history would be against the Spanish Armada..."
Shinji's body tensed up, as he realised Rin was onto the truth about his servant, "Y- Yeah, so what? Call that a freebie," he told her, quick turning around before he froze as he saw Dio.
Dio merely smirked at him, not saying a word.
Shinji quickly walked past him, heading down the stairs with a look of fear in his eyes.
Rin couldn't help it; she laughed in amusement. "There's something so satisfying about putting a snot-nosed brat in his place... Thinking he can outsmart someone twice his age when he doesn't know anything about the terror of the real world."
"Thanks for helping get some information out of him," Dio told her. "But I've already figured out that his Servant is a Rider Class- Sir Francis Drake."
"Oh?" Rin raised an eyebrow. "I see, the King of Storms... That's a powerful Servant he's managed to call out, I wasn't expecting him to have gotten such a good card."
"Even a great Servant is worthless in the hands of a trash Master. Drake is wasted in Shinji's hands, especially since he probably hasn't even bothered loading her up with treasure yet."
Rin tilted her head in curiosity. "Treasure, you say?"
Dio nodded. "Francis Drake has a skill that increases her stats the more treasure she accumulates."
She rubbed her chin. "How interesting... Indeed, such a powerful Servant is wasted on the likes of Shinji. Such a shame... Well, even if she got all the treasure in the world, my servant would still crush him should he even make it past you."
"Oh, that's high praise for you. You think me so capable?"
She flicked her hair, "You're the Survivor. You've walked through hellscapes that even I wouldn't dare look at, and yet you've walked out the other side alive. Shinji's just a brat who steals people's information he doesn't like and shares it online. You know what War really is. Shinji is just playing a game."
"True... It puts a sour taste in my mouth; the fact I'm going to be killing a child..." He admitted. "But I'll do what must be done in order to achieve victory."
Rin nodded. "Good, that's the mindset one should have in this war," she walked past him before she stopped. "Join me for lunch tomorrow," she told him.
He looked back at her, raising an eye. "Why?"
"I'm not really sure, I suppose you could call it a favourable impression," she shrugged. "More than that, I think you can I will be able to understand one another. That's all."
"Alright, I'll see you then. Text me your favourites, I'll bring the food."
She merely lifted her hand and waved as she left, acknowledging his words as she made her way back to the roof for privacy.
"Well now, Dio," Nobu smirked as she appeared. "Seems to me you have a little admirer... And this one? She's of good quality rather than most of the other girls in this place. It's a shame such a fine woman is destined to die during the grail war."
"True, normally she would be fated to die... But there ways to... Shall we say... Cheat the system, so long as you know the method."
"Oh?~" Her eyes lit up and she grinned. "I look forward to seeing that... So, now what? Another foray into the Arena?"
"No," Dio shook his head. "The Second Key has not yet been generated- it would be a waste of our time to go to the arena. We've gathered plenty of what we need, and the monsters in the arena are worthless to us both... Plus, after yesterday, Shinji is going to do his best to avoid us as he finds a way to help Drake get stronger."
Nobu tilted her head. "So, what's our plan? Just a slack off day?" She asked as they returned to their room, flopping onto the bed.
"Not slacking off. Well, I suppose in a way it's slacking off. But that makes it sound so crass... Let's call it a day of relaxation. Fighting constantly eventually causes burnout, taking lengthy breaks will allow you to re-centre your mind and reaffirm your purposes- your reasons for fighting."
"Then... What do we do? More movies?"
"You can look at movies," Dio frowned slowly. "I'm going to do a bit more of a deep dive into the Moon Cell's systems... I found something, shall we say, interesting in the Moon Cell... I'd like to investigate that place, perhaps the two of us could even go there together. Something powerful, might be worth your time."
Nobu's eyes lit up. "You're referring to the Dark Sector, aren't you?"
He blinked in surprise. "You know of it?"
"Yes, it is something all Heroic Spirits are summoned with immediately knowledge of in the Moon Cell- in order to ensure we don't 'fuck with it,' as it were. We don't know exactly what is kept there, all we know is that it contains something sealed there and must not be messed with."
Dio nodded, that made sense. After all, in Fate/Extella many were unaware about the Umbral Star though they knew about the existence of the Dark Sector- only the 'Top Servants,' the Moon Cells own classification of the strongest servants in the Moon Cell such as Gilgamesh, Iskander, Jeanne d'Arc, were aware about Velber 02 and the Umbral Star.
He frowned, rubbing his chin. "Are you not classified a Top Servant?"
Nobunaga shook her head. "Nah... At least, not in this form," she gestured to herself. "As far as Heroic Spirits go, I'm very unique in that my Spiritron Body is quite... Malleable. It's very easy for me to change classes. Put simply, 'Oda Nobunaga' is indeed a Top Servant. However, this version of myself you see is not that Top Servant. This form is the form of my youth, when I was better known as the Big Fool of Owari, the King of Innovation. While I am still the Demon King, and my personality shows it, I am not the 'Demon' that resides at the Pinnacle- that version is the strongest Nobunaga. The one that has arrived at the 'Truth.'"
Dio listened to her words diligently, intrigued. Nobunaga was, perhaps, one of the most chaotic servants. Even her history was chaotic, resulting in Nobu herself carrying the untapped potential of changing her Spiritron Body- her Saint Graph, in other terms- to enter different forms. It was similar to how Nero would usually be best summoned as a Caster Servant but was summoned as a Saber due to her Imperial Privilege skill and her belief that 'Sabers are more popular.'
Nobu had a similar skill to Imperial Privilege- Demon King. It distorted her abilities and appearance, essentially allowing her to change her Spiritron Body on a whim, changing classes and even Noble Phantasms to whatever she desired- so long as it still remained relevant to her personality and legend, of course.
Of course, Nobu- being Nobu- simply used it to change forms between that of a small and cute girl, and the appearance of one of a more average height with a prominent bust.
"And what is this 'Truth' they arrived at?" Dio asked her.
"Dunno," she shrugged. "Or... Rather I do know, but if I were to acknowledge that 'truth' then I would become the strongest Nobunaga- and that would be rather inconvenient for you. Top Servants aren't allowed to participate in the Moon Cell Holy Grail War- it's simply unfair due to their overwhelming power that even a subpar Master could sweep through the war with one of them at their side."
He slowly nodded at her words, understanding what she meant. When Top Servants contained the likes of Iskander, Gilgamesh, Scathach, and Jeanne d'Arc... It was easy to see why they would be forbidden from participating in the Moon Cell Holy Grail War.
The Buddha reached out with his hand and ruffled her hair. "So, you don't have a problem invading the Dark Sector with me if I make that choice?"
Nobu grinned. "You kidding me? It sounds like a great fucking time!"
Dio chuckled softly. "Alright, you just watch your anime and movies- I'll focus on the boring stuff."
She leaned up and pecked his cheek. "Thank you, darlin~"
A blush rose to his cheeks before he forced it down and pinched her cheek in retaliation, "Minx."
A laugh was the response he got. "If you're gonna do boring stuff, then how about you let me use you as a cushion?" She stood up with a grin.
With a roll of his eyes, Dio sat down on the chair and allowed Nobu to sit her plush rear on his lap. She wiggled a bit to get comfortable before she leaned back against him, cuddling and snuggling against him.
He sighed with a fond smile before he looked to the side and used his hand to open an interface, starting to check on the Dark Sector... He wanted to check on the status of Altera sleeping within it- and if Archimedes had yet been corrupted by Velber to start meddling.
After all, he had all day to work.
***
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