Several days had passed since the incident with the terrorists. During that time, Takeyo received the highest level of hospitality imaginable from Kyoto's youkai faction.
The reason was straightforward, he'd rescued Yasaka, their nine-tailed fox leader, from dangerous extremists. Every youkai in the city treated him as an honored guest, going out of their way to accommodate his needs.
Not that Takeyo particularly cared what they thought of him. What caught his attention was something else entirely, both Kunou and Yasaka had been visiting him far more frequently than before. Their presence wasn't subtle, either.
"So then, how about it? Want to learn some new magic with me?"
Takeyo waved the grimoire in his hand, its pages filled with arcane inscriptions. The tome contained extensive documentation of various magical systems, Eastern mysticism, black magic, elven enchantments, white magic, and countless other disciplines. Even with his enhanced learning ability and computational power, mastering everything within would take considerable time.
Of course, he had plenty of time now. After all, he'd made up his mind to keep a low profile for the foreseeable future.
His previous use of the World Dragon Kurma incarnation to obliterate the Sea King in seconds had come at a cost. The weakened state following that display of power meant he'd failed to notice Durmado's arrival. If the Heavenly King had actually succeeded in killing the Sea King, it would've been one thing. But now, with the Sea King still alive and kicking, all three Cthulhu-level entities from the EXE world had undoubtedly taken notice of his existence.
The moment he resurfaced in public, they'd converge on him within hours.
That's why he'd been preparing carefully during this downtime.
Sigh... The strongest being in this world can't handle the onslaught from another dimension, so I'm stuck figuring it out myself.
The lament echoed in his mind. Great Red, as powerful as she was in this dimension, couldn't provide meaningful assistance against threats from the EXE world.
This also explained why Takeyo hadn't returned to his usual residence. Instead, he'd arranged for Sona and Rias to take turns visiting him. If everyone disappeared together, it would raise too many questions and draw unwanted attention.
Honestly, Takeyo found Kyoto quite pleasant. The mountainous scenery was beautiful, and the mother-daughter duo of Yasaka and Kunou provided excellent company during his studies. The peaceful environment actually improved his learning efficiency.
"You expect me to study magic with you? At this point, I'm still busy trying to improve your Sacred Gear for actual combat," the God said, rolling her eyes at him as she continued researching methods to enhance Takeyo's abilities.
First, she wasn't foolish enough to learn new techniques alongside him just so he could surpass her even further.
Second, her current workload was complicated enough without adding more tasks.
"You're planning to master all this after we repel the evil gods, right? Fair enough," Takeyo said with a helpless shake of his head.
From a strategic standpoint, that made the most sense.
"By the way, has anyone come looking for you today?" the God asked, glancing up at him briefly.
"Nope," Takeyo replied.
Since he'd powered up most of his companions recently, many were either recovering or training to adapt to their newfound strength. They wouldn't be bothering him for a while yet.
"Then let's go out and explore today. This modern world seems fascinating," the God said, her golden eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Humanity really was remarkable. They'd developed such incredible civilization in just one or two generations, a timeframe equivalent to mere moments for other supernatural races.
Well... Takeyo could see she was getting restless cooped up inside.
"No problem. I've been wondering when you'd finally want to leave the house," Takeyo said with a smile.
The God's expression twitched slightly at his words.
"What do you mean 'leave the house'? Who's been staying inside constantly? Aren't we all in the same boat here?"
That was technically accurate. Everyone had been lying low lately.
And so, today's outing, or rather, today's trip with a companion, was decided.
Before heading out, some preparation was necessary.
The sacred power released when Takeyo and the God combined their strength was potent enough to nearly overwhelm even a Dragon King-level being like Yasaka. Average humans wouldn't stand a chance against that aura.
The previous incident with Yasaka and Kunou had occurred because Takeyo was still unconscious and unable to properly control his emanating presence.
Now, with both Takeyo and the God fully conscious, they could easily manage and suppress their combined aura.
"Come to think of it, this city didn't even exist during your original era, did it?" Takeyo asked as they walked through Kyoto's narrow streets.
"That's right. Back then, humans had only established kingdoms and empires in their most primitive forms," the God replied, observing everything around her with keen interest.
"If you wait long enough, humanity might develop the power to shatter stars. Even now, they possess weapons capable of devastating the planet's surface," Takeyo said with a smile.
"What? They've reached that level already?" The God looked genuinely surprised.
To destroy a planet's surface was something she could only accomplish by combining her power with Takeyo's.
"Absolutely. That's why your original vision was correct, humans might genuinely reach a point where they transcend gods," Takeyo said with a slight nod.
While it might take hundreds or even thousands of years, once humanity achieved true interstellar civilization, even Transcendent-class beings would struggle against their Star Destroyer-class weapons, wouldn't they?
Meanwhile, over those same millennia, the entire mythological system's combat capabilities might not improve significantly at all.
Take the angels and devils, for example. In recent times, only the devils had managed to recover their population, and that was still far from complete. The other two factions lagged even further behind.
And this recovery was only possible because of Ajuka's Evil Piece system, which effectively poached talented humans from the mortal world.
"That's certainly something to look forward to... but none of it really affects you, does it?" the God remarked.
She'd witnessed Takeyo directly alter the timeline and fate of the entire universe. That level of power made her feel somewhat inadequate whenever people called her omniscient and omnipotent.
After all, truly omniscient? Most of her knowledge had been systematically absorbed by Takeyo through their connection.
And omnipotent? She hadn't even developed the ability to manipulate world lines.
Although she'd been severely weakened after that battle, there was no denying the vast gulf in their capabilities.
I can only conclude that choosing to side with him was absolutely the right decision, she thought.
"Hmm?"
Both of them froze mid-step. A sudden noise had erupted nearby.
"What was that..." Takeyo muttered, his eyes sharpening instantly.
This wasn't an ordinary sound, it was a dragon's roar!
And not just any dragon's cry, but one that reached at least Dragon King-level!
Simultaneously, the spiritual energy in this region became chaotic and unstable.
"Something's happening," the God said, her expression growing serious.
"I just sensed fluctuations from Dimension Lost. They must've erected a barrier using it somewhere in Kyoto," she added.
Of course, she only felt mildly concerned rather than genuinely worried. Sacred Gears meant nothing to a being of her caliber.
"Then shall we take a look? Sounds interesting," Takeyo suggested.
The dragon's roar had come from an Eastern dragon. He recognized the signature.
"I felt it too. I already checked with the system, there are several Longinus users inside the Dimension Lost barrier," the God confirmed.
"Let's go, then," Takeyo said.
They both vanished from the street, moving with speed beyond mortal perception.
With their abilities, reaching the barrier proved trivially easy.
"RAAAAAHHH!"
The moment they entered, another earth-shaking dragon roar assaulted their ears.
"The Jade Dragon?" Takeyo muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Before them, an emerald-green Eastern dragon writhed in agony, trapped within an elaborate magic circle. Its painful cries echoed throughout the dimensional space.
"The center of this formation aligns with the dragon vein nexus of all Kyoto," the God observed after a quick glance.
"This is a summoning circle, and they're using a Dragon King as the core. Cao Cao certainly has guts," Takeyo said, unable to suppress a note of admiration.
After returning Yasaka to Kyoto, he'd expected Cao Cao to retreat. Instead, the Hero Faction leader had captured another Dragon King-level entity to serve as the formation's focus. That took real nerve.
"This formation won't summon anything at the Heavenly Dragon level, meaning it can only target those at the sub-Dragon God level or above," the God analyzed.
It couldn't possibly summon her, since the public believed she was dead. The Beast Emperor was similarly impossible, as no mere summoning circle could break through that seal.
That left only two realistic options, Ophis and Great Red. Given that Jade Dragon Yu-Long was an Eastern dragon, summoning him made the most sense as a catalyst for calling forth Great Red rather than Ophis.
"We can already observe cracks forming in the dimensional barrier. Great Red should appear shortly. After all, compared to summoning Yasaka previously, using the Jade Dragon as a core makes this exponentially easier," Takeyo mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
He and Great Red hadn't seen each other in quite some time, actually.
"But how did they capture Yu-Long? Cao Cao isn't even here," the God wondered aloud.
"That means Cao Cao must have engaged or ambushed the first-generation Sun Wukong, then captured Yu-Long while they were separated. Quite bold indeed," Takeyo concluded.
The original Monkey King possessed strength at the God-class level, possibly beyond. For Cao Cao to challenge him alone was borderline suicidal.
As if responding to Takeyo's speculation, the pocket dimension created by Dimension Lost suddenly trembled violently.
"CRACK!"
The multi-colored sky shattered like broken glass!
A small figure descended through the opening, diminutive in stature but radiating undeniable power.
Despite his small, thin frame, no one would dare underestimate his strength. This was a legendary being who had once caused havoc in the heavens through sheer force of will.
The first-generation Monkey King, Sun Wukong himself!
"Haah... Being sent out to work at my age. Life's rough," Sun Wukong sighed, then fixed his gaze on the summoning circle.
"So that's what they were thinking? This magic circle is designed to summon dragons... which means they deliberately lured me away just to capture Yu-Long, huh?"
The first-generation Monkey King frowned, quickly piecing together the situation.
Yu-Long, the Jade Dragon of the East Sea, noticed his arrival as well.
"Hey! Old man! Come save me! Are you seriously still holding a grudge because I stole your food that one time?" Yu-Long called out desperately.
"I mean, come on! You're being way too petty!"
Judging by his tone, the relationship between monkey and dragon was surprisingly amicable, if contentious.
However, rescuing Yu-Long posed a significant challenge. Numerous barrier devices surrounded the summoning formation, making a direct approach difficult at best.
Following closely behind Sun Wukong, a young man wielding a sacred spear entered the dimensional space.
"My apologies, Monkey King! But our objective has already been achieved!" Cao Cao called out, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Despite being beaten by Sun Wukong moments ago, his expression radiated triumph. After all, his plan had succeeded, he'd calculated everything perfectly to capture Yu-Long.
"Already achieved?" Sun Wukong's gaze shifted toward the dimensional cracks.
"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!"
The sky continued fracturing, spatial debris raining down onto the ground below.
Against the backdrop of collapsing dimensional walls, a massive crimson dragon slowly emerged, floating lazily through the void.
Great Red's posture was incredibly casual, she even scratched at her wings with one claw like she'd just woken from a nap. Despite her relaxed demeanor, everyone who witnessed her appearance felt an overwhelming wave of instinctive awe.
The sheer presence of Great Red's dragon aura emanated across vast distances, yet every being present could sense it with crystal clarity.
"Well, this is certainly entertaining enough to justify summoning Great Red. Things are about to get fun! Hahahaha!" Cao Cao laughed heartily.
After Takeyo had been confirmed, or nearly confirmed, as dead, Cao Cao had altered his course of action dramatically.
The reasoning was simple. Like Rizevim before him, Cao Cao wanted to invade alternate worlds and dimensions.
However, Rizevim had noticed Takeyo's true nature ahead of time. That's why he'd planned to unite with the evil gods from another world to eliminate Takeyo first before pursuing interdimensional conquest.
But now, with Takeyo seemingly removed from the equation, Cao Cao saw his opportunity. And Great Red's appearance marked the first step toward that ambitious goal.
The Great Red Dragon God Emperor floated in the shattered sky, her massive form radiating overwhelming power. This was the dragon recorded in the Book of Revelation, the Dream Dragon whose very existence defied mortal comprehension.
From the shadows of a nearby structure, two pairs of eyes watched the unfolding scene with intense interest.
"So this formation really can summon Great Red... and there's definitely going to be something interesting happening next," Takeyo murmured quietly.
"Indeed," the God agreed, her golden eyes fixed on the crimson dragon. "This should prove... enlightening."
The stage was set. The Jade Dragon trapped, the Monkey King prepared to intervene, Cao Cao celebrating his success, and Great Red awakened from her eternal wanderings through the Dimensional Gap.
And watching it all unfold, Takeyo Kagutsuchi waited to see what chaos would emerge from this collision of legendary powers.