Kokabiel POV
I materialized in my office, the notification still burning across my vision.
[Warning! Warning!]
[Chat group member The Fool has died!]
Klein Moretti , the boy I shared an adventure with just a day ago was now dead.
The words didn't make sense. I'd seen him yesterday s per DxD world's flow of time. He was alive, joking, complaining about Kazuma's terrible financial decisions.
He was usually more conservative with others but with us, he was trying to put an effort to be friends. We talked about him becoming an outer god in his world and the cost of it. He didn't wish to go through a traumatic experience like mine.
I remember his words as he walked away to rejoin the party, " I don't mind taking a little risk to obtain power, if I could protect my loved ones."
Then he turned around and flashed a shy but charming grin. " And if things don't work out, I have you looking after us all, Mr. True Outer God."
I just smiled and shook my head as he walked away.
Now the system was telling me he was gone.
I sank into my chair, pulling up the chat interface with hands that weren't quite steady.
The group was already exploding with messages.
[Advocate of Gender Equality: What the FUCK do you mean Klein's dead?!]
Kazuma was laying in his bed tired after the fight with the destroyer. He was in a somewhat happy mood after ripping off Whitebeard's move and crushing the giant machine.
But that notification had sent him jumping up to his bed.
[Shadow Monarch: This has to be an error. The system must have glitched.]
Jin Woo was equally stunned. He thought Klein was a pretty smart and dependable guy, with ways to escape any danger.
But if the chat group showed this message, it's probably true. Just like how Kokabiel died countless times during his ascension to an Outer God.
[Flash Goddess: Klein-kun was just talking to us! He can't be dead! Can he resurrect himself like Kokabiel?]
Youruichi was shaking. In her long life as shinigami she has seen a lot of death. But the feeling of losing a comrade, it never fades. That's also why she wanted nothing to do with fighting any more.
But when she saw that message, her first instinct was to travel to his world and help him. Despite her teasing ways, she valued her friends dearly.
But she found the option being grayed out witha sidenote (No members exist in the current world you are trying to Access.)
[Girl Who Loves Reading: Please, Kokabiel check on him. Only you can travel to other worlds with your powers. Maybe he's just injured badly and in a coma ?]
Robin was sleeping peacefully in the Thousand Sunny as she woke up to the alert. She felt confused and worried about her new friend.
But her powers weren't enough to deal with something that could kill Klein before he could even seek help.
[Advocate of Gender Equality: How the hell do we even check?! Kokabiel was banned to travel in our worlds as his existence mesees with them.
And I don't know where his world is! Does anyone have world travel vouchers?! I don't have points.]
They were panicking. Desperate for answers, for someone to tell them this was all a mistake. That Klein was fine and the system had just malfunctioned somehow.
I wished I could tell them that.
But the chat group system didn't make mistakes. When it declared someone dead, it meant their life force within their physical body had been completely destroyed.
But his soul wasn't gone. Neither did it enter the circle of life. Each souls get recycled after their body's death, and enters into the circle. Although it looked more like a tree.
This tree of Life then condenses the souls and then redistributes them into the worlds. You see, the omniverse has a limit of how many souls it can contain. The tree of life is the amalgamation of that.
It can't just mass produce new souls like printing money. So each soul has to be recycled and reused so that the circle doesn't break.
Interesting fact, once Azathoth awakens, it is due to the circle being broken. When life becomes too much to contain, the noise shall awaken him, and end all of reality.
Then I am supposed to engulf Everything within my dimensions and then after eons, restart the whole thing again.
So how does someone from the omniverse , within it's time and space cycle become like me? Was it all predetermined? Even Hastur's action? I had the answer, but I just didn't wish to learn it.
I barely regained myself, I don't wish to risk it. I had people to look after now. And worst case, I'll just open that box once all who know and love me have long since passed away.
But it seems Klein might be lucky. I could feel his soul inside a sub dimension.
Before anything, I needed to see what actually happened. I Needed to understand how Klein had gone from laughing with us to dead in less than a day.
I closed my eyes and activated my omniscience which I usually kept sealed away.
The power surged through me—that uncomfortable awareness I'd gained from
becoming an outer god.
It lets me see beyond worlds or dimensions, perceive events that had already occurred, occurring, or will occur. I can see and understand all that were deliberately hidden.
Klein's world will resisted at first. The Lord of Mysteries universe was built on secrets and mysteries, and it didn't appreciate being observed.
But my omniscience was designed specifically to pierce that kind of barrier, to see what shouldn't be seen.
I got a message in the group chat immediately. Then a bunch of them. All from his world will.
[ Lord of The Mysteries World Will : whoa whoa ....um sir Kokabiel, he is fine . Klein Moretti isn't dead! Please calm down!]
[ Stop! You're literally trying rip a hole through my barrier! It's a Canon event!]
[Please don't break me good sir!]
I ignored the pitiful display of the so called world will and asked in my usual voice. I didn't type like usual.
"I am perfectly calm as always. I merely wish to learn what happened with ...my friend. I won't destroy your world. But if you stop me, the outcome might lead to that."
Lord of The Mysteries World Will was screaming in panic.
" Who the helll says they are calm when they are ripping apart a world with a thought! Fine, I'll let you see what happened but please don't do anything reckless.
He is the protagonist so he will be fine.... Wait, what are you.... Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!! You broke it..... You broke my barrier! Even those guys can't do it! I need to call.."
I raised a my hand to silence it and spoke softly " I will fix it once I leave. Do not interfere."
The remaining resistance crumbled. The vision formed.
And I watched Klein Moretti's last day unfold before me like a play I couldn't pause or stop.
Lord of Mysteries World - Tingen City
About Eight Hours Ago
Klein landed on his bed with a contented sigh, still riding the high from the One Piece adventure.
His body ached in that pleasant way that came from hard training and successful missions. They fought some eldritch horrors together and partied like there was no tomorrow. And he got some valuable fighting experience.
Good times. Really good times.
Kazuma had been his usual comedic disaster self, causing chaos . They had a weird friendship forming already .
Yoruichi was effortlessly cool yet somewhat teasing. She had the strength to back up her actions, even when she always tryied to make him blush.
Robin was quietly brilliant and reliable when needed. She was... Interesting. Klein and her shared interests in knowledge and history, and their time spent researching the world was fun.
Jin Woo was reliably competent and strong, and they clicked almost immediately, although he had concerns for his mental well being with the weird romanace routes being forced on him.
As for Kokabiel... Klein still wasn't entirely sure what to make of Kokabiel.
The angel, if he still could be called that, was kind and helpful, but there was this distance to him. Like he was playing the role of a friend while keeping his actual self carefully locked away.
Despite his struggles, he genuinely cared about them. And each one of them trusted him blindly to have their back when needed.
Still, he'd been good company. They all had been. Klein was already looking forward to their next adventure. It was about time he learned to live a little more.
Klein pulled up the chat group interface, curious to see if everyone had made it back to their respective worlds safely. The screen flickered to life, already showing new messages.
[Last Master of Humanity: hey guys, how did your mission go? Really sorry I couldn't join you.]
[Heaven's Wrath: it went rather well. I hope you are doing well too, Ritsuka.]
[Last Master of Humanity: oh, that's nice. I'm doing fine. Wukong san managed to sever the connection between heaven and earth, and now it's about to be normal again. What did you guys face there?]
[Heaven's Wrath: Just a parasite who wouldn't bother again. I'll let the others fill you in the details. I have to return to Heaven. 50 years have passed in my world and I have some very pissed off siblings to apologize.]
The chat went on between the others and Ritsuka before they were interrupted by Kazuma.
[Advocate of Gender Equality: I returned in triumph.... Only to find there's a thing called 'the destroyer' causing havoc!
And my stupid party members decided to go on a grand quest and ended up destroying more properties than the fucking destroyer! I hate my life!]
Klein snorted. Of course Kazuma had immediately walked into chaos. The guy was a magnet for disaster. His party members were same.
[Shadow Monarch: didn't you just get powers that could beat nearly anything in your weak world?]
[Advocate of Gender Equality: because I just ate the quake quake fruit! I don't know how to use it like Whitebeard who trained his whole life, forget awakening it. If I didn't get the body enhancement lvl 2, my own power could destroy my body!]
That was actually a fair point. The quake quake fruit was ridiculously powerful, but it required serious control to use properly.
[Flash Goddess: You two really should be a couple. All of us together don't bicker as much as you two. And what about your cool new eyes?]
[Girl Who Loves Reading: Yes, didn't you spend all your points on it?]
[Shadow Monarch : Oi! Keep your disgusting fetishes away from me! I am only into woman who are not related to me or underage or have mental handicap! But yeah, why aren't your using your 'all seeing eyes' you bragged about?]
[Advocate of Gender Equality: ..... Turns out sharingan drains my chakra too much. I bought the power compatibility card of Naruto, but it only gives you a measly amount of chakra.]
Klein couldn't help himself. His fingers moved across the keyboard.
[The Fool: so you bought some big guns and your arms are too weak to even hold them?]
There was a pause, then Jin Woo responded.
[Shadow Monarch: Klein.... you really went for the sucker punch, huh?]
[Advocate of Gender Equality: what did I ever do to you man! I am a poor guy who can only afford these things! I'm like broke to the power infinity.]
[The Fool: yet you impulse bought thse things because they look cool.]
[Flash Goddess: hahaha, Klein kun got you there Kazuma kun.]
[Last Master of Humanity: Umm... Maybe buy things that don't make you cool, but actually helpful?]
Ritsuka was trying to be nice despite giggling like a child.
[Advocate of Gender Equality: You know what, I am just gonna go deal with the problem caused by my idiot party members. I can only take so much.]
Klein smiled, closing the chat window. The banter was comfortable, familiar.
It reminded him of his relationship with his Nighthawk colleagues, the easy camaraderie that came from surviving dangerous situations together.
Speaking of spending points, he should probably figure out what to do with his own. 150,000 points was a significant amount.
Enough to buy something really useful if he was smart about it.
He opened the shop interface, browsing through the available items. There were powers from dozens of different worlds.
Some familiar from anime and manga he'd watched in his previous life, others completely foreign. Klein kept browsing for a while.
Two items caught his attention after a broef search. Both were from Yoruichi's world, Bleach.
[The Almighty - Bleach]
[Cost: 150,000 points (Sealed State Only)]
[Used by Yhwach, the Quincy King. The Almighty grants its wielder absolute perception of all possible futures and the power to alter those futures at will.
To Yhwach, the future is not something that happens—it is something that has already been seen, chosen, and confirmed.
Once The Almighty is active, any future Yhwach observes becomes immutable, except by powers that directly transcend causality or divine authority.]
Klein read the description carefully. Future sight combined with future alteration. It was similar to his Seer abilities but taken to an absolutely ridiculous extreme.
Instead of seeing possible futures and making decisions based on them, The Almighty let you choose which future actually happened.
Absolutely terrifying. No wonder Yhwach is such a monster. There was also video clips of the powers being used to be viewed for additional 500 points.
He saw a glimpse of Yhwach fighting an old bearded man who was equally scary.
The other item was equally impressive.
[Kyouka Suigetsu - Bleach]
[Cost: 150,000 points (Sealed State Only)]
[Used by the traitor former captain Sosuke Aizen.
Kyōka Suigetsu places anyone who witnesses its Shikai release under Complete Hypnosis, granting Aizen total control over all five senses—sight, sound, touch, smell, and spiritual perception.
Once affected, the victim can never fully trust their own senses again.]
Perfect hypnosis. Total sensory control. Klein could immediately see how useful that would be.
As a Seer, much of his combat strategy involved misdirection and manipulation. Kyouka Suigetsu would take that to another level entirely.
The problem was both items cost exactly 150,000 points for just the sealed state.
According to Yoruichi, Zanpakuto had two releases—Shikai and Bankai. The sealed state would only give him access to Shikai, which while powerful, wasn't the full potential.
Klein leaned back against his bed, staring at the ceiling. Maybe he should save up more? Get enough points to buy the full release?
Or maybe get it first and train with it, before buying the bankai?
Klein closed his eyes to take a short nap. He need the rest. But suddenly, His Seer abilities exploded with warning.
Klein jumped upright, his heart suddenly hammering. Premonition slammed into his mind like a physical blow, not the gentle nudges he usually received, but a screaming alarm that made his head throb in pain.
Danger. Immediate and Catastrophic danger.
Something was going to go very, very wrong.
Klein's mind raced. What could trigger a premonition this intense? It had to be something massive, something that threatened not just him but potentially the entire city. The only thing he could think of was....
Oh no, is it related to that?
The investigation. The one he'd been working on before leaving for the One Piece mission.
Klein had discovered unusual spiritual fluctuations in Tingen's underground about a week ago.
Strange readings that suggested something old and powerful was stirring beneath the city.
He'd reported it to Captain Dunn and the other Nighthawks, but the investigation had stalled when they couldn't pinpoint the exact source.
Then the chat group mission had come up, and Klein had shelved the investigation temporarily. He'd figured it could wait a few days. That the Nighthawks would handle it while he was gone.
Now his Seer abilities were telling him that had been a catastrophic mistake.
Klein was already moving, grabbing his coat and checking his revolver. His hands moved instinctively; loading demon-hunting bullets, securing his mystical items, mentally preparing himself for whatever was coming.
But first, he needed to check on Melissa and Benson.
If something was about to go catastrophically wrong in Tingen, his siblings needed to be somewhere safe. Somewhere far away from whatever was about to happen.
*****
Klein burst out of his apartment, already running toward their home.
Melissa was studying when Klein practically kicked down the door.
She looked up startled from her engineering textbooks, startled. "Brother? What—"
"Pack a bag," Klein interrupted. "Both of you. Right now. You need to leave Tingen immediately."
Melissa stared at him. Benson emerged from his room, equally confused.
"Klein, what are you talking about?" Benson asked carefully. "Leave Tingen? Why? It's our home."
"There's going to be trouble," Klein said, trying to keep his voice calm and failing.
"I can't explain everything, but I need you both to trust me. Pack essential items and get on the next train out of the city. Go to Backlund if you can. Just get far away from here."
Melissa and Benson exchanged worried glances. Klein knew how he must look—wild-eyed, panicked, demanding they abandon their lives and flee the city based on nothing but his word.
"Klein," Melissa said slowly. "You're scaring us. What kind of trouble are you talking about?"
Klein wanted to tell them. Wanted to explain about Beyonders and sealed gods and the thing stirring beneath Tingen that was making every supernatural instinct he possessed scream warnings.
But he couldn't. They were ordinary people. Knowing about the supernatural world would only put them in more danger.
"I can't explain for your safety," he said desperately.
"I know how that sounds. I know I'm asking you to trust me on faith. But please. Please just pack a bag and leave. If I'm wrong, you can come back tomorrow and I'll apologize for being paranoid. But if I'm right..."
He trailed off. If he was right, Tingen might not exist tomorrow.
Benson studied Klein's face for a long moment. Whatever he saw there must have convinced him, because he nodded slowly.
"Okay," Benson said. "Melissa, pack a bag. Essentials only. We're leaving."
"But—" Melissa started.
"Now, Melissa. Trust your brother."
Something in Benson's tone made her stop arguing. She disappeared into her room, and Klein heard her frantically throwing clothes into a bag.
Benson moved closer to Klein, his voice dropping. "This has to do with your... other work, doesn't it? The things you don't talk about?"
Klein had never explicitly told Benson he was a Beyonder, but his brother wasn't stupid.
He'd noticed Klein's odd hours, the strange injuries, the way Klein sometimes came home looking exhausted in ways that normal detective work didn't explain.
"Yes," Klein admitted quietly. "And I can't say more than that. But you need to get Melissa out of the city. Get yourselves somewhere safe."
"What about you?"
"I have to stay. I have to try to stop this."
Benson's jaw tightened. "Klein, it's dangerous."
"I know. But if I don't... a lot of people are going to die."
Klein gripped his brother's shoulder. "Take care of Melissa. If something happens to me, make sure she finishes her education. She's brilliant. She deserves to achieve her dreams."
"Nothing's going to happen to you," Benson said firmly. "You're going to stop whatever this is, and then you're going to come find us in Backlund, and we're all going to laugh about how paranoid you were."
Klein managed a weak smile. "Yeah. That's the plan."
Melissa emerged with a hastily packed bag. Her eyes were red. She'd been crying while packing, but her jaw was set with determination.
"We're ready," she said.
Klein hugged them both tightly, like he was trying to memorize the feeling of them being alive and safe.
"I love you both," he said quietly. "Never forget that." Despite everything, it didn't feel like a lie. He truly loved them even if he wasn't their brother in truth.
"We love you too," Melissa whispered. "Please be careful."
Klein released them and stepped back. "Go. Now. Don't stop until you're at least two cities away."
Benson nodded, taking Melissa's hand and leading her toward the door. She looked back once, her expression pleading with Klein to come with them.
Klein hesitated but then smiled. " Remember Melissa, even if I am far away, even if I'm not there with you... I will always be watching over you two. Always."
Melissa sniffled and nodded, then turned away to hide her tears as she walked away.
Klein shook his head. Someone had to stay. Someone had to try to stop whatever was coming.
The door closed behind them. Klein stood alone in the apartment, listening to their footsteps fade down the hallway.
At least they'd be safe. Whatever happened next, at least Melissa and Benson would survive.
Klein took a deep breath, checked his revolver one more time, and headed toward the Blackthorn Security Company, the front for the Nighthawks' headquarters.
Time to see exactly what he was dealing with.
*****
Klein burst through the door of the Blackthorn Security Company, his seer abilities screaming warnings that made his head throb. Something was catastrophically wrong.
The reception area was chaos. Rozanne sat at her desk, her normally cheerful face streaked with tears as she frantically processed telegrams. Her hands shook so badly she could barely hold the pen.
"Klein!" She looked up, relief and terror warring on her face. "Thank the Goddess you're here! It's—it's bad. Really bad. Old Neil is—"
Her voice broke. "Old Neil is gone. And Captain Dunn and the others went to confront someone and there's been this massive spiritual disturbance and—"
"Where?" Klein interrupted, his blood running cold. Old Neil was dead? The kindly old man who'd taught him so much about being a Beyonder, who'd treated him like a grandson, was dead.
"The cemetery! Raphael Cemetery! But Klein, the spiritual readings coming from there, it's not natural! It's too much!"
Klein was already running.
His feet pounded against Tingen's cobblestone streets as he raced toward the cemetery.
His mind spun with questions.
What had happened while he'd been away on the chat group mission?
The investigation he'd shelved before leaving, had it led to this?
Had his absence cost them crucial time?
He could see the disturbance from blocks away.
Above Raphael Cemetery, reality itself seemed to writhe and twist. A pillar of corrupt spiritual energy reached toward the sky, visible even to his normal vision. Black and oily, pulsing with malevolence that made Klein's skin crawl.
Whatever was happening there, it was beyond anything a normal Nighthawk team could handle.
Klein vaulted over the cemetery's iron gates without bothering to open them. Tombstones stretched out before him in neat rows, but many had been shattered, reduced to rubble.
Scorch marks blackened the ground. The smell of burned flesh hung heavy in the air.
Bodies lay scattered across the cemetery grounds.
Klein's heart clenched seeing them. Members of the Nighthawk team, people he'd worked alongside, trained with, shared meals with.
Some were moving weakly, groaning in pain. Others lay terrifyingly still.
And at the center of the devastation stood something that shouldn't exist.
The Child of the True Creator towered over the cemetery, easily fifteen feet tall. Its form was wrong in ways that hurt Klein's mind to perceive. Too many limbs that bent at impossible angles.
Eyes that opened and closed across its surface in places eyes should never be. A mouth that was sometimes vertical, sometimes horizontal, sometimes both simultaneously.
The creature's very presence warped reality around it, making the air shimmer with corruption.
This was what had been sealed beneath Tingen. Not just a corrupted angel, but the incomplete offspring of an evil god.
The True Creator, one of the dark gods that the orthodox churches fought desperately to suppress.
And standing before it, facing down this abomination with everything he had left, was Captain Dunn Smith.
Dunn looked like he'd been through hell. His usually neat coat was torn and burned, hanging off him in tatters.
One arm dangled uselessly at his side, clearly broken. Blood covered his face, streaming from a gash across his forehead. His gray eyes had taken on a strange, distant quality, the look of someone who'd pushed their Beyonder abilities far past safe limits.
But he stood firm. Despite the injuries, despite the impossible odds, Dunn Smith stood between the Child of the True Creator and Tingen City, using his Nightmare abilities to keep the creature contained.
It was truly a scene from a nightmare.