Chapter 48: My Answer is Yes

As they pushed the doors open, Izumi and Hori were blinded by an intense light. Once they walked through, the door closed by themselves and they slowly opened their eyes.

"Wow," let out Hori as she looked at the scene in front of her after her eyes got used to the light.

They arrived inside on a large path with lands of grass on each side of it. At the end of the path, they could see a running fountain and right behind it a huge house.

"This place is amazing!" commented Hori when she looked around.

"Yeah." Izumi agreed.

Izumi may have already seen this place in an anime, but seeing it in real life is a whole other experience. He turned towards Hori who was still admiring the view,

"Let's get the reward and then we can rest. What do you say?"

Hori nodded and they both walked along the path. Once they reach the large house, Izumi opened the doors and they entered.

They arrived in a large entrance room with stairs leading towards the other floors.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Hori asked.

"Just one moment," Izumi replied before closing his eyes and extending his Observation Haki.

His senses spread in every way before it finally hit its goal.

"This way!" said Izumi and Hori followed him.

They soon arrived in a large room with a throne-like chair and a huge magic circle on the floor.

"Do you know what the reward is?" Hori asked as she looked at the circle apprehensively.

Izumi simply smirked,

"I don't want to spoil it. But let me go first to be safe," he said and Hori nodded.

Izumi stepped on the circle and it began to glow crimson red. At that moment, a projection of Oscar Orcus appeared where the throne is.

"Watch out!" shouted Hori as she readied herself for an attack.

"It's okay Hori! It's just a projection!" Izumi quickly said before she start attacking Oscar Orcus's hologram.

Hori let out a sigh of relief and stood down. At that moment, Oscar began to speak,

"I congratulate you on overcoming my trial. My name is Oscar Orcus. I am the man who created this labyrinth. I suppose to the world I'm known as a maverick. By the way, please spare me the questions. This is nothing more than a recording I left behind, so I, unfortunately, cannot answer any queries you may have. I wanted to tell those who made it this far why it was that we, who learned the truth of the world, chose to fight against the gods... so I decided to leave a message. And this was the simplest form to convey that message in. I want you to know... that though we were mavericks, we were not truly rebels."

He would then tell his story about how he joined a group of people and called themselves the Liberators to fight against Ehit after knowing the bitter truth of this world. As he explained, Hori remained transfixed as she listened to the story. Everything the books said was false and simply confirmed whatever suspicion she had of the Church and the stories Izumi told her. Hearing the story from someone who experienced it made the story she is hearing more bitter than ever and she balled her fists in consequence. After being almost completely brainwashed by the evil go, the story hit close to home for her. After the long speech, Oscar said,

"I have no idea who you are, or why you chose to fight your way down here. Nor do I have any intention of forcing my own dreams of the gods' demise onto you. I simply wanted you to know what it was we fought and died, for... As a reward for hearing me out, I shall grant you my strength. How you use it is entirely up to you. I can only pray you won't use it for evil. That's all I have to say. Thank you for listening to the end. May the 'blessings' of the gods never reach you."

At that moment, the man's apparition smiled and disappeared. At that moment, knowledge of ancient magic, (Creation Magic), appeared in his mind. After a few minutes of the knowledge downloading in his brain, it finally stopped. Izumi now had access to two ancient magic. The first one was Gravity magic or, more precisely, the ability to interfere with the energy of a star, and Creation magic, or, more precisely, the ability to interfere with any inorganic material. This magic allowed Izumi to create Artifacts.

Izumi took a deep breath and stepped away from the circle. Hori approached and put a hand on his shoulder,

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Izumi smiled,

"I should be asking you that. Are you okay?"

Hori looked down,

"I just feel angry. How could he toy with people like that?" Hori greeted her teeth when she recalled the story Oscar told.

Izumi simply listened to her. Hori let out a sigh and asked,

"So what did you get?"

"Why don't you find out?" Izumi said before pointing at the circle.

Hori nodded and walked o the center of the circle. The circle glowed below Hori and the latter groaned as the information was forcefully injected into her mind. After a few minutes, the glow stopped and Hori walked towards Izumi feeling a little woozy.

"So?" Izumi asked.

"This magic is incredible, but unfortunately, I don't have much affinity to it," Hori said a little downcast.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not a synergist so I can't create stuff. I can simply imbue magic and skills into objects." Hori replied.

Izumi shook his head.

"That magic is also able to create artifacts like those status plates."

Hori looked at him in surprise,

"Really?"

"Yeah," Izumi grinned.

At that moment, Izumi's and Hori's stomachs growled very loudly making the girl blush. They both looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.

"Let's go eat shall we?" Izumi said after they both calmed down, "We've stayed in the Labyrinth for a very long time without eating."

"How? We don't have food and the doors of the rooms are locked when I checked."

Izumi shook his head,

"That's okay."

He projected Oscar's ring that he copied from Nagumo,

"This ring is like this house's keys. It will allow us in any room. And for the food, I will prepare something. Why don't you explore the house while I bring out the food?" Izumi answered before asking.

"Nope, I want to stay here," Hori replied with a smile.

"Alright, then let's go to the dining room," he said.

They made their way into a large room with a huge table that was able to accommodate more than ten people.

Once arrived, Hori left to go to the bathroom while he brought the food. As soon as the girl disappeared, he opened the system and went to the store and went to the search option.

[What would you like to search?]

Izumi simply typed food and two results appeared,

[ Ready-made Food

Recipes]

Izumi clicked on the Ready-made Food option before a list with a bunch of different dishes appeared.

[Bowl of ramen: 10 points

Bowl of katsudon: 10 points

Rice: 5 points

Sushi roll: 10 points

Miso soup: 5 points

...]

He checked his balance and saw that he only had a hundred points which is more than enough for now. He selected a few of the dishes and they appeared on the table. After the selection, he only had twenty points. At that moment, Hori came into the dining room,

"Miyamura-kun, I just saw the biggest bath in my... Woah!" Hori was saying before stopping when she saw the food.

"Where did you get all this food? Is that katsudon?" Hori asked amazed.

"I already had these cooked before coming. I just placed them in my subspace to keep them hot." Izumi replied.

"Subspace?"

"Think of it as the inventory in those RPG games."

"Oh," she replied before sitting down on a chair.

"Itadakimasu!" they said in unison and they began to eat.

"Hmmm!" Hori moaned when she had a bite of the food.

"It's been so long I haven't eaten Japanese food. Thank you Miyamura-kun!" she said.

"You're welcome,"

After half an hour, they finished their food. After finishing the food, Izumi simply dismissed the plates. Suddenly, Hori said,

"I want to take a bath!"

"Sure, we'll stay for the day before heading outside anyway," replied Izumi.

She was about to leave the dining room to go take a bath when she suddenly stopped,

"What's wrong?" the boy asked when he saw her stop.

Izumi looked at her who started to fidget in her place. She looked like she wanted to say as her face began to blush when she finally opened her mouth,

"Don't peek," she warned quickly before running towards the bath.

Izumi stood there confused at her actions. Of course, he wouldn't peek! He wasn't degenerate like a certain Oppai Dragon. But he was also a healthy male like any boy and would think about her. He also noticed how her aura and her body were starting to change. It may be four months since she last saw him, but it was just two days that he last saw her and she changed a lot physically. He noticed that grew a little taller when he realized that her head had reached the height of his nose. She also grew a little in the chest area. Her aura also changed. She looked a lot more confident in herself.

'Maybe it's her Fallen Angel heritage that made her like this. I wonder what would have happened if it was never sealed, to begin with?' he thought.

While Hori was taking a bath, he explored the house. He projected the key once more and would enter the rooms. Unfortunately, he didn't find much. Izumi sighed when he saw the lack of books and tomes,

"Dammit, Nagumo! You just had to take everything."

Instead, he decided to practice using his newly acquired magic. He sat in Oscar's lab and sat down on a chair. He then materialized a basketball-sized ball of Dark Matter which floated in front of him. He mulled over an idea before making something for Hori that would help her. He concentrated on what he would make. The black ball then began to morph as it was manipulated by Izumi. In his time in the dungeon, he had used (Structural Analysis) on many minerals that would be useful in the future and his homeworld. Therefore he had ample materials that he could mimic with his Dark Matter. He could also project them if he wanted to. Once the form was shaped, the result was a necklace. It was a small simple necklace that would be inconspicuous to anyone that didn't actively search for it.

Once the necklace was formed, He then infused spells into the necklace. As the necklace began to glow, he infused three spells in it: (Gate), (Structural Analysis), (Hide Presence). He put the portal spell as it would make it easier for Hori to travel around or if she needed to go somewhere quickly. Although she wouldn't be able to use it often as it uses a lot of mana. He also infused (Structural Analysis) as it would let Hori analyze anything she comes across. Unfortunately, this spell was a lesser version that he would use since she didn't have a Reality Marble therefore she wouldn't be able to see the history of the objects. Also, she couldn't analyze big or complicated objects unless she wanted to fry her brain. (Hide Presence) would let her hide her presence when she didn't want to be seen or to remain stealthy.

'Heh. We got our very own (Presence Concealment).' Izumi thought with a chuckle.

Finally, if Hori was attacked, the necklace would expand to become a shield that would block said attack. It would also alert him of any danger.

Once the creation was complete, he went to find Hori.

'She must have finished her bath right now.' he thought.

He closed his mind once more and searched for her using Observation Haki. His senses expanded in the house and found Hori, but Izumi choked on air when he saw felt her. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on the point of view, he felt Hori right at the moment she was changing in the bedroom. Using Observation Haki is like mixing the sense of touch and the sense of vision. So when Izumi used his ability, he could literally feel Hori as she changed. The mental image of her was conjured in his mind and he could almost feel Hori's skin. His face flushed at the sight before quickly turning his Haki off. He could still feel the lingering sense of touch he felt.

He then groaned,

"Now I feel like Issei when he goes into his perverted delusions."

I tried to get rid of Hori's naked figure from his mind. After much effort, he finally did it. With a sigh, he went to where she was and knocked on the door.

"Just a moment Miyamura-kun!" she called out behind the door.

After a minute, she opened the door. Izumi looked at what she was wearing. She was wearing a white shirt with a simple black skirt and no footwear. They looked a little small for her.

"Sorry, I couldn't find anything. It seems like everything is too small for me," she said bashfully.

Izumi simply stared at the clothes that pressed unto her figure. Hori could feel his gaze on her and her face grew hotter.

"Don't stare." she meant to say as an order, but it came out like a whine.

"Huh? Oh, do you want me to help you with that? I can resize it for you." Izumi snapped out of his daze and asked.

Hori nodded and Izumi put his hand on her shoulder. Turquoise circuits like lines emerge from his hands and appeared on her clothes. They then began to become bigger until they fit her body.

"How did you do that?" Hori asked amazed.

"It's a simple spell called (Alteration). It does what its name says."

"That's amazing! So what's up?" she said before asking.

"Oh!" Izumi took out the necklace. It was a silver chain with a crystal-like matter at the end. The crystal glowed with faint green and turquoise.

"I have a surprise for you."

Hori froze in shock when she saw what Izumi was holding in his hand.

"It's an artifact I made for you." Izumi then explained its function to her.

"This is beautiful," Hori said in awe.

She then looked at the boy,

"Can you put it for me?"

Izumi nodded and went behind her to put the necklace on. Hori lifted her hair and the artifact was placed. The girl looked down as the jewelry was resting on her neck before turning around. she looked at the boy who had come to rescue her in the eyes as the latter was doing the same whit a confused expression. Now that she thought about it, it was like she was in a fairy tale where the knight in shining armour saved the princess from the evil dragon. In this, the knight was Izumi while she was the princess. Which girl didn't want to have a knight of her own?

Hori gazed into the boy's eyes who was getting to get increasingly confused. Ever since she was released from her brainwashing, her desires and impulses were becoming more apparent than before, but she managed to hide them well until now. As she looked upon Izumi's face, she remembered the moment on the bridge when she thought it was her final moment. She had thought about how she wanted to see her family, how she wanted to play with her brother, but most of all, how he wanted to see the boy in front of her. The boy who would make her laugh, the boy who would tease her, the boy who kept her secrets, the boy who lights a fire in her every time he was near her. She didn't know if it was her or her Fallen heritage, but it seemed like both agreed to one thing: that this boy was Miyamura Izumi. She lifted her arms put her hands on his cheeks.

"Hori...san?" Izumi asked as he was getting increasingly confused and nervous at the girl's behaviour.

When she turned around, she simply locked eyes with him. The nervousness rocketed when both her hands were on his cheeks. Their warm feeling sent a tingling feeling through him as he continued to look into her eyes. He felt like he could see something in them, but he couldn't recognize it. He stood there frozen as he didn't know what to do. For all of his powers like (Dark Matter), (Haki), magic, skills, etc. he was without a plan as he never anticipated a situation like this.

"I found my answer," she replied.

"Eh?"

"When my dad asked that question, I didn't know what to answer. But I've had enough time to think about it," she said looking down before looking back up to his face.

Pink blush apparent on her it.

"And my answer is Yes," she said before placing her lips onto his.

Izumi's eyebrows shot up in shock as the kiss continued. His esper brain had for once begun to jumble up at the incomprehensible emotions and feelings he was having. Therefore he did the only thing he could think, she closed his eyes, put his hands on her back and reciprocated the kiss. This kiss was not a long one. It was merely thirty seconds of simply touching their lips. No tongue, no nothing. But for Izumi and Hori it felt like an eternity that they didn't want to leave. Unfortunately, they didn't have the ability to live without breathing. Slowly, they separated themselves and panted as they looked at each other in the eyes.

At that moment, Izumi could only utter one word,

"Wow," he whispered,

"Wow," she also replied with a smile.

"So what does that make us?" Izumi dumbly asked.

Hori tilted her head in amusement,

"What do you think?"

"I feel like we missed a step here?"

"Oh? And what's that?"

Izumi took a deep breath,

"Hori Kyouko, will you be my girlfriend?"

The girl giggled and gazed at Izumi's flushed face,

"Yes, Miyamura Izumi. I will be your girlfriend as you will be my boyfriend."

They kissed once more and let their passion and love flow into that one kiss. Izumi had been really out of his dept by how forward Hori was, but he went with the flow. It wasn't like he didn't want this.

They soon separated once more,

"It's getting late and I can say that we are tired from the dungeon, so why don't we go to bed to sleep," Hori said.

Izumi smiled,

"You're right, let's go," he said.

As soon changed their clothes and went to bed. In a silent agreement, they would sleep on the same bed. Soon, they fell into their dreamland with a smile as they cuddled and enjoyed each other's warmth.