6 Chapter 6

Once upon a time, long before those old stories about men and gods were recorded by pen and paper, there was a mighty tyrant who was feared across the world. Few things are known about the origin of this hideous creature; the countless legends and theories that talk about this being contradict each other to the point where some would foolishly believe that it may have known the concept of mercy. One thing was for sure, the gigantic evil god inspired fear to all life thanks to his forbidden eye, which was said to being capable taking the life of any opponent and swallow light of the day.

But not even all his great power and authority saved him from death at the hands of his own grandson, or at least that is how most people remember it. Some believe that it was actually the user of the famous Longinus the one who took his life in the name of justice. Perhaps he died from a slingshot as if he were Goliath, or maybe someone like Ulysses blinded him while he was sleeping.

Nevertheless, the death of the tyrant was celebrated by everyone. Even the several gods that benefited from this rule felt relieved by his demise they feared Balar's powers and eternal desire for conquest. But the festivities ended with the disappearance of his body, already considered a relic by the gods, spirits and fairies of Ireland. That was the story of how the last sacred gear to be created by the god of the bible came to be, a powerful weapon born from a corpse. With its bones God built a cage to trap the concept of time; with its skin He sewed a sack to store the shadows of his evil army and in his only eye He sealed all the forbidden the power that managed to subdue the most powerful evil dragon to ever live. A sacred gear that was never classified as a longinus, not because it lacked power, but because none of its users had survived its awakening.

Not until the creature was born.

Once upon a time, on a moonless night, which was perhaps a bad omen, a beautiful woman with such a delicate appearance that it would have been easy to mistake her for a graceful fairy, was about to give birth to the child of the man she loved dearly. Sadly, she soon felt a pain in her swollen belly and before she could even scream, blackness made of malice consumed her within seconds. The last moments of her life were filled with cries of pain that made her completely forget about the creature she had brought into the world.

It was not until the morning hours that the father returned home, eager to see his wife and his new child. All he saw as he entered the room was a loathsome creature with almost translucent skin, so small and flimsy that it looked like it would die at any given moment, being snuggled by the subservient shadows in a room with nothing but black and red.

Only the deep fear he felt after witnessing this scene convinced the man to call his servants to take care of the creature instead of killing it on the spot. It was strange; a vampire should have been proud that his firstborn boasted of such a power and bloodlust just moments after being born, yet all the man felt for the creature was contempt. It was because of this that he refused to give it the beautiful name that his wife and he had prepared in advance and ordered another of his lowly servants to name the creature in his stead.

The creature was raised by servants that were fearful of him, so he was barely able to talk or communicate with others. All he knew was that uttering the word food meant that he would not feel hunger anymore.

It wasn't until the creature was seven that it was introduced to another being of a similar age.

"You must be Gasper Vladi, right?" It wasn't until the creature met Valerie Tepes, that it realized that HE had a name.

...

The crea…Gasper Vladi grew, he played, he learnt. All thanks to his only friend, a little girl who was a few years older than him.

Whenever he didn't understand something about the world, his friend would explain things to him with an incredible amount of patience and wisdom.

"You have a slender figure and a skin even fairer than mine; it is only logical for you to wear a skirt. "

She was extremely generous to him.

"I really don't like the taste of eggplants…Gasper, you should eat them; they are really healthy."

And she always encouraged him to be better.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that my plan to become immune to garlic by eating a ton of them will work this time. Grab a fork, Gasper, we have a lot of eating to do. Next week we'll try something similar with the sunlight."

Yet, at the moment of truth, when they both tried to escape from…he failed.

He couldn't remember why there was a hole in his stomach right now, nor where his friend was. He felt so…cold.

Surprisingly, not even the feeling of what he assumed to be death felt nearly as cold that pair of beautiful cold eyes staring at him as if they were attempting to solve a puzzle with missing pieces.

"So…just to be sure, did someone try to steal your Dao Bones and then left you here to die?"

What?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The first thing I noticed after my journey to the lower worlds was that my bottleneck was no longer a problem. Albeit my very filial heart anguished over the fact that I could not inform my parents and siblings about the good news, I understood that this was the time for my yearned breakthrough that would put me five steps ahead of my lesser peers.

My wise master had shown me how to walk, but she warned me that the path I yearned for would never exist until I gave the first forward; not even she could hold my hand in this new journey. The thing was that I still did not know where 'forward' was.

I was still lost... but I now knew that my own path had nothing to do with those gods that attempted to fulfill the void in my heart against my own will.

Be it righteous or evil, only my pleasure and displeasure exist.... even if I have yet to fully comprehend the meaning of those words

I went to my bathroom and used my flames to draw both a satanic pentagram and a holy cross on the previously clean floor (looking at the latter made my head hurt like hell, but it was necessary). Once I was done, I dropped my pants and desecrated them until only my urine remained.

….

"... And that is why I can say that I am above good and evil."

"My apologies, I did not quite get the last bit. I'm still processing the fact that you met Ophis and somehow are still alive."

I can't not blame my dear Sona for her bewilderment, I have a hard time believing that fate would have smiled to a Young Master like me in such a wonderful manner.

Of course, I deliberately omitted a few key details like recruiting a SS-rank criminal. Although I do like my little fiancé, we have only known each other for a few weeks at most. Our relationship isn't good enough to openly talk about state secrets with each other yet; that would need to wait until our first or second anniversary. Maybe even less since we are getting to know each other quite a lot during her chess lessons

Speaking of the lessons, it was really heartwarming to see all the effort that she put into them. Every time we met, she would give me books filled with her own personal notes about the subject, show me a few power points with examples to illustrate some interesting strategies, and more. She would even bring a blackboard and projector with her every single time. It was impossible for me to not smile when Sona started to enthusiastically explain the finer points of some of the most obscure strategies out there.

She is really into the teaching stuff.

Since I don't personally mind the kink, she has my full support, especially since I do love to see her wearing those pencil skirts that highlight her thighs.

"Are you listening to me?" She asks, putting me on a tough spot because I clearly wasn't.

Fortunately, my brother taught me what I should say in this kind of situation.

"You're scolding me for doing something extremely stupid."

"That is...accurate. Good." She nods, pleased by my answer. "While it seems that you literally possess the devil's luck, please be more careful out there and avoid dangerous individuals who may be hostile to our kind. Calling us friends may be a bit of a stretch, but please take my words into consideration."

Adorable.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that despite her position as the heir of one of the most prestigious Devil Families in all the Underground, Sona is a good person at heart. In all honesty, describing her as naïve would be more accurate all things considered. The girl is too earnest for her own good.

"That's right, we aren't friends." I wink at her. "You're this Young Master's future wife after all."

That is one of the reasons I enjoy her company. I still don't know if I truly want her, but I do not dislike the idea of seducing her.

"It is like dealing with a less clingy version of my sister." She softly mutters in defeat.

I didn't quite understand what she just said, but she must be feeling flattered. This is probably a good moment to bring up the 'Kaguya' subject.

"Little wife." Her left eye twitches a little bit. "I'm thinking of taking a concubine. Are you fine with that?"

While I personally feel that I would like to make Kuroka my Dao Companion as I promised, I don't want to get betrayed by a scorned fiancé in my future wedding.

"You mean your new senjutsu teacher, right? Go ahead and seduce the kitsune if you want to, it isn't really my problem since I am planning to win our match and break this engagement." She replies with a shrug. "Besides, it would be hypocritical of me to complain since I don't see anything wrong with my parents having a harem."

"Yes, I saw a lot of women in my way here. Your father has a really big harem."

"Oh no, that is my mother's harem." Sona corrects. "Dad says that he doesn't really have the energy for that."

After spending so much time around Revive, that sounds extremely tame.

"Speaking of my family...Serafall asked me to tell you that she wants to have a few words with you about our weekly chess lessons."

Oh...

"Should I run away in advance?"

"That would be advisable." She agrees, offering me a pained smile as she speak. "The human world should be safe enough as long you avoid Japan."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A wide field of green filled with life extends before my eyes, reaching the always faraway horizon in the distance. I am not sure whether the blue bodies of clear water running across the valleys are supposed to be called streams or rivers, but that matters when compared to the icy wind welcoming us to these strange lands.

The glorious sun shines over our heads; it is a far cry from that purple mockery created by the Green Emperor in an attempt to imitate a portion of the beauty of this yellow star. The gentle warmth of the celestial body is proof enough that it's the real deal.

"Riser, how about we take a rest and, you know, go back to the mansion to do some fun things in your bed?" Kuroka pouts, too tired to act flirty.. "Or we could just sleep. At this point I'm fine with that."

"Rejoice, my dear." I say to my beloved bodyguard in a singing voice. "I know for a fact that we are getting close to understanding the truth of the universe."

Escaping from my Senior Sister the primary reason behind this journey.

...

Rule 37

Tactical retreats are not an act of cowardice, but common sense. Unless the one running away is your opponent; in that case make sure to tell everyone about how big of a coward without any shred of honor they are.

...

But it isn't the only one.

By embarking in this new adventure, I hope to find some kind of treasure or life changing event that would help me to finally form my spiritual core. While I know for sure that my core should include the concepts of fire, air, life and nothingness, I feel like there is something still missing. I need something to properly combine that otherwise incohesive mess.

Oh, I could try to attempt a breakthrough with an incomplete understanding of my own Dao at any given time, but that would only serve to hurt my future growth. Waiting is the best course of action.

The song of genesis is right there for me to grab it, yet my voice isn't ready to sing its lyrics.

"Of course, I could gently carry you in my arms for as long as needed and then some more if you wish to rest. I would hate to see you suffer, especially because of my whims." I will romance that kitty for the sake of my family jewels even if it kills someone I don't a give a shit about.

Unfortunately, Kuroka, who is still very shy when it comes to showing affection in wholesome ways, decides to walk on her own while muttering some curses.

Although this excursion lasted for longer than I first anticipated, it had gone great all things considered .... even if I am now forbidden from showing my face in any land owned by European fairies for the next fifty years because I accidentally made their king suffer from an identity crisis after a philosophical debate about fate, Dao and their nonsensical set of self-imposed rules they created due to their fear of creating meaningful bonds with others.

I'm now the owner of a decent number of treasures I stole from others after bullying them with my superior cultivation. Some may argue that would come to bite me in the ass when a MC with a righteous boner decides to punish my misdeeds, but I am wise enough to only steal from evil people who tries to attack me first, like the vampires.

Everyone knows that vampires are renowned for their ability to turn humans into ghouls and control them, not for their fighting prowess. Not only are they mostly weaklings, but they also are one of the most hated species in the whole world. They are the perfect target for my righteous bullying.

One really shouldn't expect much from a species that can be exterminated using garlic bread. Vampires suck ass.

Choosing Romania as my hunting ground was one of my best ideas ever. Those racist fuckers are everywhere.

Just today, I have obtained enough treasures to pay Kuroka's salary for the next two years even though I don't know how much we're paying her. The only thing that could make this day better would be a legendary Heaven Defying treasure revealing itself for the first time in centuries before my eyes.

...Just like it is happening right now if that gargantuan mass of shadows that covered half of the forest for an instant before disappearing into thin air is anything to go by.

"Kuroka, the heavens have spoken. Let's go to collect our boon."

My soon-to-be Dao Companion just stares at me in silence, amazed by our great fortune.

"You're lucky you're cute."

She is definitely starting to fall in love with me.

….

What I found isn't exactly a treasure capable of destroying the fabric of the universe but something much more dangerous, a half-dead MC.

This would require a delicate approach.

"So…just to be sure, did someone try to steal your Dao Bones and then left you here to die?"