70 A simple plan is sometimes the best course of action

Adam's hands gripped the Lamp tightly, feeling the strange energy coursing through it. The abyssal vortex of [Gluttony] swirled around him as he made the bold decision to let the Relic of Knowledge be consumed by his [Stomach].

Even though he had initially sworn not to tamper with a God's creation,.... He decided to take the risk, especially after knowing what happened to the gods after he saw the little tidbits from the knowledge Jinn implanted into his head

Even with their situation, they still wouldn't come to Remnant. After all, the almost lifeless world held no allure for beings of such power

[Analyzing....]

While [Great Sage] delved into the god-made creation, the silver-haired boy turned his attention back to his frozen companion, Rias.

And-

Waving his hand, Rias unfroze as Adam activated his newfound authority over this dimension

"Huh?" Slowly blinking her greenish eyes, Rias let out a sound of confusion as she returned back to normal

"Was I...." The red-haired devil looked at them both and hesitated "-Frozen in time?"

He raised an eyebrow at her "How did you know?"

It was truly astonishing for Rias to be aware that she was frozen in time. After all, she doesn't have the unique perception Rimuru and Adam have

"Well..." To his surprise, she scratched her head in embarrassment and explained "My bishop Gasper often lost control of his sacred gear before we sealed him. So I've learned to notice when the time around me stops"

Silence

.... Silence greeted her words as she finished talking. No reply came out of her fellow member's mouth

Confused, she looked towards them-

"Why are you looking at me like that?!" The busty devil raised her voice at Adam, losing her temper at his flabbergasted eyes

His expression was astonished, as if he didn't expect something like that out of her

"I just-" The silver-haired boy stared at her intently "Never expected you to notice it" he admitted

.... And he didn't, the silver-haired boy never expected Rias or all the people to have such a perception just because of her previous experiences

"Hey!" Rias pouted at him, protesting as her pride was wounded "I'm not dumb, okay?! I'm the little sister of Lucifer, and my bishop also has a time-related Sacred gear. So you can say I'm quite experienced with time-related stuff!"

"That's pretty cool, Rias-san" Rimuru nodded as she complimented the devil, even though she wasn't that impressed

The busty red-haired devil put her hands on her hips, her expression brimming with pride "See-?"

CRACK

A crackling sound echoed throughout the dimension. The dessert around them becoming illusionary as the sky above them showed cracking lines

"Ahem" Adam coughed, interrupting the devil's bout of pride "Without the Lamp, this dimension will cease to exist. We should get out of here"

"Ah!" Rias panicked, her expression shifting as her eyes darted around, seemingly searching for an 'exit'

Her head shot towards the place they entered in, and although she didn't see an exit, she still readied herself to run towards that direction in hopes of finding-!

"Stupid!"

Adam halted the busty devil's thoughts as he put his hand on her shoulder, preventing her from running off

"Hey! If we don't escape from here, we will probably-!"

"Did you forget about teleportation magic?"

He deadpanned at her, clearly unimpressed by her forgetfulness

"... Ah" Riad slowly opened her mouth in realization

She bowed her head down, a blush adorning her cheeks "S- sorry. I panicked and forgot about teleportation magic circles...."

"Haah...."

Rias trailed off as she stuttered, clearly embarrassed as she admitted her lapse. But the only reply she got was Adam's disappointed/exasperated sigh

...

..

.

"Alright everyone!"

The silver-haired boy clapped his hands, gathering the attention of Rimuru and a dazed Rias

They were now back to the place they were present before they entered the doorway. And now that the dimension crumbled, the doorway acting as access to it naturally disappeared as well

"Now that we are done with this Relic and know her location, we can now confront Salem" Adam declared, his eyes looking between the devil and the slime

"Um.... Now that the mission is done, couldn't we just return to our worlds now?" Rimuru asked as she gazed at the notice of the Chat Room, her expression a bit tangled

[Mission: Kill one of Salem's agents

Status: Not Completed

50 points have not yet been credited to each member]

After Adam sank his consciousness into his [Stomach] and completely killed Cinder, this notification from the Chat Room showed up… but it wasn't completed

"Ah? I could have sworn it was completed…" The girl scratched her hair in embarrassment "Adam, didn't you kill that woman when you let [Great Sage] control your body briefly?"

… The silver-haired boy is not surprised that Rimuru knows that he let [Great Sage] control his body previously while he went into his [Stomach] to kill Cinder. Despite what she seems at first glance, the slime girl is not stupid, and she also has the skill [Great Sage], with this, it is reasonable for her to notice

… . But still, to this day, Adam doesn't know what the voice of the world was smoking at the time to give him [Great Sage]

[...]

"I did, but…." The boy put that last thought in the back of his mind as he replied "I felt that something was missing. It was strange, as if Cinder herself wasn't really 'whole', so to say"

He spoke out his doubts, a frown marring his face. This was very suspicious, the Chat Room hasn't registered the mission as complete, so does that mean Cinder wasn't properly killed?

But that would be impossible, Adam devoured her- both body and consciousness included. If that wasn't true death in this world, then he doesn't know what else is

Wait, wasn't there a Grimm parasite in her soul? His knowledge of RWBY is shallow, but he does remember that little detail…

He didn't find anything like that though… ? There was certainly no Grimm parasite when the amber-eyed woman was devoured

"That's… Suspicious" Rimuru voiced out his inner thoughts for him, her golden eyes narrowing in thought, sensing something amiss

"Oh well." The girl shrugged her shoulders "We can always find another agent!"

"Yes! But we can also defeat that Salem woman for some extra points, right!?" A voice of unexpected intervention sounded after the slime girl's voice

Rias, on the other hand, had a somewhat different suggestion. Although she is neither violent nor bloodthirsty, she is a devil- a creature of sin. And from Adam's knowledge and his short interactions with her, the red-haired girl's main sins are of Greed and Sloth

So while Rias also wouldn't want to risk her life, she seems to have confidence in herself and her teammates

"Well... You are both correct"

The silver-haired boy had a pondering expression on his face. Although he would normally be cautious and not take the risk... But the thing is-

"Don't worry, I have a plan" He voiced out with confidence, reassuring them

-Yes, he had a plan. Despite Salem having the same annoying thing he has, immortality, she still has flaws despite being thousands of years old

'Jinn?'

Activating [Through acceleration] to the fullest, he focused inwards to his [Stomach] and reached out to Jinn with telepathy, establishing a temporary link of communication

'Ah? Yes... Master?' Her voice came out after a few seconds of silence

Adam raised an eyebrow at how she referred to him, but he didn't comment on it

'What do you know about the relics?'

'Umm... Let me just send the information to you...'

Adam blinked, receiving an influx of information once again... But about the relics, this time. He now knew their location, how they were created, and what their capabilities were

.... Yes, just like that. He obtained this information easily

'Having an all-knowing spirit as your servant is really convenient....' He muttered to himself, clearly knowing how valuable such an easy access to information was

'.....'

'..... Is that so?'

Adam smiled lightly after hearing her reaction to his comment

Now that he corrupted the Relic and made it his, he let [Great Sage] analyze it completely. So the limit of questions is naturally bypassed

'By the way, how is Sakura and Higokumaru doing?'

'That pink-haired lady with the weird outfit and the little fox Faunus that can float?'

'Indeed'

'They are doing fine... master. But it seems Sakura had taken a liking to this 'manga' called 'Demon Slayer''

'Well, that's good. Anyway, I'll let you focus your attention back on Science, bye for now'

'Yes, bye.... master'

And with that, Adam closed off the telepathic link and deactivated [Thought acceleration]

Returning his focus to the real world, he looked towards the devil and the slime who was waiting for him to explain his plan

"Rias"

At the mention of her name, the aforementioned red-haired girl tensed, her bluish eyes making contact with his own as she waited for him to continue

The silver-haired boy reached out with his telepathy, establishing a link once again with Rias.... With his Psionics, he could also easily peer into her mind in order to read her thoughts or delve into her memories

Her mental defenses were as weak as paper in front of an Omega-level Psionics Mutant, and although he could easily do that.... Adam honestly didn't want that

He didn't want to be a cautious person who read the thoughts of the people he cared about. Doing that and getting used to it would make him... Like Xavier from Marvel or Dumbledore from Harry Potter- unable to trust anyone if he couldn't peer into their mind. Or worse, he would even change other people's minds just for minor inconveniences… Or forcibly calming them down or putting suggestions into their heads and using the excuse that it was for 'The Greater Good'

Adam didn't want to live like that... So he settled with establishing a telepathic link with Rias that only allows for communication

"Here"

Adam's voice sounded out as he sent Rias information about a specific relic

"Try and acquire it"

Rias blinked at the information she received in her mind

"Really? And what will you two do?" She raised an eyebrow, an almost sour-like expression emerging on her pretty face

"Rimuru, here"

With that, he also sent information about another Relic to the slime girl

"Relic of creation...?" She murmured, a curious light flashing in her eyes "Sounds interesting! I try to obtain it!"

As the blue-haired girl exclaimed that, the silver-haired boy crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at Rias with a mocking look

"Arrggg! Fine, I will get it!" Rias stomped her foot on the ground as she pouted in exasperation "But only because it may be related to my Power of Destruction, okay?!"

Seeing that both of the girls accepted their assignment of getting a separate Relic, Adam nodded in satisfaction

"But...." Rimuru spoke up suddenly "How will we open the doorways? Shouldn't these so-called Maidens be the only ones who can open them?"

"Right!" The devil clapped her hands in realization, having the same thought "We don't have your cheating Corrupting power. So how will we unlock them?"

"Catch"

"Wha-!?"

Rias spluttered as a small object flew towards her direction. Catching it, she looked at him with a glare

The object he threw at her was a small cube, it's color was of an abyssal black that seemingly sucked all the light inwards

"Take this and place it in whatever might obstruct you" Adam said calmly "It carries my corruption powers, so it should help you get the relic"

The red-haired girl opened her mouth to retort, but she closed it in the end after realizing that yes, she did need his help to get this Relic

"What about me Adam!?" The slime girl leaned towards him as she asked him with her golden eyes peering at him

"....Rimuru" The silver-haired boy sighed "You have [Great Sage] and [Gluttony] as well.... You don't need my help"

Evidently, he wanted her to use her skills properly and stop relying on external help. She needs to start using her wits in order to continue her path

"I guess you are right" Her eyes drooped down in disappointment, a subtle pout on her lips "I will try my best!"

Adam nodded, a proud smile adorning his face as he looked at both Rias and Rimuru. He was quite satisfied that both of them accepted this mission without any major scruples

"Now... Time to obtain all the relics...."

...

..

.

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A/N:

I've been reading the first couple of chapters of my fan fiction once again, and.... It's quite... Cringe

Should I go back and alter them slightly- to make the first chapters less cringe? I would have done it already.... But I'm afraid of the paragraph comments getting deleted because I edited the same paragraphs

By the way, tomorrow, me and my friends are skipping school in order to have a barbecue... Weird, I know, but I'm in a good mood, so here's an extra chapter