38 38 Akatsuki (2)

"Yes! I AM!"

"Indeed I'm looking for her. Much appreciated if you could tell her to come and find me at the private dorms near Bukyoku Academy." Otto asked politely.

"Well, If you join us and become my model. Maybe I'll tell her for you." Sara playfully said.

"Really?"

"Yes. Only if you put this collar on." Rinna said while holding out a dog collar.

"That's... Kind of kinky for someone like you. Though I'm not interested in that kind of play." Otto replied, making Rinna flustered.

"There is no need for that." A calm voice sounded from the back.

"Brynhildr!? What are you doing here?" Rinna sounded shocked.

"Hm?" Otto looked at Edelweiss finding her sus.

"This Edelweiss feels strange..." He mutters as Sara becomes confused at his response after seeing Edelweiss.

"Where is the letter you wanted to give me?" Edelweiss holds her hand out.

'Why is she in her battle armor?' Otto wondered as he didn't want to look for a fight.

"Here." He reached into his pocket and took it from his subspace storage.

The moment Edelweiss tried to reach and get the letter, not before she was slashed immediately in the abdomen by Otto's Bokken, which moved too quickly for her to fully see.

"Bad." He said. "It's a faker."

The Edelweiss in front of him was a mere clone created by Sara who could make her painting into a reality. In this case: She made Edelweiss as her illusion.

"How did you find out? I was sure it was almost perfect." Sara frowned at her artistic art, trying to find where she had messed it up which gave it away.

"An artist who doesn't know true art." Otto snorted as he was like her back then when he simply recreated other people's techniques without understanding them more deeply.

"How could you say that when you're not even an artist yourself." Rinna defended her adopted sister.

"Art isn't all painting dear, it's how you convey your originated piece to the world not simply by just copying one's work, which is unsuitable for you." Otto closed his eyes, believing no one could in the room could beat him.

"Tsk. Go after him, Sphinx!" Rinna not wanting to listen to his rehearsed words and ordered her huge ass lion to bite him.

*Roar*

"The cat even has a noble art?" Otto thought that it was some kind of a yokai breed.

"Rinna stop that!" Sara shouted as this wasn't part of their plan, before she looked at Reisen who was just observing the commotion.

"Why?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to fight him... Not in this enclosed area."

Ouma stated that Otto can easily burn them all to a crisp with the technique he used in the first round at the Festival.

"You know he's right." Otto nodded as 9 blue flames surrounded him.

"I can easily detonate these things, and see how you all are going to escape..." He looks at Amane Shinomiya who had the ability to change the outcome of the future.

Strong. But probably not overpowered enough to save 6 lives in a moment.

For a moment, two assassins took a risk and moved against Otto.

Nagi Arisuin moved through the shadows using his device named 'Darkness Hermit' with Yui Tatara hoping to successfully launch a surprise attack on Otto.

'That strategy won't work against mighty o' me. Hmph, you can hide your scent, heartbeat, magic. But there is one thing that no one can hide from me... Curse Energy.'

Otto smirked as he found it a good choice to create in this world as no one can know nor use it for their own.

"Now!" Nagi and Yui leaped out from the shadow.

"Oh no~" Otto pretended to be caught by their "surprise" attack.

"Big raga, the opp stoppa." He stated as a sword blocked them from Otto's shadow.

Mahoraga emerged from his shadow with a big grin on his face. He was slightly bigger than the last time Otto had summoned him from his last fight with Touka.

"If I can get a beast like that as my subordinate..." Rinna Kazamatsuri bit her nails wondering how Otto managed to get that kind of beast.

"Bad news for ya. You can't." Otto snorted as Mahoraga needed Curse Energy to summon not magic as he once had tried it before.

Mahoraga slapped both Nagi and Yui, who tried to use her ability reflector to send it back to Mahoraga, causing the Dharmachakra to turn.

*KLNK*

"!?" Yui widened her eyes as her reflector didn't have any effect.

"If you're wondering why big white man here, wasn't affected by your noble art. Then that would... Never mind, not telling ya."

Otto figured that it was their problem figuring that Mahoraga had already adapted to reflection or counter strikes attacks.

He had trained him to defend against those attacks in a case he would be defeated in the same way he exorcised him.

Seeing the calm Otto looking at the night sky with a serene expression, made them think that they weren't even worth his time.

"Would you look at the time..." Otto smirked as his Curse Technique was now on full power once he used it.

*ROOOOAAARR*

The Cat(lion) used his noble art 'King's Pressure', to immobilize Otto's movements.

Which was useless, as he faced much more stronger pressure.

"Simple Domain..." Otto mutters as he creates a barrier beneath his feet which spans 10 10-meter radius, that acts as a trip wire for those who step in.

"Stop this!" Amane shouted as they were getting beaten by a large margin. Not only that, but his 'Nameless Glory' wasn't showing any results to his liking against Otto and Mahoraga who were adapting to his fate manipulation.

"Hey hey, don't look at me like that," Otto said as they all stared at him.

"You guys were the ones who tried to trick me in the first place. Which started by that Edelweiss clone." He pointed at the clone which was now melted in paint color after receiving major damage.

Otto could feel that their puppet leader was trying to do something stupid, like sneaking his string inside his simple domain.

And his response to that. He grabbed the strand of the string and reinforced it with his magic to prevent it from breaking as he then dragged Reisen Hiraga around like the doll he was.

*Crash noises*

'Not gonna lie, strings for powers are cool in a way.'

"Give it up will you, guys? You all aren't getting anywhere with this act." Otto didn't want to kill them... Yet. Not until he finds Edelweiss.

"That's enough." A familiar feminine voice sounded as Otto shifted his head.

'Oh... This time she isn't a faker.' He looks at Edelweiss who wasn't in her battle armor.

"Hello, Ms. Twin-wings." Otto bowed in respect, before handing Ryouma's letter to her.

"Nice to meet you too Trailblazer." She calmly nodded.

'She's friendlier than I had expected her to be... Despite being the worst criminal, she was known to have killed 300,000 people in Estonia, and it became known as the Baltic Crisis.'

"Can I take my leave now?" Otto politely asked as he still have to work on the project that he has been working on for 2 years now at his dorm.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, until you answer my question, child," Edelweiss stated.

"Go ahead and ask."

"Join us." She flatly tries to recruit him.

"Pardon?"

"Join Rebellion."

"And why would I join a criminal organization?"

Otto has no intentions of joining any shady organization, much less Rebellion which was known for their belief of blazers as "the chosen new breed of humans" and the others as nothing more but an "inferior breed'.

'The description I got from the internet after looking them up can be just summarized as: A group of racists. It's like Austrian painter all over again.'

"My life is already good enough for me. So there isn't anything you can offer to me to join your group." Despite what he was thinking, he still respectfully rejected her before hearing her offer.

"I'll train you..." She said, making Otto's attention shift back to her seriously.

Edelweiss doesn't have anything, aside from her body, and ability.

"Now that's unexpected... The strongest swordswoman is offering to teach someone." He sound surprised, even though he knew that she trained the protagonist Ikki in the original.

"But I'm afraid that my answer is still a no—"

"How dare you reject that offer!" Ouma angrily said, as even he who even kneeled and begged Edelweiss to be his mentor but was rejected.

So how could Otto refuse such a wonderful offer to be taught by the strongest swordsman in the world?

"How dare I? Don't know." He shrugged, being the strongest wasn't his goal now in the first place.

"Being a disciple to the strongest swordsman isn't what I wanted." Otto looked at the moon which was almost 8 PM.

If Edelweiss wishes to fight to force him to join, then he would gladly use his full-powered Curse Technique against her.

"Then what do you want?" Edelweiss asked.

"Knowledge and research of magic, human body, and souls." He replied that it was related to his project to create a body for Brynhildr.

"That's all?" Everyone was confused by his simple wish. Choosing that other than being taught by the strongest.

"Ummm... Yeah?"

"What for?"

"That's a secret." Otto was aware of the unspoken rule that dealing or playing with souls was forbidden in the world of magic.

"Then if I give you all of those, you would join Rebellion?"

"... Certainly." Otto was an impatient person as he always took a shortcut to the things he wanted.

"Then that's a promise?" Edelweiss summoned her Device 'Testament'.

"Only if you give those demands within 2 months," Otto said before feeling something wrong as the Dharmachakra turned.

*KLNK*

"Is this your noble art?" He felt a foreign magic inside his body.

"Yes. It's called 'Rule of Grace'... Once a promise is formed, both are bound by that and if one of them breaks that said promise, then that person would be penalized by death."

Edelweiss explained as calmly as possible, trying to not frighten Otto from the effects and to remind him to keep his word.

"I see..." Otto had forgotten that ability of hers as there isn't really anything about it in the internet, even if she was well known.

'... Am I making a mistake?' Otto wondered if his adaption ability from the Dharmachakra could get him out of her noble art.

'On the topic of death... Should I make nen for myself? So I can gain access to post-mortem nen in case I don't wanna keep my promise to her...'

He was interested in the power system of Hunter x Hunter as he considers it as the most intriguing ones in most of the animes he had watched in his past life.

Both Otto and Edelweiss made the deal with each other before everyone left.

...

-Chapter End-