51 Sacred Gear Hunting (4)

"Name," the security guard at Serafall Memorial Hospital asked Otto, who was now in a different disguise.

"Vincent Fabron," Otto replied confidently.

Using the previous guard's identification card as a reference, Otto had managed to create a new identity for himself in the Underworld as a middle-class devil.

"A middle-class..." The guard seemed momentarily startled before quickly adopting a more respectful tone.

"No need to be startled. I'm just here to visit my friend," Otto said humbly, noticing the guard's confused expression at his politeness.

Otto's disguise was thorough. He now sported a combover hairstyle and wore a pair of thick, rectangular-framed glasses. His attire included a blue suit vest over a white long-sleeved shirt, accented with a geometrically patterned, colorful midnight tie. He also wore a pair of down gloves with white straps that left his ring and pinkie fingers exposed. A gold-strapped watch adorned his left wrist, and his cedar-colored pants were held up by a belt with white straps and a buckle with a unique golden outline. Additionally, he wore a golden chain clipped across his tie.

The most distinctive feature of Otto's current disguise was the several yellow marks on his head.

"O-oh, I-is that so? Then I hope your friend gets well soon," the guard stammered, allowing Otto to pass and visit his "friend," whom the guard had never seen or heard of before.

"Thank you, and you have good taste, my friend," Otto said with a smile, nodding towards the magazine on the guard's desk before proceeding inside.

"See that? A simple gesture towards these lower-class devils, while presenting yourself with a higher status, makes them feel important," Otto smirked, amused by the guard's naivety and the fact that he hadn't even verified Otto's status as a devil.

"You really are a scammer... What did you even do in your childhood?" a voice remarked, noting Otto's knack for swindling people despite his often dismissive conversation skills.

"Nothing much... Just wasted it on activities meant for a child," Otto sighed, as he wandered through the hospital halls, searching for a specific room. He was looking for a user of a dormant Longinus, and he had a specific purpose in mind.

"So, are you certain there's a Longinus user here? How can you know this? Can you see the future?" Brynhildr asked, puzzled by his confidence.

"I can't see the future, but I have a vague understanding of it," Otto replied, his expression darkening as he recalled his knowledge of the High School DxD universe.

'The future is full of chaos, with aliens and bizarre threats invading the world,' he thought with a chuckle. 'But I might have already altered that outcome by killing off Rizevim Livan Lucifer, who was attracting their attention.'

"Is the future bright for the world, or is it a mess?" Brynhildr asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Messy is one way to put it. Some aliens with advanced technology invade this world," Otto recalled, thinking about the Eve/Etoulde situation from High School DxD, where a literal God of Breasts made contact with Issei because of his fondness for them.

'Tsk, everyone loves breasts... I still don't understand why Issei was chosen by that god, probably just his plot armor...'

"That's an interesting future we have ahead," Brynhildr remarked, looking forward to experiencing it with him.

"Here we are," Otto said as they arrived at the last room. He could sense the patient's dense amount of Curse Energy, indicating that they had found the Longinus user he was searching for.

"Teleportation rune is ready." Otto slipped a small, time-space rune under the door, careful not to touch the handle.

"You're pretty creative..." Brynhildr commented, watching with fascination. This was the first time she had seen a rune used for teleportation. She wasn't sure if Otto had used his authority to modify the rune, enabling him to warp from his current location to the inscribed rune.

Typically, people avoided using runes for teleportation because they were highly unstable. One misstep could lead to a fatal implosion due to spatial distortions.

"Now to get away," Otto murmured. He hid in a corner, out of sight, before a golden aura enveloped him, and he vanished.

"That worked perfectly," he smirked, appearing inside the room and looking at the unconscious woman with long purple hair lying on the bed.

"Is that the user you've been searching for?" Brynhildr asked, sensing the dense Curse Energy emanating from the woman.

"Yes, she possesses the Longinus, Nereid Kyrie," Otto explained.

Nereid Kyrie was a Sacred Gear that became a Longinus upon awakening. It allowed the user to control dragons and the seas. It was powerful enough to suppress Issei's Crimson Armor, as it could control dragons like Ddraig and Albion.

"Nereid Kyrie?" Brynhildr was unfamiliar with this Sacred Gear. She didn't realize it was a special case, similar to Forbidden Balor View, where a specific condition had to be met for it to become a Longinus, akin to a quest to enhance a skill or item.

Otto hadn't yet figured out if he could awaken these Sacred Gears himself. He possessed their abilities but lacked the spirits within them.

"Yes, the girl is a half-blood, born between a human and a devil. Her name is Ingvild Leviathan." Adjusting his tie, Otto summoned Brynhildr in the form of a spear and prepared to stab the patient.

"Can I assume she's related to the Leviathan clan?" Brynhildr inquired.

"She is the last of the Leviathans. Now, let's do this quickly before anyone comes to check on her." He lightly stabbed Ingvild, who remained unresponsive.

...

"..." Otto looked around, seeing nothing but an ocean stretching endlessly to the horizon.

"So... empty..." Otto commented, and Brynhildr shared the same opinion.

'Now... how do I find the source of the Sacred Gear in her soul?' he wondered, knowing that all souls and dreams have a core that can be tampered with.

"I think the core is underwater," Brynhildr suggested. With nothing to find above, their only choice was to dive down.

"Great... this is more troublesome than I expected," Otto rolled his eyes, activating his Rasiel to give him a better view underwater.

As he explored deeper and deeper into Ingvild's inner world, the light from the surface dimmed and the water grew colder. The further he swam, the more he felt the weight of the ocean pressing down on him. He navigated through the darkness, his vision augmented by Rasiel, which illuminated the depths around him.

He eventually came across a sleeping figure, curled up. He guessed it was Ingvild Leviathan.

'Should I wake her up?' he thought, aware that it might collapse her inner world.

"Can you even wake her up?" Brynhildr asked, as if reading his mind, understanding the condition Ingvild was in.

"A devil's sleep disease... It's known to be so rare in the underworld that only 1% of devils are affected by it. Once afflicted, they fall into an eternal sleep, never to wake up again," Brynhildr explained to Otto, even though she knew he already know this.

"With your soul absorption ability, you should be able to tamper with her condition."

"I don't think I can... I can only absorb souls, not cure some disease, and don't you think the amount of curse energy on her body is abnormal?"

"Of course it's unnatural. It's almost as strong as mine," Brynhildr replied. Both of them treated the Devil's Sleep Disease as some kind of a curse, since even the devils hadn't figured out a cure for it.

Otto reached his hand towards Ingvild's core, but encountered a force that stopped his advances.

"Figures..." he muttered. The waters around him started to flux its currents, trying to push him away.

"Is this the true form of her Sacred Gear?" Brynhildr asked, watching the current slowly transform into a giant eastern dragon made of water, with Ingvild at its heart.

'Would my Sacred Gear Canceller be able to stop this?' Otto wondered, realizing he was dealing with the spirit of the Sacred Gear itself rather than the gear. He tried using his Sacred Gear Canceller, hoping for an easy way out since his real body was still outside and anyone could enter and catch him.

"Tsk, useless..." The Sacred Gear Canceller was ineffective, as he had expected. He resorted to using the Blade of Tathagata.

"Dragons versus dragons... interesting," he muttered. "Eighth Form: Bakunawa." He readied his sword, performing a large vertical swing at Ingvild's dragon.

"Ha!" Swinging, the slash released hundreds of moon blades, each swarming around the sea dragon.

After the attack, Ingvild's dragon reformed, proving that slashes wouldn't work.

"Use me, darling!" Seeing that his attack did no damage, Brynhildr wanted to shine.

Hearing her, Otto summoned her spear, which blazed with purple flames.

"Disaster Flames," he muttered as the water around him began to boil. The spear glowed intensely, radiating heat.

The sea dragon started to thrash as if in pain, the water evaporating from the intense heat.

"This is some hot stuff..." Otto remarked.

"Wow, look at her!" Brynhildr shouted as Ingvild's clothes began to burn from the heat.

"... Seriously?" Otto sighed.

...

-Chapter End-