55 Going Close To Heaven

"Still look good," he murmured to himself. After distracting Griselda and Vasco, he slipped through the now-sealed door, shutting it firmly behind him.

"Who are those exorcists? You seem to know them," Brynhildr inquired, her curiosity piqued. She had already accepted the fact that Otto could see the future.

"The woman's name is Griselda Quarta," Otto explained.

"She's relatively well-known in the church and ranks among the top five strongest female exorcists. The older, overly muscular man is Vasco Strada. He's renowned as one of the most powerful exorcists and is often referred to as the church's 'killing machine.'"

"So, you encountered two of the strongest exorcists and just played with them?" Brynhildr remarked, not even impressed by Otto's nonchalant demeanor.

Brynhildr was also intrigued by Griselda—not for her combat abilities, but for the perverse transformation she seemed to have undergone. The sight of Griselda's tattered clothes and exposed breasts made Brynhildr question whether it was appropriate to discuss this with Otto at the moment.

"Bien, we have arrived..." Otto announced as they entered a room filled with a collection of holy swords. Three holy swords were sealed in a container covered with magic seals.

"It's considerate of them to label the swords," Brynhildr noted, reading the inscriptions beneath each weapon.

"Rapidly: the ability to grant speed.

Nightmare: the ability to cast illusions and control dreams.

Transparency: the ability to become invisible."

"These abilities sound incredibly powerful, don't you think?" Otto mused. He found it hard to believe that Kokabiel and his gang could have been defeated by the protagonists, given the absurd descriptions of these swords.

"I know Freed Sellzen, who would wield these swords in the future, was trolling when dealing with the protagonists. But to lose with them, damn, that's a huge L on him," Otto thought to himself.

"Mmmm... Maybe it's because only holy people can wield them, as a restriction," Brynhildr suggested.

"Yup, and I'll put these to good use," Otto nodded in agreement.

"If you're planning to use these on my body, won't my body break down? Since I'm, you know... a cursed spirit now?" Brynhildr wondered aloud, concerned about the potential consequences of fusing with holy swords.

Since, in a sense, cursed spirits are essentially entities formed by negative human emotions, they are highly susceptible to both holy and Shinto exorcism.

"Don't worry. Besides, didn't you ask me to become your daddy?" Otto cringed at his own words.

"..."

"Really?" Brynhildr was starting to understand his point. She realized that Otto intended to transform her into his offspring, leveraging his divine nature. Since Otto essentially possessed Divinity, the issue of holy power would become nullified.

For the creations of gods, Divinity acted as a master key, enabling the wielder to control anything. Holy power, on the other hand, was merely an ordinary key suited for specific items. This principle applied particularly to certain swords.

"Yeah..." Otto affirmed, unfazed by Brynhildr's questionable kinks, as long as they remained manageable.

As he touched the container holding the holy swords, the barriers protecting the holy artifacts instantly dispersed, allowing him to freely take the swords.

"Stealing someone's work is facile," Otto remarked, his voice dripping with casual indifference. The sound of a door creaking open behind him caught his attention, indicating that Griselda and Vasco were drawing near. He turned to face them, a confident smirk playing on his lips.

"What are you planning to do with those swords?" Vasco demanded, his eyes narrowing as he and Griselda closed the distance.

"I'm going to transform these swords into something far more valuable," Otto began, his tone calm and assured. "Rather than allowing them to become mere tools for igniting a war among the three factions." He brushed some imaginary dust off his clothes, maintaining his composed demeanor.

"You're starting a war by stealing those!" Griselda snapped, her glare intense. To her, Otto's actions seemed hypocritical, as he appeared to be the very spark he condemned.

"No, Mademoiselle," Otto replied, meeting her fierce gaze with an unwavering one of his own. "I'm going to keep them for myself. Think of it as me safeguarding them from falling into malicious hands." He gave a slight nod, emphasizing his resolve as he placed the three holy swords into his small dimensional storage.

"And why should we trust you?" Vasco's voice was filled with suspicion. He and Griselda had no reason to believe an intruder, especially one who had just stolen powerful artifacts.

"Fais-moi juste confiance, frère (Just trust me, bro)." Otto said, his hands clasped behind his back. His demeanor was almost serene, as if he had everything under control.

"Huh?" Vasco's face twisted in confusion as Otto was suddenly enveloped in a radiant golden aura, the air around him shimmering with a mystical light.

"Before I leave, make sure to investigate a priest named Valper," Otto advised, his voice carrying a tone of urgency.

"Now, send my regards to Xenovia and Irina. Until we meet again, Mademoiselle. Au revoir." He gave a courteous bow, his words hanging in the air. Valper, he knew, was the priest who had aided Kokabiel in the original theft of these holy swords.

"Hold on!" Griselda shouted, lunging forward as Otto's mention of Xenovia triggered a reaction. But her attempt was futile. Otto straightened from his bow and snapped his fingers, a gesture that activated his teleportation rune.

In an instant, Otto vanished with a poof, the sound of his teleportation echoing faintly in the now silent room.

"Is he an insider?" Vasco asked, his brow furrowing with concern. He already suspected that Valper was involved in suspicious activities within the church.

"Maybe, he got in so easily that none of the alarms went off." Griselda replied as she glanced around the room.

...

"Everything went smoothly," Otto smiled as he transformed back into his original appearance, ensuring he wouldn't be easily recognized and chased by the exorcists.

"You might as well be a thief rather than a knight that everyone admires," Brynhildr remarked, her excitement palpable as she anticipated Otto's next move.

"Hmph," Otto grunted nonchalantly as he strolled around the Vatican. The church was in an uproar, the theft causing a frantic search.

'Ah yes, the usual: find the thief,' Otto thought to himself, amused as he watched several priests questioning the visitors.

"Hello, visi—oh," a priest approached Otto, his eyes widening in recognition. The priest had seen Otto on TV and seemed starstruck.

"Is there something wrong, priest?" Otto greeted him respectfully, acting as if the situation had nothing to do with him.

"Oh no, it's just that I never expected the Trailblazer would be visiting Vatican City," the priest stammered, clearly excited. He momentarily forgot his duty of patrolling for the thief.

"Is that so? Then have a good day," Otto said, turning to leave. However, he noticed the priest continued to follow him.

"..."

"Is there something you want?" Otto asked, stopping to look at the priest.

"Uh—yes... Can I have your autograph, please?" The priest, a big fan of Otto after his victory in the festival, was nervous about approaching him directly. He didn't want to be rude or disturb Otto's apparent vacation.

"That's all?" Otto asked, slightly relieved but wary. He didn't want a stalker, and the priest's persistence was beginning to annoy him.

"Yes, sir," the priest nodded eagerly.

Otto quickly scribbled a fake autograph, handing it to the priest. He couldn't risk giving his real signature, aware that in a world where everyone possessed odd abilities, it could be used against him.

There was always the possibility that someone could use his autograph with malicious intent, like casting a voodoo spell or a curse on him.

"This is also why I hate being famous... I can't enjoy my everyday life outside," Otto complained, frustrated by the number of people recognizing him as The Trailblazer.

"Your blond, golden hair is literally a spotlight to them, you know," Brynhildr reminded him, pointing out that his striking hair was likely what attracted so much attention.

"I am beautiful as expected," he narcissistically stated, just as he sensed an immense holy presence nearby.

"..." Both Otto and Brynhildr were on high alert, suspecting the presence of an angel or some other holy being hidden nearby.

"Do you feel that?" Brynhildr asked, feeling the presence but unable to pinpoint its source or identity.

"There seems to be an angel near us..." Otto muttered, confused and wondering if the beings from Heaven were spying on him.

Otto half-expected a voice to proclaim, "God is always watching you."

"It must be on the level of a seraphim from Heaven—" Brynhildr began, but before she could finish, a radiant light enveloped Otto.

"!?" Otto felt a moment of panic, thinking he might be ascending to over heaven.

When the light lost its brilliance, Otto found himself in a place with a bright ceiling, unlike anything he had ever seen. The walls were made of shimmering, iridescent material, and the air was filled with a soothing hum that seemed to resonate with his very soul. He glanced around, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

"Am I dead?" Otto joked, already having a good idea of where he was.

'I don't even have a Sacred Gear... How can they even find me? Is it the ability that they can see?' he pondered silently.

"Father?" A sweet voice of a woman came from behind him, filled with a mixture of confusion and hope.

"Who are you calling a father?" Otto composed himself, turning around. He hadn't fathered any children, much less had any romantic entanglements, other than Brynhildr who doesn't have a body just yet.

'It must be because of his immense Divinity...' Brynhildr thought to herself.

"You are?" Otto asked, though he could not mistake the woman before him. She was Gabriel, one of the four great Seraphim in Heaven from the High School DxD universe.

"Is that you, father?" Gabriel asked, misunderstanding the situation. There was no chance an ordinary human could possess the level of Divinity she sensed, which was akin to that of the Biblical God, her creator.

"No, I'm not your father. And am I dead?" Otto replied flatly, continuing to joke around.

"You are not, Otto Apocalypse. We temporarily brought you to our heaven," a calm voice said from above.

'Michael?' Otto guessed, considering Gabriel's presence.

"It seems that I have unfortunately died, as I am now seeing angels..." Otto sighed dramatically, continuing his nonchalant act.

...

-Chapter End-