-----Hanzo-----
But there's no point thinking about that now. This Game's almost over. After all, Io is the final barrier standing between them and Master. And I've never seen Io lose a fight to anyone except Master.
-----Io-----
Standing atop of Master's Keep, I find myself thinking back on my dreams. I've never told anyone about them, not even Master. I've had them all of my life, but they'd never really been quite as clear as they were before meeting Master and becoming his Queen. Afterwards I began to recall the details a bit better.
Wandering through a broken cities filled with nightmarish creatures wielding massive weapons. The insatiable thirst for blood. An empty pit in the depths of my heart and soul as I sought out my chosen Successor, whatever that meant.
The Gaol of the Mist, The Lost, The Queen, The Queenslayer, all kinds of terms and images with disjointed connections and incomplete context. But one thing I did know for certain, was that I steadily became stronger as I "remembered" the dreams better. In those dreams, I was a Vampire, but not a normal Vampire.
I was not a supernatural being born of Magic, I was the product of Human Scientific advancement. The Revenant Program. I didn't quite see how it all fit together, until after we moved into the Flauros Estate. Then I began to have waking dreams that would drive me to train. The waking dreams came to me more often when I trained, and I made great progress with wielding my halberd and my magic.
I would adapt the techniques I "remembered" from my dreams and recreate my Ichor abilities with my Blood Magic. And as I continued training, I began to understand the context of my dreams.
In another world far from here, there was no such thing as magic or supernatural beings. There were only Humans and the never ending march of Scientific Progress. Eventually, a medical breakthrough led to the creation of the BOR (Biological Organ Regenerative) Parasite, but then the Horrors showed up.
This led to the BOR Parasites being coopted for military applications to create an army of near-immortal super soldiers to fight against the Horrors, but even with the power of the Revenants, it wasn't enough to fend off the Horrors. So, a new type of Revenant was created under the direction of Juzo Mido, this project was known as Project QUEEN.
The only test subject for Project QUEEN was a girl named Cruz Silva, she was basically perfect as far as Revenant's go. She possessed virtually every conceivable power that a Revenant could possess, and then some. For a great time, the presence of Cruz Silva as the host of the QUEEN BOR Parasite led to great breakthrough's for Revenants and Humanity alike, but sadly she was ultimately consumed by her Bloodthirst in the end, becoming a new Calamity, "The Queen of The Lost".
The new war against "The Queen" led to an even greater need for new Revenants, even dead children were being drafted into the ranks of the Revenants for the war against The Queen. The war eventually came to an end during the final battle, Operation Queenslayer, where The Queen was finally struck down.
But that is not where things ended for Cruz Silva. In the final moments of her life, she regained some semblance of her sanity and used her power as The Revenant Queen to forge new, special Revenants. It seemed that she knew that her Immortality was so great that even with the destruction of her BOR Parasite and her heart, she would still ultimately revive, a True Immortal in that sense.
And so, a plan was devised to carve her body up into numerous pieces and bond these Relics to Revenants with sufficient compatibility to keep The Queen's Relics suppressed. These "Successor's" would be kept isolated from their fellow Humans and Revenants, willing prisoners and wardens to prevent the return of The Queen.
Cruz Silva used her power to form a series of "Attendant's", Revenants formed in the image of herself and the nurse who stood by her side and gave her hope and comfort, Karen Amamiya. These "Attendant's" would be given the role of standing by the side of The Successor's to keep them company, to give them hope, and provide them comfort. To ensure that they would not suffer alone in their isolation.
Among these Attendant's was a woman named "Io", who was given a special role as Attendant's go. She, I, was the Attendant to the First Successor, The Successor of The Blood. The very Revenant who struck down the frenzied Queen at the end of Operation Queenslayer. His filtration mask had been damaged by an attack from The Queen which resulted in his exposure to the Queen's Miasma, which drives any Revenant exposed into Bloodthirst and mutates them into The Lost.
Although, given the potency of The Queen's Miasma at such a close distance, they'd likely have become a Greater Lost outright. So, with seemingly nothing to lose, they gambled on a Hail Mary and plunged their Ogre-type Blood Veil into The Queen's chest and drained her dry of her Blood.
Normally, this would've been the end of them, but against all odds, they survived and became The Successor of The Blood.
Anyways, time passed, Io the Attendant found her way to The Successor of The Blood, and they journeyed together to recover their memories as Io had forgotten her past and her purpose during her wandering, only seeking out her Successor by instinct.
Along the way, they made allies with other Revenant's looking to uncover the mysteries of The Gaol of The Mists, the source of Blood Beads, and eventually stumbled onto the existence of The Successor's and then sought to uncover the truth behind them.
At the end of it all, Io had fully restored her memories and chose to become The Successor of The Queen. She absorbed all of The Queen's Relics and effectively became The Queen Reborn, but unlike Cruz Silva, she was able to keep her Bloodthirst in check and ended the threat of Bloodthirst for all remaining Revenant's within the confines of The Gaol, which was produced by Gregorio Silva, Cruz's father who also became a Successor.
However, it was revealed that The Gaol of The Mist wasn't a prison meant to keep Revenant's and Human's trapped within, it was a defensive barrier meant to keep The Horrors that had overtaken the outside world out. Unfortunately, due to the machinations of Juzo Mido, Gregorio Silva had become consumed by Bloodthirst and had to be slain, but this would've led to The Gaol collapsing and letting The Horrors inside.
However, Io, who had become The Queen Reborn, was able to take Gregorio's place and maintain The Gaol in his absence.
While I don't quite understand the situation, I know that I've inherited that Io's power. I may not be a proper Attendant, but I can't help but feel like it's fate that I've taken on such a similar role as her in the end. Especially given the similarities between her Successor and my Master.
While ruminating on these things, I see Riser Phenex and his Queen Yubelluna approaching. Hmm, I wonder if I should tell Master about my dreams sometime? It always feels like he has an answer to this sort of thing. Later though, first I need to dispose of these pests coming to pester him.
Unfurling my wings, I take to the air and pull out my Halberd. It's not quite Dammerung, but it'll do for what I have in mind. "Halt Riser Phenex and Bomb Queen. You are trespassing on the domain of my Master. I will permit you the opportunity to surrender. Should you decline, you will face the appropriat consequences."
-----Riser Phenex-----
Watching Lilu's Queen pull out that massive fucking halberd again, I have to admit that I'm impressed with her. Surely she knows that trying to face both of us at once is futile? Or does she have some trick up her non-existent sleeve?
"Hmph, to dare to order Riser Phenex to surrender without a fight? You are quite audacious aren't you Io? Does your Master permit such audacity from his servants on a regular basis?"
I get the distinct impression that I really shouldn't have said that as the atmosphere becomes charged with an overwhelming sense of danger as such unfiltered bloodlust, the likes of which I've never experienced before practically slams into me like a tidal wave.
"Very well, you die slow then overgrown Kentucky Fried Chicken." She says. What the fuck is "Kentucky Fried Chicken"?
Yubelluna however seems incensed by Io's proclamation as she exclaims "did you just compare my King to some cheap fast-food product?!"
Oh, that's what that means.
"I've seen him in action. I'd say that it's an apt description given how fast he finishes and his sperm levels do seem rather miniscule compared to my Master." Responds Io. Oh that's it. No one calls me a quick shot!
Not even bothering to waste words, I decide to respond to that insult with the strongest fireball I can muster and launch it at her. Yubelluna times her attack well and casts multiple exploding orbs of magic to coincide with my attack. Io is clearly overwhelmed by the speed of the attack as she doesn't have time to respond.
The resulting explosions engulf her figure completely, although something feels off.
Then the smoke clears and reveals Io floating in place without so much as a singe mark or ruffled hair out of place. Oh, it's not that she didn't have time to respond, it's that she didn't deem our combined attack worth the effort to dodge or block.
"Yubelluna? This could be a problem."
"I agree my lord. She just took your strongest attack head on like it was nothing. I didn't even perceive the deployment of defensive magic. Maybe that halberd is some sort of anti-magic Sacred Gear?"
"No it isn't. It lacks the distinctive aura of a Sacred Gear, it's just an ordinary mundane halberd, well ignoring it's stylistic design that is."
Then, Io does something strange. She begins leaking blood from her back that forms into a number of orbs above and behind her head. Then the orbs morph into strange lance-like shapes and seemingly crystallize. The crystallized lances then begin to rapidly rotate, then launch out towards us at high speed.
Yubelluna invokes a defensive barrier while I just decide to tank it like I normally do. This proves to be a slight mistake on my part as the lances rip clean through me. For whatever reason, it feels like my ability to regenerate is slightly diminished. As for Yubelluna? The lances ripped through her barrier as if it didn't exist and punched clean through her, dealing massive damage to her.
Thankfully she's carrying a bottle of Phenex Tears and is able to quickly recover, but that's a pretty big problem. Phenex Tears are expensive for a reason, so to have been forced to use even one is a bit painful.
But more concerning is the fact that those lances penetrated her defenses so easily. Sure, Yubelluna may not be a specialist when it comes to defensive magic, but she's still my Queen. This means that even her weakest spells should still be quite potent compared to a regular Devil due to having the magical boost of a Bishop. Not to mention she also possesses the natural defensive properties of a Rook, so for those lances to not only penetrate through her barrier and her actual body with such contemptuous ease?
"Yubelluna. Those lances are a problem. We should focus on evading them if she uses them again."
She looks at me in confusion before I respond. "Something about them is able to weaken my regeneration. Not much mind you, but if I'm hit by them too many times, they may be able to overwhelm me."
She then nods in understanding as we spread out. Those lances are powerful, but they have a pretty distinct weakness. They can only be roughly fired forward, so by splitting up, she can't pepper both of us with them, she'll have to make a choice. If she turns to face on of us, she'll be exposing herself to the other.
Io seems to be deciding on which of us to focus on before she decides to focus on Yubelluna. A bit surprising, but if she's going to leave herself open like that, well it would be foolish not to capitalize.
I rush in while she prepares another volley of those lances to fire at Yubelluna, but before I can hit her, I'm suddenly bound by some sort of cord.
"Now now Riser, don't you know that it's better to get permission to hit a girl up from behind? You clearly need to be taught a lesson in manners and about respecting women." Says none other than Lilu Flauros who managed to sneak up behind me.
What the fuck is this damn cord?! I'm trying to burn it off of me, but every time I muster my magic, the cord starts to glow purple and drains my flames away. What the actual fuck?!
"What is this Lilu?! What-" Wait a second. This cord has a rather distinctive aura... a Sacred Gear?! One that drains an opponent's energy?! I've heard of this. "[Absorption Line]?! Where the hell did you get your hands on this?! I know this isn't your natural Sacred Gear!"
Lilu then begins chuckling to himself before responding. "I happened to find this neat little toy in a place called Kuoh, Japan. It's not like the dumb fuck who owned it was using it, so I took it. I really should thank Uncle Azazel for letting me borrow one of his Extractor's without permission."
Lilu's got one of those so-called "Sacred Gear Extractor's"?! That explains a few things. Still, [Absorption Line]'s owner was in Kuoh?! As in the place where Rias is currently busy roleplaying as a high school student?! Shit, if she realized she had a Vritra-type Sacred Gear such as [Absorption Line] within arms reach and didn't snatch it up when she had the chance, she'd likely pop a blood vessel.
There aren't many Sacred Gear's out there that concern me outside of the Longinus-class Gears, but the Vritra-type are definitely up there. Especially this one. It's basically my hard counter due to its ability to drain an opponents energy.
"What do you say we let the girls have their fun while we duke it out like men?" Lilu says before he starts spinning me around like a fucking yoyo and then launches me into the air.
After a few seconds, I stabilize myself as Lilu reaches my altitude. Then he pulls some straight bullshit as he busts out even more Sacred Gears. "Impressed? I though the Vritra set was so nice, I just had to have them all!" Shouts Lilu. Fuck...
-----Clotilda Siegert-----
Huh, this Knight of Riser's, Kalamine I believe, she's not bad. A little rough in her form and handling, but she may be worth training after all. Although, it's probably time to wrap this up since Master's decided to take the field. "Karlamine, you've got potential. We should do this again sometime. Unfortunately, it seems that playtime's over."
Karlamine looks at me in confusion but before she can question me, I pull out my Gae Bulg and toss it at her. She tries to dodge, but unfortunately she doesn't have any sort of probability manipulation to avoid Gae Bulg's curse. Drawing it from her heart, I sit back and watch the others conclude their fights.
-----Hildegard Halphas-----
Master's fighting Riser? I guess he got annoyed or something. Seeing Chloe bust out Gae Bulg, I take the hint to wrap up my fight with this Siris chick. She's alright as far as using that Zweihander goes, but I'm not really much of a teacher. Maybe Chloe'll take her? Using my Ice Magic, I form a number of Ice Swords that spin around me, kinda like that one guy from that game, what was his name again? Virginia or something?
Anyways, I launch my swords at the Knight and skewer her. "So Chloe? What's your opion of this Siris chick? You planning on taking her in too?"
"Hmm, she seemed decent. Her footwork could use some improvement though. Her posture also felt a bit off. It all depends on how generous Riser's feeling after he gets his ass handed to him by Master."
True. If Master's personally made a move, Riser's in for a bad time. Master tends to get rather cruel when it comes to his enemies. Then there's the Vritra-type Sacred Gears which are basically the bane of the Phenex's due to the mechanics of their power suppression and cursed flames countering the Phenex's vaunted Immortality. Given that Riser Phenex is notorious for using his Immortality as a crutch to bulldoze his way to victory, he's about to have a bad time.
Also "hey Chloe? Do you remember the name of that guy with the spinning swords from that game? I want to say 'Virginia', but that feels off."
Chloe looks at me with thinly veiled annoyance. "It's 'Virgil' you block head. I swear, how are you so bad with names?"
-----Jin Lanfen-----
Huh. Guess we're done here? This Ravel girl is in desperate need of some training. Her control over her flames is so extremely poor that it's not even funny. I've read up on the Phenex's and know that they specialize in Fire Magic, and this girl's supposed to be a Bishop, so her magic's even more potent, but this is just awful.
Then again, from what I know of Riser's previous Rating Games, Ravel never really took place in any of the fighting. I guess either Riser never bothered to use her as a combatant, or she didn't see the need? I don't know. But this is unacceptable. I know that Master fancies her, so if she's going to be a part of our Family, she needs to be able to put out decently, inside and outside the bedroom.
With that in mind, I decide to give her a lesson on proper Magic Control as I seize control over her own flames, and turn them against her. Obviously as a Phenex, using fire against her is stupid, but Devil's for all of their power still need to breath air. So, locking her in a cage of fire, I burn away all of the oxygen in her surroundings and wait for her to suffocate.
-----Isabela-----
What the shit just happened?! Siris and Karlamine just got the fucking floor wiped with them and Ravel's trapped in a prison of flames. And as if that wasn't annoying enough, these damn skeletons won't. Stay! DEAD!
Sure, Xuelan and I can smash them apart all we want and can take more than a few hits that the other girls can't, but we aren't exactly regenerators like Riser and Ravel, so there's only so much punishment we can endure.
Eventually, Shuriya, Ile, Nel, Ni, and Li are done in by the continuous assaults of the bone giants. As for Miya? That crazy purple-haired psycho's been pressing her into a corner for a while now.
-----Kobayashi Makoto-----
Ugh. Why is everyone else getting to have fun with actual opponents while I'm left with the small fry?! Shit, the damn catgirls looked like they'd put a proper fight, hell I'd have taken on the little brats with the flaming chainsaws gladly, but no! I get stuck with the little girl with the stick!
I mean, she's actually pretty decent with the stick, well the staff. I suppose I shouldn't be that rude, but given having missed out on the opportunity to fight the chainsaw twins, I feel kind of disappointed. Is this what it feels like to be cucked? Now I understand why Master hates the feeling.
Anyways, it looks like we're wrapping things up here, so I drop into an Iai stance and wait for her to come at me. Predictably, she takes the bait and comes at me only for me to quickdraw my katana as I dash past her. I then flick the blood off of the blade and click it back into its scabbard just in time for the staff user's upper half to fall away from her lower half.
-----Lilu Flauros-----
I let out a satisfied smirk as the girls finish off the rest of their opponents, minus Io. She's clearly having her fun with Yubelluna, so I may as well keep Riser busy.
-----Yubelluna-----
2 Bishops, 2 Rooks, and 8 Pawns of Riser Phenex: RetiredSeeing that message pop up really emphasized just how badly we screwed up. At this point, it's just me and Riser left while Lord Flauros's whole damned Peerage is seemingly still in the fight, and we haven't even seen the full extent of his Peerage's capabilities.
Meanwhile, Io's definitely toying with me. She keeps harrying me with those damn crystal blood lances of hers while occasionally launching ice spikes and fireballs at me so I can't concentrate enough to conjure any worthwhile explosions.
Shit! What the fuck do I do?! Thankfully, it seems I no longer need to worry about that as I'm suddenly impaled from behind. As I'm fading out of existence and being sent out of the Dungeon, I turn to see a second Io, who is the one responsible for impaling me. She can fucking duplicate herself?! That's some serious bullshit!
-----Lilu Flauros-----
1 Queen of Riser Phenex: RetiredHuh. Guess Yubelluna wasn't all she was cracked up to be if Io was able to take her out that fast. Maybe that's not really fair due to Io being kind of ridiculously overpowerd, but Yubelluna is literally called the "Bomb Queen" because of her crippling overspecialization in Explosion Magic.
Seriously, she's like Megumin-lite with how bad it is. Then again, her Explosion Magic's actually pretty decent, but it's clear that she's got issues that arise from her overspecialization. Shit, a sandbagging Akeno nearly took her out OTL and wouldhave taken her out if she hadn't used a Phenex Tear.
Io doesn't really suffer from that kind of problem and has plenty of ways to handle a variety of situations. She kind of decided to take a "Jack of All Trades" route, and proceed to be a "Master of All".
Also, I'm almost certain that I caught sight of her using [Purging Thorns]. Then she fucking duplicatedherself?! Okay, is she seriously a reincarnation of Io from Code: Vein?! That was NOT in the CYOA.
Okay, I may have taken some liberties when I was fiddling with your Retroactive History. [The Gamer System] is a pathway to many possibilities that some consider to be... Unnatural.Really? You're paraphrasing Palpatine Sara? How about an actual answer?
Okay, the short answer is that technically she only resembled Io from Code: Vein in the CYOA. But once you authorized Retroactive History, I was able to use the connection between you and your Harem brought on through [Harem Love] to make some... Adjustments... To the backstories of some of them. Namely I made CYOA Io to be a reincarnation of Code: Vein Io and granted her the ability to replicate Io's Blood Codes, Gifts, etc.I see. That's pretty awesome. Anything else I should know about you having fun with my Harem's alt-history?
...
I may have made some minor adjustments to characters whose backgrounds could be identified.
Kobayashi Makoto may have inherited some of Saeko Busujima from Highschool of the Dead.
Luvia Hallbrook may have inherited some of Celestia of Life from Last Origin.
Yanagimoto Satoko may have inherited some of Hirume of Heavenly Incense from Last Origin.
Jack may get a bit of Jack the Ripper from F/GO.
Arata Izumi may get a bit of Mizuki Yukikaze from the Taimanin series. And her whole team of Church Exorcists are basically all Taimanin characters.
Tamamo no Mae also got a bit of her F/GO stuff.
Should I be worried about any of this?
It shouldn't be a problem.Well then, back to the fight. How do I want to do this? I could use my [Mystic Weapons], but I don't want to accidentally trap Riser's soul in a Soul Gem.
I could just fry Riser with [Blaze Black Flare], but that sounds kind of boring. Fuck it, I'll just use Light Magic.
With that, I once more rip off Patry from Black Clover and copy one of his spells.
"Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction." With that, I conjure a handheld Sword of Light and rush at Riser. Riser, sensing the danger of Light Magic, decides to dodge my strike.
I follow up in pursuit and conjure several Light Arrows of Judgement to take shots at him. Obviously, he tries to dodge, but as fast as he is, light is faster.
"Gah!"
Yeah, you may be tough, but you're still a Devil. And Devil's hate Light Magic. Hurts like hell.
He responds in anger by trying to fry me with hastily conjured fireballs, but then I get extra cruel.
"Light Magic: Light Whip of Judgement." With my newly formed Light Whip, I smack all of the fireballs well before they reach me and cause them to detonate prematurely.
Then the whip catches him on the back swing. "Gah, fucking hell that hurts!"
I bet it does. then I try something. See, I remember reading something about Vritra's Absorption Line being able to transfer energy to Saji's allies. Can it transfer Light?
With that thought in mind, I bind Riser once more and then try to channel Light Magic into Riser's body.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
It takes a while, but having raw Light Magic pumped straight into you will ruin any Devil's day.
Riser Phenex: Retired.
Victory goes to: Lilu Flauros!
Exiting Dungeon!
And with that, we're returned to the Training Field right as rain.