[Rolling Silver Gacha Ticket]
[Library Mind]
|Uncommon Trait|
Your mind is like a library, organized and efficient. Its memory, clarity, and speed are slightly improved.
I felt something change.
It’s… like I’d been seeing everything in 360p and all of a sudden it jumped to HD. Nothing was actually different in my mind.
It was just better.
A weird feeling, but a welcome one. Hopefully, it would help me deal with the Frenzied Flame madness in the future.
As much as I loathed using it… it was still the strongest card I had right now.
With any luck, I could rectify that soon.
Scion and Eidolon had apparently gone off the deep end, so my original plan of quietly accruing tickets with Jack dead had gone to shit.
With Cauldron as ostensibly an “ally” of sorts, that gave me quite a few more options for gaining tickets. Still, I didn’t trust them at all. Even with two supposedly good members now being proactive in the organization, they’d done so much insane shit that there was no way I could feel confident in them.
But… it’s not like I had a lot of leeway here.
With an unknown time limit hanging over my head, I needed to speedrun tickets until I got something strong enough to beat back Eidolon, the Endbringers, and Scion.
I could fight and kill Cauldron now if push came to shove. The consequences, though, would likely outweigh the short-term gain in tickets, even if they were guaranteed legendaries, which they might not even be.
Alexandria and Contessa were needed to help head the PRT. Plus, there was always the chance I’d lose Clairvoyant and Doormaker in the ensuing fight. I lacked any means of tracking them if they just stayed camped out on another Earth, so…
Damn it all…
I’d leave them as a temporary cache of tickets for now. There were other, lower-hanging fruits I needed to pick off first.
“I really didn’t want to do this, but…” I slid a hand over my face. “But… splitting up is a must at this point.”
I’d already gotten proof that my familiars could net tickets for me even if I was uninvolved, but…
I really didn’t want to risk splitting them up. Igris could revive himself, obviously. Prelati and Ridley couldn’t. I also had high hopes that Prelati’s Noble Phantasm would be useful against a depressed Scion, although that plan might’ve fallen through thanks to my own eldritch fuckery.
The Fool was still with Dinah, and I had Mr. Deeds as well. With Doormaker and a judicious amount of metaknowledge…
Fuck, I just had to risk it. I let out a long breath. There was a time for caution, but right now I just had to move.
“Dragon!” I yelled.
It didn’t take long for the power suit to descend from the sky.
“Leaving now?” The suit landed, and the average-looking gynoid woman strode out from it.
I nodded. “The reply to my demands?”
“We reached a consensus. You’ll have access to Doormaker portals as you see fit on Earth, but…” Dragon frowned. “They demand the right to prevent your entry into any Cauldron facility unless you provide a specific reason. Also, we request that you inform us if you want to use Doormaker to cross between Earths.”
“That’s fine.” I paused, then decided I might as well stir the pot a little and push Dragon further toward my side. “You… know they have a massive prison full of Case-53s, right?”
“Yes.”
My eyes widened at the downright thunderous look on Dragon’s face. Huh. They really had told her everything.
I wasn’t sure if she did it intentionally or if her gynoid body was simply that good, but she took a deep breath. “...I’m dealing with that situation currently. I’ve moved most of them to better accommodations on other Earths, and I’m seeking out help for those whose physiologies make their lives… difficult, to say the least. This may be a bit rude of me to ask, but do you have any powers that might help the Case-53s?”
“Not currently, no.” I gave her an apologetic look as I went over my current arsenal in my head. “If I get something in the future, I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you.” She gave me a small smile.
“Did Contessa say anything about Path access?”
“She agreed to answer any requests you may have. But I was told to warn you that her powers don’t mesh well with your own. Contessa also has other duties, so she can’t accept too many requests that would take too long or be too complicated.”
“That’s more than enough.” I let out a quiet sigh of relief. It would’ve been a pain in the ass if Contessa refused to help me directly. “I’m only going to ask her a few questions about some cape locations.”
“We’re in agreement then?” Dragon held out her hand.
“Yes.” I reached out and shook it.
For now.
I’m sorry, Dragon, but Cauldron would get their reckoning when the time was right.
Not even you were going to stop that.
Coming back to Boston from the desert had been a little strange.
Things were obviously tense on this side of the fence, with various PRT vans and turrets aimed at the entrance.
It felt a bit awkward pulling out the Desert Key and closing the sand dimension. Thankfully, Dragon’s presence seemed to keep them in check, so nothing happened.
I followed Dragon through the empty streets while my mind turned over the best strategies for accumulating tickets.
Igris, Ridley, and Prelati would need a bit more time to recover. Still, I was already getting a few ideas for what Mr. Deeds and the Fool could accomplish with Doormaker access.
There were also a few things I could handle in Boston.
The Travelers’ issues needed to be nipped in the bud.
“A penny for your thoughts?” Dragon asked.
I paused, because I didn’t really know how to explain to one of the few unequivocally true heroes in this damn universe that I was basically about to go on a killing spree.
For good reasons, of course, and damn if some of the villains I planned to kill didn’t deserve it. Still, it wasn’t lost on me that this was the same ends-justify-the-means logic I hated Cauldron for using.
I wasn’t hypocritical enough to call myself entirely sinless. Even so, I wanted to save this world from the stupid golden idiot, and it was too late to flinch now.
“You’re not gonna like my thoughts at all…” I let out a tired chuckle.
“I’m grateful for you helping me, but… I’m sorry in advance. I don’t think I can help you with certain plans of yours,” Dragon said. She looked grim. No doubt she could infer what I was planning to do.
There was no castigation in her voice, only a sad look.
“But… if it’s anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you.” I kept my eyes forward.
We stayed in companionable silence until we reached a parking lot.
It was completely wrecked. Gashes carved through the ground and the surrounding buildings, deep cuts left behind by a blade. Several blackened piles of flesh, scales, and severed limbs were strewn across the lot.
At the center of it all, a small dark sphere sat motionless in a crater, save for the slow writhing beneath its surface that revealed its fleshly nature.
“Is that…”
“Crawler, yes,” Dragon finished. “ We found him like this a few hours ago, and he’s remained motionless since. I believe his body completed some sort of adaptation for extraordinary defense, sacrificing nearly everything else.”
I couldn’t help but whistle. The piles of flesh and limbs scattered everywhere were massive, while the black orb that Crawler had become was barely the size of a basketball.
Igris had really done a number on the fucker.
Although the fact that the bastard was still even alive was a feat in itself.
“He hasn’t tried regenerating?” I asked.
“Well…”
The black orb writhed, and a small slit opened across its surface. Tendrils slowly began to creep out.
Before they could get far—
“Haiyah!”
A woman in knightly armor chopped down on the tendril with a katana.
My eyes widened in surprise. Ah. So that’s where Kiriichimonji went. Even more surprising, though, was the figure herself, someone I’d only ever seen in drawings.
“As you can see, Ms. Mouse Protector has been quite judicious in ensuring Crawler hasn’t had the chance to regenerate,” Dragon said dryly as we watched the hero do acrobatics while slicing off the appendage before it could do more than retreat back into the obsidian ball.
I saw Mouse Protector try to chop down on it again, but the blade didn’t even leave a scratch. Still, talk about good luck. I’d been wondering whether Crawler had killed her, or if he’d simply run.
“Alexandria specifically said it was ‘a gift’ for your cooperation,” Dragon said.
“I’ll take it, gladly.”
I strode over to Mouse Protector, who was still hacking away at Crawler’s ball form.
“May I?”
The hero twitched, then looked at me before glancing toward Dragon.
“He’s the cape who controls the Shadow Knight, Mouse Protector!” Dragon called out.
“Oh!” Mouse Protector nodded quickly. “Thanks for that! Good old Mousey was stuck in quite the mousetrap!”
Mouse Protector gave me the katana with a smile, and I wrapped my fingers around the hilt.
Then I triggered Sin Devil Trigger.
Mouse Protector let out a low whistle as the change rolled over me, and I immediately slotted in Minor Blessing.
“Strength,”
Power flooded through my limbs, even more than before.
I raised the blade and brought it down in one clean motion.
The orb split in two.
A scream tore out of it the instant the halves split apart. I didn’t stop there, driving the blade down again and again until the wind itself whipped with the force of each swing.
By the time I finished, what remained of Crawler was nothing more than a shredded, ruined mess.
[Feat Achieved! Crawler Butchered]
[+1 Gold Gacha Ticket]
I ripped the ticket.
[Nightkin]
|Elite Trait|
(Fate) - A special kind of vampire developed from the blood of a dead apostle. As a Nightkin, you possess superhuman physical and magical abilities and have rewinding regeneration as long as you have blood. You can get stronger and eventually evolve to the next stage of undeath by consuming enough blood.
I felt my blood sing as I changed. But the feeling of power wasn’t what interested me.
Evolve, huh…
Oh, this had potential.
***
Comments and Thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Likes are like a drug to me and boost my creative juices.
I have advanced chapters if you wanna read ahead.