Chapter 27: The Sword
Death awoke the next day and smiled as he found Velvet still beside him, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder. She had already awakened, and apparently chosen to just remain there, rather then getting up and around. He could still tell that she was naked under the covers, since he could feel the length of her body trying to maintain as much contact with him as possible.
"Good morning, my beautiful snuggle bunny" Death leaned towards Velvet, pressing his lips to hers, and kissed her in a slow and deliberate manner, wanting to savor the kiss a bit rather then rushing it.
Velvet reciprocated the kiss with a slight blush, but was very happy.
Death had come to understand Velvet moderately well, and knew that while she certainly enjoyed sex, it wasn't the thing she most enjoyed. She liked acts of sensual intimacy that didn't necessarily lead to sex, because things like that made her feel more loved then just simple sex. They did have plenty of sex the previous evening, though, and she was even the one to initiate, rather then him inviting her to his room, so he certainly appreciated that.
"I love you, Velvet." Death stated to the girl when the kiss finally drew to an end.
"I love you too." Velvet agreed cheerfully "Can you hold me for a few minutes before we get up?" she suggested to him.
"I'd be happy too" Death said, using his arm that was already under her head to draw her in closer and to kiss her as before for the next few minutes before she finally, and with great hesitance, got up and went to Death's bathroom to shower and get dressed. Death discretely sent her out of the mirror dimension as she entered the bathroom, then he climbed out of bed as well and then he also left the mirror dimension and waited for his turn to use the shower.
Even if he didn't get to join her in the shower, Death still got a very nice view of Velvet's bare body as she climbed out of his bed and headed to the bathroom, so he had no complaints. Oh, he was totally wanting to have sex with her again, like the night before, but letting her depart was a sacrifice he was willing to endure to keep her happy.
Keeping her happy, in the long term, would keep him happy as well, after all.so for now he reined in his lust.
When he eventually heard the shower turn off, Death waited for Velvet to come back out, since she left her clothes behind when she went into the bathroom, meaning she would come out wearing a towel or nothing at all. Either way, it was a sight he would enjoy seeing, so for him it was a win-win situation.
When Velvet did emerge from his bathroom, she had a slight blush. but she still strolled out in her birthday suit. Death chuckled as he approached her and gave her another kiss on her lips before heading into the bathroom for his turn washing up.
He enjoyed that Velvet had only the smallest bit of embarrassment when it came to him seeing her naked, but didn't let it stop her from doing so. The normally timid bunny was a good deal more adventurous when they were alone together.
Death wasted no time and took his shower and got cleaned up and dried off before strolling back into his room where Velvet was waiting in her combat outfit to give him another passionate kiss before leaving to go about her day. The kiss was, of course, intense, and was followed up with them again declaring their love to each other.
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Once he finally said his goodbyes, he went about his morning rituals, providing breakfast to Team RWBY, Amber, Neo, and the Malachite Twins using his 'Foodie' semblance. He had not visited Velvet due to spending the night with her and he hadn't visited May since he had never been invited to her room, and even if he knew where it was, her Team Leader apparently hated him since the time he spoke to Gwen Darcy, so he planned to try to find other ways to spoil May and make her feel special.
After completing his morning traditions, Death headed up to Ozpin's office to discuss the sword.
Ozpin knew that Death would be coming and entered his office early to wait, thus he was there when Death entered "Good morning, Mr. Rose. You needed to discuss something sensitive?" Ozpin asked.
Death nodded and made the sword appear in his hands in a manner that displayed it to Ozpin "This sword cam into my possession yesterday. It's origin is a world called Gielinor, and it's power may be useful in permanently dealing with Salem."
"Big words." Ozpin answered, but seemed genuinely curious "But what does it do?"
"This sword was created by the mightiest god that protected Gielinor from other gods. It is called the Sword of Edicts, and that god, called Guthix, imbued the sword with laws that banished and locked out other gods from entering the world. Your reincarnation cycle and Salem's curse are both tied to the power of the brother gods, which this sword can expel and reject, if I successfully awaken it." Death admitted to Ozpin "And then as long as I live, or as long as I will it to be so, you will not be able to reincarnate, and should Salem be killed, neither will she be able to resurrect. It's possible that even the relics will cease to be functional once this sword is activated." Death explained to Ozpin nonchalantly "Most importantly, the spawning process of the creatures of Grimm are tied to the power of the brother of darkness, meaning that though the creatures of Grimm are likely to survive, they would no longer be capable of replenishing their numbers. I suggest a small scale test using one of the relics to see if it's power can by sealed before I try using it on the whole world. If the relics power cannot be sealed then it just means that the Brothers are higher tier gods then Guthix, and wont be stopped from entering Remnant if they really want too"
"If that's the case, if they are higher gods and the relics cannot be sealed with it's power, then wouldn't that be the same with Salem, myself and the Grimm?" Ozpin asked Death with curiosity.
"No. I believe that the relics were infused with laws by the brother gods. that is a wholly different tier then your reincarnation, Salem's immortality, and the power that generates the Grimm. these should be the brothers casually wielding their powers. Such casual power use with no laws infused into it to back them up should be blocked by the Sword of Edicts power, even if the brothers are gods of a higher tier."
Death had come to this conclusion after sending an avatar into an Instance Dungeon to view the swords description inside it, and he had confirmed that this sword was the true Sword of Edicts and not just a powerful copy.
Though Guthix had died, the laws he left remained infused within the Sword, just waiting for someone that could activate them and tie the tenets of Guthix to his own life and to a new world.
"This plan, it is dangerous, I suppose?" Ozpin guessed.
"Of course." Death Verified "I'm not a high tier god like Guthix, so the sword of Edicts cannot casually be activated with a wave of my hand. I'll probably have to remain in my Reaper Form while I am activating it for longer then I've ever held on to that form before to remain safe. This means I'll live, but I may be incapacitated for a while and I'll lose access to the Reaper form, probably for decades, if I am lucky. If I am unlucky, then centuries. I wont die, though, thanks to my reaper form and my semblance."
Frankly, Death felt the cost was still fairly high. The invulnerable state that came with his Reaper Form would have been immensely useful against Salem if he had to fight her, but then she would still be immortal and no matter how many times he killed her she would keep coming back.
As painful as the sacrifice of his reaper form was, it was still probably worth it in the long run. After all, did he really have to fight Salem? With the curse negated, she would eventually die of old age, probably. She was part Grimm, though, so that could take an extremely long time.
Well, he figured he would manage somehow. He still had his Doom Armor state. While in that state he was not completely invulnerable like he was in his Reaper Form, it was still quite resilient, especially against magic, so he might have a chance even against Salem if he was forced to fight her, and he would not necessarily have to fight her alone.
"Is that a price that you are willing to pay, young man?" Ozpin asked Death, feeling a bit hopefully about this plan.
"I need to have a talk with those closest to me first, but then yes, I'll do it" Death agreed and made the sword of edits that he held disappear again "Since we still need to confirm whether or not Leonardo Lionheart is a traitor, I suggest using the relic of knowledge for the test run."
"The problem with that is that the spring maiden is missing" Ozpin pointed out to Death "Unless Miss Arc is ready to come forward now?"
Death chuckled when he heard Ozpin say that "How long have you known?" he asked.
"Since the day that she first arrived at Beacon" Ozpin admitted "She wasn't trained to conceal her magic, so she was basically a giant ball of mana that someone at my level could easily identify."
"Well, damn." Death chuckled "I'll have to talk to her about training to hide her magic them. Maybe ask Amber for some pointers."
"Don't worry, though. I have no intention of interfering with her, but do let her know that she can also come to me if she wants some more lessons." Ozpin offered again "She may have grown strong, but it's still a bit...inelegant...One can easily tell that she was self-taught."
"Well, I appreciate that you haven't exposed her yet" Death insisted.
"I had no reason too, Mr. Rose." Ozpin insisted "Unless Salem shows up personally, Miss Arc being a maiden is extremely unlikely to be exposed. My main reason for collecting the maidens is to help them to grow strong enough to resist Salem's schemes, but letting more people know their identities also increases the risk of Salem identifying them. Miss Arc, however, is plenty powerful even without exposing her identity. so not tying her down works instead to help keep her safe, a luxury Maiden's normally don't have when they are still weak."
Death nodded, thinking that his explanation made sense "Anyway, sir, can you arrange for one of my Avatars to have transportation to Mistral? If you do that I'll be able to travel there with whoever I want too in the future, and bring Neo there to test out whether the relic can be sealed."
"Understood" Ozpin agreed "That should give you plenty of time to discuss things with your friends. I'll message you on your scroll once I finish the arrangements."
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