I made my way towards the downed Red Dragon Emperor. It was time to extract his Sacred Gear and get out of this weird reality. I reached into my inventory to grab the Sacred Gear Extractor I had purchased earlier.
Except… It wasn't there!
"What the hell?" I said out loud. "Where is it?" I frantically started searching every metaphorical nook and cranny in my inventory! I couldn't find it!
"Something wrong, Layla?" Heather asked from nearby. She was sitting down, on some steps, next to Kunou and was carefully patting the fox girl on the back. Now that the fighting was over, Kunou had started sobbing quietly.
"The Sacred Gear extractor is missing!" I lamented. "I don't know how!" No one since the Ancient One had been able to mess with my inventory. And that was back when I was a low-leveled noob! It should be impossible now!
[I think I know what happened to it. I think your Sacred Gear…ate it. I'm pretty sure you know which one.]
'What!?' I exclaimed in my head. 'Why would it do that!?'
[Who knows… Try using your Gear on Issei though. See what happens.]
I supposed it couldn't hurt to try. I wasn't quite sure what I was trying, though. I reached down and placed my hand over his torso. I called on my Orb of Anywhere. I willed it to help remove Issei's Sacred Gear. To my surprise, a small purple portal opened up directly on top of his chest. I hesitated for a moment upon seeing it.
[Go for it! Stick your hand into the weird tiny portal! I'm sure you'll be fine…]
With the system's 'encouraging' words, I did just that. I shoved my hand inside the small portal above his torso. My arm sunk about halfway through before my fingers brushed up against something. It wasn't very big, about the size of a tennis ball. I grasped onto it and pulled! I felt a bit of resistance, as if the object I was holding didn't want to go with me. I tugged harder, and it yanked free! I pulled my arm all the way out of the small portal. It quickly faded away once my arm was out.
I looked at the object in my hand, and my eyes widened. It was a glowing green orb, giving off the same draconic signature that Issei had earlier.
"The Boosted Gear. I took it out just like that?" I asked out loud. Issei didn't even wake up. Not only that, but he was still alive as well! Did I now have the ability to remove people's Sacred Gears whenever I wanted to? With no repercussions?
"Is that what we came for, Layla?" Heather stepped away from Kunou and walked over. "That's what a Sacred Gear looks like outside of someone?" Heather asked. "I expected it to be more flashy or magical. It's just a boring glowing green rock."
"Life is often full of disappointments," I said sagely while nodding my head.
Heather deadpanned at me. "Uh huh… Says the incredibly beautiful immortal being blessed with her very own harem. You have a real disappointing life don't you?" Heather added sarcastically.
I had to admit, she got me there.
"Are we leaving now?" Heather asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, we can."
Nearby, Kunou's ears drooped when she heard that. "You're leaving!?" She exclaimed. Her nine tails sagged behind her. "Are you going to leave me behind?"
"The truth is, Kunou, Heather and I aren't from here. We're from another Universe. One that's not quite as messed up as this one. Why don't you come with us?" I offered. "Your mother is still alive in our home universe. There's also an adorable younger version of you."
Kunou's eyes widened, and her tails twitched in excitement when she heard my offer. "A better world where all of my people are still alive and not hunted? Please let me come with you!"
"Of course, you can!" I said before my eyes widened. I quickly stepped in front of both younger girls!
THRUM!!!
"No one will be going anywhere! I will not let you take my toys from me!" A spiteful voice rang out across the destroyed courtyard.
There was a flash of brilliant golden light from across from us. A familiar figure materialized in front of me. One my memories told me that I hadn't seen in hundreds of years!
My eyes widened…
It was my father. Although…
…Something about him felt off to me. Sure, he looked the same. He was a wise looking older man, with a long white beard and wearing a white toga. But he didn't feel the same. I couldn't sense him at all, actually.
He didn't come alone. There were more golden flashes from all around us. Over a dozen Angels, in their human vessels, appeared nearby as well. The two familiar signatures I was hoping to feel weren't among them. I noticed that Gabriel and Michael weren't here.
My father looked at me with a disturbing smirk on his face. "Look at you! Layla of the Fallen! You're a long way from home, aren't you? I wasn't aware that you had the ability to traverse Universes like I could… It does explain your sudden rise to power, though."
Transverse Universes? I frowned. "And how exactly do you know about me?"
He smiled at me and spread his arms wide. "Why? Because I'm God after all! The Alpha and the Omega! The creator of the universe!" The way he said it left some very sarcastic undertones that all the Angels around us missed.
"That's right!"
"Father is the greatest!"
"She's a Fallen? Let's kill her!"
A few of the Angels circling us started shouting out.
Kunou started trembling when all of the Angel's started shouting at us and letting out bits of their Holy Auras. It wasn't enough to harm me or Heather, but Kunou was feeling it.
I placed my hand gently on her head. Her fox ears were very fluffy and soft. "It'll be ok, Kunou. I bless you with my Light so that you might stand against its twisted counterparts."
Kunou's eyes widened when my Light Energy entered her body. The Angel's around her could no longer affect her with their Aura's. She looked at them all defiantly after that.
→Faith Energy +5!
Heather leaned in and whispered to me. "Layla? Is that really God? He feels weird." Because she was also blessed with my Light, Heather could feel what I could as well.
The toga-wearing man certainly looked the part, but he felt off. He felt like pure evil…
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I didn't think the man in front of us was who he had claimed to be either. I used [Observe] to be sure.
[M#%&I$#o - Level 40]
That clinched it. This was not this universe's God. It was an imposter. One talented enough in illusion magic to not only fool all of the Angels but also block out my upgraded [Observe]. Thankfully, he seemed to be affected by this Universe's power cap. No matter how skilled in magic he was, Level 40 wasn't much of a threat to me at this point.
Still though… I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. 'System, do the trade!'
[You got it. Commencing trade…and done!]
The Boosted Gear that was resting in my hand disappeared as if it was never there. In its place, two eyeballs appeared. They were purple and covered in black ripples.
The Rinnegan!
[You're lucky you have me! Hold the Rinnegan eyes up to your face and they'll fuse to your own eyes. Without me, you'd have to rip out your own eyeballs and you'd never be able to turn the Rinnegan off.]
I held the pair of eyes up to my face. I felt the two orbs in my hand vanish as I felt a burning sensation coming from my eyes! The sensation quickly faded though.
I opened my eyes expecting to have a drastic change in my vision. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't. Then again, my natural eyes were already far better than a human's. I did feel my body begin to change though. I felt a new type of energy flow through me!
[Passive Skill Unlocked: Senjutsu Level 1]
→Level 1: Increase the recovery of MP to 1 MP per second!
My eyes widened. Holy crap! I was getting a recharge of only 1 MP a minute before! Senjutsu was absolutely broken, and I loved it!
[Skill Gained: Six Paths]
→Allows you to use the Six Paths of the Rinnegan. Abilities scale with MP used.
[Skill Gained: Susanoo Level 1]
→Allows you to summon the skeletal frame of Susanoo to protect yourself.
If I was alone right now, I probably would have been jumping up and down and squealing in glee from both of those skills! I was starting to feel like a true gamer now that I had some crazy anime powers!
[The Rinnegan fusing with your eyes has leveled up your Observe skill!]
"Are you alright, Layla?" Heather asked when I paused for a few seconds after bringing my hand to my face. Kunou was also worried next to me.
"I've never felt better!" I admitted. I could understand why people were killing each other over these eyes in Naruto. The abilities they granted were just too amazing!
I snapped back to the current situation. I was still surrounded by over a dozen Angels and 'God' himself. Although with my [Observe] now at Level 4, I wondered if he'd be able to hide his identity from me now.
[Mephisto - Level 40: An Avatar of the Evil Deity Mephisto. He has come to this world to sow chaos.]
Mephisto? I was surprised to see such a big name in such a weak world like this one. Then again, the description said that this was simply one of his avatars. It was interesting that even he couldn't escape the power suppression placed upon the beings here though.
"What happened to the Boosted Gear you were just holding?" Mephisto, still disguised as Yahweh, asked me.
…
Mephisto was curious about what Layla just did. The Boosted Gear simply vanished from her hand one moment, and some powerful small objects appeared in its place. Before he could figure out what they were, the Fallen Angel immediately absorbed them into herself. What's more is that she started feeling immensely more dangerous to his senses after she did so. 'Just what did she fuse to herself!?' He wondered.
"Father, shall we kill her now?" One of 'his' Angels asked him.
Mephisto shook his head. "No, hold back for now." These Angels were too stupid to even sense the massive power difference between Layla and them. They were too blinded by their devotion to his disguise. He was sure that Layla would immediately dispose of them and then he wouldn't even be able to use these winged idiots to serve their only useful purpose!
…
I smirked at 'my father' before I spoke again. "You don't have to worry about the Red Dragon anymore. It's gone forever and never coming back. Instead, you should be worrying about yourself… Mephisto." I casually threw out his real name.
"MEPHISTO!" Heather shrieked behind me in shock. "That's one of the beings the Ancient One told me to never mess with!"
The surrounding Angels all looked confused at the name as well but didn't ask.
Instead of being angry at getting exposed. He just laughed. His head reared back, and he let out a disturbingly loud cackle! "Hahahahaha! Impressive! Truly impressive! It seems the rumors about you were true, Layla of the Fallen. Some Fallen Angel came out of nowhere and slew Belial! On top of that, you then freed all of the souls from Gehenna before other Hell Lords could seize the plane and all those souls for themselves! You essentially crippled that entire realm!"
"And why do you care about all that?" I asked.
His head snapped back forwards, and I was met with glowing red eyes. "I cared because I was planning to take Gehenna for myself one day! Without any souls, it's absolutely worthless!"
"That sucks."
He scowled at my disregard. "I don't like having my fun or plans ruined. And now, Layla, you have ruined both! I demand vengeance! I will have retribution!"
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