Chapter 20: Operation Kidnapping

Quick heads up, I have no clue where some places are or if some peoppe were ever introduced so I'm just winging it. If they were addressed in the novels then I don't remember or never got to it. You'll see what I mean. If they were addressed, my bad.

Enjoy

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Himejima, Shinra, Doumon, Kushihashi, Nakiri. These are the 5 Principal Clans of Japan with power of the Five Elements and Shintoism Magic. They are also under tbe protection of the 5 Sacred Beasts.

Kushihashi protected by the Azure Dragon of the Wood element.

Doumon protected by the Black Tortoise of the Water element.

Shinra protected by the White Tiger of the Metal element.

Himejima protected by the Vermillion Bird of the Fire element.

Nakiri protected by the Yellow Dragon of the Earth element.

They rule over different parts of Japan and keep the "peace" for the Shinto Gods.

In the Hyogo prefecture of Japan. This is where one of the 5 Principal Clans of Japan is located. Specifically, the Nakiri clan.

In a large compound deep within the forests of Hyogo, lamps dot the many houses and paths of stone stretch from one side of the walled compund to the other. Many people walk the path, seeming to go home after a day's hard work, be it training, teaching, or administrative work. They are all people belonging to or are working for the Nakiri clan.

Young, middle aged, and the eldery alike, all of them have one thing in common. The aura of Buddhist magic.

Although the 5 Principal Clans all practice and are devoted to the magic of Shintoism, the Shinra and Nakiri clans also incorporate Buddhist practices such as Shugendo, which mixes the knowledge and practices of the other religions such as Buddhisim, Vajrayana and Onmyoudou into their training. The Nakiri more than the Shinra clan, delves into these practices.

Although the compound is heavily saturated in mana of the Earth element, the Buddhist aura in the compound rivals it in intensity.

5 kilometers away from the compound, on a hill overlooking the valley, 2 small figures look on.

"So, did you find her, Kuroka?"

Kuroka: "Nyaaa~, that was such a big pain nyaa. Atleast let me sleep before questioning me nya~."

I let out a sigh before I dissapear quickly from where I stand and reappear behind the lazy catgirl.

*CLAP*

Kuroka: "NYAA~~♡♡"

And like the young, awakening masochist she is, enjoys her spank.

Kuroka: "Nyaa~, no need to be so mean nya~, though I do appreciate it."

"Kuroka, you are in charge of cleaning the entire mansion for the next week. No food or naps until I see it sparkling and especially no Shirone. We'll be enjoying playing Smash Bros without you."

Kuroka straightens up and begins her report with the voice of a survivor of the battlefield.

Kuroka: "Nakiri Momiji, 5 years old. Youngest daughter of the current clan head of the Nakiri clan, Nakiri Ryou. Due to being born with a sacred gear, although unawakened, has been ousted from the clan who rejects anything not to do with the Shinto pantheon, atleast on paper.

Naikiri Ryou is extremely attached to his only daughter and arranged for her to live in the outskirts of the compound under protection of some of his most loyal subordinates, all of them peak High class beings. He visits her once a week and spends the day with her. He has just left earlier today so now is our best chance to move."

I nod to Kuroka and go over my options. I can take the kid away but to do so I would need to engage with some peak High class beings, not that it would be a problem, but it would alert everyone in the compound. Kuroka herself had some trouble snooping around due to the numerous wards put up by the Nakiri clan but got away without alerting anyone with her usage of senjutsu to blend into her surroundings.

As I'm going over my options, Kuroka speaks once more.

Kuroka: "Zell nya, why mess with a Principal clan when, as you said, you want to have good relations with the Shinto faction, and why this kid specifically nya? What's her sacred gear that makes you risk worsening what chances you already have with the youkai and Shinto nya?"

I contemplate whether to hide my reasons for targeting the girl, but she is already under oath. Not like she can reveal my secrets anyway so why not?

"History Breaker, Telos Karma. The girl is this generation's wielder, atleast, for now. It is too early for the Naikiri clan to know which gear she has until she would awaken it, but I know for certain that it's her who has it. Don't ask how I know, I just do.

I will be taking Telos Karma for myself, and if it means killing an innocent in cold blood to get it, so be it."

Kuroka is shocked into silence, 20% at the fact that I'll be killing a 5 year old in cold blood and 80% at the fact that a 5 year old is this generation's wielder of the Longinus, Telos Karma. It takes her a minute to recover and when she does she takes a cold, deep breath to calm her rapidly beating heart.

Shock, awe, and now, excitement fills her at the thought of having a Longinus user nearby. And more so at knowing that it's the person she submit to that will have it. But confusion follows.

Kuroka: "Ok, she has a Longinus, and you want it nya, but how will you get it nya? Last I checked, only humans and half-humans can have a sacred gear nya, much less a Longinus. The big guy up in Heaven made it so."

"That little kitty, is no problem at all. You see, sacred gears are attached to the soul, given to beings at birth. When they die, the gear is taken back by Heaven's system while the soul goes wherever the soul goes, Heaven, Hell, Limbo, whatever.

The key here is the soul itself. I have a little ability that I discovered not too long ago. The ability to consume souls and use them as a power boost. Just like we subconciously absorb mana in the air to empower ourselves little by little, I can consume souls to get stronger, while inheriting some memories of my target.

Now, what if I were to consume a soul with a sacred gear? Where does the gear go? How does the Heaven system extract it? The answer is, it's pulled out of the soul upon death and when the soul is moving into the afterlife.

Now if the soul is consumed instead of dying, and becomes a part of my power, shouldn't that mean that I inheret the gear connected to it?

I know my theory is very, very flaky, but it's worth a shot. If it doesn't work out, then fuck. I miss out on a Longinus. If it does though, sacred gears and Longinus are mine for the taking. Well, relatively speaking, I don't know if my soul could handle multiple sacred gears at once."

I don't plan on making consuming souls my main way to power up, although I asked to have Meliodas' demon powers, I don't know the drawbacks to consuming souls and I don't plan to make enemies out of the soul collector of this world, ie Hades, just yet. At the moment, he can man handle me and then some.

This will probably be one of the few times that I will use it in this world, well atleast until I'm strong enough that he can't say shit about it. Who knows what the future holds.

Back to the gears, I don't know if my soul is different from the people of this world, whether it's stronger or weaker or how it compares to others. Consuming souls may strengthen my own, but again, I don't plan to make enemies with Hades just yet.

"If I can take Telos Karma, then the difficulty of any and all my future fights are basically cut in half, atleast as long as my opponent isn't leagues above me. That is how strong this Longinus is, screw the True Longinus and Dragon Longinus gears. Especially in my hands, with multiple abilities at my disposal, I can topple anything in the future. Atleast, that is my belief."

Hopefully the upgrade ROB gave to this world didn't make every single god tier being nigh immune to the Longinus gears, that would just suck and push my plans back a ton.

Kuroka took some time to digest the info I just dumped on her, and as she comprehends the possibilites that I can make happen, her cheeks flush as she grows excited once more.

Kuroka: "Well then, let's get ourselves a Longinus nya~."

"Mm. You think you can nab her without alerting anyone?"

She tilts her head a bit and shakes her head.

Kuroka: "Nyo can do. Security is too tight. However, if I had a distraction. . . consider Telos Karma yours nya~."

I think over my options and nod at her.

"I'll suppress my aura as much as I can so that it doesn't register as a devil's aura. We're already in trouble with the youkai faction and I don't want to piss them off anymore than we may already have. Use the chaos to take her. If any bodyguards try to stop you, eliminate them in an instant and take the girl.

Meet back here in 10 minutes. I'll put you in the pearl with the girl and I'll dip out of here as fast as I can. The city isn't too far so I can reach it in a few minutes then lose them. Not the best plan, I know, but this our best chance to take the gear.

Let's go."

Kuroka: "Sir, yes sir nya~."

Kuroka does a little militray salute and takes off to fulfill her part. She's been well behaved for a while, I'll probably throw her some magical catnip. I womder if she'll like it and if she does, I'm curious how she'll end up. I'll clear space on my cameras later.

Throwing the random thoughts to the back of my mind, I throw a mask on and I jump down the cliff we were on and quickly make my way towards the Nakiri compound.

As I get closer, I begin to release my aura, peak of High class without releasing my devil aura, something I picked up thanks to Kuroka.

Immideately, the compound is on alert as I feel dozens of High class and Mid class beings closing in on me. I don't hesitate to rush at one of them and punch him in the chest, blowing him far away with a couple broken ribs.

A dozen or so people rush me with some idiots in the back yelling for my purpose in being here.

Ignoring them, I throw a punch to one guy infront of me knocking him into the group behind him and kick the guy to my right, taking advantage of my small frame with a roundhouse kick to the gut. He folds and I hop up and knee him to the face, knocking him back, sending some teeth flying.

A few of them start drawing weapons and run at me, while other stay back and begin casting magic.

I dodge through the sharp katanas and spears and the like, kicking and punching at vital spots they left open. Throat, temple, kidney, crotch. I ended up killing a few and crippling others, but oh well, sucks to suck.

I'm fighting off a group of knife wielders, when suddenly, I begin to feel really heavy and tired. I quickly look over and spot a small group chanting Buddhist prayers while enveloped in small golden light. I fight through the lethargy I feel, and quickly kick away my attackers and rush at them.

3 sword wielders block my path and I cast a quick fireball spell at them to distract them, sliding through one of their legs and approaching the chanters.

I throw a full powered punch but a glowing barrier stops me in my tracks, cracks slowly spreading throughout.

I push through but just as it's about to crack, I feel my instincts flare a real feeling of danger approaching from behind. I jump back quickly, narrowly avoiding a spear to the back of the head.

I land a few meters away, weaving through the weapons aimed at me and rolling from the many spells launched at me and the spikes erupting from the ground, finally getting my bearings.

I look back at the one who gives off a sense of danger, spotting a man in his early fiftys with barely greying hair, tall and well built, holding a red and golden spear. His aura screams mid class Ultimate.

???: "What is a child doing attacking my Nakiri clan? Do you think youself a god? Die and regret your choices."

It's as I'm about to make a witty comeback that I receive a message from Kuroka via her one way telepathy, a neat trick she picked up.

Kuroka: "Girl is secured nya, heading back now. I also lit the main clan building and its surroundings on fire, have fun nya~."

Hasn't even been 5 minutes, truly, she is my sercret weapon.

"Hey old man, I think you have more important things to worry about, like a burning house and your dying lineage."

I laugh at him mockingly and throw out some explosion spells into my surroundings, killing a few attacker who were too close by, while secretly casting body reinforcement and dip out as the Nakiri head roars in anger.

I would love to have a fight with the clan head of the Nakiri clan, but Telos Karma takes priority. I run full speed ahead through the forest, suppressing my aura and casting an invisibility spell on myself, sprinting towards the cliff where I came from.

Spotting Kuroka with a child over her shoulder, I sprint to her and pick her up in a princess carry in passing.

"Excellent work. I thought I would need to keep fighting for a while."

She gets comfortable before speaking.

Kuroka: "It wasn't all that hard, her bodyguards all rushed away when they heard the fighting start nya."

Wow, guess I was worried for nothing. Oh well, I got what I came here for.

"Cool. By the way, can you make some curry for later? Haven't had some since we last parted with Venelana, I'm craving it again."

Kuroka looks at me as if she's looking at an alien.

Kuroka: "There is 20 peak High class beings and an Ultimate chasing you, and your thinking about curry? Really?"

I shrug. "What? Is it so wierd that I'm hungry and craving food? Plus those guys can't even hurt me, so it's not like it matte—"

I tilt my head slightly to my right as a spear flys right past my left ear, piercing through a dozen trees before it halts and flys back at the profanity screaming old man who chucked it.

As it's flying past me again, I catch it in my left hand, jump and turn around chucking it back at its owner, before completing my turn amd continue sprinting off, not bothering to confirm if it hit.

"As I was saying, it doesn't matter. Still want that curry though. Extra spicy."

Kuroka rolls her eyes before nodding and I put her into the pearl. I take off in a different direction, zigzagging every hundred meters in an attempt to lose my pursuers.

I lose them after 10 or so minutes and dash towards the city of Miki.

Upon arriving, I run towards the suburbs of the area, turning down an alley amd quickly jump into the reality pearl.

I have lost my pursuers but they probaably won't stop searching for me regardless. Especially after they find that the girl is missing. I'll extract Telos Karma quickly and take off towards Kyoto, thankfully it isn't that far. I just hope this works.