Masashige Kusunoki (I)

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Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

500 Power Stones = Extra Chapter

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She'll probably make it to the peak of Ultimate-Class soon, but the question is how she's supposed to go beyond that? I'm not sure the tools she currently has at her disposal will be enough on their own. 

Takauji scratched his chin as he and Raynare started to get dressed, wondering if there was anything he could do to push the Fallen Angel towards his level. 

And eventually, something clicked. 

That could work. 

"Raynare," he called out to her. 

"Yes?" 

"Do you want my eyes?" 

"I'm sorry… could you repeat that for me? I think I misheard you or something." 

"My eyes, do you want them or not?" He repeated just as plainly, as if there were nothing wrong with what he was saying. 

"Uhhh… why are you asking me this exactly?" His attitude did little to ease her confusion. 

"My eyes are able to read the flow of Mana itself, including that of those around you, if you had them it'd be much easier for you to comprehend, counter, and create spells." 

"That sounds great and all, but what exactly do you mean by giving your eyes to me? Do you mean like through surgery or what?" 

"No, I'll just take your eyes out and put mine in." He gestured with his fingers. 

"That sounds… insanely painful." She shuddered a little. 

"You won't feel a thing, naturally I'll numb your sense of touch before I do it." 

"Even so, what do you plan to do about your eyes once you've given them?" Raynare couldn't imagine him willingly going blind for the rest of his life. 

"That's easy." Takauji channeled a bit of Mana into his fingers, reaching into his right eye socket and plucking one of his eyeballs out without hesitation. Understandably causing Raynare's stomach to churn. "I'll just grow a new one."

But in a matter of seconds, a new one instantly grew in its place. 

"See? Easy as pie." Originally it would've taken a full day to regenerate, but that was before he had obtained Fafnir's blood, now his regeneration had taken a step further getting close to the level of the Phenex's. Of course, you couldn't actually call it flat out [Immortality] since he would die if his heart were to be pierced, or his head were to be chopped off. 

"It's certainly enticing, but why are you even giving them to me in the first place? Just so you know this isn't going to make for your month of absence–" 

"I know, that's not the point. The point is you're starting to reach the upper echelons of strength in this world, and the higher you go the harder it becomes to progress, which is why I want to make sure your foundation is as strong as it can possibly be when the time comes." 

Bloodlines, natural talent, Sacred Gears. As unfair as it all was, they were undeniable factors that determined one's success. 

"Alright then…" She finally accepted. "But you better have not been lying when you said it wouldn't hurt." 

"I wouldn't dare." He approached her, Raynare flinching a little as she felt him reach for one of her eyes. But as promised, she didn't feel a thing, granted the sensation of having half your eyesight disappear all of a sudden was a little jarring. 

It only took a few seconds for him to finish transplanting both eyeballs, Takauji covering her eyes with his hand as he imbued some of his [Chakra] into her to finish the assimilation. 

"I'm going to put you to sleep now, your body will handle the rest of the adjustments so there aren't any issues with it." Before she could say anything, Raynare was already sound asleep. Takauji carefully carried her back to bed and let her lie down. 

Those eyes will end up being of immense use to you, but only if you use them correctly. Otherwise they're just nothing but decoration. 

Takauji put his hands on the beside, stretching like a cat as his bones crunched from the night they had just shared. 

Now then, I have a fox to court. 

He planned to go straight to Yasaka, but Takauji noticed that something was off upon stepping out of his room. His nose continued to twitch as he whiffed the air around him. 

What's this now? 

He crouched down, noticing a watery substance near his door. Takauji slid his finger across it, holding it up to his nose and sniffing it. A devious smile plastered on his face as he connected the dots.

I see, so it's like that. 

The corners of his mouth stretched, his four fang-like canines on full display. 

But before he could start plotting, he received a call, one from Azazel. 

"Yes?" He answered. 

"Yo, Pandora. Everything going well over there? I heard you've been gone for a while during your retreat with Sun Wukong, must have been pretty exciting." 

"Yeah, it's been going well, but the fact you're calling must mean that's about to change." He replied with a grumble. 

"Haha, don't worry I just needed to inform you of something. Do you remember the gift we made for Akeno?" 

"What about it?" 

"Actually, the guy responsible for creating its blueprints is on the way to the West Youkai Faction Headquarters as we speak, I was wondering if you'd be alright with taking him in for a while?" 

"Aren't you supposed to first ask me if I'm alright with it, and then send him over? And besides, you never told me anything about there being someone else on the project." 

"Relax relax, he's my successor. You can trust him." 

Takauji scoffed.

"Someone was stupid enough to agree to be your successor? Poor guy." 

"Well somebody had to take the role, I wanna retire already. He's quite the impressive lad, he's the same age as you and he's already reached my level in strength alone, not to mention his intelligence." 

The Dragon's eyelids lifted a little. 

"He's already a Cadre? Not bad, not bad at all. But why didn't you bring him to the conference back then?" 

"He won't move an inch unless something interests him, and like me, politics are not one of those interests." 

"Fair enough." 

"Anyhow, I probably won't be able to help you out for a while since the Gremory's are taking up 100% of my time, so I thought I should probably find a replacement to act as a stand-in for me. I'm sure he'll be extremely helpful, and you could also give him a hand here and there with the less sciency stuff." 

"If he really does end up being useful, then I don't mind." 

"Great! Oh, speaking of the Gremory's, there's been an update with Akeno." 

He smiled a little. 

"It's been a month, so I imagine she's already become a High-Class Devil?" 

Azazel chuckled over the phone. 

"More than that, she's being considered for Ultimate-Class as we speak, and she's got some crazy heavy hitters on her peerage. One of them is Ingvild–" 

"Don't tell me, I'd much rather see her peerage with my own eyes, but thank you for the update nonetheless." 

"Suit yourself, at the rate she's going it won't be long before she's able to challenge you, so watch out for that." 

"You say that like it's a bad thing." 

While Takauji was on the phone, he turned to see the Kitsune servant from the day before approaching him. A clearly apprehensive look on her face.

"Pandora-sama, there was an intruder who somehow got through the Urakyoto barrier. He didn't engage with any of our guards but continuously insisted on seeing you. How would you like us to proceed?" 

"See? Impressive isn't he?" 

Takauji hung up with a faint smirk on his face. 

"I'll go meet with him, lead the way." She nodded, guiding him towards the front-gate as Takauji's hearing quickly picked up on the sound of someone shouting at the guards outside. 

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm a guest! A super-duper important guest might I add! Not to mention a peerlessly handsome convenience store entrepreneur! Ah, it's no use talking to you cretins. Where's Pandora? Get me Pandora already!" The figure appeared to be a lean man, with light skin and gray eyes. 

His hair was messy and light-blond, with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes. He had stubble across his chin and wore a moss-colored samue with a black haori over it, which sported a white diamond pattern along its bottom half.

And most striking of all, was the striped dark green and white bucket hat that shadowed his face to a certain extent. 

He's half-human, interesting. 

Takauji spared a brief glance at the wooden cane the man was holding. 

"An acquaintance of yours?" Yasaka asked, having been summoned prior to him. 

"Yeah." Takauji walked forwards, motioning for the guards to leave the man as he approached him with piqued curiosity. 

"Oh, you're Pandora aren't you? Unless there's more than one Dragon here. About time you showed up." 

"That I am, you are Azazel's protege correct?" 

"Indeed, my name is Masashige Kusunoki, but most people call me Masa. It's a pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand to which Takauji responded in kind. "I hate to ask, but you wouldn't happen to have anything to eat? I forgot to pack snacks for the trip." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. 

"No problem." He gestured to one of the servants as they went to prepare a meal for the guest. "I hear you played a role in creating the Artificial Sacred Gear Azazel created as a present?" 

"Is that what he said?" Masashige scoffed. "Just for the record more than 90% of the work was done by me, I used my own Sacred Gear as a blueprint for it, which I'm sure you've noticed already." 

Again, Takauji looked at the wooden cane in his hand. 

"That's not an artificial one is it?" Takauji concluded. 

"How sharp! Correct, I was born with this one. She can be a handful at times, but she's useful when it counts." 

What an ominous aura that Sacred Gear has, but by the looks of things I seem to be the only one capable of sensing it. 

"Haha, my weapon isn't all that different." He activated [Vacio], bringing out Sayafushi as Masashige observed it with curiosity written all over his face. 

"So that's the failure blade Azazel created," he scratched the short hairs on his chin. "It does remind me of my blade, but I can tell there isn't a spirit sealed inside it like with the Artificial Sacred Gear I created. Do you want me to add one for you?" 

Takauji shook his head. 

"It does have a spirit, listen." He brought the hilt of Sayafushi close to Masahige's ear, the latter hearing a constant whirring sound coming from the blade. 

Let's see if you're actually able to hear it.

"So it does, but you haven't gotten Azazel to put any life into it, actually does Azazel even know that there's a spirit inside it?" 

Takauji narrowed his eyes briefly before returning his expression to normal. 

He really did hear it, Azazel wasn't just pulling my leg after all. 

"Nope," he confessed shamelessly. "Letting Sayafushi awaken would be too dangerous, not for me, but for everyone around it. This spirit has no desire other than to cut everything below and above the clouds, even I wouldn't be capable of containing it." 

"A blade that not even a mighty Dragon can contain?" He chuckled. "How scary." 

"Sayafushi is quite the terrifying sword, but I've taken a liking to it in spite of its flaws. The day I part with it, is the day I stop being a swordsman." 

"Bonding with one's weapon is the most important skill the one wielding it should have." Masashige nodded. "But are you certain you want it to remain dormant?" 

"Mhm, if it does ever awaken then I'd rather it be done naturally. I'm too weak to handle this blade's full strength right now, that much I'm sure of." 

Takauji adored Sayafushi just as much as he did Raynare and Yasaka, there was no other blade in existence that he would rather have by his side. There was no other culmination of alloy that could understand him the way it did. 

You understand my ultimate wish don't you Sayafushi? You've always known, since the day you were clasped between my fingers for the first time. If you really want to awaken go ahead, you can even take some of my soul with you if you really want, I don't mind. 

The Dragon exhaled, feeling a response from the sword as he put it back into [Vacio]. 

"I'm sure we have much to discuss, but let's continue our conversation over breakfast shall we?" 

"That would be ideal." 

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I think we all know who Masa's supposed to be.

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

Word Count: 2172