51

[This is strange. Issei, you should see this,] Sasami says.

Well, that's concerning. Focusing, I use Mind Palace to split off a line of thought with Parallel Processing, and using a bit of Incubus Magic, I send a part of my mind into the Dreamscape with Sasami.

A strange yet adorable sight greets me. Sasami chases around a small brown critter resembling a cross between a cat and a bunny while swinging a straw broom. The scene sparks a memory of a similar situation from the Tenchi series I watched growing up.

The familiar "Meow!" reinforces the memory and brings a smile to my face.

"Get back here!" Sasami shouts. "Give that back!"

At this point, I see the little critter that strongly resembles the very cabbit I was thinking of carrying a small blue orb in its mouth while it dodges around Sasami's broom.

A moment later, I see another small brown critter, this one carrying a yellow orb, scoot between Sasami's legs causing her to fall on her rump. "Hey!" she says.

I feel something rub up against my leg and look down to see another little creature pushing its face and body against my calf. On the ground in front of it is a small green orb. Reaching down, I pick up the sphere and the cat-cum-bunny bundle of cute.

It struggles to reach the red orb in my other hand. "You want this?" I say. "Alright, you hold on to this, and I'll hold on to you. Okay?"

"Mrr-ow. Meow," the little minx says, joyfully playing with the orb while cradled in my arms. I help Sasami to her feet.

"Thanks, Issei," she says.

"No problem. Do we know where these little guys are coming from?" I ask. I'm pretty sure these little imps are a single entity and are probably like Sasami in that they are an Ability attempting to become sapient. The only question is, which one. I have a guess, but I'm comfortable waiting and seeing.

"They seem to be heading this way," she says.

Following the two cabbits not currently being pet, we find a fourth one staring at a red orb and aggressively meowing. The one in my arms struggles free to join the others, the colored balls now placed in the middle of their circle.

They all focus on the four orbs, and with fur raised and long floppy ears back, they let out a strange synthetic sounding yowl directed at them. The orbs glow and start to levitate off the ground before slowly spinning in orbit around a center point. As the speed increases, the four colors, red, green, blue, and yellow, blend until only a brilliant white halo of light remains.

Slowly the light dims, and the revolutions slow. The four orbs are now one and pulse with white light. The four critters start to move and push up against each other until, with a slight pop, they fall over and merge into one slightly larger, but still just as cute, version of itself.

The little imp rolls to its feet, tripping over its long ears, then grabs the white orb and hops over to Sasami and me. It sets down the white ball in front of Sasami and looks up at me with large soulful eyes. I was a bit of an animal lover in my past life. I had a dog growing up, and my college roommates and I raised a stray cat we found one drunken night.

"Sasami, would you like to check what our little friend has done?"

She picks up the white orb. "It's an ability," she says. Yeah, I guessed that. "It's called Transmogrify, and it's a double S-rank. It seems to be a synthesis of Editor, CTRL C/CTRL V, CTRL X/CTRL V, and... and Synthesis."

"How'd she do that? Synthesis can't Synthesize abilities of a higher rank than it was. Editor was Rank S, and Synthesis was only Rank A. I reach down and lift the cabbit again. "How did you pull that off, little one?" I ask.

It looks very proud of itself. "Meow!"

I didn't notice before, but this little one has a red gem-like protrusion on its forehead. The other one didn't have this gem. "Sasami, can you analyze our little friend here."

"Hmm? Sure, Issei," She says. "Oh! This is the Plus Ultra ability... wait. It's a little different than my records show. Hmmm... It seems to have incorporated aspects of the Synthesis ability into it. That must be how it was able to create Transmogrify... But why would it do that?"

"If I had to guess. She wanted to attract our attention," I say. "Let me guess, you little imp, you want a name, right?"

"Meow!" It says, nodding.

"Well, I think we already know your name, don't we, Ryo-Ohki?"

The gem in Ryo-Ohki's forehead blazes with light for a moment, and I can feel the change in her being. Her presence is more robust, more real. I can tell she can feel it too because she suddenly runs up my arm to my shoulder and rubs her face against mine.

"I'm glad you like it, Ryo-Ohki, and thanks for helping me advance. I thought it was going to take a lot longer to be able to merge all those abilities."

"I don't get how she merged Synthesis with herself and Editor, though?" Sasami says.

"She didn't," I say. "Plus Ultra is an ability to evolve abilities. She forced her own evolution to include aspects of Synthesis so that she could more easily do her job."

"Such a smart girl," Sasami says and pets the cabbit. "Oh! Issei, there is one more thing I noticed about Transmogrify."

"Oh, what's that?"

"It isn't limited to abilities. You can edit, cut, copy, paste, and synthesize just about anything. The only thing is that it may cost LP in some situations."

"Some? Not all?" I ask.

"Yup. Some things the ability itself can cover by its power."

"Nifty."

.

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.

Meanwhile, my physical body was smiling, both at what was happening in the Dreamscape and because they'd finally finished mapping the evil lair and prepared a few presents for the goat-faced boy.

"Issei," Mio says. "What is it you've been doing there?"

"Setting up some spatial formations, barriers, traps, mystical energy sinks... You know—things to make Zolgear pull the hair from his goat chin. There's no point going into this like it should be a fair fight. It's not like Zolgear was planning to have a fair one, to begin with."

"So, does that mean you're simply going to crush him, Master?" Raynare asks.

"Me? Nah. I sorta promised Lars first crack at him, and I'm sure Mio and the girls of my peerage would like a piece of him. I'm just going to tear his soul out when he's finally ready to kick the bucket and destroy the castle since it's not a castle but a ravenous apocalyptic monster from the Demon Realm."

"Wait. What?!" Liese says.

"Don't worry, it's asleep right now, and I can kill it at any time. I'm just waiting on Zolgear's imminent demise, and once Zest sends the 'urgent message,' he should be along shortly," I say, sitting on Zolgear's throne. "At your leisure, Zest."

She nods and pulls out what looks like a translucent cell phone. "Your excellency, we have a situation..."

BOOST!

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.

Zolgear appears from a magic circle to see Mio chained to the wall, and a lascivious smile crawls onto his face. "Hmm. Finally, I can proceed."

'Damn, even his lines when he's not speaking to someone are cheesy villain lines,' I think. I'm using space magic to hide everyone except Mio and Zest.

"Zest, prepare the room. We must make it special for Naruse Mio's first time after all," Zolgear says, licking his lips as he steps closer to Mio. Mio's face twists in disgust at the creepy old man drooling over her. I can't blame the old goat, Mio does have an absolutely rockin' body, but I'm still going to ruin his day just for even looking at Mio in that way.

"Hehehe. Soon you'll know the pleasure of exquisite despair," he says, reaching out a hand towards Mio's breast. That hand is coming off, first thing.

"You first," Mio sneers, and a wave of energy slams into Zolgear, throwing him entirely across the room, slamming into the opposite wall, pinning him in place.

I clap my hands once. "Good line, Mio. You're learning," I say, releasing my spatial distortion around us.

She blushes as the chains fall away from her wrists. "Thanks, Onii-chan."

Zolgear attempts to pull away from the wall, but the Boosted gravity wave Mio hit him with was only the first part of the trap in which he found himself. Raynare conjures a pair of spears made of concentrated light energy to pierce his wrists and drive into the wall. Unable to pull himself free, he tries to teleport and fails.

"Ohhh. Sorry," I say. "There will be no random teleporting or invisibility, and I double dog fucking dare you to attempt your mind tricks. Please. Be my fucking guest."

Zolgear growls, and a magic circle appears in front of him. A purple energy blast shoots across the room but suddenly veers to the side and collides with the wall. A magic circle appears, and the energy dissipates.

"And your energy projectiles will get drawn into an energy sink, further reinforcing the magic that holds you in place," I add with a smile. "Pretty cool, huh? My magic has gotten a lot better recently. A week ago, I couldn't have set half of these up."

Zest walks over next to me, and Zolgear's rage is palpable. "Zest, you treacherous whore, how did you hide this from me?"

"Oh, that was me, actually," I say. "Just a little cut and paste of the mark you put on her over to a mental construct in a Dreamscape and Bullshit-no-Jutsu, there you have it."

"That's impossible-" Zolgear spits.

"Suit yourself," I say, shrugging. Looking around, I ask, "Does anyone want a shot at him before Lars puts a hurt on him?"

Most of the girls look at Zolgear in disgust, not wanting to even get that close to him. Even Mio has cooled since her initial desire to end him personally. Time in the Dreamscape wasn't just about training, after all. We spent a lot of time going over this scenario, and Mio got to vent a lot of anger and frustration over the virtual months. What she couldn't burn off with massive levels of violence, she was able to talk about with me, Maria, and some of the others that shared similar pain.

Sasami was particularly helpful in this regard since she was a repository of information and could access the entire world's psychological research on how to deal with personal trauma and loss.

In hindsight, it is truly terrifying how powerful Sasami is. Not only does she possess nearly all the information in the world she is in, but she is also built to understand the information and can evaluate and reason through the bullshit to the truth.

Of the girls, only Albedo seems interested in personally taking action against Zolgear. Considering her state when I found her, I can't say I blame her. Currently, she has a malicious grin that would make the original Lucifer shiver. "You had designs on what is my Master's. If he had not already claimed your head, I would not hesitate to tear it off."

"Oh, hang on, that reminds me," I say, extending my left arm. Albedo steps back to give me a clean shot. BOOST! "I still have my own promise to keep to myself."

BOOST! I aim and on the fourth BOOST! I fire a dragon shot directly into the scumbag's hand, rendering it into so much hamburger. Zolgear's scream echoes through the chamber.

"You tried to get frisky with my little sister," I say matter of factly. "I'd torture you for days, but honestly, I'd rather spend that time on other people that don't smell like old cheese. Especially when I get more satisfaction out of removing you completely."

Albedo smiled and hefted a giant sledgehammer onto her shoulder. It was well over a hundred pounds, but she wielded it like it was a wiffleball bat. Before we'd left the prison area, she'd asked me to make her a weapon. I asked what she wanted, and she suggested either an ax or a maul—something with which she could take full advantage of her strength. Using the materials on hand, I went with the maul.

She steps forward. "You had designs on my new sisters and me as well. Disgusting," she says with a sneer and swings the maul. Everyone in the room grunts. Three guesses where she hit the pervert. I'll give you a hint. Nah, you don't need it.

Needless to say, Zolgear passed out from the trauma.

"Please, don't kill him before I get the opportunity to exact my revenge," Lars says, stepping closer to the older demon. "Hey, Zolgear. Wake up. I can't have you dying on me yet."

Several of Lars' magic balls fly out and strike the old goat. Zolgear spits blood. It probably has more to do with his shattered pelvis, but who knows. "I'm actually holding back, you know."

Zolgear sneers. "Are you planning to sell me out to Leohart?"

"You can't be serious?" Lars says.

"What are you after?"

I recognize these lines. They've been pulled into the plot.

"I'm sure you don't even know the names of the people you've killed, but when Her Majesty Wilhelmina selected the foster parents to entrust raising her daughter in the human realm, she chose two especially kind people in his service," Lars says.

"What are you talking about?" Zolgear asks, the debilitating pain he's in apparently overridden by the strength of the plot.

"They took in many children who lost their homes in the great war, and they were loved by many of their comrades. Especially those like me, who grew up in their orphanage and loved them like an older brother and sister."

"You?!" Y-you mean..."

I roll my eyes a little and wave my hand in the 'get on with it already' universal hand signal.

"That's right, Zolgear," Lars hisses, reaching to remove his own mask. "I gave Toujou Issei, only one condition, to torture you, Zolgear, with my own hands."

Zolgear's eyes flash to me. "Toujou Issei, Will you make a deal with me? So long as she possesses Wilhelmina's power, Naruse Mio's life will continue to be in danger-"

"Stop," I say and snap my fingers. Another barrier appears around Zolgear. This one is a sound barrier. "Sorry, I just can't stand listening to his prattle. Lars, you can start whenever you like. His magic is being drained, and the light-spears are weakening him rapidly. Try not to get too lost in it. I want to get home before it gets too late."

Lars nods and turns back to Zolgear. I can't see Lars' eyes from this angle, but if Zolgear's are any indication, he was going to make the most of the time he had with the prick.

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After a little while, I realize something. Torture is boring. Unless you're highly motivated, have a personal stake, or are an active participant, there is only so much screaming and crying you can find interesting. I've exceeded my tolerance, and most of the girls have too. Only Mio, Zest, and the succubi are sticking around. The rest of the girls have gone back to the evacuation zone with the devils.

Raynare offered to stay and keep me occupied, but I thought it best that she return to Kuoh, check up on the others, and report back so no one would be worried.

I sit on Zolgear's throne and relax. I still have a portion of my consciousness in the Dreamscape playing with Ryo-Ohki. She's an adorable little fluff, but I still find it strange that two of my abilities have evolved into sentient beings, and both have evolved in ways that give them an appearance and personality based on an anime I watched as a kid. Is this a subconscious thing, or is something guiding the process.

Simultaneously, I think about the other development of the Transmogrify ability. It really opens up the flood gates of possibilities. In theory, I could now edit, merge, or create a copy of a person, an item, or even more esoteric things. How would that even work? It's like reality manipulation on a grand scale if I think about it. I wonder what would happen if I combined Transmogrify with Get Creative and Bestow?

I think I'll hold off on that. Maybe get used to the abilities I have and save that for later. I still have that Sacred Gear in cold storage, and I'm still unsure who I should give it to. Maybe I should just merge it with the Boosted Gear. No. I don't know how that would affect Ddraig. I don't want Vritra's soul anywhere near my waifu dragon. Come to think of it; I don't want his soul anywhere near any of my girls. Maybe I can edit his soul out or just edit in general.

Thinking about merging things together gives me pause. I pull out Brynhildr and an item I'd stuffed into my Pocket Dimension a little while ago, Freed Sellzen's light sword. Light weapons are supposed to counter dark energy and purge corrupted energy, provided it's a powerful enough source.

"Sasami," the me inside the Dreamscape says while following around Ryo-Ohki as she bounces from room to room in the Mind Palace. "What would the result be if I used Transmogrify to merge Brynhildr and the exorcist's light sword?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say it would enhance Brynhildr's purification abilities and break through most of the seals on its power."

"What about Brynildr herself? Is it possible to allow her to regain her body?" I ask.

"I'm not sure. As far as I know, her body has been completely consumed, but she may be able to manifest one if you collect the right soul or if you directly grant her the ability to do so," Sasami says.

"Alright, I'll put the body manifestation ability on the back burner for now. I haven't even been able to speak with her yet. As for merging the light sword with Brynhildr, I think we should do it. Will it cost anything?"

"No, but it also won't increase the rank of the sword. Brynhildr won't become more powerful; she'll just be able to purge the corrupted energy more easily and cleanse the souls she consumes. Kind of like when you added the Morphic Form ability."

"I like it. Let's do it."

I bring Brynhildr and the light sword together. I'm not sure I need to, but it seems like the thing to do. Both blades are enveloped in a pale glow at the Transmogrify ability takes hold and pulls the two into synchronization, fuzing the two into one.

Brynhildr's blade is sheathed in green light so dense that it looks almost like a liquid, but still at the core is the blade.

"I guess I should test this out, huh?" I say out loud. Looking up, I see Lars still hurting Zolgear. Of the rest, only Zest, Albedo, and Mio are still here. "Yo! Are you done yet?"

"He deserves it, Onii-Chan," Mio says with a frown.

"Of course he does," I say. "But do you deserve to sit here and watch his perpetual torture? That's not helping you move on. I'll put him down like the rabid dog he is, and then we'll go home, and I'll make us dinner to celebrate that one less scumbag inhabits our worlds. If you want, we can even invite Lars over, and the two of you can tell stories about your parents. That seems a lot better way to honor them than watching this macabre sight."

Mio pauses and thinks about what I said, and so does Lars. Albedo looks like a proud mom that just heard her child give a speech. Lars looks like he's saying something, but I still have the sound barrier up so, while he can listen to us, we can't hear him. I hold my hand to my ear. "Huh?"

He rolls his eyes and exits the sound barrier. "I said, that sounds like a good idea."

I look over to Mio. "Well? How about it?"

She's quiet for a moment but eventually nods. "Great," I say and walk towards the completely fucked Zolgear. He starts saying something and shaking in laughter. Not that we can hear him, but I really don't need to since the castle begins shaking. He finally dropped the suspended animation and transformation spells on Monster Castle.

I shake my head and step through the sound barrier to his insane laughter. "You will all perish with me," he cackles.

I sigh. "Would you just shut up?" I say and stab him through the heart before whipping the blade around and removing his head from his shoulders. I rend reality with a small Banishing Shift to send the body and part of the wall into the nothing to clean up the mess.

Turning around, I walk back over to Mio and pull her into my arms. "Are you okay?" I ask.

She curls her body in a little, and I know she is crying as she pushes her head into my chest. I press a kiss onto her head and hold her tight.

"Not to break up this touching scene, but didn't you say that this castle was a monster? Shouldn't we be leaving before it fully transforms?" Lars asks.

I rub Mio's back for a second. "I suppose we should put an end to this thing before that happens. I'll take care of it," I say and pull away from Mio. Before opening a portal to the Core Room. "You guys wait here; I'll be right back."

I step into the Core Room, where the tentacle defenses are, and the core is bound in space. I never understood the drama that they tried to create with this scene. Basara's Full Banish could take out a mountain, this small area shouldn't be that big of a deal, but Zest thought she needed to put herself in harm's way to prove her turn to the good side. Whatever.

'Sasami. Do you think we can be a little more controlled and just take out this chunk of space with the core in it?' I ask.

[Full Banish isn't exactly a scalpel, Issei. We should be able to limit it somewhat, but there will still be some damage.]

'Weren't we able to use it like a scalpel when we took those Bloodworms out of Yuuki?' I ask.

[We were, but that was only using a fraction of the power. In this case, you have to use a full-powered blast to penetrate the dimensional barrier. It's much harder to be delicate and also swing for the fences.]

'Alright, let's limit the area as much as possible. Consider it practice for the future when shit like this will probably come up more often.'

[Will do.]

'Hang on. I just thought of something. This thing has dimensional abilities. So why don't we just cut and paste them to me? That'll make it much easier to kill this thing.'

[...]

'What? Is it too strong for me to do?' I ask.

[No. You can do it with the new Transmogrify ability just fine. Since you're just moving the power from one place to the other, it won't even cost you anything.]

'That's so broken. I love it. Does that mean I don't have to use Full Banish?'

[You do. The barrier already exists and doesn't require any more energy from the original being.]

'Too bad. Well, here we go. Bye-bye Eldritch horror.'