Conquista (15)

Their target location was such a beautiful place- he heard of the many stories behind such a historical background.

A lovely countryside estate, a lovely family...

It almost felt like a great sin, but Wang Jun didn't care. Or rather, he cared for it, just not in a positive manner towards those poor lives caught in the firefight. Not when they represented the one thing he swore to destroy. Order. It would be foolish to outright abandon the simplest form of Order, but that was the subjugation of it through the organization of such a devoted group. Chaos, chaos, chaos. He could already feel the 'Greater One' praising him for his resolve.

A direct attack would have been foolish. Not just because of the 'Odd One' being involved, but also because one of their main enemies in their war to spread anarchy lived there and her powers were... as dangerous as the Odd One.

Having served the shadows many times, Wang Jun didn't expect this to be a compelling victory, but something that would settle a sense of dread in the heart of their enemies. Something that would keep them on their toes, looking and failing to understand what was targeting them.

Fear would be the only thing coming from their thinking, and Wang Jun would test their worth and capacities through this test. They were meant to succeed, spectacularly so, and his apprentices were aware of this too.

These foes of them- they weren't mortals and they couldn't be bested through mere fire and explosions. And yet they could be hurt emotionally, mentally- the power of one mind... and the weakness of another. It was so simple to find the moral weakness of an enemy and stab it with a sharp and rusty knife.

To see the pain first-hand as it unfolded. Taking a seat by a nearby hill, Jun stared at the beautiful scenery shattered by licks of fire shredding the fields, ruining the harmony, and causing chaos and damnation for some time.

He sipped from his cup of tea, his sight showing no genuine surprise when the fire suddenly disappeared from sight. Just as he predicted, the Odd One was keen to show his powers when needed. And it allowed Jun to understand how being too direct may hurt their cause the most.

He finished his tea shortly after, well-aware that staring too long at a scene that was already unraveled in its fullest was not productive. He took his pillow and his now-empty cup, wandering off to the small inn they took over so he could rest and ponder on what to do next.

The man that killed his brother was indeed a powerful figure, but his fake ways were going to be his downfall.

That and the love he held towards his family.

Xiong Ambar.

A name that she took with pride ever since she could understand and love the goodness and the kindness of her beloved grandfather. If someone expected an entity such as her to be somewhat omnipotent for her unique 'psychic' powers, then they would be wrong.

Ambar didn't even put an effort to affirm such a silly thing, well aware that she might have had limits, and the foresight of this much destruction was... close to non-existent. She did expect danger to come, but not to this degree.

She was tense during the mealtime, a behavior many misinterpreted as a reason to distrust their guests, yet what ensued next as the meal was served to all and everyone was slowly relaxing through lunch was nothing short of... dreadful.

The explosion and fire tore into the renewed fields, burning crops which could have been used to satisfy the quotas she wrote down in their ledges. Ambar was rarely irritated, yet she had no restraint to show her displeasure regarding this scenario.

After calming everyone's nerves, she tried to think of how to organize the firefighting effort... right as Dio just instantly vanished the flames and emptied the large water bucket he had retrieved by one of the men around.

The panic subsided and yet the shock before this sudden development kept everyone on the edge. Awe, confusion, dread- Ambar felt none of that as she was just giddy.

She had expected something like that- no, she knew Dio was more than a mere successful businessman. His involvement in her origins by being a messenger of concerns made him relevant beyond anything she could have predicted and she was quite glad that he was there to assist them.

Then there was the fact his mind was impossible to read. Same for his wife. Somehow they found a way to 'ward' their thoughts away from external prodding.

Which was entertaining since it left Ambar mostly clueless on how to handle this situation... while also dealing with a challenge to try and understand them.

Not only that, but he also aided their farmers to fix the crops, heal the fields, and provided them with specific instructions on a couple of tools that were available at the foreign market of Guangzhou which would help them expand their output.

Ambar stared at him, listened to his words, saw him react and then... felt compelled to approach Hannah, his wife, as she was busy making sure her son was fine while also checking the other kids around.

"Your husband is..."

"Impressive?" She guessed warmly. "I have heard this many times."

She definitely did, the red-haired 'Crest' hummed in agreement at that, surprised that a woman that was just slightly behind her husband in physical strength would be so open to this.

"And you are lucky for having hooked up with him."

"Always felt like that. But I believe he would say the opposite. That he was the one lucky enough to end up with me."

Ah, a romantic? That just made him more intriguing.

"Say... just a question."

"Hmm?"

"Do you two... consider the chance of-"

"I believe I know what you are going to ask and... my husband doesn't entertain any open nature in our relationship. And I will leave it to that."

Many would be confused at that, but Ambar merely nodded.

Dio was not interested, but Hannah didn't look ready to give up to that. Maybe not in the next few years or decade but... time was on their side and that was a small hopeful idea to keep in mind if things went for better in the future.

With that in mind, Ambar smoothly had people check for any signs of sabotage. The fire had been caused by someone, not something from the precise spot it originated from. It was too far away from flammable liquids or anything which could have prompted the flames. Plus, the spread was too fast and focused, definitely something a natural fire wouldn't have been able to achieve without some 'assistance'.

Sadly, any trail they found led nowhere. Whoever sabotaged them was doing it just to hurt Dio through them. And that was a deduction the blond came to understand too as he decided to cut the visit short and leave to lessen new chances of attacks. Ambar was a bit surprised by this decision but supported it on the basis that the circumstances demanded it.

Such a shame that she would have to let them be without any of her teasing...

But while Ambar was disappointed by this, she couldn't help but wonder if the family group knew that the little 'pet' their son was tending to was actually close to revealing her true self to them...

Oh my, if they didn't know that was going to be a worthy enough show for a laughter or two~.

AN

The 'China Arc' is soon to end, with the next one sending Dio to Japan to explore a few things and stumble on a few issues. But, before leaving, he will end up taking in two individuals that are in Northern China and in need of a family. More headpats, more children to DIO!

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

Omake 58: Fishing with Fiends (1)

Fishing is such a nice activity to entertain when you are quite powerful and in need of a soothing outlet away from the rest of the world.

It was somewhat more relaxing when a couple more 'similar-minded' fellows were brought to the occasion. Now, I could have brought so many interesting individuals for the quiet event, yet most were busy.

Only one answered the call… a call which I didn't make as the man himself was not someone I knew about, nor I considered 'similar-minded' to me. If being inserted in Dio was already an anomaly, I could say that being inserted in Tom Riddle may or may not have been a terrible idea-

"It's not Tommy-boy. It's his Horcrux Diary," 'Tommy' replied calmly, fixing his rod string, making sure the tool was ready for fishing duty. "Like, I spawned in the Diary, got my brain screwed a bit by the lingering sense of evil in it, killed Potty-boy for his Horcrux, then went on a journey to retrieve a couple more shards, solved the Balkan wars, retrieved Nagini and cured her of her curse before making her my first wife, and then I started to mess so hard with Dumbledore that I painted him as a Dark Lord, took over the Ministry and then proceeded to change things for good once Dumbles was taken out of the picture."

…

"You really have no concept for half-measures, don't you?" I inquired, and he grinned while still looking for any signs of fishes getting caught at his hook.

"That sounds like a boring idea. I mean, I have a family- a big one at that. You know, my oldest ones are already getting to the age where they will soon start to do accidental magic. I have to keep an eye on them until they get things under control- I can already imagine the pure chaos they are going to cause," Tommy hummed in delight. "You have kids too, right?"

"I do-"

"And they are the best thing in the world. Like, the many adventures you can tell them, the many things you can do with them to foster the father-kids bond, and the dimensions you can destroy by causing nuclear annihilation-"

"What?" I blurted out in surprise, and the man chuckled.

"Oh, it happened just once, and it was a test to see if one of my apprentices could be really taught by me. Female Harry Potter corrupted by Horcrux, girl was quick on her feet and seemed to be happy enough she caused WW3 via bombing Privet Drive via Rhongomyniad Mini."

"...I think some context is missing."

He nodded. "It sure is."

"You… have Rhongomyniad?"

"I had it around the time I also snatched a young Morgan from her Nasuverse parallel Dimension before she was married off to King Lot," He admitted. "Morgan… she is such a lovely second-in-command. You would expect a witch like her to be a backstabber, but give her affection, attention, a cure to her father's magi-genetical illness she inherited from him and she will be eager to be as tight and close as possible."

I hummed, finally getting the hook thrown in the water. "That sounds like your bond with her goes beyond Master-Padawan."

"Oh, I know what you are saying..." Tommy replied. "But the truth is that I did nothing to get her interested in that. I mean, I am not exactly a chaste man, but I didn't exactly coax her into doing anything more but just do her job. I think she was just smitten by my handsome self-"

"Or perhaps saw your power and found it reasonable that two powerful beings would keep with each other," I reasoned, and he gave a slow nod.

"That also makes sense."

There wasn't further talking for the remainder of the event. I ultimately decided to never mention how it went to the rest- what the rest of the world would know is that I went fishing alone. And yet, while that solved me this issue for a while, I was also dreading something that 'Tommy' told me about next time I went fishing.

He would bring a friend to tag along. He said that he was some sort of… demonic priest?

"Trust me, he is cool. In fact, he has two wives that love him and stuff like that."

Why do I have a weird feeling someone wanted me to marry beyond Hannah?