19

The young devil was still stunned at the thought of losing his only advantage within a universe of dangerous and hostile beings, his knowledge of the future based on his other life was his main power.

"Buddha, do I really have to lose my memories? There is no other way?"

"Boy, your current condition is a bit troublesome. You have three variables to stabilize these being your energy reserve, your power and your soul. Erasing your memory would be the most efficient way to ensure you don't die within a short period of time."

"I understand. How exactly would this idea work after erasing my memory?"

"You'll believe you've lived your life normally until an unfortunate incident where you die briefly and then strangely come back to life. If you stabilize your soul, you will be able to partially remove the limiting seal from your body, unlocking your hidden potential."

"What matters in the case would be my memories of the second life, not the facts witnessed in it, correct?"

"Yes, as long as you lose your memories and believe you lived solely in our universe, you are not at great risk. ."

According to Buddha I must lose my memories, but he never said that I must lose knowledge. If I can find a way to keep some information then it won't be a real problem. I can...

"Well then I agree to the plan, how exactly am I going to lose these memories?" The young devil has a serious face as he agrees to the plan.

"Simple." Buddha smiles with interest. "I'll erase it through a special technique, don't worry it won't hurt you, not much."

"After erasing my memories, how exactly am I going to acquire the power to balance my body with the power limited by the seal?"

"Do you know about Sun Wukong's immortality?"

"Of course, he is considered one of several Buddhas, similar to a god. He is clearly immortal." Nero looks dubiously at Buddha regarding the question.

"Obviously the Monkey King is immortal, but do you know how he gained his immortality?"

"Did he receive his divinity by being turned into a fighting buddha?"

"Well, there is actually several answers to this simple question. In all these answers he won immortality, it was never given on a platter.

"How does Sun Wukong's immortality relate to my problem?"

"Allow me to tell you a story and then draw your conclusions. So let's begin...

There was a young youkai monkey who left his homeland in search of adventure and power. Determined to find immortality, the youkai traveled to civilization, where he met and became a disciple of the Buddhist-Taoist patriarch named Bodhi. He originally trained with his daoist master who taughted him the secrets of immortality thus he become immortal. However, because of the young monkey's arrogance, many of the cultivator's other students were being affected and being carried away by pride just like the troublemaker monkey."

As Buddha spoke, the famous duo on the journey to the west team appears accompanied by Kuroka who followed them with a twinkle in her eyes, clearly impressed by the fight between the two.

"It wasn't my fault, I really was stronger than his other students. They wanted to get stronger and I agreed to help them if they admitted they were weaker than me." Sun Wukong speaks nonconformist.

"Hey old man, aren't you too old to not admit your own mistakes?" Yu-long teases him with a smile.

"I still don't agree with being expelled. I wasn't wrong, I was arrogant but still way stronger than the others. At least master Bodhi's cultivation techniques weren't that strong. They were similar to others magic systems, only instead of magic energy they drew strength from karma, fate and nature. That old taoist certainly stole ideas from youkai's senjutsu."

Buddha saw that the argument between the two was going to continue, so he decided to ignore both and go on with the story. "As far as old age was concerned, the monkey who now was immortal through the techniques taught by his teacher was still dissatisfied, since even though he was not dying to time he could still be killed especially by the death gods who came to claim his soul. Sun Wukong then challenged the deities of Hell who were trying to take his soul. Ordered to be reincarnated like all living beings, he decided to do something to prevent the loss of his immortality. So later on, he traveled to the underworld and removed his name of the book of mortals, thus becoming immortal, again. Because he removed the names of other monkey youkais, he received the title of monkey king."

"Oh good days, I still remember the faces of those gods of the underworld when I erased my name from the books of the dead. The most memorable were Thoth and Hades, the first was incredulous at having been cheated even though he had almost absolute knowledge and the second angry at his orders being disobeyed inside the underworld." Wukong reminisces about the nostalgic events while smoking a pipe. Buddha on the other hand continued his story without caring about the commentary.

"Sun Wukong, now holding the title of Monkey King, was causing widespread trouble for the gods, so they came up with the idea of giving the youkai something to distract. Hoping that a promotion to godhood would satisfy the Monkey King, the Jade Emperor invited him to Heaven. He was promoted to the position of Protector of Horses, with the duty to watch over the stables of heaven, the lowest rank among the gods. He was outraged and decided to rebel against the annoying gods. Later he was tasked by the Jade Emperor with guard the peaches of immortality but instead he ate them and became immortal again. Then he crashed into a god's party, drank they heavenly wine and became immortal again."

"Those bastards deserved, but the taste of those peaches was too bitter and the wine was so-so." Wukong complains again.

"Wukong, could you let Buddha finish the story without interrupting him? If you haven't noticed Buddha, the devil boy and the nekoshou girl are staring at you." Yu-Long directs his friend's sight to the other three in the area.

"Fine, let me tell the rest Buddha. After the last incident with the gods, I wandered for years around the world until accidentally stumbled into an alchemy lab that had immortality pills inside, ate them and became immortal again. At this point, the gods got sick and trown me into a magic furnace, but my immortality kept me alive so the furnace burned my mortality which made me immortal again. And finally I found some magical ginseng and you already known what happens to me." Wukong finishes the story and goes back to smoking his pipe. "That's the end of the story of how I acquired immortalities, these immortalities made me more resistant, I don't regret the work to acquire it."

"Are you sure you just weren't afraid of death?" Yu Long smiles and Wukong glares at him with a defiant look ready for a second round.

Nero hearing the story was thoughtful. 'Interesting, the monkey king strengthened his body exponentially by acquiring these concepts of immortality. I believe Buddha told me this long story to make me follow his plan, if I fortify my body through external ways I would be able to make my body compatible with the sealed power and the stabilized soul would maintain this balance permanently. I seem to have no more reason to be in doubt.'

"Well, listening to the story I have a doubt. Wouldn't you be invincible?" Kuroka asks Sun Wukong with a dubious look.

Sun Wukong starts to smile upon hearing the question. He opens his mouth to start praising himself, however...

"Not really, Wukong has seven distinct concepts of immortality mostly linked to the flow of time, however he can still die in a fight by brute force." Yu-Long responds before his friend can boast.

"I understood the reason for telling this story. When will we proceed with the practice of this plan?" Nero ignores the side conversation and talks directly with Buddha.

"We can start right now if you're ready. But as a devil you must understand that such an agreement must be retributive." Buddha misteriously smile at the boy.

"What is the price?" Nero expressionlessly questions.

"It's not something exaggerated. Some gods grant aid to mortals for their own entertainment or to delegate some simpler tasks. You will simply need to help me with a few problems occasionally, no big deal."

"Fine, I accept the deal. I will need a notebook and a few hours alone, then we can get started." Nero smile strangely.

"No problem at all." Buddha uses a teleportation spell to send the boy to an abandoned hut in a nearby village.

When I finish talking I came across a strange environment, completely messed up and abandoned. Well he fulfilled the requirement to give me alone time, now I need paper. After a few minutes searching the house I found a blank notebook, perfect...

[Obs: What do you guys prefer: The thought of the character in the way above or in the way I did before without parentheses being something in third person and between ' ... ' being the thoughts. I want to understand which is better. ]

"Now I need to remind myself what the main problems are going to happen in the world." Nero mutters.

After some thoughtful time I wrote a list of troublesome events or points of interest I remember from the second life.

▪︎ 1. Valerie Tepes: Longinus user of Sacred Gear Sephiroth Graal; main piece to my grandfather plan in reviving Evil Dragons and the main reason the Vampire Civil War was so troublesome. Two graals from the three are out of her body and being used by Rizevim. Her soul is unstable due to the lack of two graals.

▪︎ 2. Tobio Ikuse: Longinus user of Sacred Gear Canis Lycaon; important character for "Heavenly of Aloha incident" and Utsumemi Agency. Incident caused by Satanael and the Wizards of Oz.

▪︎ 3. Khaos Brigade: Khaos Brigade was built as a cooperation between the Fallen Angel Satanael and the Wizards of Oz. At some point, it was handed to Ophis, who had the sole purpose of removing Great Red from the dimensional gap. Even when the organization was given to Ophis, it was still manipulated by Rizevim. Known Factions: Old Satan Faction; Nilrem; Hexennacht; Qlippoth Faction; Vali Team; Hero Faction; Ophis; Hidden Spy Faction; and Outer Faction.

▪︎ 4. Trihexa: The apocalypse beast wil be release by Rizevim and his Qlippoth group. All main leaders from the factions around the world will seal themselves with the beast to try to kill it after a very long time.

▪︎ 5. E×E Machine Gods: Another universe gods that Rizevim provoked. Their leaders are stronger than the most powerful being in the D×D universe, Great Red.

▪︎ 6. King Pieces: rare Evil Pieces, created in the early days of the Rating Games' existence. Originally created by Ajuka Beelzebub, they were judged too dangerous due to the potential for rogue Devils to abuse them, with their production stopped early on. There are a total of 12 of these pieces, 9 of which were taken by the Great King Faction – whose leader is Zekram Bael, the original Bael –, the other 3 are with Ajuka Belzeebub. Those pieces are capable to strengthens the user's demonic power by 10 to 100 times; the known users of this piece are Roygun Belphegor.

Personal note -> This might be useful to raise my power.

▪︎ 7. Alliance of Hell: Formed by Hades to combat against the members of DxD as well as the leaders of the mythological worlds, and to fight against the invaders of the ExE world. Remember that some gods will be involved in this group. New super devils created by Hades in the future, the creepy skeleton god is in possession of the body of my ancestor Lilith and the Book of Lucifer.

▪︎ 8. Sacred Gear Canceller: Rizevim secret power; makes him able to nullify any sacred gear. It won't matter to me because I'm not able to use sacred gears, but it's good to remember.

▪︎ 9. ... [Obs: If you want to recommend something for me to remember too, I can add some to Nero's list. I'll try to stay true to him not remembering what he didn't write down.]

After finishing writing down the brief list, Nero made the decision to leave the hut and seek out Buddha to proceed with his plan to have his memories from his second life erased. As he returned to the designated meeting spot, he noticed Buddha engaged in a conversation with Sun Wukong, Yu-Long, and Kuroka.

"Buddha, I'm ready," Nero declared with confidence, catching the attention of the group.

Curiosity piqued, Kuroka couldn't help but inquire, "What exactly did you write down in that diary?" Her eyes fixed on the object in Nero's hands.

Nero's expression turned enigmatic as he replied, "Nothing important at the moment." He knew the true significance of the writings, but he chose to keep it to himself for now.

"Hmph... I didn't even want to know," Kuroka huffed, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Buddha, always the calm presence, intervened, "Let us not dwell on what is written, but rather focus on the task at hand. Nero, are you prepared to undergo the process?"

Nero nodded, a serene smile gracing his lips. "I am ready, Buddha. I trust in your guidance."

As the group gathered, the air filled with a sense of anticipation. Nero's decision to entrust his memories to Buddha held a profound significance, signifying his willingness to embrace a new chapter in his life.

Throughout the process, Nero maintained his composure, his eyes fixed on Buddha, his faith unshaken. He understood that by releasing his memories, he would be granted the freedom to embark on a fresh journey, unburdened by the weight of the past.

What surprised the boy was that the Buddha simply made a hand sign and saying a few words to start the ritual.