[38] : Ravel does not want to give up

Draconic Deus. 

Earth - Japan. 

Tokyo - Avalon Residence. 

[***] 

One day later… 

Aiden slowly opened his eyes, feeling a gentle warmth on his right arm. 

He knew someone had used his arm as a pillow. 

Looking around, he remembered what had happened the day before with Miku in the bedroom, and a smile appeared on his face. 

His life was quite happy, although he wished she had a physical body. 

If she did, he thought, maybe she would already be pregnant. 

Ophis's visit was also on his mind. 

She had spent some time with them yesterday, mainly staying because Kotori and Natsumi wanted to teach her how to play video games. 

Although Ophis didn't understand anything about it, she stayed and played for hours. 

Even though her expression didn't show much, Aiden was convinced that, somehow, she was having fun. 

There was something in her face when she ate, something that changed for a moment. 

Everyone treated her like some kind of pet, which seemed strange to him. 

Aiden wondered how someone so powerful could be so... indifferent. 

He shook his head and looked back at Miku, who was still sleeping next to him, hugging him. 

Without thinking too much, he hugged her back, letting himself be carried away by the warmth of her presence. 

Since it was still early, he decided to stay a little longer in this peaceful shared sleep. 

[*] 

A while later, in the bathroom, Aiden and Miku had already woken up. 

Miku, with her melodious voice, was singing a song she had been composing in recent days. 

Aiden, meanwhile, was observing her and covering his body with foam, calmly washing his bare skin. 

"As if erasing my unsatisfactory past~♫" 

"We will keep searching for the promised land~♫" 

Aiden, immersed in the softness of her voice, enjoyed the moment while continuing to wash his body. 

"The twin stars unite in the sky to guide us~♫" 

"If I'm with you, I can overcome any obstacle in front of me. 

The bonds that connect us will be my strength~♫" 

"We are freed, cutting the darkness~♫" 

"And we go towards the twin stars we seek~♫" 

"Side by side, we will fight until the world ends~♫" 

… 

After washing with soap, Aiden and Miku were in the shower. 

He hugged her from behind, thinking that he had excellent self-control for not getting hard in that situation, although, with the control he had over his body, that was relatively easy. 

Also, they had already spent quite a bit of time together the day before, and although he knew that Miku didn't mind at all, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. 

"Is that your new song? I've never heard it until now," Aiden asked. 

Miku, calmly with her head resting on his chest, started humming and then replied: 

"Ufufu, well, yes, an animation studio asked me to compose a song for their anime. Honestly, I was a little bored, so I thought, why not? Also, Nia, Kotori, Natsumi, Kaguya, Yoshino, and Yoshinon insisted that I accept it because they love that anime. I think it's called 'Sōsei no Onmyōji' or something like that." 

It wasn't rare for things like this to happen, as Miku had skyrocketed to fame as a singer. 

With her beautiful voice and attractiveness, she quickly gained more than 10 million subscribers on YouTube, and that was just on that platform. 

She had a massive following on other networks, and not only did she sing in Japanese, but also in English. 

Her stage name, "Diva," was well-known by everyone. 

Aiden was stunned as he thought about how quickly Miku became famous. 

However, he soon understood why: her voice was amazing, and that was without even using her power to enhance it with [Gabriel]. 

She had definitely been born with that talent, Aiden thought.

"To that exorcist anime..." Aiden remembered the anime he had watched with Kotori and the others. 

"Yes, they offered me quite a bit for singing the opening song. Although, to be honest, money isn't what motivates me, it was fun doing it. The others also helped me and gave me ideas for the lyrics," Miku replied with a smile. 

Then she added, a little pouty: "Although Darling was too busy with the [Spirit Piece], that's why you couldn't watch it." 

Aiden couldn't help but smile when he saw the little pout on her face. 

"You're cute when you pout. I think you're making me fall in love with you again, darling," he said, adding a touch of sweetness to make her stop making that adorable expression. 

He couldn't deny that he had been quite busy in the past few weeks. 

Miku looked at him with a mischievous smile. 

"Darling~♡ I like you more every day~♡"

Aiden smiled at her response, but he couldn't help but notice how Miku adjusted her position, pressing her crotch closer to his, as her thighs rubbed suggestively. 

Aiden, for a moment, felt his body react, but before he could think about it, Miku gave him a mischievous smile.

Without another word, he turned his face towards her and placed a kiss on her lips, as Miku gently slipped his sword into its sheath.

"Ahhhn~♡," she moaned as they kissed and exchanged tongues, while Aiden put his hands on her breasts and squeezed them.

Aiden thought [Camael] was his best [Angel]; without him, he would have died long ago from dehydration, as these girls were too thirsty. 

However, he couldn't help but hug Miku's body, moving her waist, enjoying the sensation. 

It felt good.

...

"Darling~♡!"

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh♡! I'm going to cum again~♡" 

...

[*] 

Avalon Residence - Living Room. 

[*] 

1:00 p.m. 

In the living room, Kotori and Natsumi were silent, absorbed in the anime playing on the television after having lunch with everyone. 

Each one was busy with their own things; Miku had gone to finish creating her song with the help of a producer, while Nia was at the publisher that releases her manga, arguing with her editor. 

Some chapters had already been released to the public. 

Meanwhile, Kotori, who was still watching the television, got up without making a sound and walked toward a hallway. 

She went down to the basement and opened a door hidden by protection spells and illusions. 

She crossed it without hesitation and followed the trail of a familiar presence. 

She walked through the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which Aiden had built somewhere in the Dimensional Rift. 

Finally, she arrived at the [King's Monument], a crystalline blue tree of life. 

She crossed into its interior, where she found Aiden, focused on configuring something inside a compartment full of [Spirit Piece]. 

She approached silently and hugged him from behind, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. 

Aiden, who was already used to Kotori's surprises, didn't react. 

"What are you doing, Aiden?" Kotori asked, watching his hands and the magic circles covering the compartment. 

Her gaze stopped on some of those circles that she recognized as spells to accelerate time, and others that separated space and calculated space-time vectors. 

She, as a user of the [Cabalistic Formula], identified some of the complex patterns. 

Aiden stopped touching the magic circles and, without warning, touched Kotori's buttocks, still hanging on his back. This made her let out a squeal of surprise. 

Aiden chuckled softly as Kotori, embarrassed, swatted at him. 

"Warn me if you're going to touch! Anyway, stop with those mischievous hands and tell me what you're doing," she said, trying to stay calm. 

However, Aiden kept touching her soft buttocks. 

"I told you to stop…" Kotori was clearly embarrassed, and her face turned red. 

"Alright, alright," Aiden finally stopped teasing her and, with a mischievous smile, explained what he was doing. 

He pointed to the [Queen] pieces in the compartment, surrounded by magic circles. 

"In short… I got tired of waiting for the [Spirit Piece] to charge by themselves. So I created a spell to accelerate time inside the compartment where these pieces absorb spiritual energy. Also, I separated the space so that only the time inside accelerated. Inside, where the pieces feed, time will pass much faster," Aiden explained without getting into complicated details. 

Kotori looked at him, curious, while nodding. 

She knew that Aiden wanted these pieces to give them physical bodies, so without thinking too much, she kissed him on the cheek. 

Aiden smiled, grateful for the gesture. 

"How much of a time difference is there?" Kotori asked, still intrigued. 

"Hmmm… the time in that space is 87,600 times faster," Aiden answered calmly. 

Kotori paused for a moment, thinking. 

"That means that for every hour that passes here in normal space, in there, in the compartment, 10 years pass…" she said, surprised. "I don't know if I should be surprised, how the hell did you create this…?" 

Although Kotori was also a user of the [Cabalistic Formula], she didn't use it often. 

She preferred to just burn everything with [Camael] or, if things got tough, resort to [Asmodeus]. 

Those who truly excelled in the [Cabalistic Formula] and enjoyed using it to create complex spells were Natsumi and Nia. 

"Well, when you have a [Thought Acceleration] spell, everything becomes easier. Although, even so, this spell took me more than a week to create," said Aiden thoughtfully, as he activated the magic circles within the compartment.

He watched as everything around him came to life, and time began to accelerate at an impressive pace.

Inside that compartment, days passed, but for them, outside, only a few seconds had gone by.

Aiden reflected on the possibilities of this spell.

It was incredibly versatile.

He could use it to accelerate time in an entire room, allowing him to train intensively without it stealing too much time in reality.

He even imagined using the same technique to do things that would normally take years.

For example, if one of his girls became pregnant, he could spend those nine months with her inside that accelerated space, while in reality, much less time would pass.

Though, he thought, there was no need to accelerate the birth of his children at that moment.

It was just an idea.

Furthermore, he realized he could use such rooms for many other things: creating objects, researching more about the [Sacred Gears], or even perfecting spells.

However, he realized that modifying this spell to work with living beings would be more complicated.

A living being didn't function the same way as an object, and that would require considerable magical power.

Although the spell he was using now worked, it was because the [King's Monument], which produced spiritual energy like a living being, was accelerated, nourishing the [Spirit Pieces] and keeping the spell active.

The [Kabbalistic Formula] also depended on spiritual energy to function.

'Maybe I should create other sources of magical power and accelerate them to use as energy for this base,' Aiden thought, contemplating new possibilities as he watched the pieces continue to progress within the compartment.

"Well, compared to the spell Natsumi created, along with her power to alter reality with [Haniel], accelerating time is nothing…" Kotori commented, interrupting Aiden's thoughts.

Aiden felt a shiver run down his spine.

Natsumi's mind never ceased to amaze him, but it was also somewhat terrifying.

The spell she had created was incredibly beautiful but also had an unsettling touch.

She used her [Angel] - [Haniel] to perfect it, but what truly scared him was the purpose of the spell: existential erasure.

Although the spell had its conditions to function, the idea of erasing someone's existence so definitively was terrifying.

Basically, Natsumi drags the target into a space she herself creates, where the rules are completely different.

The world behaves like a video game: the enemy becomes the final boss, and Natsumi is the protagonist.

If she wins, she can erase the enemy from existence irrevocably, without the possibility of reincarnation or resurrection.

But if Natsumi loses, the entire world is destroyed, and she suffers significant damage.

Within that world, everything works like a game.

Both the final boss and Natsumi have health bars, and if either reaches zero, the game ends.

The most impressive part is that the world itself helps Natsumi in her fight, allowing her to read the enemy's attack patterns, almost as if it were a video game, and manipulate the environment she created to gain an advantage.

Of course, the spell is not invulnerable.

It can be countered by someone who has a skill to oppose it, or by a being much more powerful than Natsumi, or even someone experienced in manipulating reality.

But, overall, the spell is lethal to most beings.

Aiden walked with Kotori still clinging to his back as they headed for the door to return to the human world.

"I wonder how Natsumi came up with a spell like that. There are so many calculations involved to achieve something so complex… although she says it was thanks to [Haniel] that she managed it," Kotori commented, hugging him even tighter.

"Hmm, well, it's good that she has imagination," Aiden replied, simply shrugging.

After a while, they arrived in the living room after crossing the door again.

There, they found an 'unexpected' person next to Natsumi.

"Did Ophis get addicted to staying in this house, or is it just me…?" Aiden asked Kotori, as Kotori watched from his back.

Natsumi, who was also there playing with Ophis, couldn't help but laugh somewhat helplessly.

She didn't think that, after teaching her to play yesterday, Ophis would return so quickly to play again.

Isn't she supposed to be one of the strongest beings in the world?

Is she really the final boss, and yet here she is trying to beat Natsumi in a video game?

"I think she wants to conquer us all with her cuteness so we'll help her defeat 'Baka-Red' and let her go back home," Kotori whispered into Aiden's ear.

But Ophis heard her and only gave her a blank stare.

Nobody really knew what was going on in that girl's head.

Aiden, without changing his posture, sat next to Ophis, while Kotori settled next to Natsumi.

Since Ophis was there, Aiden took the opportunity to ask her directly.

"Ophis, weren't you the leader of that terrorist organization? The Chaos Brigade."

Ophis looked at him and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Aiden already knew, even though it was a secret to most, it wasn't to the high-ranking members of various factions.

For someone like him, who possessed [Rasiel], it was public knowledge.

He also knew that Ophis was nothing more than the puppet final boss of that organization.

They used her to recruit subordinates because, deep down, she wasn't interested in the world itself.

Why would she bother ruling over a band of lunatics?

Surely, they promised to help her defeat Great Red or something similar, and she accepted.

"Do you know anything about the attacks happening in the Youkai faction and in Japan in general?" Aiden asked, maintaining a calm tone.

He knew that those trying to revive Tamamo-no-Mae were allied with or receiving help from the Chaos Brigade.

However, he didn't have much more information, as they probably discussed all their plans in the dimensional gap, a place where [Rasiel] couldn't read what didn't occur directly in the physical world.

Aiden was asking in the hope of at least finding out the day they would act.

He knew Yoshino would be sad if something happened to the Youkai faction.

Ophis stared at him for a moment, as if lost in thought.

Then, she slowly shook her head.

"I don't know anything. I leave those insignificant matters to others," she responded in her usual tone of indifference.

Aiden nodded, as if he had expected that.

After a while of playing, Ophis left, and Kotori was chatting with Natsumi while Aiden, his eyes fixed on his phone, was texting Ravel, who had sent him a message.

[Ravel: The production of the NerveGear will begin in a few days. It was quite easy to create virtual spaces with the technology Aiden-sama gave us. There are also many companies in the human world interested, either in developing games or creating virtual spaces for other purposes.]

Ravel gave him a basic summary of what had happened with her clan.

Some interesting facts were that several major gaming companies were furious with the sudden arrival of the NerveGear.

Their console sales would plummet once fully immersive virtual reality became available.

Although they would still sell consoles, since many preferred playing with a traditional controller, it was clear that the NerveGear would dominate the industry as soon as it hit the market.

[*]

Underworld.

Phenex Territory.

[*]

In her bedroom, Ravel was swinging her feet on the bed while texting Aiden.

This wasn't unusual, as they did so often.

She also visited his house from time to time, always using the excuse of discussing the deal between her clan and Aiden, but the truth was that she just wanted to see him.

Although she was extremely intelligent and much more mature than her brother (who had only recently stopped being obsessed with Rias Gremory's chest), Ravel was still a young girl who fell in love easily.

And Aiden lacked nothing. He was handsome, powerful (though she didn't really know how much), and his personality, although sometimes a bit immature, was charming to her.

[Ravel: Can I visit your house tomorrow?]

[Aiden: You can come whenever you want. In fact, I'm not busy right now, so if you feel like it, you can come over now.]

Ravel thought for a moment but ultimately shook her head, remembering that her mother wanted to talk to her about something important.

[Ravel: I can't come today, but I'll go tomorrow. It's to discuss our deal in more detail, don't get the wrong idea, okay?]

The instant she sent that message, she regretted acting like a tsundere, but seeing that Aiden had already read her message, she gave up, though her face was completely red.

[Aiden: Of course, Ravel. You just want to discuss our deal in more detail and build a better business relationship with me, right? I wouldn't think for a second that you just wanted to see me under that excuse.]

[Ravel: Aiden-sama… you're a bully.]

Ravel, with a mix of embarrassment and amusement, couldn't help but blush even more.

After a while of chatting, Ravel got up and headed to her mother's room, who had called her.

As she walked down the hallway, the servants bowed respectfully as she passed, greeting her as appropriate.

Ravel gently knocked on her mother's room door.

"Mother, I'm here," she said in a clear voice.

From inside came a soft response:

"Come in."

When she opened the door, Ravel saw a woman very similar to herself, sitting comfortably on a sofa, looking at her with a maternal smile.

The woman was basically a mature version of Ravel.

"Why did you call me so suddenly, Mother?" Ravel asked as she sat down next to her.

In the intimacy of her home, she did not act like a noble girl; with her mother, she felt free to let go of formalities.

"First, tell me everything about the last thing you talked about with Aiden-kun. Don't skip a single detail. Watching my children grow makes me so happy," said the woman with a calm smile.

"No!" Ravel reacted instantly, vehemently refusing.

"Ah… My daughter is growing up… Soon you'll leave me and fly from the nest," her mother said dramatically, placing a hand on her chest.

"Mom! I don't see Aiden-sama that way… It's just a business relationship, there's no way I like a human… No way…" Ravel murmured, the bitterness in her voice palpable.

"Besides… There's no way Father would agree to that…"

Lady Phenex looked at her daughter with a complicated expression and gently stroked her head.

She knew that deep down, Ravel felt something more for Aiden, even though she disguised it with excuses.

It was the youthful love of a young girl, simple and genuine, though perhaps she didn't fully understand it yet.

Aiden treated her well, but the problem was clear: Aiden was human.

Even though he possessed the power of an Ultimate-Class Mage, that wouldn't be enough for Lord Phenex to accept such a relationship.

"You can always talk to Aiden-kun and add him to your peerage, give him your [Queen] piece. That boy has a lot of talent; I'm sure he'll go far. If he becomes strong enough, maybe your father will change his mind," Lady Phenex suggested softly.

Ravel shook her head, looking down.

"Aiden-sama doesn't want to become a devil. I've asked him several times, disguising my questions, and his answers have always been negative."

"Well, don't give up so quickly," her mother said, giving her a kind smile.

"Talk to him directly, be sincere. I can tell he likes you too, so if you speak to him from the heart, he might accept."

Ravel interrupted her before she could continue.

"Aiden-sama has a harem… There's no way he'd give up his humanity just for me…"

Lady Phenex didn't know what to say to that.

In the end, she simply comforted her, thinking that, like all young love, this situation would resolve itself with time.

After all, her life wouldn't end over a relationship that hadn't yet matured.

After a long conversation, Ravel returned to her room and let herself fall onto the bed.

"It may be young and inexperienced love…" she murmured to herself,

"but I don't want to give up so easily…"

…

…

…

[***]

End of the chapter.

(•_•)

A/N:

There won't be a chapter tomorrow because I'm busy… sorry.

At least this chapter is long, it has about 3,500 words.

Anyway, thanks to those who made suggestions yesterday about the idea for Le Fay's spell.

I also wanted to mention that there won't be much drama with Ravel's situation: Aiden will simply prove it's beneficial to have him as an ally, and Lord Phenex will end up "selling" his daughter.

Now, I have a question:

Does anyone know Lord Phenex's name?

I don't remember if it was mentioned or if it never appeared in the light novel.

If you know his name, leave it in the comments; if he doesn't have one, I'll have to invent it.

The same goes for Lady Phenex; I don't remember if her name was mentioned or if she never got one.

Here's an image I found of Miku, Kotori, and Ravel:

[Image]

Thanks for reading my story.

Your comments motivate me so much to keep writing.

Peace out.

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