Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena's POV – September 6, 2075
Two and a half weeks had passed since I'd arrived in Night City. It should have been a whole day in the DxD world by now. Obviously, nothing had happened on the other side. I'd kept in touch with Ravel and Enid. I tried to keep the conversations to once every few days; I was sure it would be really confusing for both of them if I called them every couple of hours.
Putting that aside, the last few weeks, to my surprise, were not as hectic as the first few days.
The main thing was that Bellatrix had obtained most of the things she had requested from the world of Danmachi, and I was happy to study it. To my surprise, GLaDOS had also joined in to observe and see what was new.
Bella had revealed everything, except for a few parts she was jealously guarding, which she insisted was a surprise for me. I didn't insist; if it was a surprise, Bella would reveal it to me sooner or later, so I focused on everything else.
Potion recipes, Bella had gotten for me. I certainly didn't scream when I found them in my inventory, no matter what Bella said.
I'd always wondered how the potions in Danmachi could restore something as general as health or mana. And the answer was more straightforward than I thought.
The ingredients.
Most of the ingredients she was used to handling had both positive and negative properties; after all, that was perfectly normal. Plants and parts of magical beasts each had their own peculiarities inherent to their nature, but…
The resources in Danmachi—the monsters—weren't entirely biological; the dungeon created them. Despite having blood and a body, they weren't…biologically accurate. Heck, studying some of the monsters Bella had kidnapped with GLaDOS's help, we noticed that most of the monsters' bodies were entirely redundant.
Even the internal components, like cells and other microscopic organisms, weren't remotely relevant. The resources the monsters released were just as bizarre, and their unique properties were so ridiculously general that they initially baffled me.
Like the wings of the Blue Papilio, which had the property of 'healing' or 'regeneration,' as simple as that, it wasn't specific in any way; it didn't help replenish blood, regenerate bones or skin, increase natural healing, help clot blood, heal wounds, or anything else.
No… the wings just… healed, and everything that implies. It was weird as hell, more of a concept, a very, very weak one, than a magical property, but nothing I couldn't adapt to.
Mana regeneration potions were even rarer; the ingredients used were merely magically powerful yet equally inert. They seemed to be nothing more than concentrated magic within the object, especially the magic stones, which were one of the potion's main ingredients.
When they made potions, it was basically like drinking distilled magic. Again, rare as hell and impossible with the natural ingredients I had access to, since the magic of those ingredients was intrinsically intertwined with their properties.
Even so, it was easy to recreate both potions and to improve them. Using those ingredients as the core of the potion and adding other ingredients to enhance their properties was simple.
The life potions were mostly useless; they might be helpful in a real emergency, or maybe during a fight, but on the other hand, the more localised potions I could prepare were much better.
In contrast, magic regeneration was much more relevant. The Potions served perfectly well, but were marginally useless if I couldn't improve them further.
If we were in the world of Harry Potter, it would only take a couple of potions to regenerate an adult's magic fully. But… I had much… much more magic than that, so it was like trying to fill a swimming pool drop by drop; it could be done, but it would take thousands.
Even so, I didn't get discouraged; it just means I needed stronger magic stones or something similar. At some point, I'll have to try a philosopher's stone to see if I can create something similar, although for now I've put it aside.
Then there were the Grimoires. Those were really interesting… and completely useless without a Falna.
I hadn't been able to study a Falna in detail, but Falnas didn't add anything extra to a person's body; they simply made a person's hidden potential easier to access.
That means that grimoires didn't add spells completely out of thin air.
From what I could understand, grimoires used Falna as their medium. Grimoires, in a way, 'interpreted' all the accumulated experience and wisdom, all the excelia within Falna—that is, all the achievements, growth records, and skills of an adventurer—and created a spell that was like the sublimation of all that.
And that was the interesting part, that… sounded terribly like the creation of a damn Noble Phantasm.
So we tried to modify the Grimoire.
GLaDOS had the idea of placing all the available code in the Aether Information inside the grimoire, which would be equivalent to putting everything a person needs, thus skipping the part where they would have to use the Falna to function.
And not only that, the 'new' grimoire would generate a spell from the code added to it, regardless of who read it. But there was a huge problem. GLaDOS was just starting with Aether Editing, so she didn't know how to take control of an entire person's code and manipulate it the way Silver Wolf had done with the Trailbrazer's body at the beginning of Honkai Star Rail.
Something that really frustrated GLaDOS, but we had to let it go.
For my part, I had thought about placing all the information of a Noble Phantasm inside the Grimoire. I doubted I could achieve something similar to a Noble Phantasm in the form of spells, but I would surely be able to obtain something that belonged to the heroic spirit of the downloaded data.
So I began experimenting with Grimoires to modify them. I must say, I didn't understand Grimoires when I first started studying them; even my Reality Marble clashed with them at first.
The Grimoires were empty, even though my Reality Marble was able to replicate them; they were terribly hollow, more hollow than when you try to replicate a divine construct like Excalibur.
I had been able to modify its structure while materialising them with Trace On while adding all the information from other Noble Phantasms, but all that was left was the fact that I could not consume said Grimoires due to the lack of a Falna.
I was seriously considering getting a Falna; the stat boost was always more than welcome, but what really interested me were the Developmental Skills. Mystery and Mixing were the ones that truly caught my eye. But Mage had its appeal too. Bella had seen Mixing and Mage in action, so I had access to those memories.
The problem is, she would have to level up. I mean, Bella surpassed 900 in all stats a few days ago, but she was crazy enough to spend more than 10 hours a day inside the dungeon, and even then, she still had no way of getting the high-quality Excelia to level up.
Even so, she still had Enyo's blood, the blood of Dionysus that Bella had stolen. Now she just had to figure out how to create a fake Falna, but it was definitely an uphill battle. Blood magic from supernatural beings was complicated. Manipulating it was usually a real pain, especially with stolen blood.
For perfect blood magic, the blood must be given with full awareness; blood given with kindness is preferred, for it is the purest, the most powerful, and the most obedient.
In contrast, blood remembers its owner, rebels, and fights against anyone who tries to manipulate it. Only if the will of the spellcaster is much stronger than that of the 'donor' can it be used. Otherwise, stolen blood will distort any spell or magic, sometimes to the point of rendering the intended magic unrecognisable.
For casting curses or dark magic, that state was preferable, since the very struggle of the blood could be used to empower the curse. But for blood magic that wasn't so... insidious, it was really complicated.
The stronger, more magical, or more powerful a person's will, the harder it was to manipulate their blood. And the blood of a god? It was definitely on an even higher level. It was possible to defeat Dionysus in a head-on fight, even if he unleashed his Arcanum. Still, even then, his blood—divine blood was by no means negligible when it came to attempting to manipulate it.
It was a shame Bella had sold Dionysus immediately, so she didn't have a continuous source of blood; she'd have to ration the three vials she'd managed to get carefully. Even so, credits were always welcome.
Dionysus (T7) from Danmachi –SOLD [+80] [348]
And finally, what interested GLaDOS most: magical metals. GLaDOS focused on Adamantite and Orichalcum, but I was drawn to Mithril. It was the first time I'd encountered a metal with such high magical conductivity; even the Godmetals I had access to, which were magically powerful, weren't truly conductive.
We spent a lot of time experimenting with everything Bella had acquired.
It was really fun!
"Done." GLaDOS said as she stood up. I finally looked up and saw GLaDOS disconnecting the cable running from the side of her torso from the connector of a very unconscious Tanaka.
Oh, right, I had kidnapped Tanaka. I blinked slightly as I glanced at Lucy, who was standing next to me with my Cyberdeck, quickly reading.
Actually, it was pretty easy. Maine's job of extracting the information from Tanaka's driver had been a complete success thanks to his Sandy. I let Lucy use my Cyberdeck to copy all the data more quickly and, while she was at it, create a backup for us to use.
The job was completed, Faraday was happy and paid them extra, and then we kidnapped Tanaka, rendering all of Faraday's information completely useless.
Did I mind ruining Faraday's day? Not in the slightest.
"You really are a monster, GLaDOS. It would have taken Kiwi or me hours to try to break the ICE without harming Tanaka." Lucy said in amazement, GLaDOS just nodded.
"So? Have we got it? Can we go get whatever it was we wanted from Tanaka? " Rebecca asked, lying next to me. She was using my thigh as a pillow, and my hands had been playing with her hair for a while.
"We've got it. Here's the data on the... Prototype Arasaka Cyberskeleton." Lucy said, reading the screen before whistling in amazement. "This thing was designed for Smasher, a massive structure that moves only using gravity field generators and two compact thrusters that the AVs utilise."
"That thing sounds Preem," Rebecca said excitedly, and I laughed.
"Not as much as you think. That thing can't move without gravity fields; it's a flaw in itself. The other thing is that, literally, only Smasher could move and use that thing without instantly turning into a psychopath. A normal person would have to inject themselves with immunosuppressants every second to keep operating it, and their limit would be a few minutes," I said simply.
"Shit." Rebecca groaned, and I just nodded.
"Yeah... what's the data from the human trials so far, and... to no one's surprise, there are dozens of them." Lucy growled, filled with hatred. "All dead, brain-fried, or killed by the Arasaka guards when they went psycho." Lucy snorted.
"Are we still stealing it?" Rebecca asked with a hum. I just nodded.
"Although mostly useless, the technology to generate gravitational fields is something that could be useful to us." I said simply, and it was something GLaDOS wanted, so I had no problem retrieving the cybernetic skeleton.
Initially, she planned to steal it alone, kidnap Tanaka, give him Veritaserum or read his mind, and retrieve the lab's location where the prototype was stored before going to the lab and stealing it. But these last few weeks, Lucy had become really keen on damaging anything Arasaka could.
And as I said, the last few weeks were relatively slow. GLaDOS spent most of her time happily working as Ripperdoc or building things. I helped her occasionally. Most of the installations GLaDOS performed were things she could do on her own, with one hand and without looking, so she didn't need me in the clinic constantly.
So I found something to keep me entertained. Most of it, besides studying what Bella had accumulated from the world of Danmachi, was spent on spending time with Rebecca, and Lucy joined us more and more often.
We had a lot of sex, of course, but half the time we were just running errands for GLaDOS, attacking Arasaka. Rebecca started taking on solo jobs with Wakako, or, well, teaming up with me, while Lucy would join in from time to time.
"Alright, it seems the place is outside Night City, in a secret facility. It doesn't appear to be too heavily guarded, so it'll be easy to break in and steal the prototype. First, we have to leave Tanaka where he is, and then we can go." I said simply.
"Come on! I want to see that cyber-skeleton!" Rebecca said excitedly as she sat up straight.
"Okay, go-" I stopped when I felt my phone vibrate. Like… vibrate inside my Pocket Space, which was impossible unless it was a notification from The Company. Without hesitation, I discreetly pulled it out and checked the notification.
My eyes opened wide, and my mouth opened in disbelief.
Companions captured +32 [380]
Riveria Ljos Alf(T6) from Danmachi
What the hell?! What situation would lead Bella to capture Riveria?! I was about to see Bella's memories when I read a notification about 'Contract accepted by the lawyers of The Company'…
…that…it was the same damn notification that had arrived when I made the contracts with Bella, Cissy, and Lucius. I closed my eyes to calm myself. Almost slightly afraid of what I was about to see, I opened the damn contract.
Just as I expected, it was in Kione, the language of Danmachi. It took me a few seconds to adjust to the language, but there it was.
Engagement Contract between Riveria Ljos Alf and Serena Eileen Prince.
…
I was going to kill Bellatrix.
I gritted my teeth as I began to quickly read through the entire contract. The contract was straightforward, yet creating a commitment contract and handing it over to The Company without consulting me?
"What did you just do?!" I growled from the mental link. Bella smiled amusedly and only responded with her memories. I stopped, reviewing her entire deal with Riveria, from the magic books to the last meeting. I screamed internally, "I'm going to fix this." I only heard Bellatrix's laughter in my mind.
"Change of plans, I have to leave Night City immediately, Bellatrix did something stupid that I have to fix." I said firmly as I stood up and began picking up the things lying around.
"Wait! IS Everything fine? Do you need help? " Rebecca asked immediately, standing up.
"It's not ne- " I stopped abruptly, thinking. Rebecca had already agreed to join me, and the last two weeks with her had been delightful. I truly had no reason to refuse to let her join me now; I could take her to the world of Danmachi. "You know... You can come, if you really want to," I said honestly.
Rebecca's eyes opened wide as if she had never considered me accepting; in fact, she almost expected a flat rejection from me.
"Seriously, choom?" Rebecca asked excitedly, and I nodded.
"But one thing, once you're in, you won't be able to get out." I said without hesitation.
"You already said it! I'm still doing it! I'll call my idiot brother to tell him I'll be out of NC for days!" Rebecca said excitedly.
"Wait, wait, wait! You're going to leave just like that? Will you leave the prototype? Faraday has the same information. And you said Tanaka wouldn't remember any of this, so it's more likely he won't change his routine, or that Faraday will find another way to get the information.
"Who knows how many days you'll be away from NC, you're practically leaving it in Militech's hands." Lucy said quickly, and I hummed slightly.
"Don't worry, GLaDOS will take care of stealing it. I'd say you can go with her if you want, but... I wouldn't recommend seeing the mess she leaves at the Arasaka facility." I said honestly. GLaDOS just laughed unnervingly, making Lucy shudder slightly.
" Argh! Fine, I'm going too." Lucy grumbled, and Rebecca and I turned to look at her.
"Are you coming?" we asked, confused. Lucy grunted.
"Yes, I'm going. Is there a problem?" Lucy grumbled. I paused to think about it for a few seconds.
"You know she said there's no way out, right? What happened to your plan to go to the moon?" Rebecca asked, frowning.
"I-" Lucy tries to say before closing her mouth.
"You know what, you can come." I said simply, looking at her intently. "I'll make you the same offer I gave Rebecca: you can join permanently before our trip ends and we return to Night City. But unlike Rebecca, if you say no, I'll erase the next few days from your memory, with no way to recover them. Deal?" I asked seriously. Lucy's eyes widened slightly.
She doesn't even question whether I was capable of doing it; she just discreetly glances at GLaDOS before taking a deep breath.
"Okay, I'll do it," Lucy said firmly. I just nodded.
"Well, we have a lot to review." I said with a wide smile as I extended my horns, wings, and tail. "Do you believe in devils?" I asked with a grin.