Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV.
I smiled slightly as I entered our mansion. Being home was always good, and most importantly, I could feel the mental connection with everyone again. Going to a world where everyone else was frozen had made my head too quiet, and it was… terribly annoying.
Luckily, the mission had kept me busy enough that it only took a couple of days to complete, maybe a little longer because of all the rewinds Innocent Zero had done during the fight, so despite a slight discomfort, it wasn't anything truly bothersome. If it had lasted longer, it would have become really uncomfortable. I had missed the connection.
" You're back!" Enid squealed happily in her head. I just chuckled.
"I shouldn't have left for more than a few seconds for you," I said playfully.
"Too long!" Enid exclaimed indignantly. I just sighed warmly.
"Yes, too long," I said honestly. I could feel Enid smiling broadly. I chuckled before mentally relaying everything that had happened. I held nothing back; I had no reason to. Not even my plans for the future ritual. Everyone remained silent as they processed everything.
"Wow, that's quite an... interesting ritual," Lucius finally said.
"It seems dangerous," Enid said immediately, sounding worried. "And... really disgusting! That... that Innocent Zero really used his children for that ritual?!" she asked, horrified. "You're not going to use our children!" Enid said immediately, almost bristling. I chuckled.
"Our children? Are you already planning them?" I asked playfully. I could feel Enid blush furiously.
"Shut up! We're not talking about that! First we have to get married! " Enid squealed in a panic. I stopped and smiled gently.
"Yes. First, we have to get married," I said gently. Enid stayed silent, in shock. I chuckled. "And don't worry. The hearts are artificial, but completely compatible with me and the ritual. The client who posted the Mission made sure to note everything about them. Well, not how to create them, but what they're made of and all the information necessary for the ritual. They're as real as the ritual requires, but they're completely artificial, magically created," I told her, trying to calm her down. Enid finally recovered and nodded shakily.
"Good," Enid said, sighing in relief. I smiled flirtatiously.
"And don't worry, I would never do that to OUR children. Although I would like to know what your plans are regarding them. Have you already chosen some names, or how many will we have?" I teased Enid.
"Forget about that!" Enid squealed, blushing. I laughed along with the others.
"Serena's first child is mine. After that, you can have as many as you want with her," Bella said without hesitation. I snorted playfully. "And as far as I'm concerned, just do it. Aside from the cost in Credits, there's no need to worry," Bella said, shrugging. I could almost hear Enid's relieved sigh as we changed the subject. I was tempted to keep teasing her, but I let the conversation run its course.
"Hmm, the cost would be high, but nothing that couldn't be recovered. A high cost for a high benefit. A single template for you would already cost 320, and the next one 640. The cost for the ritual is even less than that and would help you a lot."
"Besides, you just got 350 credits on a mission that took you a couple of days. And that's because you 'only' did the mission. If you'd captured some objectives, you could have doubled that amount. We're also going on another mission soon, so the credits are the least of it; you don't need our permission to use them, but I know you'll want them anyway, so use them however you want. I'm fine with that," Ravel said calmly. I could hear the others agreeing with her.
"I suppose we'll be modifying that ritual," Riveria said playfully. "It'll be... interesting, to say the least," Riveria added, sounding genuinely interested.
"Freya-sama is more than happy for you to do whatever you prefer; she'll help you with whatever you need. She's even offered to return to Orario and obtain the blood of the gods you require," Horn said calmly. I chuckled.
"Tell her I appreciate it, but it's not necessary right now. First, I really need to see what I need," I said calmly. I felt Horn nod. Since she was constantly by Freya's side and had a connection with us, she kept Freya informed of everything so she would be aware of all the details.
"GLaDOS-"
"I'm here," GLaDOS said from behind me. I snorted and turned around just to look at her. Just as I expected, the smug, mocking, wide smile on her face was obvious; she wasn't even bothering to hide it. I just looked at her, amused.
"You were right." I accepted my defeat. GLaDOS practically strutted at my words.
"Of course I am. I'm always right. I'm the most impressive collection of wisdom to have ever existed across multiple worlds," GLaDOS said with ease, strutting like a very petulant peacock. I bit my lip, trying not to smile. It really would have been different if she'd had her more imposing frame, but with her tiny, slender body of barely 140cm? She was adorable.
"Of course." I agreed with her. GLaDOS just nodded in satisfaction. Then she came closer, grabbed my wrist, and started dragging me away.
"Come on. I have a few chosen planetary systems we can claim without any problem," GLaDOS said excitedly. "There are many nearby systems we can use. The Wizarding World galaxy is the most promising. In 1977, there isn't enough technology to scan all the nearby systems in detail, so we'll go unnoticed."
"Likewise, I wouldn't choose anything nearby; anything more than 10 light-years away would be preferable. That way, we have more than 10 years for any changes to be perceptible from Earth, which means we have more than enough time to terraform the planet into a machine world."
"I was thinking about something like Wolf 1061. It's about 14 light-years away. It's a fairly small red dwarf star with three confirmed planets. And the best part is, the planets orbiting Wolf 1061 haven't even been discovered in the wizarding world yet."
"Even in my world, the planets orbiting Wolf 1061 hadn't been discovered yet, only the star itself back in 1919. I found out about them by comparing star charts and information from Cyberpunk, which was by far the most complete. The planets were discovered in 2015 in that world."
"That means we'll be even more completely undetected in the wizarding world. Anything close to Wolf 1061 will also do the trick," GLaDOS said, completely excited. "We need to improve and adapt the ships with Warp Drive. I've made improvements, but I can still only reach an effective speed of 50c without compromising the ship."
"It would take around 102 days to make the journey to Wolf 1061. Even with just technological advancements, we need to increase that speed at least 10 times, that is, 500 times the speed of light, so we can be there in 10 days. With magic, it should be possible."
"Once we're there, we can place some portals. I've collected moonstones and crafted the portal gun. There shouldn't be any problem with the distance between the two points. Since it will be in the wizarding world, we need a place to put the other portal entry point."
"We need to prepare a bunker, a shelter, or something like that," GLaDOS said, practically bouncing with excitement. I just laughed as I watched her, genuinely thrilled.
"As... interesting as that is, and of course we'll do it. First, we have to work out the ritual and the mechanical heart so we know what we're building and how. Then we can start creating them." I told GLaDOS playfully. GLaDOS paused and nodded.
"Then that's what we'll do." She said, resuming her lively pace. I chuckled.
"Is there anything I need to know before GLaDOS calls me for the next few hours?" I asked mentally with a smile.
"How come you were gone for... no time at all, not really, my dear?" Lucius said amusedly.
"In fact, I just received a message from Lord Lucifer. The next Rating Game of the tournament has been decided," Ravel said calmly. I focused on Ravel, curious. "With Diodora's death and Zephydor 's withdrawal, only five of the original seven competitors remain."
"Seekvaira Agares lost to Diodora, but since it was discovered that Diodora was using Ophis's serpent even during that match, the result was overturned. Agares was then allowed to fight Sairaorg. The outcome was obvious; they both ended up losing, so Sairaorg advanced to the next round."
"Sona Sitri lost to Rias, so she qualified. And since Diodora's match was annulled, Rias is the one who stays. That means Rias and Sairaorg are the ones who qualified for the next round, and since we had a direct pass to the next round, the three of us are in the round."
"Apparently, there were discussions about how the matchups would be conducted since the teams were now odd-numbered again. And as always, it all comes down to politics. Apparently, the initial idea was to hold three Rating Games, with each team playing twice: Gremory vs. Bael, Prince vs. Gremory, Prince vs. Bael. Whoever won both of their matches would be the winner. But since there's a possibility of a three-way tie, they weren't satisfied with that."
"So someone needed another pass to the final round. And nobody could agree on who would get it, especially since those two teams that make it to the final round will be the ones who get the most attention and promotion, and that's important for the Demons."
"The Bael family pushed for Sairaorg. They may not like Sairaorg, but he's still a Bael, so they'll obviously support him, even if it's just to maintain their reputation at his expense. Sirzechs is obviously on Rias's side. And to my surprise, we have Serafall's support. Her reason is that the more attention we get, the more famous the K-pop series Demon Hunter will become. So yes, she wants to use us for publicity."
"Which was good. After several discussions that led nowhere, it was determined that a three-way Rating Game would be held." Ravel finally said, and I paused momentarily, pulling on GLaDOS, who just glared at me.
"Three-way? Will we be facing Sairaorg and Rias and their Peerages at the same time? " I asked, surprised. Ravel just nodded mentally.
"Actually, they'll be fighting amongst themselves too," Ravel confirmed. Lucius laughed.
"Please. They'll ally immediately," Lucius said amusedly. "Both Serena and Bellatrix have demonstrated their strength against Satan-level opponents without any trouble. And even though we continue to participate in official Rating Games, neither of us has used our full strength."
"Meanwhile, Sairaorg and Rias, along with their respective peerages, have already participated and demonstrated what they are capable of. We are dangerous, and half of us are unknown to them. Sairaorg is too proud to attempt anything like this; he would prefer to fight us all himself. However, there is a high probability that Rias and Issei will be able to convince him to form a temporary alliance," Lucius said, letting out a laugh.
"Does that mean everyone's coming for us?!" Rebecca asked excitedly. "Oh, it sounds so preem! It's the best thing that could have happened to us! Jackpot, babe! " she said. I could practically see her bouncing excitedly.
"It sounds dangerous, " Lucy said playfully, smiling slightly.
"Sounds perfect!" Rebecca said, bursting into laughter.
"Oh yes," Bella said with a sadistic smile. "I'm all for fighting them both at the same time," she added, equally excited. I could only shake my head in amusement.
"I guess we'll be facing both of them at the same time, " I said playfully. "When will it take place?" I asked calmly.
"In a month," Ravel said without hesitation. "October 20th to be exact," she said quickly. I hummed softly. Okay, a month.
That meant it would follow the canon timeline. That meant Loki's attack and the attack on Kyoto still had to happen before the Rating Game. I wasn't really... too interested in them.
I couldn't kill Loki outright. Even if he attacked the demonic faction and the alliance, he was still a scheming god. Killing him when Odin was our ally would complicate everything, or at least sour relations with the Asgardians.
Fenrir and his children were easier to justify. And Fenrir would be a good target. As the tenth-strongest being in the world, even weakened as he was now, he was still incredibly powerful. Usurping his power and that of his children, Skoll and Hati, was a good option.
"Leave it to me!" Rebecca said immediately, sounding excited. "You fought that Shalaba whatever guy is, and you just came back from a mission after fighting that time-traveling gonk. And Bella fought Esdeath, and I got stuck with the boring stragglers! I want to fight someone strong! You can stay and do the ritual or whatever! " Rebecca said, sounding excited. I stopped.
"I'll go with her," Lucy said playfully. I paused to consider it, then nodded. I didn't know if they could defeat any of them, but I was determined to trust them.
"Very well, I trust you. Call me when you have the bodies of any of them." I said, nodding. I grimaced at the shriek, followed by a scream, then Rebecca's loud, excited laughter. I just sighed. "Make sure she doesn't die permanently," I said wearily to Lucy. Lucy laughed.
"I'll do it, don't worry," Lucy said playfully, though I could also hear the excitement in her voice. I just shook my head. Even though Lucy was calmer than Rebecca, she was from Night City, and she was also an adrenaline junkie, even if she hid it better than Rebecca.
"Ravel, Lucius, figure out how to get both of them into Japan in a credible way without causing any problems," I told them both.
"Easy, my dear. The first step is to send them right away. Odin is about to arrive in Japan to negotiate an alliance with the three factions and the Shinto gods. We simply send a message to Lord Lucifer, something like, 'You feel uneasy after the recent terrorist attacks at the peace conference and Rias's rating game, so you'll offer to send help.'"
"We'll say you're busy getting Pentagram City and the Globe back in order after the terrorist attack, and you'll send your Peerage, just for convenience. They'll buy it immediately."
"The second option is to wait for Loki to attack first, then retreat to regroup and amass his forces when Vali's group appears. We simply send both of them as reinforcements to Kuoh. Easier, cleaner, and faster. They'll accept anything that helps them," Lucius said matter-of-factly.
"From the very beginning!" Rebecca said immediately. I just raised an eyebrow.
"You'll be waiting in Kuoh for days," I told them simply. Rebecca shrugged.
"I'll have to be somewhere, right? " she asked casually. "You'll be busy creating that ritual or whatever, so it's all the same," Rebecca said easily.
"Lucy?" I asked curiously. Lucy hummed.
"It'll be good to go out and explore the world. If we get bored, we can always come and go just as easily," Lucy said, shrugging. I just nodded.
"Ravel?" I said simply. Ravel just nodded mentally.
"I'll start writing the letter." Ravel said immediately, and I just nodded.
"Alright, get ready and take everything you need," I told them both easily. With a final nod from both of them, I finally sighed and looked at GLaDOS, who was waiting anxiously.
"I'm all yours," I said playfully to GLaDOS. GLaDOS's eyes glowed brightly.
"Let's go." She said without hesitation, grabbed my wrist again, and dragged me toward the lab. I just shook my head playfully.
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