Chapter 129: Sacred Gear Get!
In the end, Haruto didn't sign a contract with the Red Dragon Emperor. The general idea was that at that level of power, there were too many ways to break an agreement if one didn't truly wish to fulfill it.
The Red Dragon Emperor had initiated negotiations because he valued Haruto's earlier attitude. Someone with such an attitude might not necessarily be a good person, but they wouldn't be the type to break their word.
However, since it was only usage rights, Haruto couldn't absorb the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet into his body. Instead, the cool red dragon claw transformed into a fingerless glove.
The deep red, stylish sports glove wrapped around his left hand. Haruto clenched his fist—it fit perfectly and didn't hinder his movement at all.
With a thought, the glove instantly transformed back into the red steel dragon claw.
"Alright, I need to return to my slumber. With your abilities, you don't need my guidance on how to use this," the Red Dragon Emperor's voice sounded weary. Originally, he could only communicate with his host. Being forcibly awakened and maintaining communication until now had nearly depleted the energy he'd accumulated over time.
"After I fall asleep, you can use all of the Sacred Gear's abilities. How much you can master depends on your own capabilities. I hope that by the time I wake next, your power will be sufficient to sustain my consumption."
The green gem in the center of the red dragon gauntlet dimmed as the Red Dragon Emperor's soul returned to deep slumber. Basic information about how to use the Sacred Gear automatically transferred into Haruto's mind.
Haruto glanced at the unconscious Issei and changed the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet back into the sports glove.
Tonight's plan had encountered some unexpected developments, but the overall outcome was good. Not only had he successfully obtained the Sacred Gear, but he also didn't have to constantly worry about the Red Dragon Emperor spying on him.
Compared to weapons with sentient wills, Haruto preferred weapons without spirituality.
Though if the weapon spirit was a long-legged beauty, that would be a different matter entirely.
"It seems the resurrection preparations won't be needed after all."
"Indeed," Rias said as she dispelled the barrier surrounding the Takamine residence. "The Red Dragon Emperor must have really liked that boy to specifically return his life energy."
Haruto hadn't expected the Red Dragon Emperor to have that ability either, but it saved him some trouble.
"President, I'll leave Yuuma and the others to you. I'll take Issei back home."
Rias nodded slightly, a red magic circle appearing at her feet as she teleported back to the Occult Research Club with Akeno Himejima and the other three.
Haruto returned the completely unharmed Issei—who only looked slightly pale—to his home. After casting a simple perception-altering spell, he silently returned to the Takamine family garden.
Looking at the damaged tools scattered across the ground and the cracked large eerie cross, Haruto began cleaning up the mess while pondering who should be responsible for the damages.
It was unclear whether it was the backlash from the failed ritual or the overwhelming pressure emitted by the Red Dragon Emperor's appearance, but nearly all the ritual tools required for the ceremony had been destroyed. If Yuuma still intended to seize the Sacred Gear afterward, she would have to gather a new set of ritual tools from scratch.
After practicing in the courtyard all night and expending a considerable amount of magic and physical strength, Haruto had roughly grasped the fundamental functions of the Sacred Gear.
Following a bath and breakfast prepared by Sayuri, he arrived at Kuoh Academy.
He first checked on Issei Hyoudou and found him recounting last night's "dream" to the other two members of the Pervert Trio.
After observing for a while, Haruto left unhurriedly once the conversation began to veer off into discussions about which girl had larger breasts and whose bust had a better shape.
For an ordinary sixteen-year-old boy, perhaps living a carefree life for a while wasn't such a bad thing.
Well... given Issei's lecherous nature that values lust above life itself, if left to choose, he'd probably still want to get close to beautiful girls.
Leaving the school building, Haruto made his way to the Occult Research Club's activity room.
He wondered if Yuuma and the other two had completed their reincarnation after one night.
"Good morning, Haru-kun."
"Good morning, Haruto-kun."
"Morning, Koneko, and Kiba."
After exchanging greetings, Haruto asked, "Kiba, why are you here so early today?"
"With three new companions joining at once, of course I came to get to know them."
Yuuto spread his hands helplessly, saying, "Although I personally don't like fallen angels and priests - you could even say I hate them - since it's President Rias's decision, I'll still get along well with them."
Haruto stared at Yuuto's delicate face for a moment. He vaguely remembered there was a 'Holy Sword Project' storyline related to Yuuto, but the details were completely fuzzy in his memory.
Seeing that he didn't seem inclined to explain, Haruto didn't pursue the topic further.
Sitting down next to the white-haired loli, Haruto smiled and said, "Koneko, eating such sweet red bean buns first thing in the morning might give you cavities."
"I'm a devil, I don't get cavities." The white-haired loli remained unmoved, taking small bites of her bread with an expressionless face.
"Alright then, take your time eating." Haruto ruffled the smooth silver-white hair, satisfying his urge to pet a cat before saying, "I'm going to check on the president and the others."
The reincarnation of Yuuma and the other two had generally gone smoothly, though the three pawn pieces weren't quite enough. In the end, all eight pawn pieces were used before the three successfully completed the reincarnation ritual.
Yuuma alone used four pawn pieces, while Mittelt and Kalawarna used two each.
When Haruto arrived at the training ground, Yuuma and the other two were being taught by Rias and Akeno, getting familiar with their new powers.
"Yuuma-chan, I'll practice with you."
After watching for a while, Haruto felt an itch to join. He also wanted to see how the Sacred Gear would perform in actual combat.
"Boost, Boost, Boost."
"Explosion."
This should be about right...
Haruto estimated internally. With his power doubled three times, and without using magic or qi, he wondered if he could take on all three at once.
The battle ended much faster than expected. After tripling his power, Yuuma and the other two couldn't withstand Haruto's attacks at all. Every time they clashed with the red steel dragon claws, the recoil would leave them unable to even hold their weapons steady.
In the end, they could only resort to long-range magic attacks, but those were all blocked by the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet.
Due to the large gap in strength, Haruto couldn't really feel the Sacred Gear's power, but its defensive capabilities were truly remarkable.
As long as the attack range didn't exceed his left hand and forearm, he could block everything without taking any damage.
If he could master the full-body armor mode, Haruto felt he could try a berserker style of only attacking without defending.
Commonly known as... recklessness.
"Transfer"
Haruto transferred the tripled power to Yuuma. After testing the Gift of the Red Dragon Emperor ability, this training session officially concluded.
...
January 1st, the start of a new year. The second semester at Kuoh Academy ended, and winter break arrived.
Time flowed like water, flying by swiftly. Two months had passed since Yuuma and the others became Rias's servants.
During these two months, the three fallen angels reborn as devils had mostly stayed in the activity room, occasionally disguising themselves to return to the church for a glance.
Just as Haruto had predicted, after discovering they had lost contact, the fallen angel side didn't even bother to investigate—not a single person showed up.
It was as if Yuuma and the other two had never existed in the first place.
It wasn't until the new year began, perhaps due to year-end summaries, that a few lower-ranked fallen angels were finally dispatched to the cathedral base.
Yuuma, who had initially felt guilty about betraying her faction, was completely disheartened. She discarded the name Raynare and adopted the name Amano Yuuma, which Haruto had always insisted on calling her.
Mittelt and Kalawarna also wanted to change their names, but since their appearances were distinctly foreign, it was unsuitable to adopt Japanese-style names. In the end, the idea was dropped.
Haruto hadn't been idle these two months either. Through dual cultivation, he had raised his magical power to S-rank while also extracting several decent magical skills.
Additionally, he had encountered a few willing heroines from adult-oriented series and gained several new talents.
Coupled with his complete mastery of the Boosted Gear, his strength had once again reached a bottleneck.
[Name: Haruto Seishu]★
Talents:
[Devil Bloodline (High-grade) · Incomplete]
[Body Mastery (Intermediate)]
[Sword Heart (Beginner)]
[Lightning Radiance · Incomplete]
[Eye of Insight]
[Mental Resistance]
[Combat Intuition]
[Body-Drawn Divine Insight]
[Spirit Bond]
…
Skills:
[Mana Extraction (Intermediate)]
[Martial Arts Proficiency (Beginner)]
[Existence Erasure]
[Lightning Spear]
[Light Spear]
…
'Possessed Item: Boosted Gear'
'Comprehensive Evaluation: S-rank Peak'
After reviewing his status panel, Haruto silently added two notes.
After merging several body-related talents, his [Body Mastery]—which he had acquired shortly after awakening his abilities—had upgraded to Intermediate.
Intermediate Mana Extraction was extracted from Kalawarna, replacing the Beginner version.