DxD: Crawling To The Top

Chapter 54




Title: Source of Power...





….
Athena looks at him intently, finally ready to get the answers that she has been longing for all this time.



"Let me take you somewhere." Says Haruto, slowly the darkness released from his body engulfs both of them.


Finally, Athena senses what has been making her instinctively afraid, countless dragon heads, god's forms, and many more come out of the darkness. For the first time, she saw Haruto not holding back his power.


Of course, Athena, as the Goddess of Wisdom whose domain had become like a minor Omnipresence could tell what was going. 

"I understand now…" she said, fear in her eyes appears for a split second. Finally, she saw what had been planning. 


"You get it?" He inquired while smirking and slowly the darkness surrounds both of them and the next time both teleport to a dark room, with many anime posters around and a king-sized bed.


On the bed was a cardboard box that opened up once Haruto waves his hand, making it disappear in an instant. Out of it came a young woman with short blond hair and red eyes, she had dark circles under her eyes as she kept playing in a console with a concentrated look in her eyes.


Haruto frowned at this and used his Mana to get a hold of the game console. "Valerie, I told you to keep playing for days straight. You need sleep."


She pouted. "Sleep is for the week!"


As he heard that, Haruto calmly walked towards her and lightly karate chopped her on the top of her head.

"Ow!" Valerie winced, and after that Haruto pulled her in a hug as he stood on his knees on the bed.

"You know how I get worried, please be careful, I don't want you to hurt yourself." Haruto loosened his shirt, showing Valerie a clear view of his neck. "Drink."


Valerie gulped and looked at Haruto's neck, a human's blood would always be a delicacy to a vampire. Especially the blood of someone like Haruto. As she leaned forward, she stopped midway and blushed. "T -This is very lewd…"

Athena looked at all of this with a bored look on her face. Haruto on the other hand frowned and grasped the back of Valerie's head and brought it towards his neck, the half-vampire was unable to resist and took a bite. 


"You can take as much as you want." Haruto petted the back of her head as she drank her blood. The Philosopher's Stone that he had embedded in his chest activated and replaced the lost blood instantly.



"So… Can you tell me what you teleported us here?" Asked Athena, "From what I understand, you have many dragons, gods, and other creatures of massive power trapped inside your body. Slowly you have been breaking their will till they gave up and decided to give you their everything. Essentially a Sacred Gear, but you just beat them into submission, so they wouldn't hold back their power. Or more correctly… you took everything from them."


Haruto smirked. "Very acute observation. All of that is correct, but you still haven't figured out how I got access to the souls of such beings."


"Well, you could tell me… and stop trying to amuse yourself by having me slowly puzzle everything together," Athena smirked, knowing how Haruto liked his games.


"Okay~ okay~ the truth is that I was just thinking of how cool and detective-like you can be." Haruto kept complimenting Athena as Valerie let go of his neck and just leaned on his shoulder, not drinking anymore of his blood now. Instead, she had full healthy color and the dark circles under her eyes were gone. On top of that, she just fell asleep. Haruto smiled at that and looked at Athena. "This girl was the key to my power, after seeing how the Heaven's System worked and got my hands on the Sacred Gear extraction method from the Fallen Angels. I could see my road to power. This girl's sacred gear is The Holy Grail, Sephiroth Graal."



Athena's eyes widened in realization. "Don't tell me… how many?"


"Zeus, and many other dead Gods by now. Dozens of dead Dragon Kings, some evil dragons that even challenge the Heavenly Dragons. All of their souls have been put into my new self-created sacred gear, evolving it and truly breaking the balance of this world. The new sacred gear used to be just another Double Critical, but with my seals added on top of it and some Legendary sealing tags, on top of using the Chains of Heaven from Gilgamesh's Babylon Gate… I had everything ready." The more Haruto talked, the more shocked Athen was, only now she understood why even at her prime of power, something that was compared to the Heavenly Dragons and the Biblical God… she still felt instinctive fear when Haruto released his energy.


He had absorbed so many Gods, Dragons, Yokai, and many more. There was a reason why he never truly seemed to show any interest in Longinus Sacred Gears because to him they were useless. He already had the ultimate Sacred Gear, the one with the most theoretical potential.


"So, do you like my little explanation?" Asked Haruto, amused by Athena's shocked looks. He wondered what her next move would be. Because since she was the Goddess of Wisdom, she clearly could see what his plans would be even with just this much info. 


"Yes… I loved it!!" Athena had an ecstatic look on her face. "Genius!! Truly genius!! Something that can't be replicated due to the souls already being absorbed by you. Since technically you still have a human nature you don't even have a weakness!! Hahaha!!"


Athena was laughing like someone who had gone mad. Her usual calmness was gone because she never would have thought that this was Haruto's plan all along. "Was this your plan all along? Was this why you started the Abyss Auction? Did you already foresee the actions of the Greek Gods and how they would attack you? Tell me? Did you?!"


He raised an eyebrow at all the questions. "I wouldn't say that I foresaw every event in my life. But I had a general grasp of the future, with that in mind, it wasn't hard to figure out what to do."


"So what is next then?!" She asked eagerly, like a kid at a candy store.


Haruto was worried at first since he thought that she would question if him meeting Athena was all part of his plan too. But she didn't seem to ask, but… if she decided to ask, he wouldn't tell her anything but the truth. He felt like he owed her that much at least, this woman had gone through so many things for him. Even abandoning and helping in their murder. 




"My plans from now on? Well the answer is quite obvious, isn't it, my dear Athena?" His smirk was contagious, but Athena finally got a grip and her calm expression took over once more.


Her face soon became one of sadness. "But… you would likely die if you did that. You are just a human, your body wouldn't be able to handle it."


Haruto smirked. "So what? If I die chasing what I dream of, then I wouldn't mind dying."



BOOOOM!!


Instantly Athena's divine energy bursts out, obliterating the room and the mansion all around it. Haruto had himself, Valerie, and the bed protected under a translucent barrier. But everything around them with a mile radius was destroyed.


"I. Would. Mind." Athena hissed out, she knew his Haruto was, and while she truly loved him… she couldn't allow him to die. 


He on the other hand seemed relaxed. "I don't see why you are so angry. I have always said, you can always get together with my reincarnated soul and I will even give you a copy of my memories, he would essentially be myself."


"Don't fuck around!! I don't want something like that!! I don't want a fake!! I want you!" An enraged look appeared on her face. "You are so fucking strong!! Why can't you settle down and live a happy life with just this!! You have so many beautiful women who don't mind being in your Harem! I don't mind how many women you have, so why won't you just forget about this mad stride and settle down!!"


The more she talked, the more tears fell out of her eyes. Haruto had a contemplative look on his face for a split second, but in the end, he resolution himself and went to hug Athena. "Sorry, but you know I can't do that. It's not just for me, it's for you also, how could I ever feel happy and safe if there exists someone stronger than me."


"You stupid bastard… I will forever let your soul wander in the abyss without ever even bothering to pull it back." Athena swore at him and walked out. 


Haruto sighed and waved his hand, red lightning danced along his hand and by the use of Alchemy, instantly another copy of the previous mansion was created. "Sorry Athena, you don't know just what kind of terrifying existences are out there."


He looked distraught as he gazed at his hand. "No… that is just an excuse… I know that, but I can't give up. Not yet… I must get stronger, currently, I can barely even do anything that I want. If you knew what I did…"


A tear rolled down his eye, but his Philosopher's Stone activated and refilled his tear glands. 


"Hm?" Valerie's head popped up from the sheets as she looked at him, "Haruto? Why are you crying?"


He didn't say anything and just hugged her, and she hugged him. She then brought his head to her chest. "This should make you feel better. I read that boys like this."


Haruto smiled at that. "Hahaha, you are right, it does make me happy. Also it's not crying, I was just thinking of the past and became a little sad."


He resolved himself, he had already experienced death once, doing it again wouldn't be something new. This was his 2nd chance, and he has understood something fundamental. 'No matter what I want, when I get it… I will always want something more. Yes… this is the road that I have chosen for myself, I see no need to ever stop walking it. Even if it is likely to lead to my death, I know things that no one else knows. I can do this!!'


….
A/N: Haruto's power is something that was done by using Valerie's Sacred Gear to seal the souls of different Gods and strong Mythological Creatures into him. Just like she sealed an Evil God inside of Gasper's Sacred Gear, that was why it evolved into a Longinus. Theoretically, it could work with something like Haruto's too.