Chapter 28

After Klaud was stabbed to near death, the black mist started to cover her as if it was trying to devour her very existence. Vincent saw this and immediately appeared next to her, sword ready. The mist covered him as well, and the next thing he knew, he could see nothing except him and Klaud floating in what seemed like an endless void.

Vincent didn't pay attention to his surroundings for long and just made his way toward Klaud. When he got close enough, he noticed that her life force was nearly all gone. The Senzu beans wouldn't be able to do much for her unless he healed up her body. Luckily, the real power of the innocence he had binded to Ana was that it accelerated growth. The only problem was that Vincent had absolutely no practice using that ability, so just to heal Klaud would most likely drain all the energy his body had just to ensure nothing went wrong with the process.

In that moment with Klaud slowly dying, Vincent made his decision. His zanpakuto slowly inserted itself into Klaud’s chest, changeing its standard dark green color to a glowing light green. Klaud’s wounds also started to glow in the same way after the blade lodged itself firmly into her body, with the hilt barely visible between her bountiful hills.

The sight was pretty bizarre, but there was no one else to point it out since Klaud was still unconscious and Vincent was using all the faith energy he had available to speed up Klaud’s recovery. For what seemed to be like a few minutes, Vincent continued to be seated in concentration and his zanpakuto continued to illuminate the surroundings.

Finally, after quite some time had passed, Klaud’s wounds were pretty much healed. The glow of the zanpakuto stopped but the blade did not pull itself out of Klaud’s chest.

Vincent: (...too tired to move. This body must have hit its limit. Looks like I'll have to swap it for now...)

Vincent’s body had indeed been used to its limit, and while he could consume Senzu beans to recover, the strain on his body would still be quite harmful, to the point that he'd most likely have to use C-points to heal himself which he considered to be a waste unless absolutely necessary.

So, to avoid having to do this, he swapped back to being Mike since Alex and Lenalee should be the only ones left in the other dimension alongside “Road”. This means he wouldn't have to risk Erin and Takeo spilling the beans about who he really was. As for Alex and Lenalee, he was sure they could keep it a secret. Besides, since he was already planning on contracting Klaud, he might as well contract the both of them today as well. After all, he did have plenty of points to spare.

191 lvl 3’s x 500 = 95,500

(3/10 lvl 4’s killed, kill 7 more to get X-ticket)

Total: 91,679 C-points

While the amount of points might seem like a lot, the truth was that they would be easily spent. As Mike unfortunately found out a long time ago, the prices of certain enhancements would go up the stronger a player became. Although it wouldn't change that much early on, it would be different in the long run. Not only that, contracting a sentient being was kind of expensive.

Sentient Being Contract

Origin: N/A

Description: The player becomes the complete "god" over the contracted being. Everything except the feelings and personality of the being can be controlled.They cannot die or disappear without the player's permission. A part of the contracted being's soul will always be present in the dimension so as to prevent complete destruction. C-points must be spent to revive or enhance the contracted being. Both parties must accept the contract for it to be successful.

Cost: 10,000 C-points (A: Ezra already belonged to Mike which was why she only costed 200)

That said, since Mike had plenty of points and spending them on contracts didn't increase the price of enhancements, he didn't buy anything before initiating the contract with Klaud.

The process was a pretty strange experience for Mike. He had heard vague details about what it would be like from Ezra, but experiencing it first hand was quite different than talking about it. Initiating the contract let Mike see into Klaud’s memories so that he could have a better understanding about her. It was pretty vague, only letting him see a rough outline of her life. Finally, after what seemed like years, Mike had learned the bare minumum necessary for the contract to take effect. All that was left was to have Klaud accept.

The contract made Klaud barely conscious, so Mike was able to coax her into accepting. He was quite surpised to see that her obsession with him was nearly Ezra level, but there were more pressing concerns so he just shrugged it off.

The contract took effect immediately as Klaud’s soul and body became branded with Mike’s name. The process didn't seem to cause her any pain, which relieved Mike. After making sure that she was stabilized, he fed her a Senzu bean mouth to mouth. Once that was taken care of, he had her sent into the spatial farm where Ezra was waiting after being instructed by Mike to take care of her.

Mike: Now… it's time to get out of here. Hopefully not much time passed. *slash*

With a single, well placed slash at an area indicated by his spatial farm to be a possible weak spot, the darkness all around him started to dissipate. The next thing Mike knew, he was now back in Road’s dimension with everyone still in their same position.

Lenalee: W-who is that? What happened to Klaud-nee and Vince-niichan!?

Alex: Who are you and what happened to them!?

Due to fact that almost no time at all had passed since Vincent and Klaud had disappeared into the black mist, Alex and Lenalee were confused on what had happened to them and why they had been replaced by a black-haired, young man.

Mike: I'll explain to you guys later. Just know that Klaud is fine and so am I. For now just sit back and let me handle things from here on out.

Alex: You can't be, Vincent!?

Lenalee: Ehhhh! No way! How-!?

Mike: Explanations later. Right now, I have to deal with her before reinforcements show up. I don't know why it's taking so long for help to arrive, but I don't want to be here long enough to find out.

While Mike was conversing with the 2 girls, he was also busy dodging and slashing apart various weapons created by the black mist. It seemed that even though his appearance had changed, Road still somehow instinctively knew it was still him.

Road: Rawrrrrr! Die! Die! Die! Why won't you die!?

Despite her constant yelling, Mike was unfazed and just continued to advance, slashing through the barrage of objects made of the mysterious black mist. If one looked at this scene, they would never have thought that the objects were solid enough to stab straight through Klaud. Once Mike was a certain distance away from Road, he stopped walking and started thinking about his next move.

Mike: (Alright, finally close enough. I don't think I should send my bugs into there. Who knows what might happen to them. Oh! I haven't had any time to test out any of my self created jutsus... Alright, this one uses about half of my chakra along with some of my soul energy, but it should kill her while completely leaving her body more or less intact. If it doesn't work, then I'll just have her enter the spatial farm and hope it's at a high enough level that she can be controlled by it. Hmm... I should also use this chance to test out my new binding ability. Though the original Noah wasn't able to move, according to the system, I should be able to since I'm technically not a full fledged Noah...)

The reason Vincent didn't want to send in Road into his spatial farm was because he didn't know what might happen if he does. If he couldn't get Road under his control, then even if he sent her outside his spatial farm, she might somehow be able to go back in it and wreak havoc. He didn't want to risk it unless he had no other options left.

Vincent: Alright, take this! Unique Jutsu, Thousand Souls Lightning Storm!

Thousand Souls Lightning Storm

Origin: Self-made

Description: A Jutsu that needs both soul energy and chakra to be performed. By mixing soul energy into lightning chakra, it is possible to gain better control over the chakra and create a lightning storm where the lightning is reinforced with soul energy, allowing the Jutsu to harm anything paranormal. Depending on the soul energy to chakra ratio, the damage dealt can even only affect the soul/mind of the target(s), completely ignoring the physical realm.

After training for so long, Mike was able to successfully combine chakra and soul energy. He still wasn't able to combine faith energy and chakra, but now that his Zanpakuto also contained faith energy, it was now possible for him to do so in the future. But even so, chakra and soul energy probably wouldn't be any less powerful than soul energy and faith energy. At least, according to what Ezra told him about his new jutsu. He hadn't had a lot of chances to test out his attack on any living targets yet, so everything he knew about his new jutsu was told to him by the spatial farm system and Ezra.

After shouting out the name of the jutsu (for dramatic effect of course) and making the appropriate hand signs, a dark cloud started to appear above Road’s body. It wasn't as dark and terrifying as Road’s black mist, but it still gave off a large sense of foreboding… Lightning was visibly forming within the cloud, and as the cloud grew, so did the lightning’s aggression. Stray bolts would occasionally shoot out around Road as if to keep her in place. In the span of not even 10 seconds, the cloud was fully grown, and the lightning fully matured.

Road ignored the cloud and lightning. It had done nothing to harm her. Besides, even if it did, she would still relentlessly pursue Mike. After all, she was almost all instincts and no conscious at this point. And when the lightning did finally start to hit her, she really started to go berserk; however, as she soon realized, she couldn't move at all. Even though the intense pain she was going through made her consider wanting to give up on her revenge, the binding chains of Mike's new ability wouldn't let her escape. There would be no escaping Mike’s new jutsu.

Road tried using her black mist to counteract the cloud and lightning above her, but it was no use. The lightning would instantly dissipate whatever she threw at it, turning it back into black mist that eventually dissipated into nothingness. Of course, there was no way this was the full extent of the jutsu's might.

With each new bolt of lightning, the lightning seemingly became larger, faster, and brighter, as if it's quality was increasing over time. Road didn't pay much attention to this, so she was caught off guard when the lightning finally struck her and made her go through the most agony she had ever felt in her entire life. After all, this was an attack that attacked her very soul, completely ignoring her body.

The lightning continued to strike down on her, making sure that her soul was injured to the point that she was practically brain dead. After about a minute, the thunderstorm started to disappear and the lightning stopped striking poor Road. Even though there was no noticeable damage to her, anyone could tell that there was something wrong with her by the way her eyes no longer shone with a deep red and we're now just a dull black as if she had lost her will to live.

Mike confirmed that she no longer had any mental/spiritual barriers up any more through his spatial farm, so he deemed it safe to transport her into it. After all, he would appreciate a powerful helper and he would still get her powers, so their was absolutely no loss in doing so. Once she went into it, Vincent heard the system give him a bunch of notifications.

System: Due to finding a live specimen of species: Noah, you are now able to control Akuma that are not yours and Akuma will not be able to harm you unless they are unaware that they will die if they do so. System: You have gained Noah Road’s special ability. The specimen is a Noah that has certain control over dimensions. You no longer have to pay C-points to expand land, and your control of the spatial farm has improved. You are still required to pay for certain upgrades as per rules set by CE. System: Noah Road has submitted to your will. Due to possible chance of spirit still residing in the body resisting upon regaining its strength, it is suggested that the spirit be removed from the dimension. Y/N? System: You can now detect the location of other Noah, but you will also be trackable when you use this ability.

Mike could feel the power rushing into his body. Though his stats were already well above most Noah, it didn't get rid of the fact that he was getting stronger, even if it was just a little bit. After hearing the last notification, Mike had no hesitation in authorizing the spatial farm to get rid of Road’s soul. He did not want her to backstab him someday. After confirmation from the spatial farm, Mike visibly relaxed and put the matter of Road to the back of his mind. If nothing unexpected happened, he would have nothing to worry about for a while.

After Mike made Road’s powers his own, he felt a connection between him and the black mist that the dimension was created from.

Mike: … Looks like it's mine now. Sucks that CE still put restrictions on the spatial farm. Guess the GM still can't outrank the creator... Oh, right, I still have to explain things to you guys. Come on, let's get out of here. Don't worry, I'll let you guys confirm that Klaud is safe later. First we have to get out of here.

Though Lenalee and Alex were still a bit confused on what the heck just happened, they still decided to follow Mike's advice and save the questions for later. They weren't 100% sure that he was Vincent, but their female instincts told them otherwise.

Once Mike made sure they were compliant, he dissolved the dimension and the next thing they new they were back in the forest.

Takeo: Oy, I found them- Wait, who's that guy!? And where is Vincent and Klaud!?

Takeo was right in front of them when they appeared, and it seemed that he was weary from searching for them. When he saw Lenalee and Alex, he called over Erin and Lau, but then he became alert when his eyes landed on Mike.

Mike: (Welp, there goes my incognito plan... Let's still keep my reAL identity a secret.) Relax, it's me, Vincent. I sort of got this form when I used the new innocence I bonded with.

Takeo: How can I be sure-

Mike: Do you need another "talk"? I'll have you serve your brother's share since he won't be there.

Takeo: *gulp* I'm starting to wonder if my brother was the lucky one...

Though Takeo had seemed like he had forgotten the death of his brother, this was far from the truth. He was focusing on trying to ignore his feelings so that they wouldn't get in the way of the mission. The truth was that he was still having a hard time believing that his brother had truly died. That's why Mike tried to use a light joke to ease up Takeo. Unfortunately, it just made him feel that he was the unlucky one still stuck with Mike.

Once Lau and Erin and arrived, Takeo filled them in on what had transpired. Well, Lau was too busy communicating with Mike to care about any of that. His instincts told him that Mike was Vincent, so he asked him what had happened to Klaud.

That's right, Lau "asked" Mike, which means Mike could understand Lau. Mike disn't question the matter that much and just used the fact that he now had an innocence bonded to his spirit as a valid reason. If anything, he was more surprised that Lau was by far the most mature person he had ever come across.

Mike: (Holy Sh*t. I never thought Lau would be this civilized. No wonder Klaud never complained about him being a useless male, even I feel like I'm lacking in comparison to him...)

After telling Lau what had happened to Klaud, Lau calmed down and just sat down on Mike's shoulder. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Mike created a portal to the town near the Japanese HQ to get them all back as quick as possible.

Erin: ...Is this also the power of your new innocence?

Mike: Yup.

Erin: You ******** cheat bastard.

Mike: Mm?

Erin: Nothing.

Mike: Looks like that talk is necessary after all.

Takeo: No, Erin, you've doomed us!?

Alex/Lenalee: ???

POV SHIFT

?: (So... it seem's like that mysterious man somehow gained Road's abilities. Tch! He's somehow getting even more dangerous... That's it, he has to die... I better go back, I need to tell the Earl that he's way too much of a danger. If what Asura said is true, then he was already strong enough to be a threat before this incident. Now, it looks like we've just given him a greater opportunity to grow stronger. )

In a part of the forest very close to where Mike and his party were was a black cat that was seemingly pondering something frustrating. It eventually came to a conclusion and ran back towards where there was a certain strange structure floating. When the cat came into contact with it, they both disappeared and the forest was quiet once more...