NOVEL NEXT Chapter 56 Priorities
“Looks like you’re awake now Valna.” said Zero as he landed on the ground to find Valna glaring at him while rubbing her forehead.
“You dropped me on my face” accused Valna
“Well to tell the truth I just dropped you through a portal I had no idea you’d fall on your face.” Said Zero with a smile
“So what are we doing here?” asked Valna as she looked around to find that they were in the Inner Quarter surrounded by Valkyries and Curlys.
“Nothing major I need some soul for a skill. We need to be prepared to fight.” said Zero
“I thought we were planning on running?” questioned Valna
“Plan for the worst and hope for the best. This is a saying for my old world. We need to be ready if a fight happens.” explained Zero
“Okay how many souls do you need?” asked Valna
“As many as you can collect within an hour. I need to go see Genya or Alucard. I’ll leave the portal open so you can throw the soul in there” said Zero
“I was wondering if I could bring back some Valkyries to your dimension?” asked Valna
“Sure you can bring a few.” said Zero as he teleported away
“Well then let’s get started” Valna smiled as she produced her holy flame spear and holy flame orbs before flying straight towards the Valkyries.
Zero teleported to the area with the succubus and witches and found Genya surrounded by women who looked exactly the same while the witches cast spells at him. They all looked similar to his true form of Alucard. Zero assumed that the succubi were tormenting Genya with the form of his dead mother while the witches attacked.
As he walked up to them the succubi and witches stopped and faced him. They all moved towards him and looked at him with a look of reverence as if he were a divine being. Zero attributed this reaction to his dark beings' lordship skill and motioned for all of them to walk through a portal that he created.
“What did you do and where did they just?” asked a confused Genya
“It seems I have the power to control monsters similar to Soma’s. They went to my castle.” explained Zero as he collected the souls and bodies of the dead succubi and witches.
“Wait so you hold the same power as Soma? Did you also inherit some of Dracula’s powers?” asked a confused Genya
“No, my powers are my own and have nothing to do with Dracula.” stated Zero
“That doesn’t explain why you have the same power.” said Genya
“It wasn’t meant to.” said Zero as he looked up and sighed
“What’s wrong with you?” asked Genya
“Just realizing that nothing I planned has worked out since coming to this castle. By coming here I’ve gained a lot of power and I believe that has made me a bit reckless.” said Zero as he picked up a knocked-over chair and sat down.
“It’s normal for plans to fail since you can never plan for every aspect of life. What’s most important is whether you accomplish your goal alive regardless of any difficulties.” said Genya as he grabbed another chair and sat it across from Zero.
“That’s not good enough! I need to do better!” yelled Zero
“What’s gotten into you?” asked Genya
“I guess the fact that if I fail everyone dies is finally just hitting me.” said Zero
“That’s been the case from the very beginning.” said Genya
“No I had a plan back then and no matter what happened I somehow felt that I could make it through in the end.”
“So you don’t feel like that anymore?” asked Genya
Zero looked down and nodded “I have no faith that we’ll survive what’s to come and I’ve been scrambling to find a way but it’s not enough.”
“You’re not a god you can’t control everything.” said Genya
“But!” yelled Zero as he stood up
“Sit back down. You’re sounding like a child. In life, you do your best and if you feel that you can’t win then it’s okay if you run away. Just be sure that whatever you end up doing you won't regret it.” said Genya
“You’re right.” said Zero as he remembered that no matter how many years of knowledge he held within his head he was still technically only a year old.
“Now that you’re done with your pity party why don’t you tell me what happened.” said Genya
“We were having such a good sentimental moment right there but you ruined it.” said Zero with a slight smile
“Is this your way of avoiding telling me what happened?” asked Genya as he glared at Zero
“Well I found out today that Yoko is pregnant.” said Zero in a quiet voice
“Congratulations.” said Genya
“Thank you.” said Zero as he sighed
“You’re not excited?” asked Genya
“No, it’s not that. It’s just I’ve gained another person I have to protect and I feel like I’m already stretched thin as it is. I have to protect Yoko, Nova, and maybe Valna. I was sure I could handle the 3 of them but I don’t know if I can protect more.” explained Zero
“Well, I have a question. Have you talked to Yoko about any of this?” asked Genya
“No I sort of pretended everything was fine and left her with Nova.” said Zero
“Well I don’t know who this Nova is but what I got from that is you ran away rather than talking to her. It looks like you’re regretting the act so I suggest you tell her everything you told me. You’re not the only one going through this so is she.” said Zero
“Do you have any regrets?” asked Zero
“Just 2 and you know them well. The first is being unable to protect my mother and the second never trying to stop my father without killing him.” explained Genya
“How long did it take for you to stop regretting it?” asked Zero
“Some regrets do fade but these will stay with me forever and I’m sure yours will too if you don’t deal with them.” said Genya with a pained look
“You’re pretty wise sometimes.” said Zero
“A benefit of living so long I suppose.” said Genya
“Then I’ll go talk to her about it.” said Zero
“That’s good. Remember you’re not the only one having the baby so talk to her and find out how you want to proceed.” said Genya
“Thanks I guess I just need someone to unload on. I feel more like myself again.” said Zero
“Glad to help.” said Genya with a smile
“Well let me tell you the real reason I came to find you.” said Zero
“What is it?” asked Genya
“I want you to lead Soma here to fight Death.” said Zero
“Death is already dead so how will he fight him?” asked Genya
“He’ll be fighting me disguised as Graham and my shadow in the shape of Death.” explained Zero
“I understand but why?” asked Genya
“Well, the main reason is to give him a piece of Death’s soul so that he can get stronger. The other reason is that he’ll be killing the chaos entity hopefully by the end of the day so I want to make sure he can.” explained Zero
“Wait! What!?” said a shocked Genya
Skill Explanation:
Asexual Reproduction: The user of this power can reproduce their species without the requirement of a partner or mate however because of the lack of genetic information the new being will always share the users’ sex. Due to the act of creating a new living creature from their own body after using this skill, the user will be weakened for a period of 3 months before being able to use the skill again.
Interbreeding: The user has the ability to reproduce with other species and produce fertile offspring. They could do this by refitting their reproductive organs to the chosen species. The resulting offspring will be superior to both parents but obtain a hybrid body and the traits of both parents.
Divine-Demonic Force Manipulation: The user has control of anything that is symbolized as both divine/holy and demonic/unholy and has connections to angels and demons. They are able to manipulate sacred and profane artifacts and relics that are connected to angels and demons due to their power. Due to controlling both holy and unholy power, the user could be an incomplete balance between the two forces and can create, shape, and manipulate divine-demonic energy allowing them to use either one separately or combine them into one. Additionally, this ability not only grants the user great strength, abilities, and control over numerous variations of divine-demonic powers but also allows them to overwhelm weaker demons and angels as well as rivals of powerful entities.