AN: Hallo! Hope you all are having a nice week.

  Posting this chapter a little bit earlier in the week because I will not be able to access my PC for a few days, and I didn't want you guys to miss it.

  Question of the Chapter:

  Who do you think is the most skilled craftsman in fiction? (Tier is irrelevant, we are talking pure skill here. Scientist types do not count and system users if they rely on their systems do not count as well, only "Real" crafters.)

  The Chapter:

  ~Sirzechs Lucifer~ Sirzechs was having a rather tranquil evening, things had gone retively calm during the day, as calm as a nation of Devils could be honestly, but overall, everything ended well, no one was permanently maimed, just seventeen acts of vandalism, thirteen sexual harassment accusations, and there were only 37 killings; a very peaceful day indeed.

  He was currently filling out the paperwork about someone who had apparently provoked the Astaroth Heir to the point the arrogant scion decided to kill the perpetrator, who happened to be an Einherjar, thankfully a rouge one, so Asgard ended up rewarding the boy for killing the deserter instead of, well, murdering him for killing one of them. It was the kind of lucky break that Sirzechs grew to be thankful for, instead of needlessly worrying about it. He also knows it should be Serafall who should be dealing with this, but the Magical Girl decided it was her 'Sona-tan Time', and promptly dumped the work on him.

  Sirzechs didn't mind it that much, he has plenty of ways to get back at his fellow Satan, one of them being-

  *TING*

  "A message," Sirzechs mumbled, his mind trying to guess who it could be at this hour. Grayfia had already gone back home to prepare dinner and spend some time with Milicas, and she likes to talk about things in person instead of messages, so who could-

  "Antares?" A little surprised, Sirzechs quickly read the message, his supernaturally powerful brain being able to read and process the information provided to him in less than a single heartbeat. But with every word that he read, his easygoing expression quickly morphed, turning more and more serious, until it became cold, a serious and inhumanly mechanical expression that both unnerved and struck fear into many Gods and Angels alike.

  Quickly typing an answer, he did not hesitate, he did not stop to down his armor or do any other frivolous activity that may waste his time. He simply jumped up and with a flex of his will, he summoned a teleportation circle, and in a fsh of bright red light, The Lucifer was gone.

  .

  .

  .

  In a fsh of light, Sirzechs appeared in the sky, looking down he saw that he was in the pine tree biome inside the Familiar Forest, the Crimson Satan expanded his senses and instantly located Antares and his entourage.

  With a burst of his mana, he exploded forward like a jet, flying at hypersonic speeds with such ease he could probably match a Viltrumite.

  Arriving at his little brother's location, Sirzechs' mind worked faster than a supercomputer, he scanned the battlefield with experienced precision.

  On one side, he narrowed his eyes as he felt quite a heavy amount of Space-Time disturbances. Likely the result of a space crack or a rip in space that used to be there a few moments ago albeit the world appears to just have finished healing it.

  Corpses and more corpses of demon-like beings, spotting the typical appearance of demons as humans think of them. Blood, lots and lots of blood, craters, debris, and destroyed ground, all of which covered the battlefield below him. Fshes of memories from the Civil War briefly passed through his mind, and for a moment he was on that battlefield again, facing the white-haired Devil, the battle that allowed him to unlock his True Form, the battle that finally Crowned him as a Super Devil and put him at the top 10 strongest beings in the world. With practiced ease, he shoved those memories back, now was not the time to be reminiscing.

  Looking at his little brother, he couldn't help but smile a little when he saw he jumped right in front of his Knight, likely using his body and life to protect her. A futile effort, considering his enemy, but a gesture that showed a great deal about him.

  His gaze went back a little, and he saw the body of a… human girl? Sirzechs winced, she was probably a friend his little brother made along his journey in the familiar forest, and to lose a friend and at such a young age at that… Sirzechs knows exactly how that feels; painful, to the point there isn't enough strength in the world that can alleviate it. He would know it well, he did get so strong for a reason after all.

  He then looked at the… thing. It felt evil, so evil in fact that Sirzechs would've dubbed it a God of Evil if it had an ounce of divinity on it, luckily it didn't.

  The fming monstrosity was mid-swing, its sword of fme and magma slowly coming closer to hitting Antares. Many questions about what that thing was surged in his mind, a part of him wanted to save it for Ajuka to study, but that could pose a risk to his little brother and his peerage, so the monster had to go.

  Sirzechs slowly pointed his right index finger, a small ball of pure Destruction forming at its tip, the ball grew and grew until it was the size of a volleyball, tightening his grip on his Trait, he fed it more and more mana, immensely increasing the density of his attack, while still preserving its form. And with a casual flick of his wrist, he unched the ball of destruction.

  So fast was his attack, that no one on this battlefield could perceive it. But to be fair with all the youths here, the number of people who could perceive his attacks in the underworld can be counted on one hand.

  The sphere of Destruction hit the fming monster in the chest, it then expanded and expanded, completely covering the monster in a bck spherical void with crimson borders, and with a flex of Sirzechs will; the void disappeared, the creature disappeared, and only a perfect and smooth circur crater remained.

  Sirzechs then looked at his brother and Eu, relieved they didn't have anything besides torn clothes, exhaustion, and some small wounds that Phoenix tears can easily heal, breaking his serious face and letting a smile adorn his counterace, he slowly descended to the ground.

  ~Razen Antares Gremory~ The moment he felt his brother's presence, Antares knew it was over. As strong and as fast as the fake Balrog was, it is nothing compared to Sirzechs Lucifer, its existence barely a footnote on his brother's long list of fallen enemies.

  Razen's thoughts were quickly proven right, suddenly the fming Daemon before him turned into a sphere of pitch-bck void, where even light itself was destroyed. The Devil Heir blinked, the Daemon and the Void were gone, with only a smooth circur crater remaining on the ground.

  Hearing a swishing sound, he looked up and saw his brother slowly descending, his shoulders sckened and his posture rexed, he felt so relieved he almost fell to the ground.

  "Thank you brother… thank you… I was worried that…" Antares stopped, unwilling to say such a thing out loud, while he kept looking at Neptune from the corner of his eye.

  Sirzechs who just stepped on the ground, smiled at his little brother; "There is no need to thank me, little bro." Sirzechs dismissed his brother's worries; "Even if you have gotten stronger, that thing was way out of your league." The crimson Satan then nodded approvingly; "it's already commendable you managed to survive for so long.".

  "Yeah, I guess.", Antares mumbled without paying much attention, as he was still looking at Neptune. Turning to Sirzechs, he spoke with a tired and sad edge in his voice; "But it wasn't without cost."

  "Was she your friend?" Sirzechs tentatively asked, his tone low but supportive.

  "She was." answered Eu, a sad tinge in her voice; "Fought bravely at our side and saved our lives more times than we could count.".

  "Sadly, we couldn't do the same for her…" completed Antares weakly, his mind working miles per second to think of something.

  "For how long has she been dead?" Asked Sirzechs in a mysterious tone.

  "A little bit more than a minute." Answered the younger redhead still distracted.

  "So you still have time then." Sirzechs smiled softly, his hand patting Antares head, making the boy widen his eyes, not at his brother's actions, but at the idea he had just given him.

  Without hesitation, Antares rushed towards Neptune's corpse, his speed so great he almost broke the sound barrier with his body strength alone.

  Arriving beside Neptune's fallen form, the younger Devil kneeled on the ground, a silver-white magical circle shone on his hand briefly, and a small bck wooden box appeared on top of his hand. With a very careful gesture, he opened the box, inside the box there was a silver-white colored chess set, missing only the King and one Knight piece.

  Using a very simple spell on Neptune, the number 13 floated in the air, Antares winced and looked at his Evil pieces with an analytical gaze, his eyes briefly resting on his Queen, one Bishop, and all 8 Pawns that were different from the smooth and standard texture of his other pieces. Those pieces spotted alternative engraving and forms, and their auras were heavier and denser, marking them as mutation pieces.

  Knowing that his mutated Bishop was not enough, and not to mention the mutation on his Pawns stills seemed a little unstable, coupled with the fact that he did not want to gamble with Neptune's life, Antares picked the Mutated Queen Piece and gripped it tightly on his hand.

  Briefly holding the piece in the palm of his hand, he observed it for the st time. Differently from a usual piece, its crown was made of horns, its body is engraved like the detailed armor of a warrior queen, followed by a massive spear and a sword on each side of it. It was a beautiful piece, something that looked both mesmerizing and dangerous. Taking a deep breath, Antares mentally created an Aria, a necessary step to revive someone. Clenching and unclenching his fist, he felt he was as ready as he could be.

  "Sorry about this Neptune…" the boy winced, knowing he was just about to do something rather permanent; "…I hope you can find in yourself the will to forgive me. Know this is currently my only choice.".

  "Perhaps you may not have wished for this…" Antares mumbled while bringing the Queen Piece towards the dead girl's chest; "But know that I do not revive you for greed or pride, but because you are my friend, my companion." the boy gritted his teeth and pressed the Queen Piece on her chest; "Our time together may have been short, but you saved mine's and Eu's life more times than I can count. You became our comrade. You became our friend.", the evil piece started to glow in a glittering silver-white light; "And now you are becoming family.".

  "Please forgive me, Neptune." Antares continued mumbling the Aria; "Because with this act I will bind your freedom to mine. With this act, I will bind you to me for eternity and forever more.".

  The bright light of the Queen Piece became blinding for a moment, until it slowly entered the girl's body.

  "So please Neptune, forgive me-" the boy sighed a heavyweight setting on his eyes, his words an intense but subdued whisper; "...and be reborn."

  Neptune's body glowed a bright white light, with only her outline visible. Antares took a few steps back, giving the girl the space she needed. He also tried his best to suppress the massive cringe he was feeling inwardly, because no matter how he looked at it, reciting an Aria was something extremely cringe albeit necessary to revive someone.

  "Well… That is certainly new." commented Sirzechs while approaching from the side; "Is that common for you?" he asked Antares with a raised eyebrow.

  "No." The Force user replied while shaking his head, his mouth answering automatically while his mind y elsewhere; "But I had to use a mutation piece, so…"

  "That will do it." Sirzechs nodded sympathetically; "I remember when I used mine… they are always a light show. But never to this extent…".

  "It was a queen piece." Antares supplied.

  "Oh?" Sirzechs looked intrigued; "If you had to use that, no wonder…" the Crimson Satan then perked up happily; "That also means she has immense potential."

  "Yeah.", Antares smiled awkwardly, still feeling a little guilty over it all.

  "Was Eu also a light show?", Sirzechs asked intrigued.

  "No.", replied Antares absently, his gaze still focused on Neptune; "Her's was way more subdued."

  Feeling her lover's worry, Eu grasped his hand, giving Antares a comforting squeeze. Which helped the boy feel a great deal more at ease.

  "She was a normal piece then?" asked Sirzechs. Antares nodded.

  "Not much we can do about it." Sirzechs shrugged with an easy smile; "Mutation pieces are weird like that."

  Seeing the light show finally ending, Antares refocused on Neptune. When he saw her chest moving up and down, and the previous wound nowhere to be found, he let out a huge sigh of relief, his body sckening a bit at the sudden release of tension.

  "Good. She seems to be breathing without problems. I was worried we would need to rush her to the hospital, but it seems your Mutation Piece has also healed her." added Sirzechs in an analytical tone, while his senses scanned the newly reincarnated Devil; "I am no Ajuka, but I can't find anything wrong with her right now, she seems perfectly healthy to me."

  "Now, how about you two expin to-" Sirzechs stopped and looked at the three young Devils. One of them has just reincarnated and is out cold, the other had a massive gash on her clothes and kept wincing when she walked, and his little brother's mana levels were so low he honestly doesn't even know how he is still awake.

  Sighing, the Crimson Satan relented; "Let's continue this tomorrow." he then looked at Antares; "Just come to my office as soon as you wake up so we can talk about this." The Devil Heir nodded.

  With a flicker of his wrist, Sirzechs summoned a teleportation circle and quickly teleported them towards Antares' home, knowing the boy preferred to sleep there than in the Gremory estate.

  With only him remaining in the crater, Sirzechs sighed and looked at the border where the scarred ground ended and the forest started; "You can come out now…"

  "…Tiamat."

  .

  .

  .

  Arriving at his Home, the first thing Antares did was carry Neptune to one of the empty bedrooms, he knows what dying feels like, and it is not an easy experience to wake up from. Waking up in a calm and comfortable room should do wonders to ease Neptune's nerves.

  So with Eu's help, he put Neptune on the comfy bed and covered her with some high-quality fluffy bnkets, Eu then proceeded to open the windows slightly while Antares put a gss and a water bottle on her nightstand, knowing she would probably wake up feeling thirsty. The two then exited the room and went to freshen up and eat something.

  After a hearty meal, Eu and Antares retired towards their bedroom, both of them tired beyond belief, they shared a kiss of good night before hugging each other to sleep.

  For Eu, it was a very pleasant, calm, and restful sleep.

  But for Antares, not so much. For the first time since he awoke in this new life, he dreamt….

  Like most of his dreams, it was a confusing mess at the start, a kaleidoscopic heap of colors shapes, and forms that blended and spun on each other, causing an equal degree of confusion and fascination on the young Devil.

  Then, the kaleidoscope turned into random improbable events and images; walking naked towards the school, smoking cigars with a feathered snake, running from a hound many times bigger than him in a tight corridor, painting the Mona Lisa but the Da Vinci-chan edition, eating a pile of purple colored cheeseburgers, drinking a bloody milkshake, climbing a mountain made of pink colored gss, teaching martial arts to a css of schor monkeys and killing a Kaiju fox with loving hugs. It was weird, not the weirdest he ever had, but definitely up there.

  With a low *click* sound, the things in his dream calmed down, and the confusing scenarios stilled and dissolved into a thick grey mist with thick blue sparkles, said sparkles looked almost akin to stars in the night sky. The grey mist rippled and spun, creating a mesmerizing vortex that seemed to spin faster and faster.

  The starlight previously sprinkled all over the fog, rushed and congregated towards the center of this vortex, forming and slowly building a perfect circle, this circle expanded and expanded until it took over all the area Antares could see. Then, like a sliding door, the circle opened, giving way to a whole new world.

  This world was grim, the very atmosphere was heavy, damp, and filled with grey fog, and sparkling rain seemed to fall like normal rain does in London.

  In the middle of everything beyond the door was a massive tower-like structure, it was unbelievably wide and twice as tall, and whenever Antares tried to guess, understand, or calcute its dimensions, he was met with a cranium-splitting headache.

  The tower was impossibly weird in many ways, besides its incalcuble dimensions, it looked like a mixture of a Gothic, Victorian, and Greek tower, filled with decorations, engravings, balconies that lead nowhere, covered windows, pilrs, stairs without rhyme or reason and much, much more.

  At the base of this tower, there is an entrance, an entrance that seemed to call Antares on a deep spiritual level, it birthed in him a need to enter and explore this tower, an urge so great that he started being pulled towards it.

  His dream body, previously floating in the air above this tower, fell fast, at speeds so great that if the ws of physics were being applied, he would probably have broken a few of them.

  But just when he touched the entrance of this tower, he woke up.

  Arm bring inside his mind, Antares groaned inwardly and woke up, he hesitantly detached himself from Eu and went to take a bath.

  Briefly checking on Neptune, he saw that the purple-haired girl was still sleeping, so he just traded her bottle of water for a fresher one and went toward his office.

  Once inside his office, Antares brought up the Company App on his HUD and observed the results of Yesterday's mission.

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Killing Monsters and Saving Beauties; Dimensional Hazard EditionLocation: Highschool DxD(AU) - Familiar Forest                     Scope: Quick.

  Description: Congratutions! You just found an entire area of the familiar forest locked in time. This area had its time stopped the moment invaders started breaking the transdimensional barriers that-, okay, that honestly doesn't matter to you.

  Your objective is to exterminate the monsters invading your home world and save the beauty being persecuted by them. Simple no?

  Reward: 50c + the beauty's gratitude. [OK]

  Conditions:

  .You must not be above Tier 6. [PASS]

  .You must not let the invaders spread through the forest. [PASS]

  .Every single invader must be exterminated. [PASS]

  .The beauty must be alive by the end of the day. [PASS]

  .The DDD will attack you and your retinue on sight, and will not stop until either you or them die. [PASS]

  Additional Objectives:

  The beauty must not die. R: 50c

  The beauty must be alive by the end of the day. R: 15c[OK]

  The beauty must not be touched. R: 100c

  Personally Kill 10 DDD(Different Dimensional Daemons). R: 10c [OK]

  Personally Kill 100 DDD. R: 15c [OK]

  Personally Kill 1000 DDD. R: Tempte Stacking II for one tempte you possess. [OK]

  Personally Kill The BBDDD. R: 50c

  Exterminate the Source of the Invasion. R: 1 IMG Ticket.

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  .

  .

  Antares winced a little a the lost rewards, but the fact he managed to get 90c made him quite happy. He already spent 20c getting the Talent Share for Martial and Soul Talent during the battle, but 70c is quite a good haul all things considered.

  It definitely wasn't worth Neptune's death nor the suffering he and Eu went through, but the boy would gdly take any reward he could get.

  Feeling a little nostalgic, Antares pulled up his main mission, the one he was personally given by Macroz before all of this started.

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  Becoming a Worthy HeirLocation: DxD AU                                  Scope: Grand.

  Description: Upon accepting this mission, 80c are immediately added to your bance.

  The objective of this mission is to become a Worthy Gremory Heir.

  Since the moment he was born, the Gremory Heir(You), dispyed massive amounts of Sloth/Laziness, for 17 years he did nothing (like a true wastrel), not even doing the bare minimum. It reached a point that his Heir position was hanging by a tread.

  You now have the tall task of tuning into a Worthy Heir, in the eyes of not only your family but the underworld as well.

  Even as a Heir Gremory, you do not have any peerage members. (The only exception is if you pick a Patron that "gives" you a Waifu, if so, that Waifu will become your first peerage member and the reality of the universe will be accommodated to make a reliable background for her).

  The Heir got an extremely unfavorable marriage contract, a contract that he will have to break in roughly a month. So be prepared to face the music.

  This DxD universe is an AU one(If it wasn't before, it is now that you accepted the mission), so expect it to have massive differences in both the plot, key characters, and key events, if you want to rely on canon knowledge, you will die fast. This also means interesting events will keep happening in the future as well.

  Upon breaking your marriage contract with the Phenex, you will be considered a Worthy Heir, albeit not one of high standing, if you want to raise your image in the eyes of your family and the underworld, you must complete a few more Additional Objectives.

  Reward: Upon completing this Mission 100c.

  Conditions:

  .You must Substitute as the Gremory Heir(T4). [PASS]

  .You must break your Marriage Contract by your own Strength.[PENDING]

  .You cannot rely on anyone but yourself and your peerage to break the Marriage Contract. [PENDING]

  .You can only collect the rewards of this mission when you exit the DxD verse. [PENDING]

  .You cannot capture/stamp anyone for the duration of this mission. The only way to capture someone is by adding them to your peerage, or a sincere love confession. [PASS]

  .Lures cannot affect others during this mission(Sticky Fingers and Faerie Feast are exceptions). [PASS]

  .Cannot use mind control to achieve any of these mission objectives. (Skills/Spells learned in verse are fine.) [PASS]

  .This mission must be your first. [PASS]

  .This mission has a maximum duration of Five Years. [PENDING]

  .Upon breaking your marriage contract, you will be eligible to "Complete" this mission, but if you do, all secondary objectives you haven't completed will be rendered failures. [PENDING]

  .If you fail the mission without completing the main objective, you must reimburse the 80c. [PENDING]

  .No peerage member can be of T8 or Above(On recruitment only, if they get stronger ter it doesn't matter).[PENDING]

  .No peerage member can be a Divinity(If they become Divine AFTER joining your peerage, there is no problem).[PENDING]

  .Once you recruit a peerage member you cannot trade/sell them away.[PENDING]

  Additional Objectives:

  .Recover your marriage contract with Sona Sitri by defeating her in a chess match.|R: Instant capture of Sona Sitri(Or her value if she is already captured) + 50c.

  .Marry Both Serafall Leviathan and Sona Sitri.| R: One Heritage Perk of your choice + Instant Capture of Both(Or their values if already captured).

  .Traumatize Revya Phenex to the point she completely gives up on you.|R: 25c

  .Marry only members of your peerage.|R: Demipne Perk of your choice(Cannot exceed 100c).

  .Kill a High Css Being or Become one.|R: 10c [OK]

  .Kill an Ultimate Css Being or Become one.|R: 20c

  .Kill a Satan Css Being or Become one.|R: 50c

  .Kill a Super Css Being or Become one.|R: 75c

  .Kill someone on the Top 10 or Become one.|R: 100c

  .Kill a God or Become one.|R: A Bnk Divine Core capable of developing your own personalized divinity is perfectly fused with you.

  .Kill Thrihexa, The Beast of the Apocalypse.|R: Its Full Price is added to your bance.

  .Help the three Abrahamic factions achieve peace.|R: 10c

  .Help 6 Factions achieve peace.|R: 20c

  .Help All Positively Aligned supernaturals achieve peace.|R:100c

  .Create a Faction of your own.|R: Demipne Perk of your choice(Cannot exceed 100c).

  .Your Faction must be recognized in the Supernatural World.|R: Add a Faction Headquarters of your choice to your Demipne.

  .Your Faction is the strongest in the Supernatural World.|R: A Copy of Every Faction Headquarters is added to your Demipne.

  .Lay the groundwork to prepare the world against ExE events.|R: 10c

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  .

  .

  Looking at this mission always makes Antares feel a little bit overwhelmed, each Additional Objective could, with a little bit of development of course, be its own Mission alone, but Macroz managed to put them all in one single Grand Mission.

  Knowing that trying to complete everything like a perfectionist will make him go mad, Antares decided to just focus on the main objective and only complete the Additional Objectives he reasonably can. Which Macroz himself admitted was the wisest move.

  Seeing as he was already on his company app, Antares decided to check his bance, which ended up being 100c, 30c from Neptune's addition plus 70c from the mission reward, it should've been 120c, but he already spent 20c mid-combat to buy Talent Share for Martial and Soul Talent.

  But 100 credits is quite a bit. There is a ton of stuff Antares could buy with this amount. His first impulse was to buy the next upgrade of his Heritage, the Synaptic Revetion Kernel, which would literally allow his mind to reach a transcendental state, easily. But if he bought that, he would spend all of his credits in one single, which is a bad idea right now.

  Antares is perfectly aware that Macroz will not allow him to have the full perk from the beginning, so buying it will not turn into strength immediately, not to mention that he still barely explored and trained the 4 Perks he already has, so he is not exactly in a hurry to buy a new one. Albeit the Networked Gmour Manipution looked incredibly tempting, as it cost just 30c and gave Communication Talent for Free.

  'Hmmm, definitely cannot forget Grail Knowledge…' Antares mentally reminded himself while adding said perk to the cart. He also added Faerie Feast and Sticky Fingers, and while he can't use Lures directly due to the limitations of his 1st mission, The Supernatural Skill at cooking and anything remotely lewd, including massages and other types of exercises reted to "rexation", is way too good to pass up.

  Sexual Calibration and Fertility Calibration I, which while not something he can use right now due to his Marriage Contract, are essential quality of life perks. Looking up at his bance, he saw he just spent 22c and now has 78c.

  The next perk he added to the cart was Time-Savers for the whole Retinue, and as its name indicates, this perk will save him and the girls tons of time, and when you're in a timer like Antares, this perk turns from optional, to essential.

  Looking at the perk with a nod, he read its exact description; Your body is now self-cleaning, meaning you'll almost always stay sparkly, well-groomed, and smelling great. All of your hair and nails will eternally be at your desired length. You'll be able to fall asleep within a few minutes of trying to, and you'll only need six hours to feel completely rested and rejuvenated. Finally, you'll never have to excrete any sort of waste ever again. All of these can be turned down or off whenever you like.' Recited the boy inwardly with a nod. And while Antares loved taking a bath and how rexing that feels, not having to, is a massive boon. The other benefits are also extremely tempting and will save him and the girls hours per week.

  After adding Time-Savers to his cart, Antares went to the Talents page, where he instantly zeroed in on Science Talent. Having recently been brushing up his knowledge in Physics to better use his Force powers, Antares felt that adding Science Talent to the mix should be essential, so even if it costs a whooping 20c, the crimson-haired devil thought it absolutely worth it.

  After adding Science Talent to the cart, Antares briefly thought about Money Talent but quickly discarded such thoughts, currently this Talent would see little to no use, as his family is already richer than the top 10 richest people on the mundane side of the earth combined.

  Communication Talent sounded like a good buy, as the ability to learn any nguage faster and to simply communicate better with people is difficult to pass up. But Antares held it up for a bit, knowing he could gain it with his Heritage Later.

  He briefly thought about the Administration Talent, and while it sounded extremely tempting, principally in the distant future when he will reign over his own territory, right now the amount of paperwork and administration he has to do is minimal, and even the minimal bit is rather easy due to his past life experience, so he held it off for now.

  Wild Talent was almost discarded for a simir reason, but Antares held it off a little bit due to how cheap it was; 5c. And while he has been in the wild only once or twice in this life, having the talent to survive in the wilderness seemed like an extremely useful thing. So he tentatively added Wild Talent to the cart, bringing his bance to 43c.

  Next, he thought about buying Paper Trail for Neptune, but soon discarded the idea as unneeded, with the connections provided by his family, he could give a paper trail for the purple-haired girl even better than the one sold by the perk. Or he at least thinks so.

  Antares' mind then went to the Green Eye Orb; having access to the company marketpce sounded like an essential thing to have, the sheer possibilities of having a multiversal market at his back and call filled Antares with a strange sense of exhiration and adventure. But he knew that would be a bad purchase right now, as he has no product to trade or sell, heck he doesn't even have a base from where he can consistently harvest a resource to be selble.

  Perhaps if he was a *shudder* Phenex, he would be able to sell the Tears, but it's not like he is the only contractor in the multiverse of DxD, and the amount of Riser Phenex fanfics he has read is quite high, higher than Gremory ones to be exact, so the Phenex's popurity cannot be denied, even if it hurts his pride to admit it.

  Antares gaze stopped at the Education Talent and after a read of what the Talent entailed, the boy couldn't help but nod in appreciation. 'This sounds quite useful right now. With Neptune in the picture and Eu being fairly new, there is still a ton of stuff I need to teach them.', thought the boy inwardly while adding the Talent to the cart. Being able to teach them better and faster is indispensable in Antares' humble opinion.

  Now with 38c remaining, the Fme Chaser by tempte pondered over what to buy. Deciding that he needed to stop pussyfooting, Antares went to his Heritage Page and added Networked Gmour Manipution to his cart. Besides the fact he will be progressing his Heritage somewhat, even with Macroz limitations, he felt that the Communication Talent part of the Heritage was worth more than the perk itself, yes, being able to use Symbolic representation of the Zeitgeists/Goetia of others to achieve many diverse effects is somewhat useful, but Antares personally thinks Communication talent is way more.

  With only 8c in his bance, the Force user was a little at a loss of what to do. He thought about saving the credits, but his burning curiosity about using the catalog wouldn't let him rest with 8c in his wallet. So he went page by page, tab by tab searching for something, until he stopped at the Talent Page and saw something quite intriguing: Added Potential. It cost only 5c and seems to have a lot of, ironically enough, potential.

  The first thing Antares thought about was to add Ultra Instinct, but looking at the description of the Perk he quickly stopped himself. Whatever he adds with Added Potential will come at level 0, literally less than the starting point of many Shounen characters.

  Ultra Instinct is a skill that takes tons of time to practice and even more to master, some people take thousands of years to do it, and perhaps with his talents such time can be reduced from a generous thousand years to a couple thousand, but all of that is counting he finds a slightly competent teacher. Perhaps if he was a Saiyan in the DBS verse he might have had a chance, but he knows the current him is an absolute amateur in Martial Arts, so there is way too much stuff he needs to learn before he even thinks about such skills.

  God Ki was discarded for the same reason. Having God Ki at level zero is useless, principally because Antares wouldn't be able to either feel or awaken it, much less manipute it to even begin training such power.

  'Should I go with Six-Paths sage Chakra? No, same reason as God Ki, if it starts at level zero I will be lost on what to do.' thought the boy inwardly while scrolling through his memories in order to find something else.

  'Maybe I should go with an eye power… Perhaps the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception? But if it starts at level 0, perhaps it will not even be awakened, not to mention I would need Magic Circuits for those… perhaps my Imagination-Based magic could… no… too risky in the current situation.' Antares felt like he was starting to understand why people didn't use this function more in the fics he read in the past, the level 0 stuff really brings things down. Level 0 means it's not even awakened properly, and some powers are a real pain in the ass to accomplish so.

  'Wait, what if level 0 literally means whatever I received will be conceptually reduced, like if I added God Ki I would just have normal Ki with a tendency to turn Godly in the future…' Antares shook his head and snorted; 'Don't know if that is worse or better than my previous hypothesis.'

  'Perhaps a Cultivation Technique? Would the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record work?' The Devil shook his head in self-depreciation; 'I don't have any of the veins nor the meridians to use such, at least not like those described on Douluo Dalu,' he sighed out loud, massaging his temple while his two minds worked on an Idea; 'And I do not think the DxD verse has ambient Soul Power I could use to cultivate. An argument could be made that the cultivation technique absorbs the World's Life Energy, but considering the life/natural energy of the DxD world is polluted, cultivating it like this seems like a very bad idea.', Antares thought inwardly while sighing.

  Antares didn't think of it at first, but now that he thought better about it, the time he would need to cultivate to max Rank is monstrous, as even a once-in-a-generation talent, with literally Protagonist of the World levels of luck, took 2 whole decades to reach Rank 99, he didn't think he could achieve it in much less than that. Not to mention more complex techniques like the Physique Scripture from Emperor Domination or other Xianxia-like stuff, as they would probably come way more conceptually reduced than he could even imagine.

  Thinking a little more humbly, Antares went back to a skill from his own verse; Touki. But quickly abandoned such an idea, as he would be literally spending 5c for nothing, as every living being in this verse, as long as they are alive, can use Touki if properly trained. And Macroz would probably troll him and change nothing, as he already has the potential to awaken Touki.

  Feeling a little frustrated for a moment, the Devil Heir tried to go for a more biological approach. And with nothing left to lose besides 5c, Antares bit the bullet and put; Added Potential: Smart Atoms on his cart. The boy knows this perk will probably only make one of his Atoms a Smart Atom, but he is secretly hoping his Transhuman Aethermorph heritage will help transform all his other atoms as well, it will take a long time undoubtedly, but he felt like it was a good bet. It is a retively faint hope, but if the test only costs 5c, Antares was willing to see if it would work, either way, he gains something, either information or a cool new power.

  So now with only 3c on his bance, Antares revised all the items on his cart before confirming his purchase.

  *Click*

  The change was immediate, like an atomic bomb going off, all the necessary common knowledge for the modern world; Including general schooling, hygiene, and home appliance skills were downloaded into his brain. While this may not be as useful to him as it would be to Eu, it allowed him to patch any holes he may have in his knowledge, to the point Antares could probably do the Japanese equivalent of an SAT exam and pass with flying colors. The same held true for Eu and Neptune as well, as he bought the same perk for them.

  Antares made a mental note to book such an exam so he could get out of high school as soon as possible.

  The next perks to be made effective were the Lures; Faerie Feast and Sticky Fingers. And while the more supernatural aspects of these lures are not as they should be thanks to Macroz restrictions, their basic abilities definitely are. Antares can confidently say he is able to cook almost any pte he can think of, to the point he would make any Michelin Chef green with envy, or give one hell of a sexy rexing massage if the situation calls for it.

  Time-Savers' application was weird. Antares was never a dirt person in his life as he always enjoyed taking baths, but having a Perk that specially made him as clean as possible surely made him feel like he was a dirty baboon before. Not to mention the fact he will never need to go to a barber ever again, zero need to cut his fingernails, and no waste excretion anymore. Time-Savers indeed.

  Then Science Talent Settled in and Antares life changed forever. The Devil Heit was never the smartest person around, principally when it came to mathematics or science stuff, he can study and eventually learn what he needs to, but it required immense effort, a sort of double the effort for half of the results type of scenario. The redhead remember the tortuous days he spent on University in his past life, of having spent countless hours studying and practicing calculus so he wouldn't fumble Calculus III, again.

  Now? Everything looked pitiful, the previously challenging equations and unknowable formus barely a footnote, his mind sped through even his great doubts, using the information he already had to reach impressive conclusions.

  Connecting dots he never knew existed, answering questions and doubts he had forever, and being able to calcute and deduce things faster and more precisely. The devil could feel his Goetia of Gravity drinking on this new talent, all of his research on Astrophysics, Molecur Physics, and Gravity Centered Physics papers making Antares' understanding of Gravitational Force soar. He didn't get any new information, of course, but he sublimated the knowledge he already had. And that is only the beginning, as the Talent will become more effective the more he cultivates it, he couldn't even imagine the absurd things his talents will allow him to do in one year? 5? A decade? Just imagining left a smile on his face.

  Wild Talent was a bit weird, it's honestly very straightforward, and Antares has a very limited knowledge of wilderness survival, so it didn't have the sheer effect of Science Talent upon insertion. But to be fair, the majority of the stuff he knows about wilderness survival comes from YouTube videos and survival shows he watched on the Discovery Channel.

  Education Talent was different, as the devil Heir has never been an educator in both of his lives, so he doesn't have much experience with teaching. But even with such a ck of material to work with, he already instinctually knew the better way to pass information and teach someone, it was a rather muddled thing for now, but with some practice, he should be able to improve rather quickly.

  Then there is the Communication Talent, and it is fabulous. The moment the Talent activated, all the nguages and words Antares ever heard or spoken in both lives suddenly became so clear, even those from the nguages he did not know before, Antares now knew how to speak, write and communicate in Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Latin, Elfic, Dovahzhul and many other nguages he only ever heard a lot about and couldn't make jack before.

  Of course, it isn't a perfect thing, as he needed to have a heavy amount of contact with a nguage before he could say he 'learned' it. But the good thing seems this Talent also extends to fictional nguages as well, albeit none of them seem to have their intended magical effects, but Imagination-Based magic is a thing, so the future is rather promising. He also noticed that this talent seemed to synchronize especially well with the Devil's innate

  Language ability, likely turning an already incredible thing into something that is even more so.

  And nguage is just one of the aspects of Communication Talent, as the Talent increases Antares' well, Talent, with communication in general; written, signals, gestures, reading a room, body nguage, etc. Not to mention one of the best parts of it, as described on the Talent, is; you are immediately fluent in any spoken nguage you encounter and will speak it like any native in only a few days, with mastery of the written form taking a week on average; this part always applies to your retinue as well. Being shareable with his retinue without buying Talent Share was also one of the things that improved the Force user ratings and desire for this perk.

  And the added potential… Antares felt literally nothing different, he could neither feel nor detect the Smart Atom, he just hoped his Heritage was already at work and making sure it transformed the other Atoms around it into Smart Atoms as well, It was a long-term process, but something Antares is quite looking forward to.

  With his most recent purchases already settling in, Antares decided to cim the final reward of the mission, the Tempte Stacking II for one Tempte he may possess, which in this case is his Kevin Kasna(T8) tempte.

  It was instant, with the press of a button, Antares felt like he had just undergone years of training exclusively Kevin's skills, turning the previous T4 Tempte into a T5. It was a foundational change, something that strengthened his foundation and turned him from someone who has a simple extraordinary skill/power to someone who is well trained in such powers.

  His body got instantly and quite massively stronger, his better developed ICHOR strengthening it by a few levels, the ICHOR of a CHIMERA DEVIL MANTIS being further developed as if Antares spent years training it, upgrading his abilities; be they from the MANTIS ICHOR or from the Authority of Finality.

  Closing his eyes and concentrating, the boy felt his senses further enchanted, the Martial Arts developed by Kevin easily being added to his style thanks to Martial Talent. His power from Parvati's genes of controlling ice got stronger and better. His Regeneration provided by the Garuda's genes improved and he started tapping into Garuda's Fme control powers as well, he could also feel he was close to being able to access one of Kevin's many transformations.

  Ironically enough, his new proficiency with Garuda's and Parvati's powers allowed him to start tapping into the Herrscher of Fme and Herrscher of Ice powers contained in the Authority of Finality. Which strengthened Antares Power over the thermodynamic phenomena even more. A boon considering his incoming fight with Revya, the Devil smiled evilly, a very good boon indeed.

  The other aspects of the Authority of finality were still... far, not unaccessible anymore, but far enough that it will take time to draw them out and train them to be minimally useful.

  Antares then froze for a moment, as it finally dawned on him he shouldn't have done this before he met his brother. As the Crimson Satan could probably notice his jump in strength. 'I just hope he attributes this to some sort of post-battle realization or power-up, those are certainly common enough for them to be a thing.' winced the boy inwardly while getting up; 'Or the difference between us is so immense he won't even notice it if he isn't actively searching for it. Am barely an insect when compared to him power-wise after all.'

  "... so my excitement got the better of me. What a shitty self-control I have…" Antares mumbled in a low self-depreciative tone before shaking his head and smiling a little awkwardly.

  Picking his company phone, he left a message for Eu expining what he did and what he was going to do, and also asking the blue-haired girl to give the basic expnations to Neptune and show her around. It will at least help bring the purple-haired girl up to speed on the recent events while giving her enough space to think. And Antares fully admits he is running away from that responsibility, just a little. He had more than enough expositions in just two weeks, thank you.

  His next stop was outside, he passed through the pool, the soccer field, and the sports courts until he reached the small forest at the back of his estate. With a flex of his will, he carefully deposited Tiberius and Tsaris on the ground, the two cubs sleeping soundly.

  With another application of his will, Antares put a gigantic bowl field with mana-rich meat and another filled with spring water. Likely hearing all the commotion, Tiberius and Tsaris woke up, and instantly pounced on the bowl of meat, the two big cats quickly going through a few kilos of it.

  "You two really seem hungry.", Antares chuckled good-naturedly; "Sorry for not bringing you out earlier. But I guess I was way too tired for that…" shaking his head the boy turned towards his familiar; "This is my house, Tiberius. You and Tsaris may explore it as you wish, just take care to not exit the propriety or make a mess of things if you go inside.".

  Tiberius and Tsaris nodded their heads between mouthfuls of meat, earning another chuckle from the Devil.

  "Eu should be waking up soon." added Antares making Tsaris perk up; "And we have a new member of the family; Neptune.", seeing the two confused felines before him, Antares crified; "She is the purple-haired girl, almost same height as Eu.", the two big cats nodded their heads and drank big gulps of water, they would respect her as they did Eu and Antares, that, the Devil Heir has no doubt.

  Petting the two kitties and scratching behind their ears for a bit, Antares smiled once more before teleporting back to his office, putting on his Fme Chaser outfit, he took a deep breath and teleported toward his Brother's office.

  .

  .

  .

  AN: Hallo! Me here again

  Hope you all like the chapter my friends, as for me this was honestly one of the chapters I liked writing the most, like I said before I am a sucker for Training Chapters, and right behind that is these Power Up chapters, which are also one of my favorites.

  I know that for some it may have felt quite a bit info-dumpy, but I tried my best to illustrate Antares' thoughts as he browsed the Company app and selected his new perks. For now, most of the stuff he brought is just for more utility, but I honestly felt I would purchase the same things as him if I were in such circumstances. Besides, I would kill for a Communication Talent or Time Savers IRL, they would make life so convenient.

  The Build after the purchases:

  SpoilerTotal cost: 582

  World

  Name:

  High School DxD

  Rating:

  6 (365)

  Patron

  [ First Contractor ]

  Difficulty

  [ Me and My Girlfriend(s) (PvE)(Team), Manual Connection(Leveling), Standard(Personal World), 25%/75%(Payment), Limited(Worlds), Standard(Tempte), Standard(Tempte), Standard(Bindings), Disabled(Warranty), Only One(Heritages), Hardcore(Death), Nah, I'd Win.(Pvp), Resistance(Defenses), Standard(Tempte), Alignment(Random), Power Swap(Random), Power Swap Banned(Misc), Legacy Difficulty(Legacy) ]

  Orbs

  [ Alternative Arrangements, What's Mine Is Mine, Time Is On My Side, Augmented Assets, Random Conditions, The Floor is Lava, No Rest For The Wicked ]

  Origin

  Razen Antares Gremory (Substitute) of T4 [Transhuman]

  Binding & Lure

  Bindings:

  [ Company Stamp ]

  Lures:

  [ Sticky Fingers, Faerie Feast ]

  Other Controls:

  No Other Controls

  Heritage ( Your tier - T7 )

  [ First Augmentation{ Aethermorph}, Distributed Intellectual Devotions, Corporeal Transcendence Engineering, Evolutionary Engine Array, Networked Gmour Manipution ]

  Talents & Perks

  Ride:

  No Ride

  Home:

  [ Pocket Space, Pocket Apartment(x2) ]

  Talents:

  [ Soul, Aesthetic, Body Tune-Up, Athletic, Psychic, Eversting, Martial, Tempte Stacking I (Razen Antares Gremory has Kevin Kasna (Honkai Impact 3rd)) , Tempte Stacking II{ Razen Antares Gremory [Kevin Kasna (Honkai Impact 3rd)]}, Talent Sharing(x2){ Soul, Martial}, Communication, Science, Wild, Educational???, Added Potential (Razen Antares Gremory has Smart Atoms) ]

  Defenses:

  [ Stress, Mind, Wild(x2), Environmental(x2), Body, Destiny, Wyldscape ]

  Misc:

  [ Sexual Calibration, Fertility Calibration I, Time-Savers??? ]

  Generic:

  [ Grail Knowledge???()( Razen Antares Gremory, Eu Lawrence, Adult Neptune (w/ Croire)) ]

  Waifu:

  No Waifu Perks

  [colpse]Hmmm, if I had to choose one Craftsman going by skill alone, I would probably go with the God of The Bible from DxD, he is simply a genius trapped in a "small" verse.

  ~ClearSkySage