Chapter 47: Chapter 42
// Zero POV //
Zero: I was just kidding.
Arisa: You looked like you were very serious to me.
Zero: How can you be so sure?
Arisa: The way you are acting it's like you are used to doing this
My lips quiver slightly at Arisa's comment
Zero (thought): As I thought Arisa is very perceptive about this kind of thing.
I let out a sigh
Zero: I have to admit, I once asked 18 girls out at once, expecting a total rejection from all of them by some miracle, they all said yes, so when I asked Kasumi I was half-serious expecting her to reject me.
Arisa: ... Are you serious?
I gave them the full rundown on my relationship as I did with Roselia when they asked me the question which got me different reactions from the Poppi'pa members and made Kasumi blush.
Kasumi: Why me?
Zero: Why not? You're a cute girl, you're positive and full of life and a lot of other things too...
My compliments turn Kasumi red from head to toe and hide behind Arisa
Kasumi: Okay, okay, I get it, don't say anymore, it's embarrassing.
Zero: Oh sorry, my demonic side is acting up again.
Kasumi: Demonic side?
Zero: Yeah I'm part Incubus after all, so whenever I see a pretty girl I can't help but flirt with her.
The Poppin' Party members look at me funny.
Saya: Ahahah, that's a good joke Zero-san.
Without saying anything I step out from behind the counter taking off my apron then I tap the floor with the toe of my shoe, making a magic circle appear on the floor of the shop which created a barrier that repels people from entering the room, then I take off my glasses and let my horns, wings and tail be visible to them.
Not only are the girls shocked at what just happened but their faces turn red
Zero: You were saying, Saya?
I ask her with a smirk as I bring my face close to hers, Saya looks into my eyes and can't say a word because she is so overwhelmed by them then I whisper in her ear.
Zero (Lowered voice): I know you have fallen in love with me too, Saya, as I explained before it's your choice if you want to love someone like me if you refuse I will understand and we will always remain friends.
I step away from Saya keeping my smile as Tae comes to her senses.
Tae: Are those real wings?
Zero: Yep, you want to touch?
I tell her as I move my wings a little.
Tae nods and then starts touching my wings.
Tae: Wow, they're soft and smooth and the texture is comfortable to touch.
Kasumi and Rimi having emerged also come to touch my wings with curiosity except for Arisa and Saya who are on the sidelines
Arisa: How...
Zero: ...is it possible? It's simple, tell yourself that all the supernatural entities you've heard about all your life and the legends exist like Yokai, devils, angels, dragons and so on.
Rimi: Heh?! Do they exist?
Zero: Sure, just wait a moment I'll show you
I take a box out of my pocket
Arisa: A box?
I activate my storm flame on my storm ring and insert it into the box
Zero: Come out, Yuya.
The box opens and out comes a red ball that turns into a chibi Odd-Eyes Pendulum dragon.
Yuya: Yo Zero, did you call me?
Rimi: He talks?
Zero: Poppi'pa this is one of my partners Yuya, the Odd-Eyes Pendulum Strom Dragon
Yuya: Yo, nice to meet you
Poppin Party: Likewise
Then Rimi approaches Yuya and starts touching his scales then they start to play together
Rimi: Say, Yuya-san, you are a real dragon?
Yuya: That's right Hushigome-chan, but I'm not just any dragon I'm a dragon god
Rimi: A dragon god?
Arisa: A dragon deity in short.
Zero: Indeed, and if you're not careful, some will eat you all raw.
I tell her while mimicking some kind of monster by showing my teeth and making clawing movements with my hands.
Rimi: Really?!
Rimi looks at me with starry eyes
Zero: Heh?!
Zero (thinking): Ah, that's right Rimi loves all that horror and fright, who would think that a girl as shy as her would like that kind of thing.
Rimi: What's wrong?
Zero: Nothing.
Then without expecting it Kasumi raise her voice
Kasumi: Zero-san!
Zero: What's with you all of a sudden, raising your voice?
Kasumi: A date, I want to go on a date with you, I want to get to know you better before I give you an answer.
Zero: Heh ?! You mean you accept my proposition?
Kasumi nod her head while blushing
Zero: Ok for a date, how about next Friday?
Kasumi: Yes, that's fine with me.
Arisa: You know what, I'm not even going to try to figure out what just happened
After I've confirmed a place to meet with Kasumi I notice Saya seems to be in a bad mood. My [ Empathy ] skill tells me that she seems disappointed that I will go on a date with Kasumi and not her.
Zero(thought): Women.
I snap my fingers and time freezes for everyone but me and Saya
Saya: What's going on?
Zero: I just stopped time around us for the moment
Saya: Can you do that too?
Zero: I can do a lot of things, like this
I disappear from Saya's sight and she is surprised at my sudden disappearance.
Saya: Zero?
I appear behind her and take her in my arms
Saya: KYAAAAA
Zero: Did I surprise you?
Saya: I almost had a heart attack, silly.
Zero: Oh, sorry about that, to make it up to you I'll give you a compensation
Saya: Compensation?
Without saying anything more I turn Saya's head and give her a simple kiss for a few seconds.
Zero: So what do you think of this?
Saya: I think it's not enough
Saya closes her eyes and lifts her face a bit, without wasting a second I give her a second longer kiss.
Saya: You know you're a bad guy, you're already dating several other girls and you kiss another one like that.
Zero: Who says I'm a good guy, the moment I agreed to have another girl besides Luciela, I resolved to become a first-class scumbag, ready to do anything to make the girls around me happy, it's a responsibility I decided to take on until the end.
Saya: Really?
Saya looks at me surprised at my answer
Zero: Saya, when you all came to Galaxy last time I noticed that almost everyone had a crush on me, and with my new look there's a chance they'll fall for me even more so it doesn't take a genius to figure out where this is going
Saya: Does that mean the Popipa members like you too?
Zero: Yep, although Arisa will never admit her feelings for me, so maybe I'll have to corner her.
Saya: What about you?
Zero: I love them all the same, but it's still their decision to be with me or not.
Saya: Then I will help you if it means I can be with you and the others
Zero: I can imply that you are willing to send your best friends into the arms of a guy like me only so that you can all stay together for the rest of your lives.
Saya: Is that a bad thing?
Zero: No, I've seen worse, but I wouldn't expect anything less from my Saya.
Saya: Since when did I become yours?
Zero: The moment you fell for me
I answer her and give her another kiss
After flirting with Saya for a couple of hours we went back to our respective seats and I restarted the time, then returned to my normal form while deactivating the barrier, at this moment exactly, aunt Yumine came back from the kitchen with a tray of pastries.
Ms Yamabuki: Ro-kun it's ready, oh Saya welcome back and welcome girls.
Saya looks at her mother with surprise because she seems to be in better shape than before she left this morning and she also seems to be more energetic and younger too, then she looks at me with suspicion.
Kasumi: Ms Yamabuki, is it me or do you look different from before?
Rimi: You look a few years younger.
Tae: You look prettier.
Ms Yamabuki: Thank you very much, girls.
Zero: Well, if you're done admiring Aunt Yumine, how about you trying these pastries I made and tell me what you think.
Aunt Yumine places the trays on the counter, leaving the pastry to be eaten.
Kasumi gets stars in her eyes just looking at the cakes
Rimi: Is this something you made Onii-chan?
Zero: It's a new recipe I've been wanting to make for a while, so I decided to experiment with customers.
Kasumi: What is it named?
Zero: It's called a Magic Cake. A magic cake is a pastry that is made from a single mixture but after baking it has three different textures. I made three variations, one with vanilla, one with chocolate and one with strawberry.
Everyone takes a slice of their favourite cake and eats a piece.
The moment they close their mouths, everyone moans with pleasure, taking them on a sweet journey.
Saya: How can a simple cake like this be so good?
Kasumi: Umaiiiiiii
Arisa: The texture of the custard, the cream and the sponge cake work so well together that they melt together on my taste buds.
Rimi: This cake completely surpasses the choco cones
Tae: I feel like I'm on cloud nine.
Zero: I'm glad you liked it.
The girls continue to enjoy their sweets when Aunt Yumine comes to see me.
Ms Yamabuki: Are you sure we can sell your cake in our shop?
Zero: It's not a problem for me and I have lots of other recipes in store, so I don't mind.
Everyone gave me their feedback about the magic cake, after that, I was about to take my leave when all of sudden Saya kisses me on the lip before everyone
Popipa : Saya
Yumine : Ara ma~
Saya: Come to visit us any time darling.
She gives me a wink
Zero: It's a bold move to make Saya and before everyone even your mother
Saya: You said it yourself we have the choice, and I choose to be with you, even with they are others before me.
Zero: Understood if I've time I'll come, goodbye girls, Aunty.
Then take off to Kuoh living Yamabuki Bakery who seem to be really agitated after I get out.
// Timeskip //
// Zero's Manor, Kuoh //
Everyone is in the living room watching the Rating Game of Rias against Riser, broadcasted by the Sitri family in the whole underworld
Compared to canon Rias doesn't have Asia and Issei doesn't have Boosted Gear so I had to compensate for their presence by making Akeno, Kiba, Issei and Rias more useful with their respective abilities.
Akeno has decided to use her Fallen Angel side and Holy Lightning and can use the other aspects of her Queen piece pretty much normally.
Rias has managed to reduce her power consumption when using her PoD and can give her useful forms in battle and knows a few martial arts she can couple with, she is much more durable than a regular high-class devil limit low-class ultimate.
Kiba on the other hand has gone totally dark Sasuke since he learned that I am a holy sword wielder to the point that he unlocked the Balance Break of both gears during our training, I increased his physical training while teaching him the basics of the Nitten Ichiryu style to give him an edge.
As for Koneko, I trained her like my other girlfriends by giving her a Physique to cultivate and had access to Chaos energy after spending a night with her and taught her everything there is to learn about Ninjutsu and Chakra.
For Issei saying that the training did a miracle, he became more composed, more analytical in his reasoning, we managed to lower his perversity to a level where he keeps it to himself now and that it won't be fatal to him in battle. He also managed to unlock his balance break.
Lu is sitting on my knee in her basic form
Lu: Who do you think will win?
Zero: Personally I think Rias and the others have a good chance, especially with the changes they've gone through, but that doesn't mean Riser is going to go down easy, I've heard he woke up earlier than expected and he and his peerage have been training hard too.
Sona: Oh, I wonder how it's going to go.
// Rating Game Summary //
*In this Rating Game Ravel does not participate having joined her mother's peerage*.
1. Koneko and Issei dispatch the Rook and the 3 Riser Pawns in the Gym before Akeno destroys the gym to cut off access.
2. Kiba defeat the rest of the Pawns of Riser after setting illusion traps on the running field
3. The Queen of Riser launches a surprise attack on Koneko only without knowing that only a clone thanks to an illusion made it look like she was removed. Then she is confronted by Akeno who disables her quickly with her Holy Lightning but the latter uses a phoenix tear and comes back in the race but still ends up being beaten although Akeno had to use more energy than she expected
4. Kiba and Issei face the rest of Riser's peerage forcing them to use the maximum power of their sacred gear in basic form, almost forcing the two low-class devils to use their balance breaker but still manage to snatch the win.
5. Rias joined by Issei, Kiba and Akeno find themselves against Riser, the pawn and the knight directly release their balance breaker and bombard the phoenix with their best attacks, but the latter resists their assaults and counterattacks with force. He received combined attack damage from Holy Lightning and PoD concentrated enough to knock out an Ultimate class. In a last-ditch effort, Riser launched his best attack taking out Akeno Kiba and Issei leaving only a tired Rias and a Riser on his last leg thinking he had won the game.
6.On the field, only Rias and Koneko remain who just finished Raiser with a Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet Technique putting him completely out after having already received important damages from Kiba, Issei and Akeno.
// End of the summary //
[Grayfia]: Winner Rias Gremory
Lu: Heh, I didn't expect them to do so well, especially sister Shirone did a very good job since got your training this result is to be expected
Then all of a sudden my head receives an influx of info and abilities one after another, automatically a spell activates and locks this influx into a dedicated partition of my brain and processes them one by one.
[ Memories and abilities of the captain of the Hyperion Zero Akatsuki received and processed ]
[ You have received 7th God Key - Judgement of Shamash / Cleaver of Shamash, 9th God Key - Eden Double Stars,12th God Key - Jizo Mitama ]
[ As the Primary Entity of Zero you have received the skill [ Parallel Existence ] and [ Alternate-Self Absorption ] ]
//
[ Parallel Existence ] - Rank EX
Description: The user is able to exist in each parallel universe or timeline while having absolute existence in each parallel universe. The user can have copies of themselves in each parallel universe descending from the original user. In some cases, the user is able to communicate with or control its parallel copies.
//
[ Alternate-Self Absorption ] - Rank EX
Description: The user can absorb an alternate version of themselves from a different time-stream or universe to gain immense power. This power brings the user closer towards becoming a singular being and as such allows them to obtain a divine level of power if all their alternate selves are absorbed.
//
Zero: Okay, this is getting really messy.
Lu: What's the matter, honey?
Zero: Nothing I just absorbed one of my alternate selves from a parallel world gaining all of her memories and experiences, abilities and equipment in the process.
I say with an indescribable expression
Sona: Among other things you have become more dangerous than before.
Zero: Among other things.
Iliya: You're fine Onii-chan, you seem to be tired.
Zero: No, I'm fine, just a little shaken up by the memories of the other me that appear all of a sudden, although this isn't the first time this has happened to me.
Kuro: Oh yeah you said you were an alternate version of Archer Emiya that's why you were so compatible with his techniques when you used his card.
Miyu: Won't these memories affect you?
I stroke Miyu's head and she seems to be worried about me.
Zero: Don't worry about this, thinking that something like this may happen, I have created a spell that manages the influx of external memories to be put away and processed if the process shows it's safe. I can access this partition otherwise it's automatically destroyed.
The three girls release a sigh of relief
Mio: And who do the memories you received belong to.
Zero: Another Zero Akatsuki, captain of the Hyperion he's from Kiana's dimension.
Kiana: Huh? The Captain is Zero's counterpart from my dimension? You sure, you don't look anything like each other.
Zero: It's not proof that my counterparts all look like me.
Lu: But why are you getting these memories now?
Zero: You could say that when my self from another life I'll call Alpha Zero died, its soul separated into several fragments and reincarnated into different universes, and me being one of his reincarnations and having the largest fragment of the original makes me the Primary Entity and if my other selves die they come right back to me to complete me receiving their experiences and abilities in the process.
Tsubaki: I see that means Captain Zero is dead.
Zero: Indeed, he died to allow another of my counterparts name Emiya Zero who was in Kiana's dimension to help Kiana's friends to escape the calamity that's destroying their world to come here.
Kiana: That means...
Zero: It looks like you'll be able to see your loved ones again...
I raise my head to the ceiling feeling a distortion over Kuoh then stand up from my seat.
Sakuya: Master Zero?
Then suddenly my phone ring
*Ringing*
Zero: This is Akatsuki
???: Yo this is Emiya
Zero: Yo, partner happy to finally talk to you, it seems that your mission was successful, but at the cost of one of us.
Z Emiya: Yeah, I tried to talk him out of it but he wanted to be sure to get everyone into safety. If you already know about it, it means he got home safely and the transfer was successful this time.
Zero: This time? what do you mean, it doesn't work most of the time.
Z Emiya: It doesn't, for a while, in some parallel universe some of our counterparts died without coming back to you or some stronger fragment of us but now that you have the skill that won't be the case.
Zero: I see and how are they holding up since you know
Emiya: Not well at all, the older ones are still holding up but the younger ones are not, you should come with Kiana to see them. As for me, I have to go home, I've been out of the house for a while.
Zero: I got it, I'm taking over.
I cut the call
Zero: Kiana with me.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone