Chapter 54: 54 Starting Trouble At The Vatican City
In Rome, Italy, Otto had returned to his original appearance as Otto Apocalypse.
"Mmmm..." Otto savored the squid ink spaghetti, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Is it really good?" Brynhildr asked, watching him slurp a strand and noting how it painted his teeth black.
"Not really," Otto admitted. "I'm not particularly fond of noodle-like dishes; they remind me of intestines and I find them... I don't know, disgusting?"
"Then why did you eat it like you enjoyed it?" Brynhildr inquired, puzzled.
"It just brought back a memory," Otto replied. He recalled that in his past world, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure might have already adapted its Part 8, JoJolion, which was his third favorite part.
"???" Brynhildr couldn't grasp what he was thinking about and decided to let it go.
"Anyways, when are you going to remove that tracker that Serafall secretly placed on you? With your magical prowess, I'm sure you've noticed it too," Brynhildr reminded him, noting that he still hadn't removed Serafall's mark.
"Mmmm. I almost forgot about that." Taking the small hidden crystal magic core, Otto decided to send it to Issei later on.
"They probably figured out that it was me, Vincent Fabron, all along," Otto mused. He wondered what would happen if Rias and the others went searching for the real Issei Hyoudou, who now only had a shell of the boosted gear.
"If they found you in this form, what would you do?" Brynhildr asked, noticing that he didn't have a backup plan. His previous teleporting rune that he had secretly placed in the Underworld was already out of range.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Otto reassured her, confident in the numerous tricks he had up his sleeve.
"Where are you going next?" she asked, curious about when he would return to Izumo Dorms to work on her body.
"Are there any gods present here?" he inquired, knowing Brynhildr had once served under a Norse god.
Brynhildr grimaced, sensing that Otto was planning to steal a god's authority.
"Yes, my beloved, I am planning to steal the power of a god," he smirked, his plan bold and audacious.
"Now that you've confirmed it yourself, I'm not going to tell you whether or not there are gods in this country," she pouted, disapproving of his reckless plan.
Guilt-tripping someone he was close to wasn't his style, so he decided to drop the subject and try again at a later date.
"Well, if you say so..." Otto replied in a sullen tone as he continued his two-week vacation before becoming a third-year student at the academy.
Eventually, he arrived at the famous Vatican City, the territory of the church's exorcists.
"I can sense a lot of holy energy deep inside the church. No wonder devils won't approach here," Otto remarked.
"Obviously, it's the natural weakness of devils," Brynhildr responded.
'The amount of holy power inside is tempting me to steal one of their Holy Swords and tinker with it before Kokabiel steals them,' Otto thought with a mischievous grin on his face.
"Oi. What's with that grin?" Brynhildr asked, noticing his expression.
"Let's do a heist against the church," Otto said, his mind racing with the possibilities of using those holy swords for Brynhildr's body.
"You're becoming crazier by the day, aren't you?" she remarked, noting his increasing recklessness.
Recently, his escapades had grown perilous: venturing into Satan's territory, sneaking into the domain of the gods on Mount Olympus, and now planning a heist in the Vatican. Though the Vatican didn't seem as dangerous since its denizens were human, Brynhildr knew only a few humans could contest Otto.
"Baby, it's all for your sake," Otto said, cringing at his own words.
"Mmmm~ Alright," she giggled at his attempt to be sweet.
"Be sure not to hold back," she reminded him, aware that he had been restraining himself by almost 80% ever since he joined Bukyoku Academy.
"But I might accidentally destroy the place..." Otto warned, knowing his curse technique could become uncontrollable once unleashed, even though it wasn't nighttime.
"That's what they get for messing with you."
"So, only when someone picks a fight with me?" Otto clarified, making a mental note.
With a flick of his finger, he transformed back into the fresh-looking Vincent Fabron.
"Bien, let's start Le casse," he said smoothly, placing an emergency escape rune outside and casually making his way into the Vatican church.
Inside, he observed the exorcists, all with low-quality holy powers. "Ils sont si faibles. In a nice way, of course," he muttered, noticing some priests among them.
'Am I just too strong? Or are they just too weak?' he wondered, considering these exorcists were supposed to fight low-class devils, needing about five or six of them to beat one.
"There's a reason why exorcists usually swarm together, you know," Brynhildr reminded him. Even Touji, considered strong by their standards, always had his followers with him.
"Fair enough," Otto acknowledged, continuing down a hallway that was devoid of anyone. The deeper he went, the denser the holy power became.
"They're not very protective of these holy swords, are they?" he questioned Brynhildr, noting the feeble security that required him to use hardly any tricks to get in.
"I'm not sure..." Brynhildr herself was suspicious of how easily Otto had infiltrated, thinking even an ordinary person could have managed it.
'Pfttt, no wonder Kokabiel could easily steal the holy swords from the Vatican,' Otto thought. He began to wonder if the Vatican was purposely allowing people to steal their artifacts this easily.
"Here we go," he said, arriving at a giant white door infused with a large amount of holy power.
"Is this really their only defense?" Otto raised his eyebrows, realizing he could easily bust the door down with his bare hands.
"Maybe?" Brynhildr replied uncertainly. They were now just one step away from the holy swords.
Otto placed his hand on the door to analyze the holy power. To his surprise, it immediately started to open.
"?!" Both Otto and a nun who had just emerged from the door stared at each other for a full minute, trying to make sense of the other's presence.
"???"
"Oohhh, Mademoiselle Griselda Quarta. An honor to meet you," Otto spoke up first, recognizing the nun.
"Who are you?" Griselda questioned, inspecting the man with gold tattoos on the left side of his face that stretched to his neck.
"Me? I am Vincent Fabron, an agent from France," he replied in a nonchalant tone.
"No, how did you get into this place?" the nun demanded, summoning a large holy sword.
"Whoa, whoa, no need to be hostile, madame. I'm just your friendly thief," he joked, smoothly dodging her swings.
'Gotta move coolly and look good, to stay in character,' Otto thought, dramatically evading all her attacks.
Meanwhile, Griselda was panicking, unable to fathom how this mysterious man had infiltrated without setting off the alarms.
'Where did this guy come from?' she wondered frantically.
"Mmm, alright. You wanna play? Let's play," Otto said, conjuring a golden magic sword with a flourish.
"Trademark," he quipped as his sword traded blows with Griselda's holy sword, Durandal.
As their swords collided, Otto's sword emitted dazzling golden special effects.
'Always look good,' he smirked, his movements becoming increasingly elegant and swift.
Otto had perfected these movements after watching Edelweiss' swordsmanship once. He mimicked her grace and precision, making each dodge and parry appear effortless and stylish.
Griselda, though skilled, found herself outmatched by Otto's combination of magical prowess and swordsmanship. Each of her powerful strikes met with Otto's deft counters, his golden sword shimmering with each contact.
'She could've beaten me in our clash if it wasn't for my Code: Unknown, making me unparalleled in terms of physical prowess... As expected of Xenovia's adoptive mother, sort of.' Otto thought.
"You fight well, but how did you get here?" Griselda demanded between clashes, frustration evident in her voice. Thinking she needed to call a back up as she couldn't deal with him alone.
"I have my reasons, and you might say it's all in the name of... a greater good." Otto replied enigmatically as it was for Brynhildr's body, dodging another swing with a fluid motion.
"Ugh—!" Griselda grunted, her clothes now almost in tatters. Despite the exposure, she paid no mind, completely focused on Otto.
"Oh my," Otto remarked, noting her current appearance, which resembled someone who had just emerged from a violent storm. Despite their exchange, Griselda had not managed to land a single hit with her Durandal, frustrating her even more.
"A third party? C'est pas gentil. Monsieur Vasco Strada," Otto observed, blocking his left side where a JoJo's-built bald old man with an X-shaped scar on his face stood, his massive fist ready.
"Got a name?" Vasco asked, while helping Griselda cover up as back up had arrived.
"Chamber," Otto replied, stretching his left arm.
"You're quite the intruder, Mr. Chamber. What business do you have here in the Vatican?" Vasco Strada, a formidable exorcist known for his immense strength, took a step forward.
"Let's just say I'm here on a little treasure hunt," Otto responded with a smirk fixing his glasses.
"And you, Monsieur Strada, seem to be the final challenge." He knew that Vasco was the strongest exorcist there was in High School DxD.
"You bet I am, Mr. Chamber."
The two exchanged a flurry of blows, each testing the other's limits. Vasco's strength was matched by Otto's agility and finesse. The clash of their abilities echoed through the hallway, a testament to their respective skills.
Even Otto abandoned his elegant movements in an attempt to counter Vasco's heavy punches.
'Chamber is a support, damn it, so... I'll flash them,' Otto thought.
"Petit rappel, A Watch your eyes." He warned as he created a golden orb in his left hand before throwing it at the two, covering his eyes.
...
-Chapter End-
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