AN: Sup my fellow readers and enthusiasts, ClearSkySage here with another chapter of you all.

  Here in this chapter, I started experimenting with the use of Long Dash( –), so its use should be a little awkward for a few chapters going forward, so please bear with my silliness for a while, I want to improve my writing and I feel like learning how to use long dash is essential.

  Now, let’s go to the question of the chapter;

  If you guys had a NIKKE under your command(Any NIKKE is valid, it's your choice), which tempte would you choose for her? (Max of T10 temptes pretty please.)

  Now, here is the chapter:

  ~ Fshback: Razen Antares Gremory ~

  “To reach the True Stage is a very straightforward process.” started the creator of the Evil Pieces; “As I’ve said, your cells are carrying so much Demonic Power that they have just reached critical mass.” Ajuka smiled a little maliciously; “All you have to do –is destabilize them.”.

  “But wouldn’t that cause them to explode?” asked Antares feeling a little weirded out.

  “Yup, that is exactly what you want to do.” continued the Super Devil; “You want to explode them in the most optimal way –in a way that doesn’t completely disintegrate the cells, a way that allows you to retain as much of them as possible, even if in pieces.”

  “After that, you must use your Demonic Power as both a bridge and a glue, connect every single cell in your body with it and group them.” continued the Scientist without missing a bit; “With them grouped –your new body will start to form, to be born. And like a butterfly getting out of its cocoon, you will be reborn fully anew, into a different Demonic Species.”

  Ajuka rolled his eyes a bit; “Sadly, we do not have the data if a Demon is capable of reproducing with a Devil, I’ve tried multiple times to get a female Devil pregnant but I am still unsuccessful, even after centuries of trying.” he then sighed; “We know someone on the second stage is capable of reproducing as we have a living example.”

  “Milicas.” Antares deduced. Ajuka nodded; “Correct. Falbium seemed to have the same issue I’ve mentioned earlier and Serafall refuses to talk about the subject with me, opting to keep any romantic developments of her life fully private.”

  “That is why we call those who achieve their True Forms, Demons.” added Sirzechs with a small nod; “They are literally another species entirely.”.

  “Even if they are just on the First Step?” asked the Devil Heir curiously.

  Sirzechs nodded; “Indeed, liking it or not, with the first step alone you aren’t a mere Devil anymore.” The Strongest Devil chuckled; “And that is also the reason one of our most ancient ws dictates – to become a Satan, you need to be a Demon. Without exception. For Demons are the true rules of Hell. Always have been.”

  “Don’t take it the wrong way, but you guys look quite like normal Devils to me,” added Antares, likely already knowing the answer but wanting to confirm it anyway.

  Ajuka chuckled; “Much like our wings, after accessing your True Form for the first time, using it is just a matter of flexing your will. Like using your Demonic Power in a way, you need to train to become skilled at it, but it is pretty easy and instinctive as well.”

  “Could I please ask for a demonstration?”

  Ajuka shook his head; “Unfortunately that would be unwise. Using our True From, mostly due to our Super Status, releases a vast amount of Demonic Power, a wave of power that reverberates for the whole dimension whenever we access it, it would upset quite a few deities if we used them lightly.” Ajuka then paused and hummed in thought; “Perhaps if you could convince Serafall or Falbium, they could show it to you without any trouble. But good luck with that.”.

  Antares just chuckled self-depreciatingly, convincing Falbium to do anything was a chore in itself, the man rarely listening to anyone weaker than him, more because of his ziness than anything. Serafall was… a lost cause, the woman hated him to the bone after he broke her ‘dear So-Tan’s Heart’, so the Devil Heir would not even bother to ask.

  Sirzechs chuckled; “Don’t worry little bro, it’s a good thing you never saw a True Form. It means the situation was never dire enough for it to be needed, and that is a good thing.”

  “Agreed.” nodded Ajuka robotically; “Sirzechs tapped a little on his True Form against the Ikusautsuwa-no-Oomikami, but it was nothing serious. He was mostly helping the Greater Goddess of Weaponry make a demonstration of her power and establishing good retions with the new Greater Faction who now holds dominion over Japan.”

  “New Greater Faction?”, asked Antares curiously.

  “Indeed. The Shinto finally got their shit together and unified Japan. With Ikusautsuwa and her husband Kazuma Kiryu at the front, they united all the Yokai, Deities, and Moonlit Humans, turning Japan into a true powerhouse in the global scenario,” expined Ajuka completely ignoring a warning gre from Sirzechs.

  “… Please don’t go spreading that stuff, little bro. It would be quite troublesome.” Sirzechs pleaded while still gring at Ajuka; “We have a Year of silence as part of our agreement with the Yokai, so they can clean house and organize things. If we break it, we may jeopardize our retions something fierce.”

  “Don’t worry. I have no reason to do something so foolish like that.” dissuaded Antares in a calm tone; “My focus now is on getting stronger and helping my new peerage member situate herself.”

  “Admirable goals little bro.” nodded Sirzechs –feeling proud of his brother; “But now, let’s talk about something less serious-”.

  The talk continued for a few more hours, going into a few diversified topics Antares felt quite clueless as to why his brother was talking about them, it sounded weirdly almost like a sort of interview. But liking it or not, Sirzechs was the Lucifer, and Antares couldn’t disobey him, even if on the off chance he wanted to.

  ~Present: Razen Antares Gremory~

  Exiting the office, Antares stretched himself. He felt a little mentally tired, the talk with his brother taking way more energy than he expected it to. Not to mention the plethora of information about True Form that was just dumped on him, it certainly left the Devil Heir with a lot to think about.

  He also wanted to pat himself on the back for remembering to ask his brother to provide Neptune with a paper trail, Antares could have used the Company App for the same effect, but then he would have to spend credits when Devils have long since mastered the art of creating paper trails.

  With Neptune’s background properly created, there are only a few more things needed for the girl to be properly introduced to this world. With a flex of Antares will, a teleportation circle fshed –teleporting him to his home.

  Appearing in his office, the red-haired Devil sighed and looked around, there didn’t seem to be anything different in the room besides the smell of Eu’s perfume; ‘Perhaps she entered here a while ago? The smell is quite faint..’, thought the Devil inwardly.

  Shaking his head, Antares spread his senses, and barely a few heartbeats ter, he detected the two girls in the kitchen. Going back to his normal perception, he adjusted his posture and went towards them.

  “Good afternoon girls.” greeted Antares with a warm smile; “I hope you two had a pleasant day.”

  “Afternoon, love.” greeted Eu back while hugging her lover; “I hope everything went well,” she added before giving Antares a deep kiss –which the Force user reciprocated with equal enthusiasm.

  “It did.” answered Antares while breaking the saliva trail; “I also managed to get Neptune’s papers ready. And adjust for our transfer to Kuoh University by the end of the month.”

  Eu nodded –with Grail Knowledge, High School has outlived its usefulness; “I believe we shouldn’t even bother with it anymore.” she cupped her chin in thought; “We should spend our time doing much more useful things.”

  “I agree with you.” added Antares while sitting at the table; “But politics…”, the man grumbled with an eye roll; “Unfortunately the new Devil treaty supposes we would be attending high school, so we have to at least pcate Yasaka for a bit before our transfer,”. Eu pursed her lips, understanding where Antares was coming from.

  “Why don’t you ask permission?” added Neptune from the side, her tone neutral, but her gaze focused on Antares.

  “... That’s a pretty good idea.” complimented Antares with a smile; “So I just have to go to the Academy early on Monday morning and talk with Yasaka. Or perhaps just sending a message would be enough?” thought the Devil out loud while typing said message on his own HUD, he does have Yasaka’s number, but that is likely from her work phone –it would have to do.

  “I didn’t think of that, it was a pretty good suggestion Neptune.” Antares passed a hand through his hair; “Thank you.” At Antares' sincere gratitude, Neptune just smiled.

  An awkward silence took hold of the room, none of the three knew how to broach the subject without feeling even more awkward. Then Antares finally bit the bullet; “... sorry Neptune. I-”.

  “None of that big guy.” instantly dismissed the purplette; “You just saved my ass from certain death. Besides-” Neptune licked her dry lips; “Being bound to someone like you doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “Still… Something like this, I should’ve asked first and-” Neptune fake coughed loudly; “None of that Pity Party-sama, I have already heard your cringe Aria in full. But if saying these words will help you…” the lightning user blushed; “... I forgive you.” she then added in an almost inaudible whisper; “Even if I think there is nothing to forgive.”

  Antares felt extremely relieved, it was like a massive burden had just been lifted from his shoulders.

  “Good, good, I… Thank you.” he replied a little clumsily; “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you ended up hating me.”

  “I would need to be a very ungrateful bastard to do something like that.” Neptune added with a smirk; “So don’t worry your handsome head over it.”.

  Sighing, Antares smiled; “Did you two already eat?” Both girls nodded their heads.

  “Excellent… then, how about Neptune’s knowledge, Eu?” asked Antares turning towards his lover; “How up to speed is she?”.

  “Well, I mostly gave her an overview of our world.” answered Eu earnestly; “All the factions, main pyers, main power systems, and a little bit of everything I could remember.”.

  “How in-depth did you go with our magic system?” pressed the redhead, feeling like that was one of the most important things. “Not as much as I would’ve liked. You can expin it way better than me anyway.”, admitted Eu sighing.

  “Do you want me to expin it to you, Neptune?” offered Antares, knowing too much info at once can feel quite overwhelming, principally when you died yesterday.

  Neptune nodded; “Sure thing, more info is always welcome.”

  “Well… the first thing you must know. Is that we have Imagination-Based magic.” at Neptune's widened eyes, Antares just smiled and continued; “Our Demonic Power is capable of actualizing phenomena we Imagine inside our mind.”.

  “Okay…” started Neptune feeling a myriad of emotions; “That sounds awesome. But I am sensing a ‘but’ coming.” she shook her head with a smile; “If things were so easy as; ‘I imagine and it happens’, everyone would have the Power of Destruction.”

  Antares chuckled; “You are not wrong. Traits have such a high esteem in the underworld for a reason.” Antares opened the palm of his hand and using his own Demonic Power, he created a simple Fireball; “Fire, Lightning, Wind, Earth, Water… those more ‘Simple’ elements are fairly well understood. Water is two atoms of Hydrogen and one of Oxygen; Fire is when Fuel and Oxygen combine, a combustive reaction that creates ‘Fme’ –an intrinsic part of the cultural zeitgeist of every species both Supernatural and not, it's easy to imagine fire, to burn something without any magical means, to make, to feel, to visualize.”.

  Antares put off the fireball and turned it into a mini tornado made of wind on his hand; “The same can be said for Wind. Everyone who pyed outside has felt the wind on their skin, the fluttering breeze moving their hair, or simply moving their hand fast enough like a makeshift fan, again –easy to imagine, easy to feel, easy to make and remake, and easy to visualize.”

  “Yeah, and as someone who pyed plenty of games and saw plenty of animes with Wind powers at py…” Neptune stopped and closed her eyes; “I can just close my eyes and see a Wind Bde… perhaps a Wind Tornado? Are you saying that I just need to feed my Demonic Mana into it for-” Neptune tried using her Demonic Power, With the image she visualized in her mind, she tried feeding it demonic power –but nothing happened, and with almost half of her Mana gone already, she decided to stop, only to open her eyes to Antares smiling softly at her.

  With Educational Talent and Soul Talent working in conjunction, Antares could clearly see Neptune’s error; “You are focusing too much on the FORM, and are forgetting to supply its NATURE.” Neptune just looked confused.

  “Our magic is indeed based on your Imagination, but what you’ve been doing is like imagining a sword only for it to be hollow inside. You imagined a Tornado, but what is a tornado? What guides it? What is its Nature?” Antares pointed at Neptune and then at himself; “For people like us with plenty of imagination, the FORM part of magic is extremely easy, but the NATURE part… not so much. Think more mystical, more symbolic… think what a Divine Spirit of Wind would be like, what a God of Wind would do, then supply it to the hollow shell created by your FORM, and give it life.”

  “And then… just use my Demonic Power as fuel?”, mumbled Neptune while she focused inwardly, trying to do what Antares instructed to her, but still failing at it.

  “Try it with Lightning.”, suggested the redhead. Neptune nodded and tried it, her hand instantly lit up, almost like she had just cast a Chidori.

  “... what?” mumbled the girl surprised, speechless it had worked.

  “It’s all about Understanding.” Antares’ usual smile deepened; “The more you understand, the more you are familiar with something –be it consciously, by studying and analyzing, or unconsciously, by repeatedly using and training with the same spell; the better your understanding, the better is your magic.”

  Seeing that Neptune’s face didn’t show much confidence yet, Antares tried to go for another angle; “Think of it this way; Imagination, and FORM, are the foundation, the base. NATURE is the filling, the spark of life. Demonic Power is the fuel, what makes it react, the bridge between imaginary and real. And Understanding is the glue that holds and supports all of it together into a cohesive whole.”.

  At this point, even Eu was attentively paying attention to Antares. And while the Spindrift Knight may have already heard a version of this same expnation, this time it sounded distinctively better, more cohesive, and easier to understand.

  Neptune was also extremely focused, she had now disabled her makeshift Chidori and was paying full attention to Antares. And while this smarter and more educated side of the Devil Heir was checking quite a few boxes for her, Neptune had enough will to focus on the task at hand, even if she wanted to jump his bones.

  Unaware of the girls’ thought process, Antares continued talking; “Then that we come to your previous example of the Power of Destruction. How can you imagine the FORM of Destruction? That’s a little bit easier as there are plenty of examples around –explosions, disintegrations, breaking gss, all of them are a form of Destruction. But even then, Destruction is still very esoteric, as it can take many FORMS.”.

  “Then we have the hardest part, NATURE. Liking it or not, Destruction is multifaced enough that grasping its nature is both easy and hard, as obvious as this may sound, Destruction NATURE is to, well, destroy.” The Devil smiled and did his best Vsauce pose; “Or is it?”, surprise and then understanding appeared in both girls’ eyes.

  Picking a cup of water from his Pocket Space, he took a sip and continued; “Theoretically–if you are skilled enough–Destruction can be used to heal.” tossing the empty cup towards the sink, he almost flinched when it instantly broke; “So is its NATURE still Destruction? Or is it healing now? Its FORM is most certainly that of Destruction, or is it? Maybe its NATURE has completely changed now? It’s very difficult to know for sure.”

  Finishing his cup of water, Antares looked into Neptune’s eyes; “And that is why no one goes walking around shooting Spheres of Destruction willy-nilly. What I just expined is barely the tip of the Iceberg of how more conceptual aligned magic works. How difficult you think it is, it's probably a billion times more when dealing with concepts.” Antares then did a rather dramatic pause; “And that is exactly why Traits are so revered.”

  “Traits…” the girl cupped her chin, and using all the information she had learned until now she finally reached a conclusion, her eyes sparkling, she instantly answered; “They skip the process!” mumbled Neptune in realization, prompting a nod from Eu and Antares; “Exactly. And not only that, they are rather instinctive as well, almost like comic book superpowers.”

  “They work more like a muscle, an extra organ that is fueled by your mana.” expined the Force user while making simple constructs of Force above his hand; “And you just have to keep using and practicing with it for it to grow.”.

  “And what about Magic Circles?” asked the purple-haired girl remembering when Antares was fighting and using spells.

  “Magic Circles are both crutches and facilitators.” expined the crimson-haired Devil; “They help, speed up, and turn less expensive a process that can be done naturally. But true Magical Mastery only happens when you can freely cast without them.”.

  “And that is why I made sure to contract a tutor for us.” informed Antares seriously; “While we would eventually learn what we want to by butting our heads into the problem, a tutor would save us one most crucial thing: Time.”

  “Like any subject really, having someone competent teach it to you accelerates the learning process quite a bit.” Antares then sighed a little dejected; “Unfortunately, most proper tutors were already exceptionally busy, for the Gremory Heir at least, so the best I could get was Online Csses and a bunch of Magic Books.”

  With a wave of his hand, a few piles of magic books sat on top of the table, almost stunning both girls due to their sheer quantity “There should be well over a hundred books here, they will allow us to have the necessary knowledge to be able to build the required FORM and NATURE of the basics.”

  “Damn… there are a lot of books there., remarked Neptune with a little bit of awe in her tone; “... wonder why they didn’t go digital?”

  Antares groaned in audible annoyance; “Devils are very traditional when it comes to magic, they insist we should use physical books to study magic.”

  “So how did you get a tutor to teach online csses then?” asked Eu while curiously looking at the pile of leatherbound books.

  “It was a Reincarnated Devil, so she was less annoying about it.” answered the Force user tightly; “Still forced me to buy physical books though.”

  “What a weird mix of traditionalism and technology,” Neptune mumbled with a small smile, likely excited about the new culture before her.

  “With these books, a tutor, and Soul Talent at py, we should be able to strengthen our magic foundation well enough.” added the redhead with a relieved sigh.

  “Soul Talent?” inquired the purplette.

  Antares briefly exchanged gnces with Eu, the knight nodding her head with a serious face.

  “Avoiding the subject will do nothing except grow resentment between us, so I will be blunt with you Neptune.” started Antares in a heavy serious tone, leaving no room for misinterpretations; “I and Eu… we aren’t exactly from around here –this universe to be more precise-”.

  And then Antares expined about The Company, the multiverse, and everything else he could remember. It was both difficult and easy, thanks to the fact that Neptune was from a way wackier world–for ck of a better term–and went dimensional hopping quite a few times already, she knew very well the concept of multiverse. The Company on the other hand-

  “Okay… this a lot to take in.” spoke the lightning user with a slightly hoarse voice. Without any input, Antares passed a gss of water to her, which she drank with gusto.

  “Parts of my mind want to shout It's awesome that I can visit all the words of my favorite works, while the other…” Neptune exhaled loudly; “The other is confused…”

  “From what little I know of you two, I can already guess you won't be abusing that thing. None of you feel like that kind of person.” Neptune admitted lightly, much to the relief of Antares and Eu.

  She then took a deep breath; “... I-I… Antares… I…”, stammered the purplette, not being able to find the right words under such conditions.

  Putting a gentle hand on Neptune’s shoulder, Antares looked at her in the eyes, a warm expression on his face; “I know that is too much information for you to digest right now.”, he then passed his company phone to Neptune; “I will give this to you, you can read the details as much as you want when you feel more comfortable. Any doubts or questions you may have, you can ask me or Eu.” the redhead scratched his head awkwardly; “Just don’t say anything to the Helpdesk–as Macroz will be answering that– and if he is in a bad mood… yeah… just don’t piss off the near-omnipotent being, pretty please?”.

  Neptune snorted, a weight being lifted off her shoulders; “Yeah, that would definitely be a bad idea.” Gripping the phone in her hand, Neptune sighed, she felt that her head was a mess.

  Just the stuff about Devils Neptune learned today was more than enough to overwhelm most people, but life had thrown enough curveballs her way that she could handle it, just another world, just another power system. But The Company, that was something else…

  “The entire multiverse, huh…” she muttered, still feeling overwhelmed, but now with a better grip on herself.

  “Now, I know you may need some time to digest this Neptune.” started Eu in a calming tone; “So, why not go shopping? It would help take your mind off things, give you a little breathing room outside of this supernatural stuff.”

  Neptune’s first instinct was to say no, go back to her room, and try to digest everything she just learned, to run again. But that sort of behavior had already complicated her life more times than she could count when she was younger, avoiding the problem never made it go away. So she seriously considered Eu’s suggestion.

  “... I… thanks…”, answered the purplette in a slightly soft tone. It was a good suggestion when she thought about it more deeply, and she would never say no to going on a date with Antares.

  “Don’t worry, we have teleportation magic. If you feel uncomfortable or need some space to think… I can always send you back home.” pcated the man with a calm voice, dispelling any lingering worry the purplette might have.

  “...Thank you…”, mumbled Neptune looking at Antares, she then turned down and blushed, feeling even more relieved.

  She was now starting to really understand that Eu and Antares are her allies, her friends, and her new family. Heck–if what he expined about the company is true–then they are more than married, or maybe something even more intimate than that.

  Her blush deepening due to such an intimate train of thought, Neptune looked away and mumbled; “... Let’s go?”.

  “Sure thing.”, Antares got up and stretched himself, he had just spent quite a few hours just sitting and talking today and his body was feeling the need for some action, some casual stretches should do for now. What he didn’t notice were the two pairs of extremely hungry gazes observing every minute detail of his movements, in his hurry to get stronger the redhead had forgotten that he had been gaining quite a bit of muscle mass recently, meaning his clothes were becoming quite tight, which is something that both Eu and Neptune didn’t mind, didn’t mind at all.

  “Damn… Hot Stuff indeed…” whispered the purplette while she bit her lips and drew an inaudible sharp breath, all the new information she learned today momentarily forgotten in favor of appreciating the sigh before her. In a moment of brief crity, she couldn’t help but admit inside her mind; ‘Damn… Eu was right. A good distraction indeed.”.

  With a final pleasant *crack* Antares had finished stretching. Looking at both girls who seemed to be distracted, he *coughed* on his hand before speaking; “Ready to go?”

  Eu shook her head; “Sorry, but I have to decline.” she then summoned her consteltion, showing there were 2 stars alight on it now; “I acquired my second consteltion, so I wanted to get a grip of my new strength properly before I go around any civilian spaces”.

  “I understand.” Antares nodded. Neptune's expression turned nervous for a few moments–she briefly looked at Eu–only to see the bluenette had given her a thumbs up and an encouraging wink, prompting the purplette to snort and blush.

  “So it's just me and you Neptune.” stated Antares, he then paused and smiled encouragingly; “Are you alright with that?”. “Sure thing.”, she replied way too quickly.

  With confirmation, Antares went to Neptune’s side and flexed his Mana, creating a teleportation circle on the floor. In a fsh of bright silver-white light, they were gone.

  Looking at where Antares and Neptune had disappeared, Eu smiled and mumbled; “Good luck sister.”

  Exiting the kitchen, the Cryo user started walking towards the Arena –there were a few moves she wanted to test and a few new applications of her magic she wanted to try.

  .

  .

  .

  Arriving at the mall in a specific desert location Antares had prepared exactly for moments like these, the Devil Heir looked at Neptune. Even with a slightly nervous expression and an adorable blush painting her cheeks, the purplette looked absolutely stunning.

  She wore simple jeans, a silky-white shirt, a bck leather jacket, and a pair of purple sneakers. Simple clothes, but Neptune made them look gorgeous, astonishing, and breathtaking at the same time.

  Spoiler

  [colpse]Giving his arm to her, the girl gripped it softly –her head going back and forth looking at the surroundings. With a pulse of his Demonic Power, a magic circle with the Gremory Sigil lit up on the wall to their right, and with a loud click, a door opened right under the sigil.

  Getting out of the door, Antares and Neptune saw they were inside an empty tailor shop –the shop was very small, only composed of a polished two-meter counter, and two shelves, both empty. The rest of the shop was spotless as well, showing either someone cleaned it frequently or it was enchanted to not accumute dust.

  “What is this pce?” asked Neptune while looking at the empty shelves.

  “This? It's a fake shop I created so we can teleport as much as we want to the mall.” Neptune still holding onto his arm, Antares started to walk towards the exit; “It was specially enchanted so everyone would ignore it, and if anyone looked inside, they would see just a normal Tailor Shop.”.

  “Ohhh, that is quite clever of you mister.” praised Neptune, while looking intrigued at the busy mall outside.

  “Thanks…”, Antares avoided his gaze at the unexpected praise; “I specially asked to build it in one of the biggest malls in the county–which coincidentally is in Kuoh Town–so-”

  “We can have access to anything we need.” completed Neptune, excitement bleeding into her tone; “I know these types of Mega Malls.” The girl’s eyes shone; “We can find everything here, even stuff from other countries..”

  “Exactly.” concluded Antares while they exited the shop and entered the mall proper; “And while we could teleport to other countries and buy things there..” the Force user made an awkward face; “We risk stepping on the toes of other factions, so it's best we avoid that.”

  “... I remember Eu mentioning the Devilnet delivers stuff instantly through teleportation. So why don’t we buy our there?” asked Neptune curiously, even if she prefers the current arrangement.

  “Oh, a couple of reasons, really. First, we have no idea what numbers you use.” expined Antares while they walked through the mall; “You may know them, but there is a difference in branding, quality, and many other things we cannot feel through the web.”

  “A more hands-on approach at the mall will allow me to get to know the brands of this dimension –and when I am more used to them, we can order online,” added Neptune with an understanding nod.

  “Precisely.” remarked Antares; “Or we can still come to the mall if you want to. We have teleportation at our hands, nothing is stopping us from coming here to buy something when we need it.”.

  “... ordering online is still more convenient.” pointed out Neptune in good humor; “But I agree going to the mall like this is nice.”

  Antares ughed; “Too true Neptune, too true.”, they walked a few more moments in silence, momentarily enjoying each other presence while they observed the busy flux of people.

  “Clothes first?” suggested Antares softly. Neptune nodded.

  Shopping for clothes with Neptune was surprisingly easy –the girl already knew what she wanted, so rarely if any, did she waste time trying to decide between one piece or the other. And when she found herself in doubt, Antares had more than enough money to buy both options, something Neptune felt quite moved by.

  She bought –T-shirts, pants, leggings, shoes, dresses, and many other articles of clothing. Antares also made sure she bought plenty of gym clothing, as he deviously wanted to transform the poor and unsuspecting Neptune into another training addict. The girl ughed hard when he said such to her, something Antares remembers fondly.

  They also went to buy general appliances she may need –hairbrushes, hair products, shampoo, toothbrushes, and plenty of other things she may need on her day-to-day.

  After that, they found a steakhouse to have an early dinner.

  “... so I don’t need to take baths anymore?” asked Neptune a little weirded out; “That is both convenient and kind of weird. Way to continue the stereotype that gamer-girls don’t like showering.”

  Antares ughed; “I didn’t think of it that way. But it’s not like you can’t take a bath anymore, just that it isn’t a strict necessity.”.

  “That makes sense.” the purplette nodded while eating a handful of fries; “Albeit, I do still like taking a bath.” She then stopped and took a sip from her drink; “... Do we have hot springs at home?”.

  “No, we do not.” stabbing a piece of his steak with a fork, he answered; “But I was thinking about adding it, it would be a nice addition to the mansion.”.

  “That is for sure. Hot springs are awesome.” Neptune agreed enthusiastically; “Have you ever used one?”.

  “No. But It’s been on my mind,” voiced Antares while taking a sip from his orange juice; “I heard they have some medicinal proprieties, so I’ve been pnning on adding an enchanted one to the mansion.” he then paused and cupped his chin deep in thought; “Maybe something to help recovery would be ideal…”.

  “Ohhh, Eu mentioned you guys train pretty hard, right?”.

  “We do.” replied Antares while making some notes on his HUD so he wouldn’t forget it ter; “Every free time we have we are training.”.

  “... that sounds quite intense,” commented Neptune while finishing her fries. Antares just smiled.

  “Not to sound like an asshole, but this Marriage Contract stuff sounds like something straight out of a Shounen Anime or worse...” Neptune stopped, she slowly looked left and right, her voice going a little bit low; “A cultivation novel.”.

  Antares almost did a spit take, doing his best to hold back his ughter and almost failing at it. “It does, doesn’t it?” he then cleaned his mouth with a napkin, even if it was unnecessary; “Didn’t know that you’ve read cultivation novels,” he chuckled “Most people get intimidated when they see there are 3000+ chapters. What are your favorites?”.

  “Ohh, I like the I Shall Seal the Heavens, it was the first one I read.” she then stopped, picked up the tablet on the table, and ordered another drink; “...albeit I think Meng Hao is a pussy for not going the Harem Route.”

  “I can’t disagree with you on that one.” conceded Antares with a small smile; “Albeit, I still think they have one of the coolest cultivation titles of all fiction-”

  “Pāramitā, right?” completed the purplette with a smile of her own.

  “Yup.” the redhead nodded; “The world sounds just so imposing.”

  “I wholeheartedly agree.” with her drinks arriving, Neptune took a sip before looking Antares in the eye; “Have you read Martial God Asura?”.

  “Ohh, that was quite the cool, albeit repetitive one. I loved the stuff about heavenly physiques, and how Chu Feng would use lighting to cultivate, but I stopped around chapter 2000, when he basically ‘lost’ all the advantages he got.”

  Neptune winced, likely remembering the same thing; “Yeah, that was extremely annoying to read through. The guy who always could fight skipping a bunch of realms suddenly started having performance issues.”

  “Yeah, and then I started reading Emperor Domination and completely forgot about it for a few years.”, Antares conceded while ordering another stake; “They have the coolest Physique Techniques, but I recognize I am heavily biased.”

  Neptune chuckled; “True, I remember them rather fondly, although I still think the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth technique is cooler.”.

  “Hoh, can’t argue against that.” admitted the Force user with a small smile; “But it’s been quite a while since I've read Sage Monarch. What I remember more is reading Desote Era in the past, but the Primal Twin stuff was a heavy turn-off for me, I hate clones, and even if a Primal Twin is very far from that, there are still some simirities I can’t stomach.”

  “Yeah, but the dying arc where Ji Ning goes around killing everyone is an amazing read.”, argued Neptune back, and Antares nodded; “Yeah, but I still prefer something more like Douluo Dalu, I loved their cultivation system.”.

  “Yeah, I wonder if we could visit those words.” Neptune gushed excitedly.

  Antares winced; “Yeah, that isn’t happening for quite a while.” the girl defted, causing a pang of sadness in Antares heart. “You know how absurd a Xianxia verse is, and when we put something like the Heavenly Dao in the equation…”.

  Neptune pouted; “Yeah, I know. If we aren’t disintegrated by Heavenly Punishment the moment we step into the world, I would be surprised.” she then stopped and pondered for a bit; “What about worlds like Battle Through The Heavens, The Great Ruler, or even Douluo Dalu you talked about?”.

  Antares shook his head; “It may not been heavily present in the story, but almost all Cultivation worlds have a Heavenly Dao type system. Their whole shtick is going against the heavens after all…”.

  “Ohhh, that is too bad. I always wanted to cultivate…” Neptune paused, took a sip from her fruity drink, and then added; “...and face sp some people.”

  “Scum Che?” poked Antares. Neptune nodded enthusiastically.

  “Same.” Antares scratched his arm before continuing; “I always wanted to attend Shrek Academy.” at Neptune’s questioning face, Antares smiled evilly; “Can you imagine the face of other people when you say you are a decorated student from Shrek Academy?”.

  Neptune burst out ughing and started doing a very fake and dignified noble masculine voice; “Sir, Madam, you don’t need to worry about it. I graduated from Shrek Academy, I know what I am doing.” she joked in a very self-righteous tone, earning a ugh from Antares as well.

  “I am qualified? Of course, I am. I’ve taught at Shrek Academy for 14 years. I am overqualified for this simple teaching job.” Antares joked in the same tone of voice, making Neptune ugh even harder.

  “And then we could unch the Shrek Movies on Douluo Dalu 4.”, Neptune suggested with the same evil smile; “Imagine all those cultivators, all excited and all, going to see a movie called ‘Shrek’, only to end up seeing a comedy of an ogre, a donkey, and a princess. Damn, the reactions must be priceless.”.

  Antare ughed; “I like the way you think.” he then stopped, a very evil idea forming in his mind at the moment; “... What if we do this here?”.

  Neptune raised her eyebrow while sipping her drink; “Go on.” she incentivized.

  “Not Shrek, but what if we make something like Hercules.” Neptune narrowed her eyes, the same idea forming in her mind. “But we make the Disney version instead.”.

  “Ohhhhh.”, Neptune's evil smile widened; “I am in.” she then stopped for a moment; “... aren’t the Greek Gods a thing here. Won’t Hades be pissed, he is… you know…”.

  “Damn, you're right.” defted Antares, already archiving the idea; “And he is one of the Greek Gods I like the most. Albeit I loved the Hades from Disney Hercules, I don’t think Hades from here will like it very much.” Neptune nodded sagely.

  Seeing as continuing to share the same brain cell with Neptune was becoming dangerous, Antares decided to change subjects; “Do you have a favorite game?” Neptune’s eye shone, and Antares briefly felt a shudder, almost as if he had opened the Pandora’s box himself.

  “I sure do, have you ever pyed-”.

  After that the duo continued talking during their meal, what was to be a fast affair ended up taking almost three hours due to how engrossed in their talks they were.

  Antares had to admit, talking with someone who shares so much of his hobbies was a very fun and pleasant experience–interacting with Neptune was fun–and the redhead never regretted having made her into his Queen.

  Exiting the restaurant, the duo went back to shopping. This time, it was Neptune’s turn to buy tech for herself.

  With Eu, Antares had to slowly go over the stores expining things to her, it was a different kind of fun, but fun nonetheless. With Neptune? The girl was in her element, she knew exactly what specs she wanted for her computer, and when you gave someone like her a veritable infinite budget, she went wild. The Devil Heir had to admit the girl knew how to build a setup, it was absurdly expensive, but money was not an issue.

  While Neptune bullied the poor clerk about buying her 7th monitor, Antares was momentarily messing around with his HUD, he had already ordered an enchanted hot-springs to be built on the underground gym, and was now specifying the new habitat for Tiberius and Tsaris, something he is sure the two felines will like very much. He also ordered an enchanted Rolls Royce, so he could accommodate Neptune and Eu in the same car. Antares also admitted he was positively giddy about driving one as well.

  After finishing buying all the electronic stuff she could possibly imagine, Neptune was pretty happy, they had stored everything in Antares’ Pocket Apartament so there would be no awkward deliveries ter.

  “It's still pretty early, so how about we go to an Arcade?” Suggested the purplette while doing her best to hide her excitement.

  Antares smiled; “I don’t see why not?” he agreed a little curious himself, and while parts of him wanted to rush home to train a little bit, the whole primary purpose of this outing was to help Neptune. Albeit the girl was visibly looking better now–since after their early dinner at the steakhouse–she seemed way more rexed and happy, something Antares felt was more precious than any training he may have done today.

  Unfortunately, the Arcade was closed. Apparently, it was undergoing some renovations, so it will be out of order for the whole week.

  “Awwwnnn, bummer.” grumbled a defted Neptune; “I was really looking forward to pying KoF against you.”.

  “No worries, if you really want to go to an Arcade, I can teleport us to one,” suggested Antares while already browsing the Devilnet for an Arcade where he and Neptune could py.

  “Nah, there is no need.” Neptune interrupted Antares' research. “There is a Batting Center on the other side of the street, we can go there.”, she said while pointing towards the Kashino Batting Center.

  “Huh, I never went into a Batting Center before.” admitted the boy while analyzing the massive building on the other side of the street; “Are you sure?”

  Neptune nodded; “Hn” she then smiled; “I also never went into a Batting Center, Always wanted to… but never did.”

  Antares nodded; “Well, it does look like it will be fun.” Neptune smiled and gripped Antares left arm, the couple already walking towards the batting center.

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  It was a fun experience indeed.

  The couple started in the beginner configuration, slowly raising the difficulty as they got more used to batting the baseballs away. By the time they reached the hardest difficulty, even their supernatural senses were being strained to keep up with the absurdly fast throws.

  It was at the moment when they passed the Hardest Confirguarion for the third time, that Kashino–the owner of the Batting Center–asked to meet them.

  Kashino, who ended up being a female Kudan–which is basically a cow yokai–offered the couple an entrance to the True Kashino Batting Center, a pce that specifically caters to the supernatural –the duo who was curious about it, accepted the invitation, and followed the Yokai underground.

  The True Batting Center was even more massive than the civilian one, its dimensions easily 5 to 10 times rger than the one free to the normal public.

  “... And here we have the batting cages. Do be aware that while the configurations have the same name as those from above, they are at least 10 times harder.” Finished the Cow Woman with a salesman smile, earning a nod of appreciation from Antares and Neptune.

  Seeing she had properly warned the couple, Kashino continued; “If you want to order something, just press the button right next to the door and speak out loud; a waiter will bring your order.”

  As there was nothing more to add, Kashino smiled at the Devil couple; “Now I will leave you two to your Date.” Teased the woman with a friendly chuckle; “Have Fun.”

  Blushing, the duo silently entered one of the empty cages and closed the door. Deciding the best course of action was focusing on batting, Neptune smiled a little awkwardly; “From the beginning then?”.

  Fake coughing on his hand, Antares composed himself and nodded; “Sure.”

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  AN: And here ends another chapter, hope you all liked it.

  In this chapter I finally finished expining the True Form stuff, hope you all like the twist that all devils who reached the third step are essentially from another species entirely, yeah its a sort of Homo Neanderthalensis Homo Sapiens situation, but still a “different species” nonetheless.

  Then there is the part about the Devil Magic, I thought of making it this way because I didn’t want to go the ‘you just imagine it hard, pump it full of mana and you cast any magic’ route, so I’ve tried creating my own expnation for it. albeit at the end of the day it still boils down to you imagine and it happens, the only change was the process is a little more complex now. There is also an Easter egg that inspired me to create the magic system like this, let’s see who will be able to find it out. ??

  Hope I have managed to portray the nice and fun date Antares and Neptune had. As you’ve seen in the chapter, leaving the two alone for too long is very dangerous because they will start to share the same shitposter braincell. Antares is totally in love here, he just found a cute and hot girl who has the same tastes as him and can kick ass, she is like a 6 Stars SSR of the highest order, heck –Who wouldn’t be in love at this point?

  Answer:

  I think a cool combination would be Liliweiss with a Thragg(Invincible) tempte. Or maybe Red Hood with an Artemis(Nasuverse) tempte? That sounds awesome just thinking about it. Hmmm, what about Dorothy with a Fulgrim(Warhammer) tempte, quite terrifying, no?

  ~ClearSkySage