Raiden Mei: [Please don't joke around!] [That's clearly not going to work!]
So unreliable. Could this group member really be trusted?
Chapter 61: Akeno Want Some Help?
Raiden Mei was speechless.
Putting aside whether or not she even knew Durandal, who would actually believe her if she claimed to be a reincarnator?
So, she felt that Takumi's suggestion wasn't going to work.
Takumi: [Then there's no helping it.] [Want me to lend you my account?] [Actually, I'm a Herrscher too~!] [Except for the Herrscher of Origin's authority, I've got all the others!]
Renting an account? Just pay up, and he'd guarantee she clears Honkai.
Speaking of his powers, Takumi was still puzzledwhy did he only have regular Herrscher abilities? Where was the Herrscher of Origin's power?
Could it be because he wasn't Elysia, so he couldn't have the Origin powers?
Oh well, didn't matter. With the power he had now, going to Honkai 3rd's world should be no problem. Maybe he'd even get a familial bond going?
Of course, there was also a chance he'd get targeted.
After all, Honkai: Star Rail shared that broader universe too. Even Aha had scaled the Imaginary Tree.
If he wasn't spotted in Honkai, then hopping over to Star Rail should be okay probably?
Raiden Mei paused as she read Takumi's message.
Takumi was a Herrscher too?
Raiden Mei: [You're from our world too?] [I haven't finished Honkai yet.]
She was confused. Was Takumi also from her universe?
Fujiwara Chika: [Nope, he's not!] [When Takumi first joined, he got the Cocoon of Finality during check-in.] [And became the origin of Honkai in a parallel world.]
Everyone in the group knew Takumi's story. He was originally planning to escape to some other world, but then got hit with a god-tier check-in reward.
Talk about envy. She practically cracked a molar from grinding her teeth.
Raiden Mei was stunned after seeing Fujiwara Chika's explanation.
Honkai of another world?
Takumi: [That's right.] [But you haven't finished Honkai yet?] [Then go finish it.] [We'll talk after.]
This girl hadn't even finished the game? What was there to discuss then? Back to binging it.
Raiden Mei: [Okay I'll go finish it.] [Then we'll figure something out.]
She didn't want Teacher Himeko to die. And now Mei really wanted to know what happened next.
Without saying more, she continued reading Honkai.
The group went quiet for a while.
But just then, Bronya messaged Takumi privately.
Bronya: [You're going to Honkai's world?]
Takumi was a little surprised.
Takumi: [You interested?]
Bronya: [I want to go check it out and meet another version of me.]
That's right, Bronya wanted to go to Honkai 3rd. If her younger self could see her current mature form, she'd probably be stunned.
The thought made Bronya smile.
Takumi: [Emm... Bronya betrayed the organization!] [The traitor was me all along.] [Eight years = fifty thousand years of effort!] [Class rep is furious!]
Bronya: [(;)...] [What are you doing?]
She was at a loss for words.
Takumi: [Let's wait for Mei to post a task.] [Then we'll head over.]
If there were spare points, might as well visit. Maybe they could grab some loot. And also test the response of the Imaginary Tree.
If it all went well, Takumi could move on to Star Rail afterwardjust be wary of the Aeons.
They finalized the plan.
Just as Takumi was about to head out, another message popped up.
Akeno: [@Takumi, want to visit our world?]
Seeing Akeno tag him and extend an invite left Takumi confused.
Takumi: [What's up?]
What happened? Why the sudden invite?
Akeno: [Hehe~! Just need some outside help.] [Rias and the third son of the Phoenix House are about to have a ranking match.] [She has the Red Dragon Emperor's Boosted Gear now,] [But she's still not that confident.] [So I thought, why not find some backup?]
She was honest about the situation.
Takumi froze after reading her message.
Takumi: [The Boosted Gear is with Rias?] [What about Issei Hyoudou?]
Wait, seriously!? What happened to Issei!?
Akeno: [Unfortunately we arrived too late, and he died from blood loss.] [The Boosted Gear was about to disappear, so we intercepted it.] [I told it that the White Dragon Emperor's host is Lucifer's grandson,] [So it agreed to go with Rias.]
Reading that, Takumi was speechless.
Wow. Just wow.
So Akeno had spilled everything about the chat group and their world's plot?
They'd learned the future, but had no plans to follow it.
After all, they weren't like their anime counterpartsconstantly fan-servicing and handing out benefits.
Akeno had probably been pretty upset reading the future.
No way would she act like she did in the anime.
So maybe they delayed their arrival on purpose.
Whatevernone of Takumi's business.
Takumi: [No points~!] [If I had points, I'd come right away.]
He was out of points.
Unless Akeno funded the trip, he wasn't going. He had about 2,600 left, and he wasn't paying the fare.
If she wanted help, she'd have to cover the travel.
Though, if he did go, he might get to research those sacred gears.
He doubted Rias would mind.
Akeno understood immediately.
Akeno: [Didn't that new task feature just drop?] [I'll post a task and you come help.] [Let's see if anyone else in the group wants in.]
As for points? She'd handle it.
Takumi: [Okay, post it.]
As long as the ticket was paid for, no problem. Time to play.
Once agreed, Akeno got to work.
Soon after, Takumi saw the task pop up. He clicked it instantly.
[Help in a ranked battle.] Details: Come to our world and assist in a ranking match. Reward: 1000 points. Participants: 2
As soon as it went live, Takumi accepted. So did another person.
Houraisan Kaguya: [Ranked match?] [I'm in! Going straight to challenger tier! I'm cracked!]
A ranked game?
Right up her alley.
So of course she took the task without hesitation.
Chapter 62: Kaguya Just Fighting a Phoenix? I Got This!
Takumi burst into laughter after seeing Kaguya's message.
Takumi: [Solid 6~!]
[Did you even read the mission details?]
He didn't even know how to roast her anymore. Had gaming fried her brain?
Houraisan Kaguya: [???]
[What are you talking about!!]
[I thought it was a game or something.]
[So it's just beating a phoenix? No problem!]
[I got this!!]
[Immortal birds are my specialty.]
Only after Takumi pointed it out did she realize. Upon closer inspectionyep, it was a devil's ranking match.
Phoenix, huh?
She was an expert at beating phoenixes.
She'd even cook them into stew after. Of course, she wasn't going to go easy on a female phoenix.
Takumi: [Yeah yeah, remember when you beat up Chika's "sister" Fujiwara Mokou?]
[Then y'all shared a bowl of stew afterward!]
Indeed, Kaguya was a phoenix-slaying pro.
Fujiwara Chika: [????]
[What does this have to do with me??]
She was utterly confused. Sister, what? It was just a surname! Fujiwaras weren't exactly rare.
Also, what about Takumi? Was he her long-lost brother now?
Chika stared at Takumi's nonsense.
Houraisan Kaguya: [@Fujiwara Chika, next time you visit Gensokyo, I'll introduce you.]
[@Akeno, when does it start?]
[I already took the mission. Hope that's okay?]
Akeno: [No problem. It's just a pity I didn't have more points. Could've made room for more.]
[Seems like there's a hard limit.]
[Once I posted the task, I could only tag one or two people.]
[The reward gets split after the system's fee.]
[Come over anytime. The ranking game starts tomorrow.]
She explained everything clearly. Because the reward was low, the task only allowed two participants.
Takumi: [No worries!]
[I can go anytime.]
[Perfect chance to check out those Sacred Gears.]
[I'll head out once I'm ready.]
After skimming through the chat, Takumi didn't overthink it. Even though Kaguya had joined, that was finehe'd still earn his points.
Time to gear up.
He made a quick announcement in the group, then started preparing.
Kaguya had to make arrangements too. She couldn't just disappear.
She planned to inform her mentor first and head out later. No rushTakumi wasn't in a hurry.
...
Takumi didn't need much prep. If anything came up, he could just talk to Miori Shiba.
His real concern was over at Lilia's place.
Opening a spatial rift, he appeared beside Lilia. She was currently hard at work.
"Yo, busy?"
Hearing his voice, Lilia looked up.
"You? What are you doing here?"
She tensed up a bit.
"I'm just letting you knowI'm heading out."
"To another world."
"Might take a day or two to return."
"So if you can't find me, don't panic~!"
"If anything happens, ask the AI to find Miori Shiba."
He walked over and gave her a quick head pat, explaining the situation.
If anything urgent came up and he couldn't be reached, the AI could contact Miori.
Lilia nodded.
"Okay"
"Be safe"
She hesitated a bit, then softly gave him a reminder.
Takumi smiled at her words.
"Don't worry."
"I'll be fine."
He didn't boast about being the strongest. Last guy who did that turned into patch 2.5 content.
After reassuring her, Takumi vanished.
He didn't need to tell Yuu or Miori Shiba anythingthey were in the group.
So he clicked the mission. The teleportation gate appeared.
Without hesitation, Takumi stepped in.
...
Kuoh Academy, old school building.
Rias and Akeno were sipping tea.
Rias had just heard from Akeno who accepted the mission.
The moment she learned Takumi was coming, she sighed in relief. And another girl named Houraisan Kaguya was coming too.
In Japanese mythology, Princess Kaguya was a celestial maiden from the moon. Houraisan Kaguya shared that identity.
"She's good at handling phoenixes?"
"That's certainly something to look forward to."
Rias's expression turned complicated. A phoenix-slaying Kaguya?
That was basically a counterpick against Riser Phoenix.
Akeno nodded.
"Apparently, she's close friends with someone who also has immortality."
"They fight a lot, and that girl is like a phoenix too."
"So yeah, she's got experience."
Though Akeno wasn't completely sure about the details.
Chika had mentioned some things. Takumi never uploaded data about Touhou.
All she knew came from Chika and Sagiri.
According to Sagiri, "ZUN's crew got kicked out of the anime club~!"
"They both took the Hourai Elixir, so they're immortal."
"Kaguya fights Mokou all the time, so she's a phoenix-expert."
"Mokou even has phoenix-like attacks, so calling her a phoenix isn't wrong."
Just as they were chatting, a new voice rang out.
Everyone in the room froze.
"Takumi-kun, you're here?"
Akeno was delighted. He'd arrived?
Soon, Takumi's figure stepped through the door.
"This is ridiculous."
"Why did the teleport drop me outside the building?"
"Shouldn't it have brought me straight to you?"
He scratched his head, clearly confused.
How unintelligent was this system?
Akeno chuckled.
"Maybe to protect privacy?"
"After all, travel tokens don't need consentthey just teleport you."
"If someone was doing something inconvenient, that'd be awkward."
She had a point. What if he popped in while she was bathing?
Takumi shrugged.
"Fair enough~!"
Then he looked around the room.
Everyone stared back.
Akeno, Koneko, Asia, and Kiba Yuuto?
Takumi's eyes paused on Kiba.
That chest was well-developed. Was she a girl?
He blinked and turned to Akeno.
Chapter 63: Rias, Let Me See Your...
Akeno winked playfully at Takumi.
"What's wrong? Any problem?" she asked, her lips curled slightly in a teasing smile.
"Kiba's a girl?" Takumi asked, surprised.
Wait, what? Kiba turned into Yuuko?
"She's always been a girl. The info you saw wasn't entirely accurate. I just forgot to tell you," Akeno replied, still smiling. "Everyone in Rias's team is female."
While Takumi's data mostly aligned, it had apparently missed the gender detail.
Takumi sighed. He couldn't be bothered to question further.
"Nice to meet you, Takumi-san. I'm Rias Gremory. Thank you for coming all this way," Rias greeted him respectfully.
Hearing her sincere tone, Takumi chuckled.
"It's nothing. Just here to lend a hand. Plus, Akeno offered payment."
Although he had to split the points with Kaguya, it was still a good deal.
"Business is business. But I'll remember this favor," he added.
Payment aside, Takumi showing up was already a big deal. His power would make waves in their world.
Rias couldn't help but wonderwasn't this overkill for that Phoenix guy? Like using a cannon on a mosquito.
Still, she decided not to say anything. Who knew what might happen later?
There would definitely be more trouble to deal with. Maybe this was a good long-term solution.
With that in mind, she straightened up and turned serious.
"Takumi-san, after the ranking game, would you mind helping me with something else?"
Takumi raised a brow. "Go on."
"Could you also take care of the fallen angels lurking in Kuoh Town? Once that's done, there's the Holy Sword incident, then the Three Factions meeting..."
She looked troubled.
Takumi burst out laughing.
"You're basically asking me to clear all your future problems, huh?"
Rias nodded. "That's exactly it!"
"After learning what the future holds, I seriously considered settling back in the Underworld permanently," she admitted.
And now, with the Boosted Gear, she'd also have to deal with the White Dragon Emperor. Just thinking about it gave her a headache.
"Emm... well, no problem," Takumi said. "I can study the White Dragon's light wings too. By the way, can I take a look at your Boosted Gear? I'm interested in your Sacred Gears."
His eyes sparkled with curiosity as he looked at Rias.
Since the major talks were over, time to inspect the goods.
Rias nodded. "Sure."
She sat down beside him and summoned the gear. In a flash of red light, the Boosted Gear appeared on her right hand.
She held out her arm. "Is this okay?"
Takumi nodded. "No problem. I'll analyze it."
He reached out and activated his power. The energy of Honkai descended.
Suddenly, the Red Dragon Emperor panicked.
"Hey hey hey! What is this power!? It's terrifying!"
