Chapter 16 - The Empire.

Leo left the mansion and rushed towards the place where he arrived at this world for the first time.

Using Ki and Venom to boost his legs, Leo's speed was very fast as the surrounding scenery was constantly changing. As for why he didn't use Yamato? Leo wanted to try something.

Leo avoided trees and other obstacles until he arrived at the place and started looking for Misaka's bag, which wasn't hard to find as it was just on the ground next to the battlefield.

"..." Leo looked at the bag and a few frogs-like things hanging from it before he said "Is this thing cute?"

Leo couldn't understand what makes this frog cute, even if he was into the cute stuff. He didn't even want to give Misaka Kuriboh if he didn't see this calmed her down because even if she didn't show it, she was worried about this world.

Leo picked the bag before he hit the ground with his leg. A golden spot appeared next to him before a dark light shined and a giant c.h.e.s.t appeared.

The c.h.e.s.t was normal without any complicated decoration, as it opened when Leo walked towards it.

"I need to make a space storage after this..." Leo put Misaka bag in the c.h.e.s.t before it closed and sunk in his shadow.

Leo doesn't have time to make a beast like a storage ring or something, so he just made this beast and put him inside his shadow with the stuff in it.

"And now..." Leo didn't turn back as he stretched his hand filled with Ki and caught the face of a tiger monster. This danger beast was stalking Leo from the moment he arrived at this place.

Venom stretched from Leo clothes and transformed Leo fingers into 5 dark claws, as they cut the tiger head into pieces.

Leo waved his hand and removed the blood before Venom returned to normal as he was glancing at the tiger.

"Venom..." Leo commanded Venom as he stretched from his body and enveloped the tiger body.

After a while, Venom returned to Leo's body before giving a report { The DNA has been analyzed and copied... A slight increase in the body power... Increase the natural reflexes speed... Olfaction function has increased...}

Leo clenched his fist as he felt his power increased slightly before he said " It seems I'll hunt few monsters here, but..."

"Aren't Teigu made from Danger Beast's parts? I think Venom can copy them" Leo felt his idea is very feasible.

Venom has the ability to remember genetic memory which allows him to copy different abilities like he did with spiderman.

Leo believes that using this ability on Teigu will allow Venom to get their abilities because Teigu are made from danger beast's attributes which give them their abilities and Venom can just steal those attributes.

Leo confirmed his plan of the great Teigu Venom before he raised his hand and created few birds. The birds waved their wings and flew to the sky in different directions.

These birds can share their vision with Leo so he can find the capital place that he doesn't know its location.

Leo tried the shared vision a few times to make sure everything is correct before he walked back to the mansion.

There were few Danger Beasts in the road, so Leo killed them all using Yamato or just punching them before Venom copied their abilities, but this time the increase was very minimal, which made Leo realize he can't cheat his way in this.

Sprinting all the way, Leo arrived at the mansion before he entered from the door and put Misaka bag on the ground.

The bag sank into the ground, as Leo ordered the mansion to send it to Misaka before he left again.

The whole mansion is a beast that can do things on its own like opening doors automatically, or if Leo controls it, the mansion can even choose whom to be hidden from.

Leo walked from the mansion slowly as he was walking towards the road, which was spotted by the birds.

" Now let's see this Empire..." Leo frowned while walking because he'll see one of the darkest places in this world.

Even if he knows about the Empire from his memory, but all those informations were from a show which can't make someone feels real, however, Leo now will see the true Empire.

"Well, let see it first..." Leo put Ki on his leg and wanted to rush forwards but he stopped because he felt something coming towards him.

"Hm?" Leo looked at the bushes and trees in the forest, as he was hearing a faint sound coming from them.

The bushes were shaking and trees had few leaves falling from them, but Leo focused on the front as he put his hand on Yamato.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Leo waited until the sound increased and turned into a human voice, but Leo felt it was mixed with a very unpleasant sound.

{Now...} Leo put his hand on Yamato and almost pulled it before he saw something made his expression stiffen.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Kazuma appeared from the bushes as he was running from something and waving the sword in his hand which was screaming "WRYYYYYYYY!!!" with every swing.

Leo saw behind Kazuma there was a giant boar monster with his eyes red as it was chasing after Kazuma like he did something unforgivable.

"LEO SAVE ME!!!!" Kazuma saw Leo in front of him so he rushed directly towards him while the boar was behind him.

Leo watched Kazuma getting closer to him and almost reaching him before he took a side-step while waving to Kazuma.

Kazuma felt the time almost stopped at that moment as he saw Leo waving while saying " You're alone"

"DAMN YOU!!!!" Kazuma and boar continued their chasing game while Leo was watching them but he spotted a blade wound in the boar a.s.s which made him realize what happen. Kazuma probably tried to do a sneak attack on the boar but he failed and hit his a.s.s which made the boar angry and this chase started but Leo didn't understand what is this guy doing here alone.

"ARE YOU JUST GOING TO WATCH!!" Kazuma was running in very impressive speed compared to a normal human, which made Leo confused.

{Did he choose a different job? No, it's not the time to think about this, I need to help him but he need to face this alone... I'll just give him an advice} Leo nodded at his plan before he looked at Kazuma seriously and said " Kazuma! Believe in your sword!"

"F.U.C.K YOU!! DON'T SAY THOSE SHONEN TYPE PHRASES, BASTARD!!!" Kazuma screamed at Leo for saying a cliche shonen phrase which made Leo shrug his shoulders at him.

"AND HOW DO THINK I'LL BELIEVE IN THIS!!!" Kazuma waved the DIO sword in his hand as it was screaming "WRYYYY!!!"

Leo didn't care about that as he said " Few more l.a.p.s and you'll have 'RUN AWAY' skill, hang in there"

"THAT DOESN'T HELP ME!!" Kazuma saw Leo will not help him so he ran even faster trying to make a distance away from the boar but he knows this is just useless and he'll inventively get caught.

{Dammit it! Think Kazuma!! There has to be a way to stop this boar} Kazuma started looking around for anything to help him. He has a weapon that can kill the boar, but the boar won't allow him to use it.

Suddenly, Kazuma changed his running direction and rushed to a tree.

{Tree?...} Leo raised his eyebrow as he looked at Kazuma goal before he understood Kazuma plan {Not bad}

Kazuma rushed to the tree and jumped toward it before climbing it with all he got until he caught a tree branch.

The boar who was running after Kazuma wasn't able to stop as he hit the tree directly which stun it briefly, but Kazuma didn't miss the chance.

Even if the tree was shaking a lot, Kazuma was able to jump and land behind the boar before he raised his sword, which was shining with a white light.

"WRYYYYYYYY!!!" Kazuma and sword screamed at the same time, as a wind blade appeared from the sword and hit the boar killing it instantly.

Kazuma fell to the ground directly as he was breathing heavily but he managed to take his card before he smiled and said " I level up... I can level up here"

Leo watched all the performance now and Kazuma quick thinking which he'll be lying if he said he isn't slightly impressed {Not bad judgment in this situation, he didn't even hesitate which is probably because he takes this as an RPG game.}

{This could fire back on him one day, but it better than nothing now...} Leo watched Kazuma standing up before an idea flashed in his mind, as his shadow stretched and something was appearing from it.

"Now... Where is that..." Kazuma stood up and looked at Leo direction but he only saw a humanoid wooden figure in his place as he finished his words quietly " Bastard"

The wooden figure had a normal human high and had a coat made from wood, but what made Kazuma sweat is the two wooden swords in its hands and the phrase written in its empty face... Kirito wanna be.

"Congratulations on surviving" Leo's voice appeared from the wooden figure.

"It seems you are struggling a lot, so here this doll that'll teach you how to fight better" The wooden doll raised it two swords before Leo's voice sounded again " I hope to see you in one piece after this... Also, you don't have to thank me"

Kazuma didn't have time to listen to Leo's voice filled with sarcasm because even if he doesn't know who is Kirito, this doll makes him feel scared. But the doll didn't give him a chance as it rushed with it two wooden swords.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Leo was walking normally away from Kazuma location as he heard his screams echoing in the forest "Another peaceful day"

Leo calmy pulled Yamato before a blue light flashed and he disappeared from this place and appeared next to a bird.

The place where Leo is now is a normal dirt road with a lot of wagon traces on it.

Leo nodded before he commanded the bird to fly again to check how far away is the Empire.

Even now Leo can only describe space abilities as convenient especially the teleportation kind of abilities.

Yamato is a sword that can cut anything even the space, but he got other abilities like space control but even if Leo called it a space control, it isn't more than just a different approach for its ability.

Yamato cut space between two points instantly which makes a very small and unnoticeable rift in space, and then it connects point A which is Leo location and point B which is the place where Leo wants to go before sending him by the rift to the point B. This process happens instantly which is why no one notices it and because of that, it doesn't consume a lot from Leo.

Then Leo started a bunch of teleportations by teleporting from a bird to another while checking his surroundings until he spotted a large city from afar and some wagons start to appear in the road.

Leo watched the Empire capital which is circulated by a large stone wall in silence, but the frown on his face told his true feeling.

"Disgusting..." This is the only word Leo found to describe this city that looks normal from afar, but the Ki that carries the despair, fear, anger, hatred, and sadness mixed with all disgusting d.e.s.i.r.es were hurting Leo's eyes.

"..." Leo didn't say anything for a while before he sighs and said" Let's get this over with"

Leo felt one of his birds arrived into an empty alleyway inside the capital before he changed his clothes to civilian clothes he saw from a wagon driver.

Leo checked that everything is okay before he pulled Yamato and teleported into the capital.

Inside the capital, in one of its alleyways, a blue light flashed, and Leo appeared inside of the alleyway. But he wasn't feeling okay.

Leo reached to the wall as he supported himself while his hand covered his mouth because at this moment he almost throws up.

'Don't kill me!' 'Kill me but please leave my child!'...

Those thoughts appeared in Leo's head instantly when he arrived in this capital. These are the thoughts of the people that died in this place, but this wasn't the reason Leo almost throw up. The real reason is all these thoughts are from today, which means that there was many people that died in this place in a very inhuman way.

Leo shut down his connection with Ki before walking towards the alleyway exit with a calm face, but his eyes didn't have no anger or sadness as he put Yamato in his shadow.

"It seems I have to take this matter seriously..." Even if he had a normal look, Leo was angry at this moment. As someone who feels Ki and able to comprehend the feeling behind it, Leo felt the despair in this capital very well and the cause behind it.

Honestly, even if the team agreed to destroy the Empire, Leo wasn't taking it seriously, he was feeling if it doesn't get in the way, but now he's serious about the destruction that his mind is thinking of dropping something from Lovecraft myth if he has the power to do so.

Leo shook his head to clear it from these thoughts before walking in the Empire streets.

The Empire looked normal at the surface with the crowd going and coming or some guards here and there to check on people, but the truth behind this is very dark.

Behind the people's smiles were clear fear shown in their eyes and the guards were taking bribes here and there and if someone didn't pay, they'll have a talk with him, even there were some red stains on the ground which shows someone got beaten or even killed there.

Leo stared at these things for a second before he walked towards a place where few fancy wagons were heading.

{It's time to become a Robinhood...} Leo looked at the distance where the nobles live before he followed the wagons heading there.

Leo first was thinking about stealing directly from the stores by some hypnotizes and illusions, but after he saw this, he'll take the long route while removing some pest from the picture.

Leo walked slowly as he spotted some large mansions at the front, so walked to an alleyway before checking if there was someone even if that didn't matter for him.

Venom changed its shape as it turned into a long, black trench coat as a hood covered Leo's head and Venom also made a mask.

"..." Leo didn't speak as he picked the mansion with the most negative Ki and pulled Yamato as he teleported to it.

(Time skip 7 minutes)

Mark is a normal noble from the Empire and he's proud of that, and like most the noble in the Empire, he usually attends parties and meetings with different nobles which is where they talk about their plans but mostly their hobbies.

Mark's hobby is that he likes to drug people with different types of chemicals and watch their reactions. Most of them die in the process but there are a few that survive which makes him need to increase the dose. But these days he's into using poisons which lead to slow death after he heard this from another noble with the same hobby. He has to admit that the reaction of those people when they know that they'll die is priceless.

Mark was walking in his mansion corridor like always while carrying his notebook which he records the reactions in it as he was thinking what he should try today but he felt something wrong. The corridor was quiet... Too quiet.

The guards and the maids that usually work in the house disappeared suddenly, but because he was too focused on his work, he didn't notice.

"Guards!!" Mark called upon the guards, but nobody showed up. The silence began to become scarier at this moment, which made Mark nervous.

"Guards!! You useless bunch of waste!!" Mark was angry because he was thinking how dare these commoners not respond to him before rushing in the corridor.

The more he walked the more Mark felt this isn't normal, there was almost no one if the mansion even if Mark entered some rooms, he didn't see anyone which made him more nervous because even if liked to torture people he never actually had the courage to face anything directly.

"Where did they g-" Mark stopped because he saw a long trail of blood and a headless corpse of one of his guards at the end of the corridor.

"W-What!!" Mark got terrified by this scene, as he felt his legs are shaking from fear but before he wanted to run. He heard a sound from behind him.

A man with a long black coat was standing there with a mask and hood covering his face which made Mark terrified because there was another corpse behind the man which means he did all of this. But even if he was terrified Mark was able to master some of his courage and said " Y-You are night raid!! How dare you attack nobles!!"

Mark kept talking about how this is unforgivable and the Empire will catch you all but the man just shook his head before he said " You are wrong..."

"Eh?" Mark didn't understand what going on before he felt his vision changed as he saw a headless body... It was his body.

"This isn't night..." Leo walked slowly to Mark's place and picked up the notebook before he said " This is Day Raid"

Leo already cleared this house in an assassin way as he killed most of the guards while knocking out some who their Ki was clean enough.

All in all, Leo finished this mansion and killed the boss in a little time without getting noticed.

Leo even took this guys treasury with all the money inside before he killed him. But he is now looking at this notebook, which wasn't pleasant.

Leo closed the notebook before walking towards a place in this mansion. Walking for a while, Leo saw the bas.e.m.e.nt entrance, so he entered the door and walked down the stairs.

A nauseating smell rushed from the bas.e.m.e.nt as Leo looked with an expressionless face at all the people on the operation tables or cells screaming in agony and begging to be released from this pain.

Leo felt these all these people Ki and vitality were very weak which means they'll die very soon, but they are now suffering until their last breath.

Suddenly, one of the people here saw Leo as he stretched his hand towards Leo and moved his mouth, but he wasn't able to speak.

Leo understood that man words even if he didn't say it... Kill me... Please kill me.

"... Tch" Leo stood silently in that place for a while before he clicked his tongue and pulled Yamato as blade light flashed and all the people here were killed instantly with fatal attacks to the neck or the heart and head.

Leo watched the man who asked him now died, but before his eyes lost focus, he had a grateful look.

Leo put Yamato back to his scabbard before he looked at this hellhole that exists in this bas.e.m.e.nt, as he raised his hand and a dark light appeared before a fireball was on Leo's hand but this fireball had a face.

"Go..." Leo pushed his hand forwards before the fireball rushed towards the bas.e.m.e.nts and started to jump here and there as it ignited the whole place on flames.

The fireball is an elemental beast of flames with an ability to control fire, but after 10 minutes it will absorb all the fire and explode.

Leo looked at the raging flames before he pulled Yamato and teleported to the location of one of his birds at an empty alleyway.

Leo took a deep breath as he fixed his glasses while Venom transformed into normal clothes.

"The money isn't a problem which means I need to look for the target now..." Leo cleared his head from all the what he saw inside of that place before he started to work on his plan.

"System user... Honestly, I think he'll be in the protagonist team, but there's a chance he'll be in the Empire" Leo frowned before his shadow stretched and lot of small regular insects and animals like flies and rats appeared and scattered around the place. Those are Leo spies which will send his report about this Empire condition or what changed about it. Any change in the plot or history will be definitely the system user work while this can also tell Leo where the plot reached now.

After finishing these preparations, Leo walked away from the alleyway because he has a lot of shopping to be done and a lot of store owners to be hypnotized. Food and water and some spices for cooking and a lot of other stuff need to be bought, so Leo need to be quick.

(Time Skip 4 hours)

The sun went down as the sunset arrived, turning the sky into a beautiful red-orange color.

Kazuma was lying on the ground breathing heavily as he was looking at the Kirito doll telling him "Get on my level"

Kazuma never felt he was this mad in his life, this doll seemed to be made to annoy the living shit out of him but he doesn't have energy to stand up now.

If the doll didn't kill the Danger beasts coming here, Kazuma felt he'll die instantly with his current condition.

"Hey, you're still in one piece this is surprising" Kazuma heard an annoying voice from his side so he moved his head with difficulty before he saw Leo smiling at him.

"You... Bastard" Kazuma used all his energy to say those few words but Leo only smiled as he said " Do you want another round with Kirito?"

Kazuma started shaking. He doesn't want another round with that doll which he thinks it was made in hell. But suddenly he felt a warm current in his body as most of his injuries disappeared and he felt his energy came back.

Kazuma only saw a golden aura on his body, but there was Gold Experience putting his hand on Kazuma's body and recovering his wounds using Ki.

"Well, good job there..." Kazuma saw Leo stretched hand before he took it and stood up as he said " Of course it was good, I'm Kazuma, even if the enemy is this doll made from hell, I'll never lose"

"Yeah, yeah..." Leo rolled his eyes before he said " You totally didn't get your a.s.s kicked by it now"

In Kazuma's angry eyes Leo was just smiling, but that smile made Kazuma even angrier before he took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"So... Did you go to that capital?" Kazuma asked Leo, but his voice was a little weird now.

"Yeah..." Leo walked forwards before Kazuma followed him as he said " So, how was it?"

"It was the kind of place that makes me want to drop a Cthulhu down there" Leo answered calmly, but the coldness in his words weren't hidden from Kazuma.

"Back to the dangerous words but it was really like that, huh..." Kazuma's voice went lower and lower until Leo wasn't able to hear him before he said" Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh! I'm totally okay don't worry about it!" Kazuma expression returned into it usual but Leo was frowning.

"Kazuma..." Leo stopped walking as he looked at Kazuma directly before he said " Why did you come to this world?"

"Hm? Don't you know it already? I'm the weakest here so I should take all the chances to be stronger" Kazuma waved his hand but Leo didn't move and kept looking at him before he said " Kazuma, you didn't want to come to this world"

"Hah? What do you mean, Leo" Kazuma was surprised but Leo said " Even if I didn't meet you for a long time but Kazuma that I know will never come to this world with his current power and especially if he knows about this world beforehand and about power..."

"Kazuma that I know will probably keep crying at me to give him cheats shamelessly but..." Leo narrowed his eyes and said " This isn't you now"

"...." Kazuma looked at Leo with a surprised expression before he had a helpless smile and said " You saw it, huh"

Leo shrugged his shoulder before he said " You can say I'm good at reading people"

"Yeah, I can see that..." Kazuma sighed before he said " I didn't want to come to this world"

"So, why?" Leo looked at Kazuma that lowered his head in confusion.

"Because of you guys..." After a while, Kazuma said those words which made Leo more confused before he said " For us?"

"You know we don't need help this world isn't that dangerous for us" Leo didn't understand where this is going but Kazuma just smiled and shook his head before he said " I know that... But..."

" You can say it was for me more than you" Kazuma said some words that made Leo more puzzled but Kazuma continued" Leo, you asked me if I felt my life is fake..."

Leo widens his eyes because he finally understood what this guy is talking about.

"Leo... I loved this Chat Room... From the bottom of my heart I loved it" Kazuma lowered his head before he said " I know it has been just two days for me there but I really loved it"

"You may know, Leo, but I was just a NEET with no goal or something to do in this life... I honestly felt my life was empty right there" Kazuma started laughing at himself before he said " Then I died... When I died, I saw my life flashing in my eyes... I honestly was disappointed by it"

"I was told to reincarnate into a different world, but more than just a wish to be OP and stuff. I wanted an adventure with just friends or something to recover this regret that I saw in those visions" Kazuma smiled helplessly while Leo was listening to him quietly.

"Honestly, when I saw the Chat Room at first, I thought ' What the f.u.c.k is this virus even my computer is f.u.c.k.e.d up now'. But then I get to meet you guys" Kazuma said with a small voice but Leo was able to hear every word.

"At first, you guys appeared to be a bunch of assholes that make fun of my death, but after only a day, no it wasn't a day, it was hours, I liked this..." Kazuma raised his head as he smiles at Leo before he said "If you guys are a bunch of assholes then I, Kazuma, will become a bigger asshole than you all, and without I notice... I got friends... I, Kazuma, the NEET got incredible friends even if I didn't have anything special"

"An asshole with a bad personality and OP power, a grandfather which seems to be wise than all of you but I think he's also out of control, a Pikachu looking tsundere girl, but it was kind and normal unlike you. A million years old hag, and a deadpan guy with a silly suit" Kazuma gave his definition of the Chat members which usually he'll be getting surrounded by a bunch of angry guys now, but there was no one to listen except Leo.

"You always make fun of me, but I also did the same, nobody of you looked at me like the NEET, but you looked at me as Kazuma, so I liked it unlike all those fake things I saw in my first life. This felt real for me... More than anything so..." Kazuma clenched his fist before he said " If it takes me to go to this dangerous world then I'll go. If it power that I need to still be a part of this team, then I'll fight for it"

"I don't know about my world or what might happen to me, but this what I have now, so I'm willing to fight for it..." Kazuma kept talking with excitement before he realized what he said.

"And this is it... Pretty silly, right?" Kazuma scratched his cheek while Leo looked at quietly before he said " Yeah, it was very silly and what makes it more ridiculous it actually came from you"

"YOU BASTARD!!!" Leo watched Kazuma that took DIO sword and wanted to fight him before he said in a voice only he can hear " It seems we were similar, huh"

"Huh? What are you saying?! Come and fight me now!!!" Kazuma was still angry, but he was shocked by Leo next words " It pointless to fight me, so get stronger first"

"If you think strength it what you lack and need, then I'll train you" Leo smiled as he was walking forward before he said " Of course, if you are up for the challenge"

Kazuma stood in place without a word with shocked eyes until he saw Leo leaving so he rushed towards him and said " Huh?! Who the hell do you think you're talking to? I'm Kazuma! Nothing you'll do will scare me, bastard!!"

"I see... Then show me what you got" Leo didn't turn back while Kazuma followed him and said " Just watch me"

The sunset shined down at the two friends walking towards the mansion, as they were both smiling, but the next words removed the smile of one of them.

"Yeah, I forgot to say... Welcome to hell" Leo smiled brightly at Kazuma that started sweating as he said " Can I... quit?"

"Hahahahaha, Kazuma, Kazuma, Kazuma... This is for leaving the gender equality just to mess with me. Prepare to face hell" Leo walked forwards as his words kept echoing in Kazuma head and telling him the great mistake he has done.