Chapter 2043: A Glimmer of Potential

Without Seraphina to block his way, Vahn distanced himself from the group of lamenting Prinnies with the intent of conversing with the blue-haired Mascot who had been observing them with an impassive expression on her face. He no longer had any intention of entering the Dark Assembly, but that didn't mean he couldn't gain information.

Approaching the girl, Vahn stopped just outside the range where he would have been able to look up her skirt before raising his flipper and saying, "Yo. Mind if I ask you a few questions...?"

Tilting her head to the side, an action that caused the bunny-eared ribbon atop her head to bob, the blue-haired mascot girl appeared genuinely confused by Vahn's words. This caused the latter to feel a little awkward. Fortunately, he didn't have to ask if anything was wrong as the girl held up her doll, a peculiar white rabbit with blood-red eyes and stitching in place of a mouth, manipulating it like a ventriloquist to say, "You're strange..."

Cocking his own head and body to the side, Vahn asked, "How so? Is it because I don't say dood at the end of every other sentence...?"

Though she nodded her head as if to confirm his words, the blue-haired demoness went on to have her rabbit explain, "It's not just that. Prinnies are supposed to be irredeemable perverts. You should be trying to look up my skirt. Why don't you? Do you not want to see my panties...?"

If Prinnies could actually smile, Vahn's expression would have appeared wry as he attempted to rub the back of his head, answering, "Well...let's just say I'm unique among Prinnies..."

For reasons he could only guess at, the blue-haired girl visibly deflated, the ribbon atop her head drooping almost pathetically as she muttered, "I'm wearing my good panties and everything..." in a defeated tone. This left Vahn feeling speechless, but, after reminding himself that he was currently in the Netherworld, he quickly bounced back and asked, "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions regarding the Dark Assembly?"

With her ribbon perking up like an excited ahoge, Vahn half-expected the girl to eagerly explain the details regarding the Dark Assembly. Instead, she concealed her mouth behind the white rabbit doll before answering, "I don't talk to strangers..." in a flat monotone. Then, apparently finished with the conversation, she scampered off in the direction of the Pocket Netherworld's cafeteria, unhesitantly abandoning her post...

Issuing a dry laugh, Vahn decided against following after the blue-haired Mascot and instead took to the skies, an action that earned him looks of envy from the Prinnies he had previously decided to ignore. They also had bat-like wings upon their backs, but, like every other Prinny in existence, the appendages were vestigial in nature, wholly incapable of sustaining flight.

Pretending he hadn't heard one of the Prinny's call him something very offensive, Vahn flitted up to central plaza before landing next to a diorama vaguely resembling a solar system. This was the core of the Pocket Netherworld, and, despite its relatively small size, the power emanating from the blue star at the center of the diorama was directly comparable to CHALDEAS. This meant it could output nearly as much energy as Tier 5 entities such as Gaia and Alaya despite being an artificial construct without even a minute trace of an Ego...

"The technology of the Netherworld is ridiculous...It's no wonder this is a Tier 6 Record. If the power within this core could be weaponized, it could completely dominate a lower-tiered world..."

As that thought crossed his mind, Vahn directed his attention towards the Bridge, a landing located at the top of a wide flight of stairs. There, a demonic girl with blonde hair could be seen sleeping at the helm in a pirate outfit. Seraphina had introduced her as Meaver, and, as could be expected, she was the Captain of the Pocket Netherworld. A little to her left, dangling upside down on the railing that encircled the platform, was a petite girl wearing a feline cap, cat's eyes goggles, a long-sleeved vest, an inordinately small top, short-shorts, striped stockings, and paw-like boots.

Though the duo resembled an Archer and a Thief, two of the demonic classes available within the Recruiter System, their actual Classes were Netherworld Captain and Item Worlder. The former was a pretty self-explanatory position but the second, according to Seraphina, made the goggled-girl one of the most important demons on the entire 'ship'. Her name was Makoto, and, if Seraphina's words were to be believed, she possessed the unique ability to allow people to delve into virtually any object, drastically increasing its parameters based on the completion of numerous objectives...

As the thought of strengthening items crossed his mind, Vahn briefly shifted his attention to the rather sizeable quantity of upgrade stones he had accumulated ever since he first awakened the Upgrade Function. This was inarguably one of the most powerful functions he had ever unlocked, but, for that very reason, he had never really made use of it. Now, however, he had found himself in a world where merely equipping items could drastically increase a person's parameters based on the modifiers associated with their Class.

"This is probably what gives people the confidence to reincarnate multiple times. So long as they can prepare powerful equipment, Level doesn't really matter in a world like this..."

Confident in this assertion, Vahn manifested [Enkidu] out of thin air, his eyes glistening for a brief moment as he analyzed its stats...

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[Status]

Name: Enkidu

Type: Special

Level: 0

Rarity: Unknown

Population: 0/???

HP: 0

SP: 0

ATK: 10

DEF: 0

INT: 0

RES: 0

HIT: 0

SPD: 0

[Innocents]

-Empty

-Empty

-Empty

-Empty

...

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Like the normal inhabitants of the Netherworld, even something as simple as a stone or a can of soda had parameters that could be increased in accordance with their Level. As for why Enkidu was currently so weak, it was largely due to the fact that things like durability and special effects weren't accounted for in the statistics of a weapon. Instead, it only showed the parameters that the person wielding it would benefit from. In other words, by simply holding Enkidu in his hands, Vahn's Attack parameter had increased by 12 due to the 120% boost he received from his Class.

Since Enkidu was an object he could equip and unequip whenever he wanted, Vahn was seriously considering upgrading it using the Upgrade Function. The only real alternative was upgrading his Zanpakuto, but, as their strength was already directly tied to his Soul Tier, he doubted the veritable horde of lolis needed a power increase.

With a non-existent smile spreading across his face, largely due to the fact he currently had a beak, Vahn temporarily returned Enkidu to his soul. He had already made up his mind to upgrade it, but, before that, he wanted to see if he could increase its parameters in the Item World. He didn't know if the upgrades would affect parameters retroactively, so, with Enkidu possessing a mere 10 ATK, he would potentially need to upgrade it ten times just to increase its ATK to 11.

Unfortunately, now wasn't exactly the best time to enter the Item World. Killia had just awoken, and, despite her attempts to get him to remain in bed, the edgy-looking demon pushed aside the busty blonde Healer as his golden eyes scanned the unfamiliar surroundings. It didn't take long for him to spot Vahn, who, despite resembling a normal Prinny, possessed parameters that surpassed even the strongest Overlords at the same Level.

Raising his flipper in a nonchalant manner, Vahn intoned a simple, "Yo." before producing a number of afterimages in response to the man's sudden attack. This caused the demons in the surroundings to instantly enter into a panicked state as Meaver, Captain of the Pocket Netherworld, hit a massive red button near the helm. Immediately thereafter, sirens began to blare as every demon capable of combat began to gather in the plaza surrounding the Pocket Netherworld's core.

Though he appeared troubled by the scene he was causing, Killia didn't let up on his attack even for a moment. He was convinced that Vahn was an agent of Void Dark as it simply wasn't possible for a Prinny to be this powerful on its own. Void Dark possessed a unique ability that allowed him to steal and transfer the power of other demons to his underlings. Thus, having never encountered a Prinny even remotely as strong as Vahn, even after more than 2075 years of existence, the only reasonable explanation was that Void Dark had sent him to either assassinate and humiliate him. After all, there was no greater shame in the entire Netherworld than suffering defeat at the hands of a Prinny...

Believing this was the case, Killia performed an ax kick with the intent of splitting Vahn's head open as he shouted, "Tell me where Void Dark is and I'll at least spare your life...!"

Evading the attack with relative ease, Vahn's expression became the closest thing he could manage to a deadpan as he remarked, "There is such a thing as being too hot-blooded, you know? If you're really that interested in talking, how about you stop trying to stab me with those claws of yours...?"

Ignoring Vahn's suggestion, Killia attempted to grab the former's head with said claws. This time, however, Vahn didn't try to evade. Instead, he kicked up with the wooden peg that was his right leg, accurately impacting Killia's wrist before following it with a second kick to the man's chin. These two attacks only did around 90 damage each, but, due to his weakened state, the man was sent reeling backward as if he had just been smacked in the face by an indestructible bat.

Breathing a little heavily, Killia wiped away a trace of blood from his mouth using his thumb before remarking, "You're powerful. I'll give you that. However, don't think I'll be defeated so-"

Before Killia could finish his shonen-like statement, a series of heart-shaped projectiles peppered his surroundings as Seraphina, alerted by the blaring alarms, emerged from her room with running mascara and an incredibly incensed expression on her face as she screamed, "What's the big idea!? Can't a girl contemplate her woes in peace...!?"

With all of Seraphina's attacks missing, Killia tentatively lowered his guard as he remarked, "It's you, that crazy girl who was confronting the Lost. Is this Prinny one of yours...?"

"Hey! Do you have any idea who you're calling crazy...!?"

Furrowing his perpetually furrowed brows even further, Killia answered, "No." in a curt manner. This caused Seraphina to react as if she had received a substantial blow before quickly recovering as she shouted, "I'm Seraphina, the Overlord of Gorgeous! I'm the wealthiest, most attractive, and elegant Overlord in all the Three Realms! Now! Kneel before me! Balor Gaze~!"

Understanding she wasn't the match of someone who could take on the Lost Army using nothing but their bare fists, Seraphina decided to lead with her Overload Ability, Balor Gaze. She wanted to prove that her ability wasn't completely useless and that Vahn was merely an exception, an oddity that defied common sense. Unfortunately, even after sending not one, but three waves of vibrant pink energy through Killia's body, he just looked at her in confusion before asking, "What are you trying to do...?"

As if her entire life had been a lie up until this exact moment, Seraphina plopped onto the ground and began bawling with such intensity that visible arcs of tears were produced from her eyes. This left Killia awkwardly scratching his cheek, a troubled look on his face as he shifted his gaze towards Vahn and asked, "Does she always act this way...?"

Since he had only recently met the peculiar Succubi, Vahn just shrugged his non-existent shoulders before asking, "Are you done trying to attack me for no reason? I'm not a part of Void Dark's forces and this place isn't really suited for battle. If your attacks had damaged that sphere over there, there is a good chance you and everyone else within this Pocket Netherworld would have died."

Shifting his attention towards the core located at the center of the plaza, Killia's frown deepened as he sensed the phenomenal energies contained within. He was pretty confident in his durability, but, in his weakened state, it wasn't difficult to imagine himself being completely obliterated if the core went critical. Thus, while he intended to settle things between them after ascertaining the truth, he ultimately just nodded his head before surprising Vahn with a curt, "Sorry...I'll be more careful in the future..."

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Stranger danger...!','Enkidu deserves some love...','RIP Seraphina xD...')

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