Devil's Luck[Arc 5: Worlds Apart]

Darkness, it was complete darkness.

Zenkichi opened his eyes, only to be met with an endless void.

There was no sound, no warmth, no sense of time—just an oppressive emptiness stretching in every direction.

Was he standing? Was he floating? Zenkichi couldn't tell. His body felt weightless, detached from any semblance of reality. His mind struggled to grasp onto something tangible, but there was nothing.

The darkness around him pressed down like an unseen weight, suffocating and unrelenting. He tried to move, but the concept of movement itself felt alien in this place.

"Am I....dead?" he muttered, but there was no sound coming out of his mouth. His lips moved, yet the void swallowed his words before they could form.

'No, that can't be right.' He waved his hand, and to his immense relief, the system prompt still appeared.

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[Status]

Name: Zenkichi Hitoyoshi

Titles: Demonic Hound(Active), Dragon Warrior(Active), Harem Protagonist, Admin of the Multiversal Chat-Group, Man from Another World(Active), Godslayer, False God, Trickster, Usurper, Hero(Active), Demon Slayer(Active)

Race: Divine Infernal

Age: 16(Ageless)

Mentality: Transcendent

Physique: Transcendent

Soul: Transcendent

Energy: Transcendent

Abilities:

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[Cattish Tale(Abnormal): This skill follows the myth — "cats have nine lives" — thus allowing the user to have nine lives and a side bonus, the user becomes immune to the level of what killed them previously. Current lives remaining: 7/9

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Zenkichi frowned, confusion marring his face. 'Wait, why does it say that I've only died twice? By my estimation, this should be the third. But thinking about it further, the skill activates fully when I die and revive...'

'Something's stopping me from reviving? This is bad. What's going to happen to Brunhilde!?' Panic began to creep in. He tried to shout, to scream; hoping his partner was near him.

But the result was the same—nothingness.

Zenkichi's muted voice grew "louder", refusing to give up. He tried using his skills, but to his shock—

[Almost all skills and stats are locked when within the domain of the Shadow Garden]

'Shadow Garden? That sounds familiar—'

"Hello darling~"

A sweet, yet creepy voice sounded in Zenkichi's right ear as he felt what seems to be a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders from behind, pulling him into an unsettlingly intimate embrace.

"Who's there?!" Zenkichi instinctively jerked away, or at least he tried to—his movements were sluggish, as if the void itself resisted him.

His eyes widened, 'Wait, that voice—! But that can't be, she's dead!'

The darkness seemed to distort, shifting and coalesced in front of him, forming long, cascading silver hair that shimmered like the moon. A beautiful pale-skinned beautiful woman with long ears and sharp purple eyes — obviously, this was Envy!

"Darling~" she said, her voice a chilling mix of affection.

"Envy?!" Zenkichi shouted, though there was no sound but Envy visibly pouting lips and tightening arms made it obvious that she did hear him.

Her sharp purple eyes sparkled with mock hurt as she leaned closer, her silver hair cascading around them like a curtain of moonlight. "Darling~," she purred, her voice soft yet laced with an unsettling edge that seemed to pierce through the silence. "Do you always greet a lady like that? So harsh, so ungrateful...."

Zenkichi tried to pull away, his muscles straining against the invisible weight of the void, but her grip was unyielding. "What do you want, Envy? Why am I here? And what have you done to Brunhilde?!"

At the mention of Brunhilde, Envy's eyes darkened and the already tight grip she had over him became suffocatingly oppressive. The air—or what passed for it in this void—grew heavier, the weight pressing down on his chest like an unrelenting vice.

"You....dare speak the name of another woman, in my presence?" she hissed, her voice low and venomous. Her sharp nails dug into his shoulders.

Zenkichi narrowed his eyes. "Envy. I do not have the time for your games. Release me."

Envy's lips curled into a sinister smile, her nails digging deeper into his flesh. The pain was nothing to what he been through.

"You think you can order me around, my darling?" she cooed, her tone sickly sweet, yet laced with menace. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. You don't have time? Oh, no, darling. You are on my time now!"

The oppressive weight in the void intensified, yet Zenkichi remained steadfast, his eyes glaring into Envy's without a hint of fear.

"....Why?"

Envy tilted her head. "Why, what?"

Zenkichi spat out, "Why are you so obsessed with me? Why, after seemingly getting killed by Pride, that you appeared before me and likely kidnapped me in the middle of an important situation?!"

"Why? Isn't it obvious?" Envy's lips stretched into an eerie smile, her nails digging deeper into his flesh as she cooed.

She leaned forward, face-to-face and nose just inches from his, her breath icy and her eyes glowing with a twisted intensity as her pupils shifted into heart-shaped. "Because I love you."

"....Wut?"

"I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you! I love you! I love you! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE—"

Everything around him seemed to warp and shudder as Envy's voice became a manic chant, growing louder and more erratic with each repetition of those words. The void itself seemed to echo with her declaration, the oppressive darkness shaking with the force of her twisted affection.

Zenkichi could feel his mind trembling under the sheer intensity of her obsession.

"Stop..."

"I love you, I love you, love, love, love...."

Envy's expression gradually turned...morbid, to say the least.

"Stop!" Zenkichi gritted out.

But Envy wouldn't relent. Her grip tightened, her nails digging deeper into his flesh as her smile stretched wider, more unsettling.

Her pupils flickered with a maddening joy, her voice spiraling into something that no longer resembled affection, but pure madness.

"I love you, I love you, I love you..." she repeated, her voice growing louder with every word, becoming a twisted chant that seemed to reverberate in the very fabric of the void.

Zenkichi's chest tightened, and he felt the crushing weight of her obsession smothering him. The oppressive darkness was no longer just a void; it felt alive, suffocating, as if it was feeding off of her mania.

His thoughts began to blur, his focus slipping as the sheer intensity of her love, if it could even be called that, pressed in on him from all sides.

Slowly, his mind became muddled.

'Stay here...'

'Forget everything else....'

'Relax....'

The words were not his own, yet they echoed in his head, soft and insidious. The oppressive darkness wasn't just suffocating—it was invading him, wrapping itself around his thoughts like a venomous serpent. Each whisper pulled him deeper into the void, urging him to let go of resistance, to succumb to the twisted affection consuming him.

'You don't need to fight....'

'You don't need anyone else....'

"I..." Zenkichi's resolve cracked at that moment, and Envy took advantage of that moment of weakness.

Envy's voice, sweet and melodic, whispered in his ear, "Isn't it easier this way, darling? No pain, no loss, no burdens.... Just me and you.... in this garden of shadows... forever~"

Zenkichi's eyes was clouded, a faint purple light flashing. His body turned sluggish, gradually succumbing to the temptations of her voice.

Envy's smile widened as she held him in her arms.

"That's right... Fall with me... And repeat these words: Return. By. Death."

"I..."

Zenkichi's eyelids grew heavy and he slowly began to repeat her words, "Return..."

"Meow~"

However, at that moment, a faint, almost playful sound echoed through the oppressive void.

Zenkichi's clouded eyes twitched, the purple light flickering. The sound was distant yet oddly familiar, tugging at a buried part of his consciousness.

It was of a familiar silhouette, her closed eyes and mischievous smile caused his slowly freezing heart to skip a beat.

Envy's expression faltered, her smile slipping into a scowl. "What... was that?" she hissed, her voice sharp and venomous. She tightened her grip on Zenkichi, as if trying to reclaim control. "Ignore it, darling. Focus on me."

"Meow~"

The sound came again, this time louder and more distinct, carrying with it a peculiar warmth that seemed utterly alien in this void.

"Return..."

Envy's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't stop. Say it! Return. By. Death!"

"Meow~ Meow~"

But the playful sound came once more, followed by a soft, ethereal light breaking through the darkness.

It shimmered faintly, taking the shape of a small, green-furred cat with glowing, mischievous eyes.

"Aaaahhh! Stay away!" Envy shrieked, her previously unshakable composure cracking as the green-furred cat stepped closer. Her grip on Zenkichi slackened, her voice frantic and filled with desperation. "You don't belong here!"

The small, glowing feline tilted its head, its mischievous eyes narrowing in playful defiance. "Meow."

"He's mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!"

"Meow." The cat didn't care and went towards Zenkichi.

Envy recoiled, her form flickering and distorting as desperation and fury twisted her features into something monstrous. "Y-You! No! He is mine! I'll kill you, and every hussy that comes near him!" Her voice rose to a shriek as hundreds of shadowy hands erupted from the void behind her, each one reaching and clawing with malicious intent.

The green-furred cat ignored the shadowy hands; as they passed through it, yawning lazily as if the threat before it was nothing more than an inconvenience.

"Meow~"

The cat purred softly as it rubbed its head against Zenkichi's face. Its presence was comforting, like a familiar memory pulling him back to reality.

Envy's rage reached a fever pitch as she saw the cat's blatant disregard for her power. "You dare mock me?!" she howled, her shadowy hands multiplying and lashing out wildly. "You will suffer! Both of you!"

But the cat didn't even flinch. Its tail flicked, and with an almost bored glance, it raised a glowing paw. A ripple of light emanated outward, shattering the incoming shadowy hands like fragile glass.

"Meow~" the cat purred again, its voice a soothing melody.

Zenkichi felt clarity returning to his mind as the cat's warmth spread through him. He glanced at the creature, a flicker of recognition sparking in his eyes. "You... Nekomi? Is that you?"

"Meow!" The cat meowed and licked his nose.

Zenkichi softly smiled and hugged the cat. "Thank you... for saving me again."

"No! Stop ignoring me!" Envy screeched, her form twisting further into an abomination of shadows and jagged edges. Her desperation was palpable, her voice filled with anguish. "I won't let you go! You're mine! MINE!!!"

The cat yawned lazily from his arms, the glowing light surrounding it intensifying. With a playful swipe of its paw, and cracks began to form beneath Envy's feet, light seeping through the fissures.

"You little pest!" Envy bellowed, her monstrous form lunging toward the cat.

But before she could reach it, the green-furred feline looked up at Zenkichi and gave a final, almost cheeky "Meow~," before vanishing in a burst of radiant energy.

The light erupted outward, consuming the void and tearing apart Envy's shadowy form.

[Cattish Tale: Remaining Lives: 6/9]

"Nekomi..." Zenkichi's eyes softened as he whispered the name, his voice tinged with both relief and gratitude.

The lingering warmth of the cat's presence still pulsed faintly within him, a comforting reminder that he wasn't alone, even in the darkest of places.

"Yup. I am going to spoil my girlfriend a lot when I come back..."

The void around him shattered completely, replaced by a familiar war-torn landscape that seemed to have come from hell itself.

Zenkichi had been revived.

"Brunhilde, are you here?" Zenkichi called out, looking down to find Brunhilde's Völundr form still active on him. He sighed in relief; as she was tied to his soul, she would also be revived with him using Cattish Tale.

"Yea, I'm here. And, wow! Was that how death feels like? Zenkichi, you're not gonna believe me. I actually went to this world's Valhalla and—fuck! Altria's in trouble!"

Zenkichi looked up and see Altria, bloody and battered, dangled in Leon's iron grip.

"LEON!"

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AN: Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you had a wonderful year of 2024. As a Christmas Present, enjoy 4 chapters at the end of the year~

Cause I'm not posting anything next week because I'll be out with the fam. See y'all later~

Use this code over at my patreon: 97397 for 50% off on membership~ C'mon now, feel the spirit of Christmas~ Hohohoho~

4/4 chapters