The scent of damp earth and pine needles was the first thing to register as I felt solid ground beneath my boots. I found myself kneeling in a thick, unfamiliar forest.
A pained retching sound beside me pulled me back to the present.
"Ugh…" Ruby coughed, clinging desperately to a mossy tree trunk, her small face pale. "Sakuya… that was… absolutely crazy."
I sighed, pushing a stray silver lock behind my ear. Even with my enhanced constitution, dimensional transport was rarely a pleasant experience.
"You'll get used to it," I said, extending a hand to help her up. She was trembling slightly, still dazed. "Focus on breathing. Let's find a place to stay or, better yet, civilization."
Taking the lead, I began to walk, my steps quick and practiced. Ruby staggered behind me, still fighting the residual sickness. We hadn't taken ten steps before a blinding, shimmering pane of light materialized directly in my path.
The screen was the color of blue ether, starkly contrasting with the dark forest. It was written in a language I instinctively understood, a crystalline voice speaking directly into my mind.
[MISSION ACQUIRED]
OBJECTIVE: Kill a certain leader of DEM (Deus Ex Machina) and stop Demi-activity within this region.
REWARDS: Marisa Transform Card (Grants the user to be Marisa Kirisame's and given all of her abilities and access to her Grimoire).]
"...Eh!?" The sound escaped me a surprised squeak utterly unworthy of a head maid.
"Why did we stop, Miss Sakuya?" Ruby's voice was hesitant, mistaking my stunned silence for caution.
I quickly dismissed the system window with a mental command, shoving the complex implications into the 'deal with later' of my mind.
"Ah, forgive me. Just checking the time," I lied smoothly, pulling up my collar. "Let's keep moving."
We continued out of the dense woods, and soon, the first signs of human civilization appeared: a paved road, then telephone poles, and finally, tall buildings.
The sheer scale of the city was impressive, sprawled out beneath the twilight sky. But what truly grabbed my attention were the people and the anomaly.
"Oh, I guess we've landed in Japan," I murmured, noting the signposts and the distinct architecture. My eyes narrowed as they fixed on a woman in a strange, armored uniform flying effortlessly above the skyscrapers.
"Japan?" Ruby asked, her eyes wide with curiosity, no longer focused on her nausea.
"It's a country," I clarified, keeping my voice low. "Think of it as a large, advanced kingdom, very different from the realms we know."
"Ohhh," she breathed, fascinated by the sights and the crowds of oddly dressed pedestrians.
Before we stepped onto the main street, I knew my usual attire the classic, impeccably clean maid's uniform would draw far too much unwanted attention. I needed to blend in.
I internally checked my inventory. Maid uniform, spare maid uniform, battle maid uniform… I mentally winced. Of course.
"Wait, I can use magic," I thought, a solution dawning on me. My hands immediately went to the spatial rift where I stored my most essential items, retrieving a thick, dust-covered tome: Patchouli Knowledge's Grimoire.
"Okay, let's see… something for deception." I rapidly flipped through the arcane script, my fingers blurring. "Ah, here we are."
Illusion Spell: 'Misty Veil of Mundanity'
"Alright." I chanted the simple incantation under my breath. The air around me rippled faintly, and a moment later, the silver of my hair darkened to a nondescript black, my grey eyes softened to a common brown, and my maid dress was replaced by the dull, formal suit of an office worker a perfect disguise for the anonymous crowds.
"WOW!" Ruby gasped, reaching out to touch the lapel of the suit jacket. "This is so cool! Miss Sakuya looks like a totally different person!"
"Focus, Ruby," I reminded her, though a small flicker of satisfaction warmed me. "Let's get moving."
We walked, mingling with the evening crowd. I discreetly listened in on conversations, trying to gather intelligence.
"Look at that, a young lady taking her daughter out for a walk," an elderly woman commented to her companion as we passed.
"Makes me remember my own daughter. I wonder how she's doing," the second woman replied with a small, melancholic smile.
This is… annoying, I thought, the chit-chat is getting on my nerves. Ruby, meanwhile, had latched onto my back and was using me as a human shield/comfort blanket. Though… it is nice.
My thoughts were interrupted when I spotted a small, brightly lit family restaurant. Through the window, I noticed two people sitting at a booth a blue-haired boy and a strikingly beautiful, slightly nervous girl with violet eyes. There was a palpable tension emanating from their table.
"Ruby, are you hungry?" I asked, immediately pivoting toward the establishment.
"Always!" she exclaimed, her hunger apparently overriding all fatigue.
"Alright, let's go."
I paused for the briefest fraction of a second, just outside the restaurant entrance. My hand discreetly adjusted my collar.
Za world.
The world froze. The elderly women mid-step, the cars mid-turn, the steam rising from a street vendor's cart—all became perfectly still. I walked casually to a businessman rushing by, slipped his wallet from his pocket, removed a hefty amount of yen, and placed the wallet neatly back. I then repeated the process with two more individuals to ensure we had more than enough.
Time Resume.
"What are you waiting for?" I said, pushing the door open, the bell above us jingling as if no time had passed. Ruby darted past me, heading for a booth.
I purposely chose a booth right next to the blue-haired boy and the girl.
"Okay, Ruby, what will you have?" I opened the menu, handing a copy to my hungry companion.
"I'll have this, this, this, and this! Oh, and one of these, please!" Ruby rattled off her order, pointing enthusiastically at the pictures.
"Your order will be out in about twenty minutes, miss," the waitress said with a polite smile before heading to the kitchen.
As I took a sip of the free water, a prickling sensation ran across my skin then a felt a skip of someone using time powers nearby.
"She's here," I muttered, my hand reflexively dropping to the hidden knife sheath strapped to my thigh.
"Who's here?" Ruby whispered, leaning closer.
"Another… time user, perhaps. Or something that causes great spatial distortion." I frowned. The energy signature was immense.
"Can you beat her?" Ruby asked, her eyes gleaming with anticipation, clearly eager to see a fight.
"Nah. I win."
I immediately regretted saying that. It felt utterly out of character a line straight from a script. But the words had slipped out, and I felt a strange, inexplicable compulsion to stand by them.
"Wow! Miss Sakuya is so cool!" Ruby praised, completely missing the jarring discontinuity.
Before I could ponder the nature of my bizarre proclamation, the restaurant descended into chaos.
A shower of glass sprayed inward as multiple figures in sleek, futuristic armor like the flying woman I'd seen earlier battered through the plate-glass window. Their weapons, high-tech energy rifles, immediately snapped up and aimed directly at the violet-eyed girl at the booth next to ours.
"Target located! Designation: Spirit!" a voice boomed over the armored figures' comms.
The fight exploded instantly.
"Do we go?" Ruby asked, her body language shifting into battle mode, all weariness gone.
"No. We retreat." I grabbed her arm firmly. My mission had just been given to me.
Getting involved in a random Spirit-versus-AST battle was not on the itinerary. I had to gather intelligence first.
We bolted toward the emergency exit in the back, narrowly avoiding a stray energy blast.
As we spilled out into the back alley, nearly colliding with a dumpster, a new figure stepped into our path. She wore the same combat gear as the armored people attacking the restaurant, though her uniform seemed less bulky, her stance more protective than aggressive.
"Miss! Follow me to a safe zone immediately!" she commanded, her voice urgent. "There is a Spirit currently engaging the AST forces!"
I sized her up in a heartbeat. Her eyes were focused solely on the safety of civilians. This was not an enemy.
"Ruby, stay close," I whispered, and we followed the woman as she led us into a secure-looking basement entrance a block away.
"Stay here, miss, until the situation is stabilized. It's safer this way," she instructed, barring the door and then rushing back toward the commotion.
"Okay," I said simply, settling Ruby onto a dusty wooden crate.
The battle raged for what felt like an eternity, muffled blasts echoing from above. Eventually, the noise subsided, replaced by the sounds of sirens and cleanup.
The same woman returned, catching her breath. "The situation is contained for now. Do you have a residence nearby where you can stay?"
"Yes, of course," I lied, not missing a beat.
"Okay, let's find a place to stay. Maybe a hotel or an apartment complex," I mused aloud.
I found a quiet corner near a public transit hub.
"za world" i said before stopping time.
I needed operational funds. I went through the motions again, quickly and efficiently relieving several well-dressed individuals of a significant amount of cash, making sure their wallets were left neatly in place.
Time Resume.
With my acquired funds, it was surprisingly easy to secure a small, inexpensive apartment on the edge of the city. I registered under a generic name and paid three months in advance, no questions asked.
Inside the tiny, functional apartment, I turned to Ruby.
"Stay here for a bit, Ruby. Actually, could you do something important for me? We need to stock the kitchen. Could you buy some groceries?" I asked, handing her a generous wad of yen.
"You bet!" she chirped, excited to be given a task.
After she left, I immediately went to work. The black hair and brown eyes were gone, my silver locks and crimson eyes returning as I dropped the illusion. I checked the mission prompt again—DEM and Demi-activity. I needed real intelligence, and I wouldn't get it on the ground.
Time for a change of elevation.
I opened the window, allowed the wind to pick up my hair, and, utilizing my enhanced speed and a carefully concealed low-altitude flight spell, I shot straight up into the night sky, blending in with the clouds. My hunt for information and my target.
Ps: i was torn on picking fate or dxd but date a live was a good place to start as ruby will get destroyed in those words also our mc will be able to change into sakuya and marisa freely.
"I will be waiting da ze~"
"Eh!? Marisa go back! Your not supposed to be here!"
"Why not ze~?"
"You know why!"
"hehehe."
"Don't hehehe me! And get out!"
"Goodbye reader and author da ze~"