Chapter 2: The Demon Slaying Holy Sword and the World Crossing Gate
"Since you've seen through me, I won't pretend anymore. Just obediently become my meal—it'll save you some suffering."
The woman smirked sinisterly, her pupils turning crimson red. Her Kagune rapidly grew from within her body, piercing through her skin and clothes, accompanied by streaks of blood clinging to her, creating an eerie and grotesque appearance.
This was the Kagune of a Ghoul—their weapon, as hard as steel. Their physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary humans, and they were impervious to ordinary blades. For a normal person, encountering a Ghoul meant certain death.
"Kinda reminds me of Doctor Octopus."
Renga murmured to himself.
The woman didn't hear him, as the rain had grown heavier again.
"Hehehe... little brother, big sister is going to eat every piece of your flesh, bit by bit."
After reverting to her true form, the woman found Renga's scent even more tantalizing. Drool mixed with the rain as it dripped from her lips.
She slowly approached Renga, completely certain he couldn't escape.
Many predators enjoy toying with their prey before the kill, and she was no exception. The struggles of food before death make the flesh firmer and more delicious.
Renga didn't speak further, simply withdrawing his hand from his pocket.
Then, with a faint glimmer of light, a silver longsword resembling a medieval knight's sword appeared in his palm.
He held the sword of unknown weight with effortless ease.
His expression remained neutral as he watched the woman before him.
Renga wasn't native to this world - he had crossed over here with his memories and soul intact.
His body remained his original one, though it had been assigned a new identity.
Naturally, he was still an orphan, but at age twelve, he had bound himself to a golden finger.
The origin of this golden finger remained unknown. Beyond granting him a beginner's package that yielded this sword named "Demon Slaying Holy Sword," it also unlocked the "Heaven Rewards Diligence" ability.
This ability granted Renga the genius-level comprehension typical of protagonists in fantasy worlds. No matter what Renga undertook, he could continuously improve and grow stronger. Even when he mastered a technique to its limits, he could still break through further, enhancing the ability beyond its previous state. This applied to physical constitution, swordsmanship, magic, curse power, and even ordinary artistic skills - calligraphy, painting, singing, even bedroom arts could all be strengthened.
Since binding with this system and learning from the golden finger that this was a mixed universe blending various anime, Renga had abandoned most entertainment time to focus intensely on training himself.
While ordinary people need months to see training results, thanks to the golden finger, Renga could see daily improvements from his self-training. Thus, despite his youth, he already possessed eight-pack abs and a golden-ratio physique that made him stand out like a crane among chickens when placed among Japan's generally shorter population.
Additionally, this golden finger possessed one final basic ability: the "World Crossing Gate."
[World Crossing Gate: Provides functionality for crossing between different worlds. Requires energy charge to reach 100% before activation. After activation, energy value slowly decreases. When energy depletes completely, automatically leaves current world. May return early, but can only reactivate after energy value fully recharges.]
The reason Renga could face ghouls with such nonchalance stemmed not only from past accumulation but also because when he first bound the system, the World Crossing Gate's energy was at 100%. His first world crossing had been to "Campione!"
After overcoming various early setbacks and difficulties, he successfully became an external disciple of the Italian magic noble family, Bronze Black Cross.
Using his "Heaven Rewards Diligence" ability, he mastered all sword techniques and magic taught by the external magic association in mere months.
Had his energy not depleted, he could have obtained the honorary title of "Great Knight" rank representing magicians at that time.
Though the "Great Knight" rank wasn't particularly rare, achieving it at merely twelve years old demonstrated extraordinary talent.
Throughout Southern Europe's magic associations, only two prodigies from the Bronze Black Cross and the Copper Black Cross could surpass Renga at that age.
However, Renga had no interaction with those two, so he didn't know much about them.
Later, when he saw his energy value was about to deplete to zero, he deliberately faked his death during a mission to exterminate cultists, the kind where even the body couldn't be found, completing a perfect escape plan.
After all, who knew how long it would take to fully replenish his energy and return.
Since then, Renga had been living in this mixed anime world, enjoying his high school life all over again.
The main reason he chose to attend school was because this particular school was quite special.
The school he attended was called Kuoh Academy, and there were many familiar names among the students.
Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima, Issei Hyoudou, Touka Kirishima, Mai Sakurajima, and others.
Similarly, this world was also infested with many monsters.
Ghouls, cursed spirits, evil spirits, and even fantastical beings like demons.