The Paladin on the Infinite Tour

3. I want power

Host?

The red dragon—Ddraig—made Exia frown.

"Why am I your host?"

"This is a long story... Well, let's just think of it as explaining a little bit about the knowledge of this world to you who come from another world."

Ddraig cleared his throat.

"I don't know about the world over there, but [gods] do indeed exist in the world over here. Those guys who have left their names in the myths all actually existed or exist. "

"Gods...the characters that appear in myths?"

Ddraig nodded: "Those guys have nothing to say. Since you are now my host, as long as you live long enough, you will encounter one or two of them sooner or later. And the point of this matter is Our current state is related to a certain god - is there a Bible in your world? Have you read it?"

Bible?

Alexia shook her head and said, "I have heard about part of it, but I haven't actually read it."

"Isn't there a God in the Bible? That guy is the only god in the entire myth. While various gods keep appearing in other myths, only this myth in which he belongs does not have so many messes. He is the only god in the whole myth. Man occupies the only divine position in the entire myth."

"Then, He created a special weapon called an [artifact]."

——[sacredgear]

The items created by the God of the Bible are extraordinary powers that reside in specific humans. Most of the famous figures in history, or celebrities who are active in various fields in the world, are the holders of artifacts.

It is something that can give ordinary people extraordinary powers.

And artifacts are also divided into levels. Different levels of artifacts have different powers. At most, weak artifacts can only affect human society to a certain extent, such as allowing the holder to gain excellent physical abilities and become a first-class athlete, or giving the holder He is a mind reader and dominates the political arena.

As for powerful artifacts, they can give the holder the power to fight against extraordinary beings. Such as defeating demons and fighting fallen angels.

"Then, among the powerful artifacts, there are thirteen artifacts that are too powerful and cannot be compared with other artifacts in any case. In theory, they can even give the holder the ability to kill gods, so they are singled out When they were taken out, they were collectively called [God-killing tools]."

"One of them is called [Sekiryuutei's Cage Hand (boostedgear)] - that is the thing that resides in you now, and it is also where my soul resides."

"Zheng————!"

Following Ddraig's explanation, a burst of red light suddenly lit up in front of Alexia, and then a red gauntlet with a green jade on the front, which looked like a ferocious dragon's claw, appeared in front of him. before his eyes.

"Is this the Sekiryuutei's cage hand?"

Alexia stretched out her hand and touched the gauntlet out of curiosity.

"Crack!"

A stinging pain suddenly came over!

Alexia subconsciously took her hand back: "Is this... is it rejecting me?"

I can feel a strong sense of rejection.

Ddraig shook his head slightly.

"No, you said the opposite."

"That's the opposite?"

"Artifacts basically don't have the right to choose themselves, even if it's a divine annihilation tool. Even if it contains my will and soul that are sealed into the artifact, the artifact will not exclude anyone. The artifact will only let itself be in a place. It lives in another host, and once the host dies, it will go to the next host, and there will never be a situation of rejecting the host."

Ddraig pointed at Ixia: "It's the opposite. It's not the God's Killing Gear that's rejecting you, but your soul that's rejecting the God's Killing Gear - didn't I just say that? I was kicked out. , you may not realize it yourself, but your soul has been repelling me and refusing to let you be my host."

(My soul...is rejecting this artifact?)

Alexia touched her chest in confusion.

"Why?"

"How do I know? That's why I came to ask you personally - but it seems that even I myself didn't realize my instinctive reaction."

instinct.

Alexia looked at the cager in front of her.

(Is it my instinct to reject this artifact? Why?)

"Okay, it's your turn to make the choice, partner."

"...Choice? What choice?"

Ddraig pointed at himself and then at Exia: "Of course you have to choose whether you want to accept my existence. Although your instinct is rejecting me, judging from the current situation, you seem to be instinctive and rational. A special being split in two, with the rational side taking over the body.”

"So, if you accept me rationally, then your instinct will stop rejecting and accepting me - having said that, in fact, no matter whether you accept me or not, I will stay with you."

"What's the meaning?"

"As I just said - the artifact will only move to the next host when the host dies. My previous host was the boy who was killed. After his death, I transferred it to you. Although Now I am being repulsed by you, but the artifact itself and I have indeed developed a connection with you."

Ddraig explained.

"This connection will only be interrupted when you die. Before that, I will maintain a sense of detachment from you. Of course, you can't use my power, and I can't leave you. It's a kind of relationship between you and me. It’s quite a troublesome situation.”

"...That is to say, no matter whether I reject you or not, the final result will be that you stay with me, right?"

"That's right. This is the rule set by the God who created the artifact, the God of the Bible—it's causing you trouble."

Well, it is indeed a big trouble.

I didn't expect that something like this would happen as soon as I came to this world. Being hosted by an artifact born in this world. In a sense, it was the same as in the previous world, where Loki was half-forced and half-voluntarily inscribed with God's favor. The situation is the same.

[Perhaps, x exists because I hope you can become stronger as soon as possible]

Bishop Otto's conjecture appeared in Xia Xia's mind.

(Could it be that...this is also what Existence x wants to see? Let me accept this artifact.)

Alexia pursed her lips, then looked at Ddraig: "Answer me a question, Sekiryuutei. If I can accept the answer, then I will accept your existence."

"Okay. What do you want to ask?"

"After accepting you and this artifact to reside in me...what can you bestow on me?"

Artifacts, without exception, grant their holders special abilities.

The power to heal others, physical abilities beyond common sense, clairvoyance, mind reading, flame control... As a god-killing tool, the Cage Hand of the Sekiryuutei is said to be an artifact that can theoretically kill gods, and What abilities can be given to Exia?

"strength."

Ddraig's answer was only these two words.

"All I can give you is power, the purest power. After all, I am the embodiment of power. If you accept me, you will gain power."

"strength......"

Ixia muttered this word: "Is that...the power that can defeat all disasters and protect the people I want to protect?"

"Who knows? It depends on how you want to use it." Ddraig grinned, "Do you want power?"

"Yeah, I want it."

After smiling lightly and getting a satisfactory answer, Ixia endured the stinging and repulsive feeling and put her hand on the cage hand.

"I accept you, Ddraig. I hope you can give me the power I want."

"Oh! Please give me more advice, partner!"

4. Rias Gremory

No matter what kind of creature it is, once it lives for a long time, it will see things that it has never seen before.

Although Ddraig is said to have died a long time ago, he has indeed seen a lot of interesting things while living in his own artifact as a soul body for so many years, but even with it, he has not been exposed to it in the true sense. This is the first time for an existence from another world.

Not to mention becoming the opponent's artifact.

In the world made of flames, Exia's figure has disappeared. After accepting the cage of Ddraig and the Sekiryuutei, his consciousness was sent back by Ddraig. After all, it was originally just to discuss with him. The symbiotic boarding incident had brought him back to consciousness, so of course he should be let back now.

"So...now I can finally meet you, right?"

Ddraig looked in a certain direction in the flame world.

Because of Exia's acceptance, it can actually be said to be in his soul world now. Although its body is still in the artifact, its consciousness can be connected.

"..."

no respond.

Ddraig smiled: "What's wrong? You kicked me out as soon as we met each other before, but now you don't speak?"

"Crack——————!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a strong burst of extreme cold suddenly burst out from somewhere in the flame world, and the blazing flames instantly weakened by more than half in the extreme cold! Some of them were even directly frozen into ice cubes!

【So annoying】

A voice full of dissatisfaction sounded from somewhere in the arctic realm.

Then, as if a kick directly crossed the space, a figure appeared in front of Ddraig without warning.

"Here he comes."

Ddraig looked at this figure.

【Get out of here】

The figure said coldly.

[I (Kaslana) don’t need you, get out of here]

"Is it appropriate to have such an quarrel? As the leader, you have already accepted me. Even if I want to leave, I can't - I don't have any ill intentions. From now on, I will just be a weapon in his hands, just to make him stronger. Props.”

"In this regard, I think our goals are the same. After all, he himself said that he wants power."

That was Aixia's most sincere thought.

Like any previous host of Sekiryuutei, he has the purest pursuit of power, and since he has this idea, the figure in front of him, who is the same existence as him, should also be the same.

【...then stay out of the way】

The figure is still cold.

[That guy (me) accepts you, but it doesn’t mean that I accept you. Who cares if you are the Second Heavenly Dragon or the Red Dragon Emperor? You are only the third one here anyway - don’t hinder that guy’s growth and progress. Otherwise I will kill you. 】

[You may be stronger than me in the real body, but here, I am stronger than you]

"How dare you say that, boy." Ddraig couldn't help laughing, but it was in the shape of a dragon, and it was actually impossible to tell whether it was smiling from its facial expression. "I'm really curious why you guys would It becomes two existences. I have never heard of a situation where instinct and rationality are divided into two."

[Tsk...boring]

After curling his lips, the figure disappeared into the realm of frost, and as it left, the frozen and suppressed world of flames gradually began to burn vigorously again.

"Hahaha, interesting - I really met an interesting host this time."

"I'm starting to look forward to what kind of Sekiryuutei he will grow into."

————————————————————————————————————

at the same time.

real world.

After accepting Ddraig, Alexia's consciousness returned to her body, and as she opened her eyes, the first thing that came into view was the old-looking ceiling.

"Well....."

Holding her head and supporting her body with her hands, Alexia looked at herself in confusion: "I am..."

"Ah la ah la, the guest has woken up, Minister."

Someone's voice rang in my ears.

Alexia followed the sound and saw two figures she didn't recognize on another sofa directly opposite the sofa she was lying on.

No, it can't be said that they don't know each other. One of them, Ixia, still has a little impression. He had seen him before he was dragged into the world of flames by Deli.

"Long red hair, green eyes...you are the one from before-"

"It seems that you still remember me, so we can communicate easily, Mr. Alexia Kaslana."

The red-haired girl had a confident smile on her face.

This smile was familiar to Alexia, as Bianca and Rita often wore it.