A/N:
" ": Dialogue,
' ': Thought,
[ ]: System, Akasha, Minerva,
"Italicized text": Telepathy,
| |: Artificial Intelligence,
"Bold text": Shadows & Deathborns.
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Narrator POV
A week had gone by since Dante and Shiraori had disappeared, and Sung Jin-Woo was wondering where exactly they had gone to, when a window from the system that Nexus had implemented throughout the universe opened in his vision. In the window was a white and red envelope which had the simple description; |Invitation.|
Before he could tap it to see who had sent it, Sung Jin-Ah burst out of her room. "Oppa! Did you get yours too?" She shouted with barely veiled glee. Park Kyung-Hye came out of the kitchen with a spatula in her hand and a dark look on her face. "Jin-Ah, what have I said about needlessly shouting in the house?" She said as her S Rank aura bore down on Sung Jin-Ah, who was an A Rank.
"S-Sorry, Mom!" Sung Jin-Ah shouted again, and quickly put her hand over her mouth, but the damage was done. As a vein in her head popped, Park Kyung-Hye, wielding the spatula with an uncanny proficiency, whacked her daughter over the head, eliciting a yelp from Sung Jin-Ah.
"She's talking about the invitation that she, I and possibly you have all received." Park Kyung-Hye said as she took a paper towel and wiped the spatula.
"I see. I just got mine, so let me just check it." He said then tapped the envelope. |You have been invited to the wedding ceremony of Dante Invictus and Shiraori Invictus, which will be taking place on the 999th floor of the Tower of Ascension. PS: It starts at 1:00pm, Jin-Woo. So don't pull your 'fashionably late' shenanigans. Teleport to 999th floor now? |Yes/No|| After reading the message, his eyes widened, then a smile crept onto his face.
"Sooooo… What'd yours say?" Sung Jin-Ah said, her curiosity practically emanating off her. "Nothing special." Sung Jin-Woo said as he got up from his seat, pushing his little sister's face away on the way up. "Well, I'm heading out. I'll go ahead and see how Hae-In's doing." He said, and his mother waved her hand with a small smile.
"Just make sure not to be late, Oppa. You have made a bad habit of being 'fashionably late'." Sung Jin-Ah said with heavy air quotes and a smug smirk. Sung Jin-Woo let out a small laugh, then teleported away to the front of Cha Hae-In's home and used the intercom to call to her. In less than 20 seconds, Cha Hae-In had opened the door, dressed in a tank top and shorts, a look that Sung Jin-Woo was starting to grow familiar with.
She quickly dragged him inside, not wanting to have her current state of dress exposed, then slammed the door shut and locked it. "I take it you got your invitation too." Sung Jin-Woo said calmly. "Yeah. You'd think that they got engaged long ago, with how close the wedding ceremony is." Cha Hae-In said as she briskly walked to her room to do a quick cleanup.
After 15 minutes, Cha Hae-In came out of her room, freshened up and clean. "So, shall we?" Sung Jin-Woo said, with his invitation out. "Yeah." Cha Hae-In responded as she brought out her invitation. The both of them tapped "Yes", and they were instantly teleported from Earth into the penultimate floor of the Tower of Ascension.
…
Earth's human populace had undergone drastic changes since the integration of the System and Tower of Ascension. In Sung Jin-Woo's family, they had all not only all become high-level awakened, but they had also all gotten special classes. Sung Jin-Ah, their youngest, had become an Elemental Mage, having the power to manipulate all elements, Park Kyung-Hye had become an Arch Guardian, an extremely powerful and versatile defensive class, and Sung Il-Hwan had become a Reaper, a legendary Assassin-based class.
Yu Jin-Ho had also been given a special class, becoming a Lumos Knight, which amplified his strength, as well as his light elemental affinity. The Rulers' vessels all received boosts and classes that not only increased their innate strength, but also made them more capable of containing the powers of the Rulers.
But none of these could compare to the absurdity that went on within the Tower itself. Within the tower, on all floors, regardless of where anyone looked, were Magic Beasts; intelligent Magic Beasts. And despite the largely shared perspective of Magic Beasts only having unbridled hostility towards humans, the interactions between Magic Beasts and humans was for the most part, peaceful.
This was mainly because they had all been given the knowledge of the looming threat of the Itarim and how killing each other would only serve to aid the Itarim's plans. When the Magic Beasts found out how the Itarim treated their subordinates, they dismissed all thoughts of revolting against Nexus' Ascension System.
This led to them having a begrudgingly cooperative relationship with humans, and vice versa. But with the creatures of the Tower treating them the same regardless of their race, both humans and Magic Beasts were on the way to having a genuinely amicable relationship, rather than one that hinged purely on the desire to survive.
…
Up on the 999th floor of the Tower of Ascension, a scene that would shock anyone from this universe was taking place. Dante was dressed in an all-white three-piece suit, with a red necktie and pocket square, with a pale-skinned man with red eyes and blue hair helping him readjust his jacket. Another man who had black skin and red eyes was dressed in black armor and a cape. These were Merazophis Keren and Güliedistodiez.
Dante and Shiraori had gone back to their homeworld to invite the beings they were close to and those they saw as family to their wedding, and to also make it easier for them to reach them in Sung Jin-Woo's universe, Dante also linked their world in particular to Nexus, which in turn, linked them to the Ascension System and the Tower of Ascension.
This allowed for the absurd scene that was taking place now to occur. Shiraori's mother and her sister Queen Taratects were far in the background, but if one looked very closely, they would notice that each of them was controlling threads that were attached to a single human figure. Each of the Puppet Taratects was also present, and so were Ariel, Sariel, Wrath and Sophia, who was with her two daughters: Anna and Tess, were all present.
Even the demon commanders that Dante and Shiraori trained were present, with Phelmina gushing over how dazzlingly beautiful Shiraori had become. On the side of Sung Jin-Woo's universe, Sung Jin-Woo himself was present. So were his family, Cha Hae-In, Yu Jin-Ho and Song Chi-Yul, and Go Gun-Hee, who Dante and Shiraori had allowed to bring Woo Jin-Chul.
The floor itself had a beautiful environment, with healthy green grass, flowering vines that sprawled about on the ground, and trees with white bark and purple leaves. Far in the distance, large obsidian monoliths with inscriptions on them dotted the background, adding a more mystical touch to the environment.
Up in the clear blue sky, a few dragons flew about, each of them holding great power over a single element. These were the Dragons from Maera that served directly under Güliedistodiez. So, the chiefs of each dragon tribe on Maera: Hyuvan, Nia, Guen, Gakia, Iena, Gouka, Byaku and Güliedistodiez's closest aid, Reise, were all in their dragon forms, roaming the floor, with Gakia being the only one on the ground, as even Iena, the chief of the water dragons back on Maera, was flying in the sky alongside her fellow chieftains.
Walking amongst the multiple guests were Nexus and Aurora, with Nexus using his spirit body, and Aurora using an android body. Nexus looked at the Maera natives with interest, as they were beings from the same homeworld as his creator, while Aurora looked at some of them with nostalgia, as she was present in Maera, just as a more rudimentary AI. Well, rudimentary only by Dante's perception.
*Aurora's android body*
While this was a wedding, no one was under the illusion that it would go down in the ways that they were familiar with. Dante and Shiraori came from wholly different cultures before their rebirth, and have witnessed and experienced the culture of an entirely different world and another country. They decided that they would simply profess their love for each other and celebrate their union with their friends.
Eventually, the time hit 13:00, and the celebration began. A heavenly tune played, that caressed the ears of everyone there, appealing to all of them without bounds. When they all turned to find its source, they saw one of Dante's clones playing an acoustic guitar, while Dante himself began singing his rendition of a song that most people from his Earth would have recognized: Ed Sheeran's Perfect.
Shiraori walked out to Dante, wearing a frilly wedding dress, with a translucent veil over her face, a bouquet of red, fluorescent irises in her left hand, and a pair of white high heels on her feet. She ran to Dante and threw her hands around him, planting a deep kiss on his lips. With his mouth occupied, his clone continued singing without missing a beat.
After thirty seconds, Shiraori released Dante from the kiss, and her lips widened into a smile. "How long did it take you to get that good at music?" She said telepathically to him. "Not long at all. I simply created every single musical instrument and played a few notes on them. But I wanted to make sure I had my best ready for you." He replied, as he gently placed his forehead against hers.
As his clone continued singing, Dante gently took Shiraori's right hand in his, with his other hand on her waist. Understanding his intentions, Shiraori tightened her grasp on his hand, and held his back with her left hand, as she used her Psychokinesis to hold the bouquet over their heads.
They broke into a romantic, passionate dance that combined the waltz and rumba, but that wasn't the most fascinating part of their dance. As they danced, the environment around them morphed, shifting to create a resplendent backdrop, a physical piece of their love made solely for others to witness and be in awe of.
Their movements were masterful, elegant, and unbelievably passionate, yet they held a level of restraint that caused those watching to want to witness more. The scene could only be described as magical.
Their dance went on for the next few minutes, mesmerizing the audience with their movements and planting an unusual sense of awe in their hearts, until the music eventually stopped. Although the dance hadn't even gone on for up to five minutes, everyone felt like they had been lost in the spectacle for years.
The pair looked at each other lovingly. "Shiro. From the moment I met you, I knew that I wanted to be with you for the rest of my eternity. Even if it would have meant having to go through hell to do so, I would have done that and more to be by your side." Dante began speaking, as his right hand began moving towards his chest.
"No matter what the future has in store for us, I want you to know that nothing and no one would ever stop me from loving you." He said as a crystalline heart that glowed gold, with specks and whirls of light that looked like a resplendent cosmos floated out of his chest, his heart. The heart compressed and shifted, eventually being reformed into a black and gold ring with a blue gem as its center stone, and two white gems as the side gems.
Shiraori looked at the ring speechlessly, then smiled as she pulled out an eye, as well as her own Heart of the Cosmos, with her Divine Dragon Heart, used Psychokinesis to do just as Dante had done, turning the three items into a ring. The ring itself was golden, and it had a dazzling red gem with black specks within it as its center stone, and just like the ring Dante made, had two white side gems.
"Why would you put me on the spot like that?" Shiraori asked as she moved the ring that Dante made onto her left ring finger. "You know that I'm no good at public confessions." She said, putting the ring she created on Dante's left ring finger. She opened her mouth, but her words refused to come out. And seeing that she still felt ever so embarrassed by the prospect of saying out loud how much she loved Dante, she decided to show it instead.
As Dante stood up, she kissed him while transmitting her thoughts and feelings with as much intensity as she could manage without her body showing too much... reaction. Dante smiled and hugged her tightly. For the Hunters, they had little to no understanding of what they just saw. The little sense they could make of it was that their actions were staunch declarations of their love for each other.
But for the people from Maera, who had more information about Dante and Shiraori, and were also to an extent, sensitive to psionic interactions, especially Sariel, Güliedistodiez and Shiraori's daughters, they saw their actions for what they truly were; an oath that intertwined them entirely, and couldn't be broken. This was not a simple ceremony, but a truly magical and transcendent ritual to unify Dante and Shiraori for all of eternity.
This brought a bout of celebratory applause from the Maerians, which the people from this universe's Earth soon got caught up in, as they discarded any intent to understand what they were doing, and simply chose to join in the celebration.
After exchanging their vows and kisses, Dante and Shiraori kicked off the party. Dante's clone immediately began cooking monsters from an ID, which most of the Hunters were initially skeptic towards. But as the aroma of the food essentially dug into them, they decided to drop their guards and take a taste of the hearty meal of meat. The explosion of savory flavors struck them harder than they could have ever expected.
Of course, Dante and Shiraori saw that and sighed, knowing that they would very likely never have the satisfaction that Dante's cooking could bring. But since the level of the Cooking skill that was used was much lower than the max, there still existed some hope for them. That, and they wouldn't be subjected to going through a foodgasm.
"Shishou, Sensei. I see that you finally took my advice." Sophia said as she approached them with her daughters in tow, and Merazophis close behind them. "Yeah, and it's the best decision we've ever made so far." Dante said, smiling even though Shiraori was pinching his side while her face had a faint blush.
"Anna, Tess, these two are my Shishou…" She said, pointing to Shiraori. "…and my Sensei." She said, this time pointing to Dante. "Without them, your father and I wouldn't be as strong as we are now. So, make sure you show them their due respect, okay? " She told her daughters, and they nodded.
Anna was a pale little girl with platinum blonde hair and red eyes, looking like the spitting image of her mother in her younger years. And Tess looked almost identical to her sister, save for her blue hair that she had inherited from her father. Thanks to the fact that they were directly descended from Sophia, the progenitor vampire of their world, they also retained her immunity to the usual vampire weaknesses. And they looked cute, to say the least.
Dante and Shiraori looked down at the little girls and smiled, lightly patting their heads and ruffling their hair. "Hey, Mera. I hope Little Sophia hasn't been pushing you too hard." Dante said as he stopped ruffling the girls' hair to greet their father. "Not at all. Ever since the little ones were born, she's more than mellowed out. It almost seems like yesterday when she tried to impale Sanatoria for looking my way." Merazophis said with a laugh.
"Speaking of Sanatoria, how did she and Wrath end up together? I'm practically omniscient, but even that was a surprise to me." Dante said as his eyes quickly darted over to the pair in question, who were making merry with Sung Jin-Ah and Song Chi-Yeol. "I don't know what to say either. Love finds a way, I guess." Merazophis said with a smile.
The party went on for hours on end, with new friendships blooming, and old bonds being rekindled. One of Dante's clones sang Get Lucky while Dante and Shiraori mingled with Sariel, Ariel, the Queen Taratects, the Puppet Taratects and their own daughters. Sariel and Ariel happily wished them well, Shiraori's mother told them to chase their happiness without getting unnecessarily caught up in vengeance like she did. Sophia danced with Merazophis and her daughters.
After thanking everyone for their presence and well wishes, Dante and Shiraori turned to their daughters. "Do you want to come along with us?" Dante asked them. Saya, the leader of the daughters, looked at their parents, then at her fellow half-human, half-spider sisters. After three seconds, they all turned back to Dante and Shiraori and nodded, which caused smiles to blossom on the pair's faces.
After a bout of hugs, kisses and headpats, they returned to partying with everyone else. Although it was a wedding party, everyone implicitly knew that this was also a party to give Dante and Shiraori their heartfelt farewells. And so, after some more time, the party ended with everyone saying their goodbyes.
Dante walked over to Nexus and Aurora, and he patted Nexus' head, quickly sending him a compressed package carrying encouragements and instructions to better streamline the Ascension System. By this point, everyone else had been either sent back to their worlds, or returned to the floor that they were on prior to teleporting to the 999th floor.
After receiving the package, Nexus hugged both Dante, Shiraori and his sisters, Aurora included, then retracted his spirit body. "Well, let's get going on to the next one." Dante said, then teleported everyone away from the tower, leaving this universe to another.
Volume End. [Achievement Unlocked: Maidenless No More – Get married, bozo.]
OMAKE: Making an Isekai protag can't be that hard.
A few days had passed since Dante and Shiraori's wedding, and the pair had consummated their marriage in private. Right now, they were on the Domina with their daughters choosing to, in their words, decorate their rooms.
Dante sat in their bed, his body bare and his hands molding what looked like an orb of light. "Aaaand… done. So this is what a blank soul's like." He said as he observed the soul in his hand. "What're you working on?" Shiraori asked him as she sat up, the only covering on her body being the blanket that covered her crotch.
"A soul." Dante said as he pulled out his Omniversal Encyclopedia, and it flipped to a page with an image showing a world with mystical animals, spirits, and people who could manipulate nature's elements. "Just wanted to try my hand at actually reincarnating a soul in another universe's Saṃsāra cycle." After he said that, another soul seemed to manifest in his other hand.
This one had blue mystical markings on it, with multiple gold-white nodes all over it. He used quantikinesis to duplicate the soul, and returned the original from where he took it. 'You got with my mom, so just take this as us being even.' Dante thought to himself as he fused the blank soul and the copy of the marked soul into one single soul.
With a flex of his will, the Omniversal Encyclopedia flipped over to another page, this one showing a world where a vast majority of humans had gained some ability beyond what one would expect a normal human to be like. "Now, just a little sprinkle of Hypercompetence, Elemental, and just a bit of Adaptation. Now, you're ready." He said with a smile, then opened up a portal and tossed the soul into it.
Shiraori, however, was looking at him with slight exasperation. "What?" He asked. "You just couldn't let that one be normal." She said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, honey. You should know by now that I never do 'average'. It just won't feel right." He said, hugging her and planting a kiss on her forehead. "And besides, in a world like that, I don't think most people would settle for average." He said, sure that the soul he had released would make an indelible mark on that world.
Word Count: 3,469
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