WebNovels

Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: Easy Labyrinth

As Dio walked down the halls of the school, he felt people staring at him once again. Now that he was aware of the effects of his Beauty of Mortals skill, he couldn't be ignorant by how some of the girls looking at him were subtly rubbing their thighs together and eyeing him up.

"It seems the girls here are quite taken with you, Dio," Nobu remarked. "They were earlier, but they seem even more enticed now~ Maybe you could enjoy some of them before they're inevitably eliminated?"

"Not interested," he told Nobu. "I'm not that kind of man... And, even if I were, I have decently high standards. If I were to go after a woman..." He trailed off. "Then it would have to be a woman around the level of Rin Tohsaka or your own level."

"Good taste," she chuckled. "Good, my Master should have high standards... But, you know, toying with some people lower down on the scale is fun from time to time~"

Dio just shook his head... Truly, Nobu was a Demon. If she wanted something- she took it. If someone stood in her way- they would be cut down. More than victory, having fun was more important. And if people suffered as a result? Then they could only blame themselves for being caught in the crossfire.

Still, it wasn't as though he disliked or hated that about her. Nobu was an avatar of chaos- not literally- and he appreciated that about her, it made her unique. And, even more so, she didn't deceive or lie to others. She bluntly spoke what was on her mind without caring about the consequences.

So, there was no doubt in Dio's mind that Nobu absolutely meant what she said about toying with some of the girls before they died in the Grail War.

"Oh, Dio!" A familiar voice- the voice of his home room teacher at this school- caught his attention as he turned his eyes to the grinning Taiga Fujimura.

"Fujimura-sensei," he nodded respectfully. Even if the teaching had been fake, he had still learned from Taiga as though she were his teacher and he showed her the proper respect due. "Is something the matter?"

"Yes, actually," she nodded. "You see, some scoundrel decided to play a prank and made off with my Kendo Sword. I heard that some people have seen it in the area- can you do me a favour and grab it while you're in there?"

Hm... It seemed that a lot of Fate/Extra elements from the games still crossed over even into the 'real' world.

"Sure," Dio agreed easily. "I'll see if I can find it."

"Thank you!" She grinned happily. "I appreciate your help!"

He just waved her off as he made his way down the hall and turned the corner, facing the school's storage area... The same place that had, once upon a time, only been a wall that only those who could see the door could pass through. Now, it acted as the entrance to the Labyrinth- or the Arena, as others called it.

"Ready, Archer?"

"More than ready."

He pushed open the doors and, for a moment, his vision went white.

When he could see again, he found himself standing at the entrance of the Labyrinth. Various data programs in the form of monsters roamed through the glowing glass hallways. Beyond the labyrinth was a shipwreck, and various fish swimming around- showing they were at the bottom of the sea.

"So, this is the fabled Arena," Nobu materialised beside me and began to look around, resting a musket on her shoulders. A sword was now lazily resting on her hips as her finger tapped the trigger of her gun. "How interesting... But the monsters down here don't seem to be very strong, right?"

"It's for weaker Masters," he told her, remembering what information he could find before he dove in. "Some Masters aren't very skilled and thus can't support their servants. For that reason, monsters are made weaker earlier on. As they destroy monsters, their data is used to provide more spiritrons to both the Master and the Servants, creating a sort of 'levelling up' effect. Once the Chapel is open, people can then take their servants there to perform an 'Alteration of the Soul.' Basically, making adjustments to their Spirit Bodies in order to strengthen them- allowing them to regain access to locked abilities and increasing their stats."

"I see..." Nobu nodded. "In other words, it's to try and even the playing grounds between Servants in the event that one Servant has a more overwhelming disadvantage due to a subpar Master..." She grinned. "Good, it wouldn't be fun if this was too easy."

Dio nodded in agreement. "Of course, stronger Servants can use it as well- though it will take longer for us to see results for obvious reasons... Now then, let me see if I can scout out this Labyrinth without us needing to put in much work."

He tapped on his terminal, creating a holographic keyboard and screen as he began to type. While he wasn't on the level of altering or adding things like some of the other hackers like Rin or Shinji, Dio could at least scan the Labyrinth to find all the items and monster locations.

Luckily, SE.RA.PH didn't see an issue with him simply scanning the arena, and he soon had a 3D model of the arena floating in front of him- with a white light indicating their location in the Labyrinth.

[Spiritron Hacking detected. Billionfold Return Activated.]

HIs eyes widened as, this time, he felt like a dam burst and memories unfamiliar- yet familiar- filled him. Memories of spending countless hours studying hacking, spending years mastering the art... And, becoming so skilled at Hacking that even the Moon Cell itself couldn't stop him from doing anything short of claiming the Grail for himself- the only safeguard it had was protecting its own authority.

Just moments before, he'd made a remark about how he wasn't on the level of Shinji and Rin... And now? Now he was far and above better than them, able to make the Moon Cell all but bow to whatever he wanted.

He knew this was supposed to be a life or death tournament, so he wasn't going to complain about the power up, but... Wasn't this getting to be a bit too much...?

At this rate, he was going to win the Grail War before he'd even defeated Shinji- who was just a small fry compared to the real threats in the future!

He also decided to check the Chatroom shop, just to see how much this new skill was...

Digital Dynasty - 5,000,000,000

Five Billion-!?

Reading the description, however, it made sense...

Control and capable of hacking into anything digital. If it had code, then he could hack it by injecting Spiritrons into it... More than that, he could summon forth Spiritrons and Data outside the Moon Cell now and use them to create Digital Constructs that could function in the real world; though, they couldn't be used to hack reality or anything absurd like that...

"You okay, Dio?" Nobu asked him, causing him to snap out of it. "You've just been staring into space... Oh, did that thing activate?"

"Uh, yes, yes it did," he nodded. "Put simply... I've gone from a novice hacker to the best hacker... I can make the Moon Cell essentially do anything except for handing over the grail."

Nobu's eyes widened and then lit up in delight. "Really!? Then give me some Dango! Prove it!"

He looked at her... He could probably kill the enemy master right now, and she wanted him to make her some Dango...?

Yep. Classic Nobu.

A few key presses later, and he and Nobu walked through the Labyrinth together while she happily munched on a stick of Dango with a grin. "So, Dio, what's your wish for the Grail?" She asked him. "Just realised I never asked."

"Truthfully, I haven't thought about it," he admitted. "Before I had this ability, I was just going to do everything I could in order to win... But now, suddenly, I'm probably going to, and I guess I haven't processed it yet."

"Fair enough," she nodded.

"What about you? What do you desire from the Grail?"

"Feh!" She snorted. "I have no desire for the Grail. I only answered your call because I wanted to have some fun in this Moon Cell place. Maybe I'll create some sort of space similar to Sengoku or Azuchi-Momoyama period and call all my retainers back for a big party... Maybe I'll call Saru and Chacha back for a Drink together or maybe call that deranged Mitsuhide for a scolding and then a drink."

He couldn't help but chuckle and lifted his hand, patting her head even though her hat was in the way. "You don't care at all about how your story ended, huh?"

She just grinned at Dio. "I lived. I conquered. I died. Simple as that. I lived knowing the chances I'd get betrayed were possible. I took every step knowing it could be my last. That was how Oda Nobunaga lived."

"I almost envy you," he told her. "Almost. But I like being me."

She just laughed and aimed her musket as we passed by a monster, obliterating it in a single shot. "Enough reminiscing- we're after the Cipher, that Kendo stick, and whatever else we find along the way, right?"

Dio merely nodded.

The Labyrinth for the both of them? A complete joke. They ran through the monsters with no problem, grabbed every Data Cube containing an item they could find- including the Cipher Key and Taiga's Kendo Stick- and stepped through the exit in no time at all.

When the two stepped out of the Labyrinth, it was dark out. While some masters were out and talking, many had gone to their rooms in order to get some sleep.

"Hm? How strange, I didn't feel we were in there very long," Nobu murmured, tilting her head.

"Time is strange in the Labyrinth," he told Nobu. "You can be in there for minutes, or you can be in there for hours- but when you come back out, the sun will have fallen. It's to prevent various Masters from sneaking into the Labyrinth late at night and just killing monsters all night in order to get an advantage- everything is fair. Unfairly fair, one could say, but still fair."

She merely hummed and nodded, accepting Dio's explanation as they walked up the stairs and returned to their room.

Dio immediately put his new hacking skills to good use. He transformed the room into a more traditional Japanese room while still keeping the theme that Nobu was going for and instead replaced the tables and chairs with an actual bed frame and some regular chairs. Plenty of room for them to decorate.

He also kept the single bed, because Nobu had asked for a single- so they were sharing the single.

Nobu grinned. "Wonderful! You even got Tatami Mats!" She walked around on them. "Feels just like home~"

"I'm glad you like it," he told her. "Are you a servant who likes to sleep, or do you prefer staying awake?"

"Obviously I like sleep..." She smirked. "I should warn you though, Master, I sleep nude~"

Dio froze in place momentarily... However, he quickly regained control of himself and smiled at her. "Funny you say that- so do I."

She merely laughed. "Great!" She grinned and began to strip down out of her clothes without a care in the world.

He couldn't help himself- he watched... She may not be as busty as some other servants like Francis Drake, but Nobu's chaotic beauty was something to behold. It wouldn't surprise him if some people mistook her for an angel before they got a good look at her wicked eyes.

Dio was about to strip down himself, before he paused and threw a punch out of curiosity.

[Martial Arts detected. Billionfold Return activated.]

Memories. Countless memories of training- throwing punches, kicks, grappling, and more- all filled his mind. A style forged on pure instinct and hours of training. No form, no rhyme or reason- just finding what worked and discarding what didn't.

Warmth spread through his body, feeling his body was a bit tighter than usual...

He slowly striped down, and he glanced down at himself...

Abs. He now, suddenly, had abs... No, more than that, his body had become toned in seconds. Billionfold Return hadn't just given him knowledge and technique in Martial Arts.

Now, it had built up his body according to it as well. Implanted the muscle memory so he could perform techniques without even thinking about which one he would need.

He dropped his pants, and he saw Nobu staring at him and licking her lips very slowly as she stood there. Her black hair flowed down her body like an ebony waterfall, her red eyes glowing like a pair of crimson suns.

"Well then, Master, let's go to bed, shall we?~" She purred out.

He took a deep breath and nodded in agreement, climbing into the bed first and lying down.

Nobu climbed in after him, climbing right onto his chest with her leg laying between his legs- pressed right up against him with a smirk as she rest her head on one of his pectoral muscles.

If Dio was someone else, he would think this was fast for Nobu... In truth? This was perfectly in her wheelhouse- just seeing something she wanted, and doing whatever it was she wanted.

"Nice and comfortable~" She purred out. "Goodnight, Dio~"

"Goodnight, Nobu," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her and gently rubbing the top of her head as the two cuddled.

But while Nobu drifted off, Dio stared straight ahead.

[Dio: Sorry if I made you all worry, I'm back now.]

It was time to get back in the chat.

***

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