The air still felt hot even as the night grew later. Hayato let out a long sigh, looking at the pink-haired alien girl still standing soaking wet in the middle of his bathroom. A sense of absurdity assaulted him again, but this time he chose to act.
"Put this on for now," he said, tossing a clean towel towards Lala. The girl caught it with quick reflexes, her eyes still sparkling with curiosity.
"By the way, my name is Hayato Hayama. I'll step out first. You can… shower or whatever you need."
Without waiting for an answer, Hayato stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door gently. Behind the door, he heard the sound of Lala humming cheerfully.
He shook his head, then hurried to his room to put on clothes—a gray t-shirt and long pajama pants. At least now he felt more… covered.
"SERA," he called in his mind, sitting on the edge of the bed.
The silver AI hologram appeared quickly, her expression a mix of worry and curiosity. "Host? What's happening? Has the Alien Princess left?"
"No," Hayato answered shortly. "Activate Arc of Embodiment Tier 2."
"Upgrading a Tier requires system approval and fulfillment of—"
"I know. But with the current situation, with Zastin and possibly Gid coming, I need more than just Tier 1. What's the maximum Tier to unlock this Arc's full potential?"
SERA then typed on a virtual hologram keyboard, "Analyzing…"
"Conceptual data indicates 5 main Tiers. Tier 5 is the 'absolute mastery' level, where the user could theoretically rewrite reality with their imagination, though there are still universe-level constraints."
"And the difference between Tier 2 and Tier 3?"
"Significant, Host. Tier 2 allows manifestation of more complex objects and effects with better energy efficiency. But Tier 3…" The AI sounded almost sparkling.
"Tier 3 opens the door to 'conceptual attacks'. Not just manifesting a sword, but manifesting 'the concept of a sword that cuts fate'. It's a step from manipulating matter to manipulating abstract ideas."
"How to upgrade to Tier 3?"
SERA showed her data, "Usually through completing major missions, or… significantly altering the story flow. The Host just did that by diverting Lala's arrival. Perhaps…"
Suddenly, without warning, a large blue system window exploded before Hayato, accompanied by a notification sound more majestic than usual.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
Arc of Embodiment has reached a power threshold.
The system will perform an upgrade to Tier 2…
Identifying magic stability... [✔]
Synchronizing with user consciousness...[✔]
Compressing Conceptual Data...[✔]
Integrating AI SERA...[✔]
[SUCCESS] Arc of Embodiment: Tier 2 Activated
A strange sensation washed over Hayato's body. Not heat or cold, but like a subtle wave of resonance flowing from his head to his toes. He felt more… connected.
With the air, with the space around him, even with the abstract concepts in his mind. The mental burden when manifesting something felt drastically reduced.
SERA floated happily, clapping her virtual hands. "Congratulations! Tier 2 is now active~" Her voice was cheerful.
"Now you can manifest more crazy… ehm, I mean creative things! But don't forget, system monitoring increases with Tier upgrades. So, don't make a mini nuke in the kitchen, okay!~"
Hayato ignored the sarcasm.
Suddenly, the sound of a small machine humming came from the window, which turned out not to be fully locked. A small white robot flew in anxiously.
"Lala-sama! Lala-sama! I've been searching everywhere! Where have you been?" the robot's voice was high-pitched.
The bathroom door opened. Lala was now wrapped tightly in the towel, her pink hair flowing down. "I'm here, Peke. No need to worry."
The robot named Peke immediately attached itself to Lala's hair. "Wow! So wet! Let me help!" A beam of light emanated from the robot, and in an instant, Lala's clothes—her signature pink and white alien outfit—were neatly covering her body, her hair dry and shiny.
"By the way, who is this human?" asked Peke, its small camera lens pointing at Hayato.
Lala smiled widely, hugging Hayato's arm. "My fiancé! I'm going to marry him. I don't want to be forced into marriage by Father anymore. Most of the candidates he proposes just want to use my status, or… only desire me." Her innocent words made Hayato flinch slightly. So honest, so naive, yet revealing the bitter reality she faced.
Hayato was just about to sigh, imagining the chaos to come with Lala's crazy inventions flooding his simple home, when—
BAM!
The front door was slammed open roughly.
Three figures stood in the doorway. In front was a man with short gray hair, with sharp blue eyes, wearing black-silver armor that looked highly advanced yet classic.
His expression was stern and slightly concerned. "Princess," his voice was deep and authoritative. "Where have you been? Please follow Father's orders."
Zastin.
Behind him, two other guards—a large blonde man with sunglasses, Maul, and a slimmer man with black hair, Smutts—stood in alert stances.
Hayato felt a headache coming. "Can we talk about this calmly and in a sitting position?" he said, trying to sound calm.
"I'm too lazy for you to destroy my stuff."
Zastin looked at him coldly, his gaze dismissive. "Human, this is not your concern."
But Lala stepped forward, still hugging Hayato's arm. "I don't want a forced marriage! I've decided I want to marry him!"
Zastin closed his eyes for a moment, as if holding back patience. When he opened them again, there was a flash of resolve. "I see. Very well. But whether he is worthy or not… I will test him."
The air in the room changed. Hayato felt the pressure increasing. He knew Zastin was not a pushover. In canon, he is one of Deviluke's strongest warriors.
But Hayato was no longer a helpless NPC either.
His mind worked quickly. Physical strength? No chance of winning. But Arc of Embodiment Tier 2… he needed something that wouldn't just stop, but also declare dominance.
He remembered the pain in his back, the cold of the knife, the empty stare of his friend. He remembered the burden of distrust he carried. Not just a physical burden, but a burden of the soul.
'Gravity,' he thought. But not just for the body. For the soul too.
Hayato looked straight into Zastin's eyes. His voice came out flat, yet echoed strangely in the small room. "Kneel."
He didn't shout. Just one word.
And the world seemed to obey.
THUD.
The sound was loud, echoing. Zastin, Maul, and Smutts—three of Deviluke's elite warriors—knelt simultaneously on the wooden floor.
Not just their knees bending. Their entire bodies were pressed downward, as if forced by an invisible, immensely heavy burden.
Zastin's face contorted, not just from the physical pressure, but also from a sense of déjà vu attacking him. This… this reminded him of their King, Gid Lucione Deviluke, when the king was in a rage.
Hayato stepped slowly closer to the pinned figures. His voice was still flat, but each word felt like a hammer.
"My power is Arc of Embodiment. Materializing everything from my imagination, though still limited. I don't fight with physical strength, but with absurd imagination." He paused, standing right in front of Zastin who struggled to lift his head.
"I could have planted micro-bombs in your heads without you noticing, and detonated them if I triggered them. I have many ways to kill someone effectively. Not defeat. but Kill."
The wood under Zastin's knees began to creak, crack, then snap with a loud sound. The warrior groaned, the pressure on his soul feeling more torturous than the pressure on his body.
As if all his failures, doubts, and burdens of loyalty were weighed and found too heavy.
"Is… that enough?" asked Hayato.
"E… enough…" Zastin hissed, his breath ragged. "I… acknowledge."
Hayato sighed, then dispersed the concepts of gravity and soul pressure with a thought. The sensation was strange—he hardly felt tired.
His power was only slightly drained. Is this the Tier 2 difference? he thought in awe. Then, what about Tier 3? Could he truly create an invisible sword that not only cuts matter, but cuts existence?
Zastin, Maul, and Smutts were panting, sweating coldly, their legs still trembling as they slowly stood up.
"Alright," said Hayato, returning to his normal tone. "Can we talk? Of course, sitting in the living room."
Zastin nodded, his face full of newfound respect. "Very well."
Lala, who witnessed everything, her eyes shone with admiration and deeper interest. This man… was so different. His power was mysterious, his method was not rough but very effective. He wasn't interested in power or showing off. Why?
---
Hayato went to the kitchen to prepare tea. While filling the kettle, he tried to manifest a cup of tea using his power. He imagined green tea in a white ceramic cup.
A cup appeared. Its contents were green liquid. But when he tasted it… it tasted weird. Too bitter, almost like boiled grass water, with an incorrect aroma. He discarded it.
'So it's not that easy,' he thought.
To create perfect food or drink, he needed to know its exact composition, taste, even texture. Without deep details, the result would be abstract, incomplete, or "wrong." His power needed understanding, not just blind imagination.
Finally, he made ordinary tea the conventional way. He brought four cups to the living room, placing them on the low table.
"Lala," he said while sitting. "Connect a communication with your father. Let's talk everything out here." He turned to Zastin.
"Please have some tea first, Zastin. Calm yourselves."
Zastin was surprised. "You… know my name?"
"Yes," Hayato answered simply. "Just a little."
Lala nodded cheerfully. "Okay!" From a device on her arm, a small holographic projector emerged.
Light gathered, and in a few seconds, the hologram of a figure—or more precisely, a boy with black hair and red eyes—appeared, sitting on a ship's throne.
"Lala," the voice of Gid Lucione Deviluke, the actual centuries-old Emperor of Deviluke, sounded annoyed yet full of affection. "Why do you keep running away?"
"It's because Father keeps forcing stupid decisions on me!" Lala pouted.
"I don't want a forced marriage! I've decided I want to stay on Earth and marry Hayato!"
Gid shifted his gaze to Zastin. "You failed again?"
Zastin, Maul, and Smutts immediately stood at attention, giving a military salute. "Apologies, Your Majesty Gid. We… have been defeated."
Only then did Gid's sharp, powerful gaze shift to Hayato. "Human. Do you know the situation of your planet? I thought Earth was a small, backwards planet. But… it harbors something dangerous." His voice became serious.
"I see a being sealed with seven heads and ten horns, even having many wings. The other one… a great red dragon sleeping in another dimension."
Hayato stood up slowly. His hands clenched tightly at his sides. A burden—not physical, but a heavy responsibility—suddenly pressed on his shoulders. Heavier than any protagonist in this world had ever felt.
[So Gid can see Trihexa and Great Red. An unexpected situation. 666, or called Trihexa. Then Great Red, the Guardian of the Dimensional Gap. That's just the beginning.] His mind raced quickly, full of anxiety.
[In the True Novel DxD, Evie Etoulde entered Earth through the Dimensional Gap and killed Great Red. Not to mention Outer Gods like Nyarlathotep mentioned by Zelretch, or Yog-Sothoth. Especially Cha Yeon-Woo, who might have already succeeded in obtaining all the Black King's inheritances…]
[Cheat powers like unlimited magic or time stop? Those are foolish things. In this multiverse concept, reality can be reversed, even laws erased. What's needed is not great power, but a concept to rewrite reality itself. Arc of Embodiment… is the key. Just think about how the power works, and the underlying laws of physics…]
Lala, who heard the wave of thoughts, fell silent. She didn't understand everything, but the vibrations of anxiety, burden, and determination in Hayato's thoughts felt so strong, so real. As if he was bearing the world alone.
Hayato finally spoke, his voice calm yet full of an unexpected dignity from a human teenager. "My name is Hayato Hayama. Currently, an ordinary human getting acquainted with you, Gid Lucione Deviluke." He paused for a moment.
"What you see is 666, can be called Trihexa. A being with a single instinct: to destroy. The other one is Great Red, guardian of the Dimensional Gap. That dragon won't wake unless something very dangerous threatens the balance."
His eyes looked directly at Gid's hologram. "I possess a power called Arc of Embodiment. Materializing everything from imagination, but currently still limited. I cannot yet unleash its full potential." A deep breath in.
"And on that basis… I request permission to marry your daughter, Lala Satalin Deviluke."
The room was silent. Zastin and the others held their breath.
Gid was silent for a moment, then a faint smile appeared on his lips. "Hoo… Materializing something just from imagination. Is that a joke?"
"I'm not forcing you to believe it," Hayato answered calmly.
"Because currently, my power is indeed still weak. I can't even create living beings, as that violates laws of existence, let alone create a soul."
"Interesting," murmured Gid. "I will test you later. So, Lala…" His gaze shifted to his daughter.
"Are you sure you want to marry this human? He carries a burden you may not even understand."
Lala, without hesitation, stepped to Hayato's side, hugging his arm tightly. "Of course! I don't want to marry anyone else. I… trust him."
Gid closed his eyes, as if considering. Then, he opened them again, and there was a light of approval in them. "Very well. Take care of my daughter, Hayato Hayama. I will come there… later." He turned to Zastin.
"Zastin, Maul, Smutts. Return to the ship. There are other matters to attend to."
The hologram faded.
Zastin and the two guards bowed respectfully towards Hayato and Lala. "We will take our leave, Hayato-dono," said Zastin, his tone now full of respect.
"Please take care of Princess Lala."
Hayato nodded. "Alright. Safe travels."
They left, leaving a small destruction on the wooden floor where they knelt earlier. Hayato looked at it, sighed. "Better to sleep. I'm tired." He began walking towards the bedroom.
"Eh? Aren't we sleeping together?" asked Lala innocently, following him. "We're a couple now, right?"
Hayato stopped, his shoulders rising and falling from a deep sigh. "Whatever."
Finally, in the dark bedroom, Hayato lay on the edge of the bed, giving as much space as possible. Lala cheerfully claimed the rest, lying beside him. Her warmth, her scent like alien flowers, felt strangely comfortable.
"Goodnight, Host. A… long day." The AI's voice sounded soft, almost like a friend.
Hayato closed his eyes. Outside, Tokyo slept. But in another dimension, a red dragon dreamed, a sealed monster shifted in its sleep, and an old wizard laughed, observing the anomaly that had just pulled an alien princess into its orbit.