NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23: 21- The Witch Meets Her New Family
Hello everyone,
Please do leave a review on this chapter, since I didn't use AI for editing in this chapter, so I just wished to know whether it is better like this or should I continue to use AI for editing.
If there are any mistakes please do laeve suggestions.
Thank you.
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Chapter 21- The Witch Meets Her New Family
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"Lavinia... stop teasing me. I am not casually bringing home any women; she will be a member of my peerage," I told Lavinia and then signaled a maid to call Rias and Seekvaira. Though I guess her meeting Lavinia is more important, after all, no matter which piece I give her, she would still have to follow Lavinia's orders next to mine since she is my second-in-command. That brings it to my memory—I should slowly divulge my ambitions and plans to Lavinia. After all, she might come to know of it someday, and it is better not for it to come as a shock.
I can also divulge some of it to my family because keeping things hidden is really a pain and will only bring useless stress. Anyways, we are devils, and our moral values are different from that of humans. A little bit of experimentation, even if it involves living things, is not frowned upon as long as it does not harm devils. Even the current Satan, Azuka Beelzebub, often indulges in human experimentation, which is not much of a secret in the noble clans of devils. After all, it is understandable how much experimentation was required to create something like evil pieces, which can change one's race.
The concept of evil pieces reminds me of the karma of the Otsutsuki in Naruto. Maybe I could create something similar. After all, overpreparation is never bad. They could act as resurrection coins, and I could give them to everyone I care for, which would ensure their survival in case of any threat when I am not around. Maybe it could be made so that one can have several people with karma around the world, and in case of death, the consciousness can review and select the person they wish to transform and occupy using karma. It will slowly change the person into a devil, the same way they turn people into Otsutsuki in Naruto.
As for whether it is morally wrong or bad to occupy someone else, I personally don't care. If it can save someone I care about, let alone one, I don't mind sacrificing a thousand people—maybe more. My morals are quite twisted. Although I don't actively commit evil, I don't mind doing it as long as it is beneficial for me. I would claim myself as chaotic neutral. Maybe some would call me a hypocrite, but it is what it is. You can't always pay attention to people's perception of you.
Soon, everyone arrived in the hall, with Rias being the first one to start speaking. "Maximus dear... care to explain why you are bringing back women when you already have me?" Not again... not her too. Why does everyone around me turn this sarcastic? Maybe I really do get irritated easily, and they enjoy it. But this is really new to me. In my past life, I was always either a topper who skipped several classes or a scientist with worldwide renown. No one ever really talked to me like this. I didn't even have someone I could call a best friend in my past life. Thinking about it, I still don't. Maybe I should make some male friends. Though the problem is that most noble male devils around my age are punks—Diodora, Riser, Zephyrdor... every one of them. Though Sairaorg seems like a good idea.
"Rias dear, you know I love you the most. Why do you think I would bring another woman back with me? Are you being jealous, perhaps?" I tried teasing her back, though my skills in the area are clearly lacking. Maybe I should watch more memes and delve into dark humor. Rias just pouted and huffed at me, causing me to laugh a bit. She is really cute. "Anyways, this is Zephine Ravenwood. She is a voodoo witch and a sacred gear user too, and she will be a part of my peerage in the future. And Zephine, this is my fiancée Rias, my Queen Lavinia, and my sister Seekvaira. I will also introduce you to sister Grafiya and the others later." And with me introducing them, suddenly, I was ignored, and they swarmed Zephine.
It was quite the sight, watching Lavinia, a 9-year-old, trying to act as the boss in front of Zephine, a 21-year-old. Though I guess they are getting along quite well. With this, the number of people in my peerage comes down to two, and I already have two more planned—Valerie Tepes and Stephen Hawkings. Now, what makes it quite confusing is what rank to give them. They are both suitable for Bishop, but if I make Zephine a Bishop, then I will have only one Bishop piece left. I guess it's good that I haven't mentioned the piece I would give her.
I will try to recruit them both by the time I get my peerage and will make a proper decision then. For now, it is better to travel the world, know more about it, collect whatever materials I need—or at least know where to find them whenever necessary—and gradually increase my strength too. For me, the greatest problem right now would be my combat experience. I have terrifying raw strength, and my space-time manipulation helps me use it quite efficiently, since for me, it is easy to dodge or predict the entire battle beforehand. But I also wish to train my instincts. If someday, by some chance, my powers don't work or I face someone with similar powers to me, I should still have enough fighting chances.
The diversity of this world makes it both a great place for growth and a dangerous one. Maybe, in some part of the world, some tribal god might just have the ability to kill me, who has space-time powers, but is weak against others, so he isn't famous. I mean, the chances are low, but never zero, right? It's always better to be more prepared. And I also desire to have different abilities, making myself more versatile. After all, I desire to go to different universes in the future. I can't always expect the same powers to work every time—there must be some limitations somewhere.
For this, I already had some plans, but that would have to wait until my relationship with Rias becomes inseparable—or after our marriage. This plan was simply to ask for some of her blood and gain energy amplification and destruction powers from her blood, both of which would be very useful to me, but I didn't want to do this keeping it a secret from her.....yes as I said before, I'm a hypocrite, but I won't harm anyone I love, and although beneficial, it wasn't essential, as I already had peak devil potential.To some extent, my talent was even greater than Sirzechs', since he had peak Super Devil-level energies after the effect of his Gremory energy amplification. Meanwhile, I was certain to reach the same naturally, so the energy amplifier might push me even further. As for Azuka, he barely reached Super Devil level in raw strength. His strength lay in his control and magic and, of course, his personal creation, the Kankara Formula. From what I know of him, he seems pretty similar to me. Maybe we would make good friends in the future.
---end of chapter 21---