It Started With Devils & Artefacts

Chapter 110

As Marcus' technology progressed, it eventually reached the point that it can be called 'Arcane'. This means that the technology is so complex and powerful that it no longer makes sense to an outsider or that they can't see the difference between magic and technology.

Apart from the Triangle suit device, the Assimilators, the comms relay Outside Time flow and the latest tech marvel to join the description of being to Arcane is the almighty Solomon Class Super Dreadnought.

A five-kilometre-long juggernaut, technically capable of blowing up planets anywhere in the Milky Way galaxy if necessary, at any specific time, in the future or the past, with its Diamond Heart Engine-powered Time Engine. The main cannon creates a cosmic ripple effect, like a whiplash, from pure space, thanks to the installed Bifrost Engine.

Such destructive power for the capital ship was not the only thing it could do. It has enough garrison to siege an entire planet or lay waste.

And that is only a single spaceship. Twenty of them are coming with the fleet by request of Marcus. Oh, and he himself has thirty of them already and counting upwards as time moves on.

"These specs… are we fighting some sort of cosmic gods?" Tirpitz asked Enterprise, as they were the ones commanding the ships to be delivered to Cretaceous Earth.

"No idea; there is no specific intel who could be the enemy." The Carrier ship replied with crossed arms as she looked at the front.

The Solomon-Class bridge is an enormous Hall, with a familiar throne as the pair onboard the 01 of the Solomon Class, Marcus' newest Flagship. 

The crew of this ship is seated on three floors—well, more like three steps. With such a design choice at the throne level, there is nothing there to obstruct a complete 180-degree view of the front. 

There is not much to see at the moment apart from the rainbow bridge, which the massive fleet is rushing on. The surroundings are green, with endless cloud-like thingies in all directions.

"Still, to think that such main cannon exists." Tirpitz is a little bit worried about the potential of such warships.

"Well, we had it coming, no? Weaponising Bifrost." The silver-haired carrier showed a strained smile.

"Just the ability to fly by using it is mythworthy, but now our creator decided to pull it up and weaponise it." The battleship commented as she looked at the Super Dreadnought stretching before her. It was so long that she needed to utilise her psionic powers to see the end of the warship.

"True, but think how many battles we can prevent just by showing these warships?" Enterprise, which was created with the idea that it would never be used on the battlefield, could only hope it would work like that.

But such an idea made Tirpitz grimace. What the carrier just described was her service record as a ship.

"Yes… something like that." 

The battleship was perplexed. On one side, battles can be cruel and destructive, something she doesn't want, considering how deadly this spaceship is. On the other hand, she can only imagine the spirit of this ship, desiring to have a chance to prove herself on a battlefield.

~~~

"Is this truly a warship? This is a city!" Hisako said as they took a graviton train to the lift hall, which would take them to the bridge of the new capital ship Sirin had commissioned for herself.

"It's a floating palace, but yes, for someone who desires to rule a vast expanse of cosmos and time, you should expect a large spaceship." The Herrscher was surprised at how big it was as well.

Well, she saw the initial size and design. She even saw Marcus designing it in school a while ago. Now, she's inside it, and all she can say… it's far too large. It didn't give her the feeling that this was a mode of transportation… it was just that big.

It was similar to the latest upgrade for the Daedalus-Class as well, but this time around, it's even more so. It's like they are in a huge palace or a city.

"Yes, but… isn't it too big for someone of our stature? Humans are not big compared to this. It's hard to grasp the sheer scale of such a ship." The chef girl tried to reason about such a scale.

"I suppose, but I am not the one who designed it." It meant nothing to her, even if Sirin agreed to what Hisako said. If she can build something like this, she will. After all, she is far too vain not to have it.

It's just how she is. 

"...Yes, I know." Hisako ended up sighting. She is pretty sure no one will care about her opinion. The girl can imagine herself asking Marcus about the sizes of ships, and Marcus would simply say 'okay' and then proceed to make it even bigger just to annoy her.

"That is why we shouldn't question it." Sirin off-handily commented.

"I intend not to." 

"Good, for now, let's focus on the trip." 

The trip to the lift hall took as long as the conversation lasted; the moment they stopped speaking, the train arrived.

No doubt another perk Marcus' AI added to the warship. 

As the pair left the train, they went to the lift and took a rapid one to the bridge. It lasted a few seconds. As they left the lift, they arrived at a combat centre, where military officers were discussing the last details before departure.

When Sirin saw this, she recalled that the armies also had actual organic commanders. This made it slightly awkward for the chef girl as well.

The pair swiftly passed all the officers who were saluting the pair.

Once they left the command hall, they arrived at an even bigger bridge with enormous windows that gave them a panoramic view.

"...Holy…"

"Don't worry, those are not real windows. Windows like these would be structural weaknesses and prime targets for enemies. Instead, they are projections made through the Realitus crystal system." Sirin explained about the windows.

"I know… but I am saying how big this is… it's tens if not more times bigger than the last bridge….

It's almost as big as Assimilator's Command Centre."

The Herrscher snorted when she heard that.

"Not even close. What you saw in Assimilator was only one floor out of five. Each floor is dedicated to something, from animal collection to military management."

"... That's Good to know," Hisako replied with a strained smile. She was happier not knowing that small detail.

Eventually, the Solomon Class Super Dreadnought proceeded to move out, leaving the Shipyards for its maiden voyage.

~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~

For the first time in her life, Erina knew how Gods felt when they watched people below commit crazy things like, for example, genocide before her.

Truthfully, she never in her life considered how deity would feel after seeing all of this.

It was never her intention.

"Relax~ it's fine." Marcus wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her into a hug.

"I am not stressed or anything like that. I have already gotten used to life and death since we watched the world change so much. What I am reflecting on is the difference between Deities and mortals."

"Oh? Is my Erina becoming philosophical?" He asked with an amused tone.

"No? I guess? All I am saying is that they are just people who watch things from the sidelines. At least you are doing something about it." She slightly frowned while saying that.

"...I don't think comparing anything to my games is a good thing." This time around, he grimaced.

"Yes. It may be a game for you. But, all this genocide will leave many years of stability for these people. They will have an eternal leader, no worries for resources, no more famine or natural disasters–"

"...Only war when I call them." 

She slightly turned around and looked at him.

"I was giving an upbeat speech. Why do you need to interrupt it like that?" she eye-rolled at his interruption.

"Well, you're painting me in a very good light. I started to feel my skin crawl up," Marcus honestly replied to her.

"...Right."

"Anyway, I have something for you~" he took her hands before turning her properly around.

"Since you have been diligently learning magic and feeding me delicious food, I thought I would give you something."

"...you do know, I already have this…" she pointed at her triangle device. This thing she is carrying is starting to 'weigh' more by the day after seeing how people can slaughter for basic power-ups. It has frightened her. If people figure out that she has a source of infinite energy and supernatural powers, well, it's a can of worms she doesn't want to open.

Not that she realised that she wouldn't be able to leave Marcus' side after the trip in the first place.

"Yes, this is a basic gift for exploration, not a personal one." As he said that, above his palm, a ring box appeared. 

"Y-You…w-what are you planning!?" When she saw the ring box, her heartbeat went through the roof.

"...Hmm, maybe to tie you up to myself?" He teased her, making her cheeks explode in deep red.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked her in a teasing tone, making her sweat.

She stiffly nodded at his question. She knew well enough what a ring box could mean to her!

"Regardless, let me tell you what this is."

With a mental push, he opened the ring box, revealing an exquisite golden ring. It was thinner than the ones he had and designed for a female finger.

"This is Ring of Focus."

"...Huh?"

For a second, her mind went blank, and she looked spacey. Did she overthink!?

"Are you disappointed? Did you think of something else?" He leaned forward and whispered into her ear.

"This…well…I mean…"

Erina looked away as she was thinking about white wedding dresses in a church and that kind of stuff… 

Her cheeks were so red that it had reached her ears. Thankfully, her long hair could hide them.

"You know, you could think it that way too." He whispered as there was a smirk on his lips.

He lifted her left hand and made the ring float to her ring finger. 

Erina's eyes bulged out as she saw the ring smoothly fit her finger. A wave of energy washed her over as she felt something had happened.

"W-What is this ring?" She asked him. As for now, she ignored the fact that he either 'married' her or 'engaged' her.

"A copy of one of my Solomon Rings, which assist in magic casting. As you practise the human type of magic, this ring shortens calculations and the deployment of spells. Giving you the same advantages as Devils." He explained to her as he returned to cuddling her in his hands.

"...I see… this is a great gift…" She said while looking at the ring, it has a similar gloss to that of glass or, like a gem, it might look gold, but she doubts this is gold.

"Indeed, It gives you…flexibility, I am sure you will find great use for it." He whispered into her ear as his hands wrapped around her waist.

Erina's blush returned with force as she could feel his body heat. Not only that, but the ring was on her ring finger. That finger… especially on the left hand, is very special…

"...It will…" She nodded at him before gathering the courage to ask about the meaning behind such action.

"...But why…this specific finger?" The cherry blonde asked with a mosquito-like voice.

"I thought we discussed those circumstances before. After all, Erina Nakiri belongs to me. This is like marking my territory." His right hand went from her waist and to her cheeks. His left hand went to her leg and picked it up, then he moved and made her lean against the wall.

The girl realised that things were getting out of hand and she started to panic!

"W-Wait… I understand. Thank you for clarifying this for me. I am very happy about this, and well…" She tried to think of words, but the longer she spoke, the less it made sense as she said whatever was coming to her mind.

Eventually… she gave up…

"...C-Can We do this in… an appropriate place?" She asked him as she looked around… They were on the observation floor, near the Command Centre, and Royal Guards were at each door… It's far too crowded!

"Of course. Let me drown Erina in love…so that she wouldn't question such things again~" He commented before moving her to their shared suite.

~~~~~~Lemon~~~~~~

Marcus laid the beauty on his bed. As his hand went to her triangle device, he casually removed it, making her clothes, made from nanites, simply retreat to the storage area inside the suit device.

With a single action, Erina was naked like the day she was born. The girl slightly bit her lower lip as the suit device is powerful and saves time… However, it is extremely weak when it comes to Marcus; he can casually remove her clothes with a single action.

'Not that regular clothes could make any difference' She can imagine him blasting her clothes away with his psionic powers.

The girl looked at how he got close and joined in the fun as her body started to heat up. After doing naughty things so often, her body already knows what awaits her.

Erina wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him on the lips. Marcus answered back as the pair started a tongue wrestling match. At the same time, the girl could feel his thing starting to rub around her special place, as, just like her, he easily removed his clothes with a simple thought.

"Ohhhh~~~" The cherry blonde softly moaned as she felt a familiar hot rod slip into her tender cave. It was so good that she stopped kissing and moaned into his lips instead.

"Your moans are always music to my ears, Erina~" As he hotly said that, he grabbed her waist and smacked his hips forward, making his cock reach the deepest parts of her velvet cave.

"NHHhh~~~" For a second, her lips morphed into a lewd smile as she felt fireworks explode in her mind. She nearly reached her first climax right there.

'H-He made me into such a lewd girl~~~' 

The beauty for a second thought how much she has changed on this trip. Her being here alone, all of his carnal desires fall on her, and because of that, she is very sensitive to any lewd things he is doing to her!

With another smack, she forgot what she was thinking as pleasure erupted from her pussy. Slowly, the pleasure started to spread through her body as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

The girl couldn't wait any longer; she wanted that seed in her womb.

The lewd smacking sound spread through the bedroom as loud moans erupted from Erina's lips. With a powerful smack, he released his first load of the day.

"Mhnnnn~~ yes, fill me up with your salad cream~~~" The beauty with lustful eyes commented as her body trembled for a second.

Marcus smirked as he loved lewd Erina just as much as proud Erina.

"Let's continue~~~" She spread her legs into M shape as she wanted to feel him more in her.

"My thoughts exactly."

~~~~~~Later, Same Day~~~~~~

After spending a couple of hours in the bedroom, Marcus took his girl to his Confiscator, where the water park was ready for use. He decided to spend some time there and bond with his darling Chef.

Erina, dressed in a black two-piece bikini, looked around. The place was barely in use, and she felt that it was a waste.

"Any reason why you want to use it now?" She asked him as she drank some juice cocktails available from the vendor.

"That's because, Sirin, your assistant and my maids are coming here in… around 5 hours, same with my Ship girls. Since we have a little bit of time, I decided to spend it with you~."

When Cherry Blonde beauty heard that, she blushed… hard!

Her heartbeat went all 'doki-doki', and she could barely control herself.

"I-I see; this is very thoughtful of you~!" She grabbed his hand and took him to the pool. She is going to make every second count!

…

…

…

Marcus and Erina needed to leave the water park when Aurora notified them that the fleet from outside the time flow had arrived. Close to a hundred warships joined his already considerable size fleet.

The pair went to the harbour, where they watched the new arrivals join the formation.

"That one is my new flagship." He pointed at the leading ship. It was dull grey with golden graviton projectors, and the ten-ring symbol at the bottom hull stood out the most.

"...I see." Erina didn't care that much as she hugged his arm. After their stay at the water park, she was like glue, with a dreamy look.

The inventor looked at her with a small smile. Since she doesn't care, he doesn't need to bother with explanations.

As Marcus' new flagship is flying to the docks, the black-haired inventor slowly walks towards the pier itself. He watched how the monstrosity's sharp end touched the very end of the docks and over twenty magnetic hands attached to the hull. After that, the anti-gravity sealed a portion of the ship, allowing the atmosphere to spread and allow people to enter or leave the ship.

'Well, with how massive it is, I need to add more ramps and lifts to accelerate loading off and on.' He forgot that it would take a while for such a size.

But then again, he is not thinking of removing the garrison. The ship can sustain all of its knights indefinitely. 

As he pondered the upgrades, he walked towards the ramp. One of the first people he met was the ship girls he had not seen for close to a month!

"Admiral!!!" Enterprise smiled, seeing him as she swiftly walked over, followed by Tirpitz, who was more restrained than the carrier ship.

"Girls, thanks for bringing over my ships." 

The pair slightly blushed when they heard the thank you. 

"It's nothing. We simply came along, and the crew knows how to fly them." Enterprise played it down, as she was a humble warship, after all.

They wondered what was going on with the chef girl, who was hugging his arm and ignoring them completely.

"Regardless, my thanks. For now, let me help you two catch up on what's going on.

…

…

…

"I see, so another war, but with an alien race." Enterprise hummed in understanding. She then told him some good news.

"It's good because we are getting close to accessing the Golden Armoury." The silver-haired ship girl smiled as she was happy about getting back her ship self.

"Oh? Isn't that interesting?" He looked surprised for a second before pondering on the consequences of this.

"Admiral?"

"Well, you see, Bismarck is already stored in the Golden Armoury." Marcus dropped a small piece of information.

Tirpitz's eyes slightly widened.

"Big sister already ready for deployment!?" The white-dressed girl looked happy to hear that.

"Indeed, since I already have one Bismarck-class, fixing another one was faster than Belfast," he said with a small smile.

"In that case, are you thinking of commissioning a biological model?" Tirpitz asked, almost begging him.

"...Sure." Marcus looked slightly surprised to see her eyes glittering like that! He is not used to seeing his Northern Queen like that.

"Thank you!" 

"Regardless, I am surprised that the relay can already reach modern times." He changed the theme or conversation as he mentally opened his console and went to the option 'create', then 'Biological Model', then 'Ship Girl', and last, the latest one finished, and then selected where to create her. 

"The highway system we are using, you copied the idea of using Bifrost to send information," Enterprise said with a small smile.

"Quinella was impressed that you were able to come up with such a design choice. Information can already travel fast, as it's small and most of the time is energy but coated in space energy? That is hundreds if not thousand times faster." The carrier ship praised him. By this point, Tirpitz had a dreamy look similar to Erina's as she was thinking of hugging his other arm.

"Well, information still needs to travel a distance, so why not make a special corridor? I was thinking like that." He shrugged before grabbing Tirpitz and pulling her closer. He felt her desire to do that.

The Battleship looked surprised for a second before her cheeks exploded in crimson.

"I am psychic, you know." He smirked before looking at Enterprise, who stopped whatever she was thinking and had a blank look for a couple of seconds.

"Regardless, it will take a day for Bismarck to awaken, so let's relax and wait for Sirin to arrive; she has some gifts for me." He pulled his chef girl and the battleship back to his Observation floor.

Enterprise nodded as she looked absent-minded.

~~~

A single Solomon Class Super Dreadnought emerged from a Bifrost bridge as it moved towards the formation of starships and the main piece of the Assimilator, the so-called mothership above the prehistoric Earth.

"That's a lot of spaceships," Hisako commented as she saw rows and rows of ships. Even if they are hundreds of kilometres away, she can see them taking up quite a bit of space!

"Yes. It would seem that the fleet from outside the time flow has already arrived here." Sirin, with crossed arms, commented, slightly annoyed. The Herrscher wanted to be the first to arrive, but it seems that the Jurassic period is further away than she initially thought.

"No wonder! What is he planning to fight with so many of them here?" 

"No idea. But we are here to deliver what he requested of us."

Hisako slightly nodded as she finally saw her Lady! It has been close to a month since she was made to leave with the maids!

As the Super Dreadnought passed the warship formation, it docked next to Marcus' flagship.

The pair walked down the ramp. The first thing they saw was rows of Royal Guards lined up, making way for them. Behind the pair were the handcuffed maids, who looked nervous.

Especially when they see Marcus with his chef girl and his ship girls waiting at the end of the docks.

That disappointed look… the maids can see from miles away.

The first thing Sirin saw was the cherry-blonde chef girl oddly close to Marcus. Her woman instincts were telling her that something happened between them.

'Shouldn't be a surprise… if Marcus was alone with her the whole time.'

The Herrscher was extremely jealous when she learned that Erina had a chance to keep him for herself for close to a month—something she could not get! 

But then, as she got closer, she noticed a golden ring around one of Erina's fingers! 

For a second, the white-haired girl's mind went blank as she realised what this meant!

'T-That human! What kind of sorcery did she use!? That's impossible! She has no powers to speak off! Whatever she got, she got while on this trip!'

Sirin could not comprehend how a simple girl got Marcus to give her a ring. This chef girl had no power; she was a normal mortal before they took her on this trip!

"Hmph!"

She huffed the moment she was in front of him.

"Hmm?" Marcus raised his eyebrow at her. He didn't expect such a reaction.

"Nothing. I present you the criminals who destroyed the North American Continent in Jurassic Earth and nearly exterminated your entire Allosaurus family tree." The Herrscher motioned at the maids behind her.

Marcus' gaze went on them.

"I see. It appears my instructions are inadequate." His voice was soft, but that softness told them that he was simply disappointed and that there was nothing they could do to change it.

There was a certain absolution in a soft voice which made their knees tremble. He doesn't need to be angry or show it on his face; simply telling them is enough for them to feel the pressure.

Well, some hopefuls still think they can change something.

"According to Aurora, Jeanne and Hippolyta started the whole thing." Marcus wanted to confirm how it started.

"Yes." Sirin nodded, but before she could continue, she was interrupted.

"WE only wanted to impress—" Warrior Queen couldn't finish her sentence as no voice came out of her mouth.

"Only speak when you are spoken to." Marcus only needed to sharpen his voice, as his crushing presence made her incapable of speaking.

The other maids started to sweat buckets as this was one of those rare moments when he was very serious. However, it had the opposite effect on Sirin as her cheeks turned rosy.

"Continue." 

"R-Right!" The Herrscher composed as she took a deep breath.

"They decided to play a classic game of hunting, but the moment they found an Allosaurus, they went crazy and started to fight for it.

First Hippolyta and Jeanne, then Le Fay and Atalanta, and lastly… Artemis tried to stop them, but she ended up getting involved." The white-haired girl honestly explained what happened that day.

Marcus gazed at them, scanning for changes in expressions.

"I see."

"Aurora has saved the combat data and found some interesting developments from the suit performance," Sirin recalled what she saw from a distance. The girls achieved some strange Herrscher-like transformations.

"I will check it later." He nodded as he continued to look at them.

"I thought that you girls are more mature than this." The Inventor sighed.

"B-But, Master…" Le Fay tried to explain herself, but his sharp gaze made her tremble from fright… and more.

Her cheeks turned rosy…

"...What? I gave you gifts! Suits which allow you to perform at peak conditions and make menial tasks effortless. I pampered your asses to the point that you became spoiled rotten."

The more he ranted, the more they trembled, as they didn't want to know what would happen to them after this.

"But… we wanted to impress you…" 

"I only wanted to hunt." Atalanta sighed as she wanted to clarify herself.

"I was involved in this as well. All I wanted was to measure the animal hut. Le Fay used magic to tie it down."

The lioness tried to explain herself, but Marcus raised his hand.

"Yes-Yes, all that, but you got swept away to fight either way." He looked at Sirin.

"Only Artemis got forced into it?' The inventor asked his Herrscher.

"Yes. You can say she did the least damage." The white-haired girl didn't lie to him. Honestly, she wouldn't mind them getting demoted to some even lesser tasks, but there is Aurora, who is watching her. Well, she watches everyone, so she can't lie here.

"I see. I suppose for a Goddess, who is used to a considerable amount of power, the suit's abilities influenced her the least, isn't it right?" He asked the Goddess of the Hunt.

"...Yes. I think the nearly infinite abilities of those suits made them… unhinged." It's not the first time Artemis saw someone get drunk on power. 

The worst thing is that such a person could not simply run away with such power, as they were in a very alien world with no means of leaving in sight except back to where they came from.

"So it's my fault?" He raised his eyebrow, asking her.

"...Umm…I am not saying that…" Like hell, she will tell him it's his fault! She doesn't have a death wish or something worse than death!

He then raised his hands in defeat.

"In that case, You four won't be getting gifts from me again." 

At that moment, the four girls looked like someone had sucked their souls out. Thankfully, Artemis is not included. She took a deep breath. She dodged a massive mine right there!

"W-Wait… can we…"

"Nope, I am not in the mood." He motioned with his hand that the conversation was over. 

"Send these four back to Grayfia. I want her to train them not to get drunk on power and to humble them. I am far too disappointed to care about the details." He said to one of his Royal Guards.

"Understood, sir. We shall arrange a spaceship for the trip to the base outside Time Flow." The Commander of the Royal Guards nodded before giving orders to arrange another transport.

Atalanta grimaced as she realised that she indeed messed up. Maybe that feline pride got in the way. She was certain that her position was well secured. However, it appears that this position can be threatened when the entire continent with HIS dinosaurs is endangered.

"Master… It's NOT like your pets died or the continent is destroyed beyond saving! With Time manipulation, all of that was restored in just a few days! None of the Allosaurus were dead… Permanently!" Jeanne tried to reason with him.

"Yeah, I know. All that is possible because of what I achieved. If my technology or power was weaker, IT COULD have been permanent.

If you still don't understand, then think in money terms. Just because I am a Billionaire doesn't mean I will allow a MAID to burn millions, not spend but burn. I gave you a basic task, and you flopped, so now you are demoted to toilet cleaning for a considerable time." His eye rolled before motioning to get them away.

"Artemis, you will be my only maid for a while, so I expect you to perform at your best." Marcus reminded the Goddess that she was the only maid in the whole Assimilator.

'Ooof… Can he make another maid or something? Doesn't he know how much stuff there can be to do?'

The Moon Goddess grimaced as she realised there was no one here to clean up nearly a month's worth of stuff.

~~~

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