Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Devil Maid (2)
Moments later, a section of the floor opened, and a pedestal slowly emerged with a familiar golden ring on it.
"It looks like… he has his second ring," Serafall observed with a knowing look.
Venelana's expression darkened. "So he's bringing those things back!"
Marcus placed the second ring onto his finger, his expression indifferent as he slid it into place.
"I asked him about those rings before," Serafall continued, her voice taking on a serious tone. "He said they were just shortcuts to Solomon's magic. Each of those rings grants access to a specific power. The negation one was only one of ten. The other nine are different types of magic altogether."
Venelana paled as the realization sank in. "That makes it even more terrifying… How can a human possess such power?"
"I don't know," Serafall admitted. "That's why I keep an eye on him. And I'm worried about what might happen if we ever cross him. You don't know this, but he's already set up barriers around his house that rival the protection of a pantheon of gods… and he hasn't even fully settled into his workshop yet."
Venelana's eyes widened in shock. "I see… so we should try guiding him away from our race and towards other races, right?"
"No," Serafall responded firmly. "That's the wrong approach. He doesn't care about the race itself, only what it can offer him. As long as no Devil offends him, the Devil race is safe."
Venelana's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Do you think he would just erase an entire race?"
Serafall's face became serious. "I have a feeling it might come to that if the Satans don't act quickly once he reveals Solomon's magic. Devils would panic, and they would want him captured. That would lead to a bloody and one-sided fight. Marcus isn't a fighter. He'll just crush whatever's in his way. He doesn't have the 'sportsmanship' spirit that devils or fighters typically have."
Venelana fell silent, contemplating Serafall's words. "I see… Let's just hope nothing like that happens."
"Let's go test this ring out!" Marcus suddenly announced, breaking the tension in the room.
Marcus and the two devils entered the testing room, where Venelana noticed a few improvements. The room was larger than she remembered, the floor upgraded, and rows of mannequins stood at the end. Marcus pointed his right hand toward one of them. A distance of around 50 meters separated them.
With a deep focus, Marcus summoned four circles near his palm. At the fourth circle, a familiar black-and-red orb began to form.
"Power of Destruction…" Marcus muttered, his voice almost reverent.
"It's familiar… but different. There's no demonic energy in it," Venelana remarked, sensing the power.
Marcus remained silent, his concentration fully on the energy he was controlling. The Power of Destruction morphed several times before taking on different forms—lances, orbs, rectangles, triangles—all shifting with ease at his command.
"Is it just me, or is Master better at controlling it than most Bael?" Serafall whispered to Venelana, impressed.
"It appears so…" Venelana replied, her lips twitching with a mixture of disbelief and wariness.
Marcus finally decided to test its destructive power. The orb morphed back into a sphere before charging up and firing like a beam.
With a sound like cutting through air, the beam streaked forward, erasing several mannequins and digging into a wall.
"Test number one, result: success," Marcus recorded as he observed the destruction. "Things of note: As predicted, I still can't selectively destroy anything yet. Unless I can increase control with one more circle. The issue lies with the demonic nature of the energy."
Venelana let out a relieved sigh. "So, you still can't replicate that, huh?"
"Not yet," Marcus confirmed, crossing his arms. "Most likely, it's the demonic nature of your magic that's responsible for the selective destruction. I'll need more testing before I can replicate it or find an alternative."
"Well, the test was a success. I can get back to work on the gun now," Marcus said with satisfaction.
He began to realize that the weapon was going to be far more complex than he'd initially anticipated. If he planned to shoot beams of destruction, he would need to overhaul the entire M.T.M system he had created.
The cartridges would need to be redesigned, and the variations of the weapon's forms would need to be integrated directly into the gun itself.
"Maybe I'll try a voice-activated system first, and later switch to one that responds to intent," Marcus mused aloud.
"Sera, if you would?" he asked, turning to Serafall.
"One moment." Serafall conjured her circles, fixing the damage in the room in a matter of seconds.
Marcus returned to his workshop, where he immediately sat down at the holographic table. He began reworking the M.T.M system, this time designing the cartridges with more than one circle, taking into account the complexity of powers like the Power of Destruction.
"If the Power of Destruction needs four or five circles, then healing powers will need even more," he reasoned. "No limits. It's better that way."
He kept refining the design, incorporating a fourth system into the gun—what he called the "Revolver system." This new mechanism would rotate between bullets, beams, cannons, and scattered energy forms.
The design was almost finished. After several hours of tinkering, Marcus was ready to tackle the final challenge: the gun's outer design.
"Since this is a one-handed gun… well, it should be one-handed," he said to himself, sketching ideas in his mind. "Then, I'll need another one for this… hmm… Castor and Pollux… the twins…" He smiled as he typed the name "Castor and Pollux" into the project file, which had been empty until now.
With the name finalizing, Marcus pressed Enter, saved the project, and turned off the computer for the day.
Later…
A silver-haired woman stood at the edge of a small city, looking around with a frown. "I can sense some of Serafall's demonic energy here, though it's faint," Grayfia muttered to herself. "Is Serafall here because of her connection to Japan?"
She dismissed that thought. The city was too small to be the same as the one Serafall had ties to. She continued to search for signs of the Leviathan's presence.
It wasn't long before Grayfia stumbled upon a school-like building. "Serafall pretending to be a student?" she mused. Her suspicions grew as she saw the school's dismissal time approaching.
With her lead found, Grayfia decided to return the next day. At least now she knew where to start.
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