Chapter 14 - Back Home at Last
After some time, I have finally returned back home to Castle Fuerig. While I was in the Sunset Monster Mountain Range about 4 months approximately, here nothing changed. Thought, it was understandable, as the perception of time from the Devil's view of the point was drastically different compared to that of human.
Now I finally had a chance to study magic more complexly. After I had reached Adept-ranked mastery over Norse Runes, more precisely Lightning Rune and Fire Rune, were two I have learned.
While I used till now the runes in a more crude way, meaning just conjuring Rune and throwing it around. Now I will try to mold the energy into shapes and objects. I had some simple ones, to the more complex ones like Lightning Dragon Spell.
Compared to complicated Norse Magic, Devil Magic was very easy to learn and master even though the firepower of this type of magic severely lacking. In Norse Magic, it was all about the spell construct that I was working with.
After I returned to Castle Fuerig, I took a good bath as the first thing I did. After finishing the bath, I needed to meet with General Borke to receive the report about what happened before I left for my training.
4 months was an extremely short time for Devils, but I left many commands before leaving the Castle, about what needed to be done.
As I returned to my study room, I already found General Borke Zagan waiting there for me as he bowed when I entered.
"My Lord."
"General."
We greeted each other as we sat down.
"So, you can start with your report."
I said to him, afterward, I looked through the window of my study room.
"Cleaning process of the Army is done. We have found spies and other infiltrators from the Houses of Satans and killed them all. It created some minor holes in the chain of command, but that would be solved quickly."
Reported General Borke Zagan quietly. I wasn't that surprised, probably each army belonging to the 72 Pillars or Extra Demons is infiltrated by loyalists of the Four Satans. Probably some strong Houses like Bael or Agares already cleared their traitors. Before the war starts, it is an important thing to do.
"Good. Have you started the selection process for loyal soldiers to receive the [Devil Outer Body Tempering Method]?"
"Yes. With each one, we have signed the Geass Contract so there is no risk of betrayal, desertion, or selling the method to other Houses. Currently, more than 400,000 soldiers that fulfilled the criteria and signed the Geass Contract for life with House of Gremory."
I was pretty satisfied hearing this. While the [Devil Outer Body Tempering Method] was a great invention, it was useless if I didn't use it on my soldiers. That also brought up a possibility of leaking the [Devil Outer Body Tempering Method] to other Houses that I was not allied to, or even worse, to Four Satan Houses. While I wasn't that concerned about House of Lucifer and its Six Houses of Lucifer, right now was not the time.
Because of that, I ordered General Borke and other Generals that were on Ultimate-Class that were loyal to the House of Gremory, to search for every spies and traitor in my Army and kill them without mercy. Afterward, they would be searching for suitable soldiers, that would sign the Geass Contract with the House of Gremory, pledging their eternal loyalty to the House of Gremory, especially to me. Then I could give them safely the [Devil Outer Body Tempering Method] for training, as it would produce Middle-Class beings of power, in physique aspect rather easily and quickly.
"How is the current state of my Army and Legions?"
"Currently, the entire army has 3 million soldiers, divided into 15 Legions, with each of Generals commanding three Legions. Most of the soldiers are of Low-Class, while around 40% are of Middle-Class if we are making the ranking based on Demonic Energy. If we are talking about the physique aspect, the percentage is much lower, but with enough time and [Devil Outer Body Tempering Method] we could raise all of our soldiers into Middle-Class in the physique."
I wasn't surprised hearing this, most of the ordinary devil soldiers are not that strong. Only a few Houses have strong soldiers, like House of Lucifer, which has almost all soldiers of Middle-Class or House of Bael that is similar, or House of Agares. My aim was the same as them, to raise the quality of my soldiers.
"How long do you think it will take? War is coming, and if we have an army of Middle-Class beings in terms of physique, while half of them would also be Middle-Class in Demonic Energy, my Army would be exceptionally strong."
Currently, till the Great War was around 19 years, approximately, so I had enough time to see some results.
"Hard to say, if Your Lordship invests some Soul Coins into the training of the soldiers, it should be sometimes between 10 to 12 years before we train such an army."
10 years or 12 years actually wasn't a bad prediction. I had enough time before the Great War starts, so this time frame was acceptable, and maybe even good as there is still enough time even after the time frame is up, to improve.
"Investing some Soul Coins isn't that problem. With my current situation of the business in the Underworld, practically every house is buying weapons and armor from me, so Soul Coins are one of my last concerns. Use it well and speed up the training process."
Currently, I owned practically the absolute majority of places, where weapons and armor and other stuff for the army were manufactured. So everyone that was arming their forces was buying it from me, and coins were just flowing into my pocket. Even the quality of weapons produced by my factories increased, though not as good as mass-produced weapons like those by dwarves in Nidavelir, it was still far better compared to old devil ones.
Chapter 15 - Arcanotechnology
"You can go, General Borke."
After finishing the discussion of important topics with General, I let him go, as I wanted to focus on other things that required my attention. One of the most prominent ones was the creation of a potion that would break my physical limits.
"Architect, how are your calculations going?"
[Slowly, it will take seven days to complete such a complex potion refinement process. Unfortunately, your library doesn't have enough books on Alchemy, so my database is rather limited. I need to work with the knowledge that is available, and some parts of it, need to be changed to suit the creation of this potion, as it is from General Level Monster.]
"Tch. Unfortunately, devils don't have enough materials for proper alchemy. Maybe some Houses have it for Potioneering, but for refinement of pills, that knowledge is only at hands of Pantheons and Celestial Court. I will need to make a trip to the Three Realms at some point. They have tons of knowledge that would be useful to us."
I said out of loud. Afterward, I fell into deep thought, as I was thinking about something.
"Architect, take out the Project Arachne. It should be optimized by now, right?"
[Are you sure, sir?]
"Yes. Even if I construct some basic drones, they would be good for some menial tasks, I need to create and maintain a laboratory. They would be proto-type for the Arcanotechnology. Another advantage our race has but wasn't even developed."
Arcanotechnology was basically magical technology. Asgard mainly used it, they had developed their magical technology to the extreme. It allowed them to create vessels able to travel through the Dimensional Gap or energy-based weapons. It was no wonder, runes worked best with Arcanotechnology, Pantheons as Egyptian or Celtic also had a decent level of such technologies.
Big G developed Sacred Gears based on that, basically, Sacred Gears are nothing more just very advanced Arcano Soul Weapons, tied to God's System in Heaven.
[Very well. With current materials, we could construct probably 100 Drones. Their firepower is abysmal, and their combat level should be only around Low-Class, depending on the quality of material and runes inscribed onto them.]
Siad Architect, as I went to the work. There was an entire branch of magic, called Golemancy that was all about creating golems. My own invention was something similar and yet so different. My creations, were Automatons, mechanical constructs, that were enhanced by runes and worked on runes.
For example, I didn't need to control them manually, as they had some basic level of intelligence, they could be programmed to understand everything from basic orders to complex blueprints. Also, they could be controlled by Architect directly.
Drone-Type was the basic unit of these Arcane Mechanical Automatons. They were used mainly to dig, work and construct or deconstruct things and objects.
When I proposed this, I wasn't aware that how annoying work this would be. Truth be told, it wasn't that hard to construct one drone. They looked like a spider and were made from metal, ordinary ones found in the Underworld. With countless forges and blacksmiths, I had read them in several hours.
The troublesome part was the runic inscription. There were three steps in the creation of Arcane Mechanical Automatons. The first step was to create a mechanical construct. That could be done by a skilled blacksmith. The second step was the inscription of runes and the creation of a runic matrix in "brain" of the automaton. The third step was to connect all rune points with the runic matrix in the brain and activate the automaton.
The second and third steps were the hardest, and they must be done by me alone. Fortunately for me, I was well versed in Norse Magic, and my runework was very good, so I was completing the inscription process fast and without any mistakes.
The first drone took me one hour to make, as I was especially careful when inscribing the runes onto the body of the automaton. When creating the Runic Matrix, I needed to be even more careful, because if I make a single mistake, it could easily explode.
"When I finish these drones, the first thing I will make is Factory. Hopefully, these drones could do inscription process instead of my, and maybe even creation of Runic Matrix."
I muttered out of frustration, as I was finishing making the 30th drone. It was tiring work, and I was already being fed up with it, but these little cuties would be a great boon for me. Maybe I can even sell some.
The death toll of devils in the Great War was counted in hundreds of millions, probably reaching several billion, so it would be better to use golems or automatons for battles, they could lessen casualties. And in the future, it would mean more devils survived and when Evil Pieces are invited, we won't be dependent on them.
Evil Pieces were useful, for example, we could get Sacred Gear users, talented humans, or members of other factions that went rouge or left. On the other side, they were used to enslave other species and members of other Pantheons. They were created mainly for the repopulation of devils, which was stupid in my opinion.
If we save enough population in the Great War, and the Civil War would be solved with a Coup, I could pressure for Evil Pieces to be given only to an extremely small amount of people. In canon, every High-Class Devil had set, I planned to give them only to Ultimate-Class devils, that would obtain recommendation letters and to Heirs of Houses, that passed an examination. With this move, we could reduce the number of reincarnated devils by more than 90% and also, motivate holders of Evil Pieces to reincarnate only people with strong potential.
After working for three days straight, I finished all drones, and before me were 100 Arcane Mechanical Automatons, of Drone-Type, of Arachne-Class.
"Architect, control the drones and let them construct underground place, big enough to house my magical experiments, and also production line for automatons."
Chapter 16 - Potion Brewing Time
After exactly one day, the underground complex was done. Drones were perfect workers, they had the highest possible effectiveness, they never got tired or wanted a wage. They didn't need anything, just a magical power to keep them going, and that was no problem, as the ambient magic level in Underworld was very high. Not that high as dimensional worlds of some Pantheons, but it was still enough.
"Excellent. Architect, how many Drones, could these little guys produce within one day?"
I asked as I looked at the production line, which was currently being constructed by Drones.
[50 Drones. While Drones being intelligent enough, they can't do the runic inscription process and matrix creation process as fast as experienced runemaster.]
Said Architect in my mind. Arachne Drones were small, they were around half a meter tall, and one meter in length.
"Good... then start the production. We need as many of them as possible. Their utilization in the war would be immense. They could easily serve as either cannon fodder or construction force."
I said as everything started to move. I was aware, that my little creation would become hot merchandise, among the nobles that would want to obtain suitable cannon fodder force, to save their soldiers. The production cost of one Arachne Drone was cheap, and I wasn't planned to sell them at high prices, for many reasons.
One of them was that part of my plan, was to have as many of them on the battlefield, another one was to gain allies, and another was just a long-time investment in the devil species as a whole.
"Architect, start compiling a list of enemies, that are to be disposed of during the Great War. We don't need unstable elements in the future Baator."
I said with a malicious grin as I commanded Architect. The list included various nobility and houses that were known for their incompatibility with my ideas for unification.
As I watched the Arachne Drones working like some hardworking bees for several next hours, I was notified by Architect that the potion formula was finally calculated, at last.
"Can we go to the brewing process already?"
[Yes. The first thing to do is to dissect the corpse, which would be done by Drones.]
Said Architect, as I took out the corpse of General Level Monster Ape, and three drones immediately started the dissection process. They worked extremely fast, as they separated the skin, flesh, bones, blood, and organs of the monster. It was no wonder, as Architect was directly controlling little ones. After one hour, the entire process was done.
[You will need only blood, heart, and bones, especially the bone marrow, and Nuclei.]
I took everything Architect told me, and went to the cauldron. Nuclei was a crystallization of magical power that monsters created upon reaching the General Level. The main usage of the nuclei was either in Alchemy, or as a power source, or amplifier with spellcasting.
[First the blood, then add in, that dragon blood you bought and mix it together. It needs to be refined and compressed into 1/100 of what it is currently.]
There were tens of liters of blood, boiling in the massive cauldron, as I was infusing my Demonic Energy with the cauldron, regulating the process, where the blood would basically compress, or rather the energy from the blood would be compressed.
This step took more than 10 hours, till the cauldron was almost empty, and only a small part remained. When I looked at the blood that was boiling there now, I felt the energy from it, as it was practically radiating and shining to all sides.
[Use the Heart Blood of that Ape and drop in the Nuclei. Activate the runic stimulation to the maximum. Afterward, add an extract from the Demonic Flower and other herbs, I had prepared for the potion.]
As Architect was instructing me, I noticed behind me was Arachne Drone, with the rest of the resources the Architect was talking about. Various vials, with an extract from rare herbs that were bought by my subordinates for this potion.
Heart Blood was a special type of blood that was located in the heart and was practically the source of bloodline and strength of the blood in the body. If Heart Blood is forcibly extracted from a living person, he had guaranteed dead, in most cases.
I added all Heart Blood that the heart of the General Level Ape could provide me and dropped the Nuclei of the monster into the cauldron. At the same time, I quickly activated the runic matrix over the cauldron, which started regulating the huge energy storm that was taking place in the cauldron, as I dropped Nuclei of Ultimate-Class being into a pool of liquid full of magical power. Thankfully, for my heavenly or devil's luck, the runic matrix controlled it perfectly, and nothing bad happened. Cauldrons tended to explode rather often. After I added those extracts from various herbs, I closed the cauldron and left it be, for the next day, as Architect instructed me to do.
"I wanted to ask, what is the difficulty of this potion?"
[This thing could be classified as Master-Level Potion. If not for my precise calculations and instruction, you would have never brewed it.]
Answered Architect, with only what I can call... pride. Still... he was right, pioneering was exactly that hard, if you have something like A.I. Chip with impossible advanced A.I. that calculated every possible step, and navigated you through the entire process. Still, I will stay with my runes, I didn't mind creating some potion from time to time, but it isn't my thing.
As time flew by, one day passed and Architect said that I need to check up on the cauldron. When I opened it, I was surprised, that what was left, approximately 100ml of pulsating black-crimson liquid was located on the bottom of the cauldron.
[Now, just bring some vial, fill it, and left it to rest in a magically saturated area for another day. Afterward, your potion is officially done.]
Instructed me, Architect. When I asked my, why the resting part, he answered, that the potion could absorb ambient magic right now, so it will boost up the quality by some amount if I left it in a magically saturated area.
Chapter 17 - Potions taste bad... and Magic
The next day, exactly 24 hours later, after I brewed the potion, I was finally ready to drink it and break the limits of my physical strength. My drone production was going well, I had now 150 Arachne Drones, and currently, I ordered them to expand the production line, to reach production of Drones at least 500 per day, meaning expanding it by 10 times already.
I looked at the potion, grimaced a little, and gulped it down in one go. It tasted horrible, I heard that majority of potions tasted like shit, and apparently, it was true. When I drank the potion, I immediately started feeling its effect, as my entire body was like it was on fire.
My muscles were pulsating, as they were absorbing the energy from the potion, and even my bones hurt like hell when the energy from the potion was being absorbed by them. After ten minutes, I felt that pain was lessened, but it still hurt like hell.
But alas, I felt the immense strength flowing through my body, as each cell in my body was absorbing the energy from the potion, being refined and strengthened. What was even more shocking, my Demonic Energy reserves expanded by a significant amount, something I didn't foresee.
"Architect... scan my body."
I said, after another hour, when I felt that majority of the potion was already digested and my body reached a High-Class level of power in terms of physique. I felt countless times stronger compared to before I drank the potion, and I was curious about the exact advancement in my strength.
[Class: High
Demonic Energy: 96
Strength: 78
Agility: 75
Vitality: 60
Also, the potion energy is not still fully digested and full absorption would take around one month, so your physical strength would rise during this one month. To maximalize the effect, I would advise increasing your physical training to the extreme.]
I looked at the scan as I heard the voice of the Architect. It was understandable, that my body wasn't able to digest all of that at once, I will need some time, my body would also get a bit stronger.
Now my physique was comparable to average dragons, meaning weak dragons. Dragons were one of the most powerful creatures here, besides Gods. They had terrifying physiques and enormous magical abilities. The heavy majority of dragons were of High-Class, and they could easily best those in the same rank as them if they were another being.
While I was not a close combat fighter myself, it was good to have a strong physique. I wouldn't be vulnerable as most of the long-range combatants, and also, my body could then easily hold more Demonic Energy.
"Architect, start control all Drones to focus fully on production. By end of the month, I need to have 10,000 Arachne Drones ready."
I said to Architect, as I was leaving the underground complex to take a bath.
[It shall be done.]
"Also... start calculations for the Magic System."
One month later
Time really flew like water, after one month I spend studying magic, I noticed that all my 10,000 Arachne Drones were already created, and were like some small spider army. Most of them were just Low-Class cannon fodder, but their true value wasn't a combat or firepower, rather their construction abilities.
I spent all of my time on magic study. I wanted to realize one thing, which was the creation of a completely new Magic System. I noticed that Devil Magic while being versatile has weak firepower compared to other Magic Systems. On the other side Norse Magic System, which was based on runes, had extremely strong firepower while being more complicated.
To achieve that, I needed to have as much as possible magic knowledge about Devil Magic, Norse Magic, and also Human Calculation Magic. Human Magic, was created by Merlin, based on his observations of Devil Magic and several other Magic Systems belonging to different Pantheons. He then created a Magic System based on mathematical equations and calculations, where one with enough calculations of magical power could shape it to form spells.
My ambition was to fuse these three systems into one, or rather to take their strong aspects and advantages and create a wholly new Magic System. If possible, I wanted to complete the first stages of the Magic System before the Great Wars starts, as it would greatly boost up the power of the Devil Race, only applicable for the weaker devils. For Satan-Class or Super-Devils, it won't make difference, as I can't create something like that if I myself am not at that level of strength or mastery over magic.
I even sent my trusted subordinates, to loot and kill human magical organizations or families and steal their knowledge. Humans were weak even with magic, but to be sure, I assigned two of my generals that were on Ultimate-Class to lead the operation and get as many magic tomes, grimoires, and books as possible. Everything then went straight to my library, as Architect was scanning each book, continuously expanding his database.
I also was buying many of these books from other Pillars, as many of Pillars had countless magic tomes and similar things, just getting dust in their libraries, so most of them were eager to sell those books for a few Soul Coins or Arachne Drones. What idiots.
With these new additions, I was able to lay a stable foundation for my Magic System. What was surprising, my I have attained Master-ranked mastery over Devil Magic and Expert-rank mastery over Norse Magic, after reading through all those tomes which I deemed important to learn personally.
I also tried Human Magic, surprisingly it was rather easy, as I was able to do mathematical calculations easily even without Architect's help. Apparently, Devils had more suitable brain development for such things, if they tried it. In regard to human magic, I had practically cheated my way to have Grandmaster-ranked mastery thanks to Architect's help.
Chapter 18 - Talk of Baels
Bael Castle, Territory of the House of Bael
Bael Castle, of the House of Bael, was one of the most secure places in the entire Underworld. Not only in its robust and enormous construction but more importantly the magical protection, that was created from more than fifty barriers cast over it.
Currently, Venelana Bael was walking through the empty halls of the Castle, as she was going to visit her grandfather Zekram Bael, and also give him the message from her fianceé, who wished to meet First Great King.
"Come in."
Sounded male voice, from behind the wooden door.
Zekram Bael was a middle-aged-looking man with black hair and peaceful violent eyes. He wore simple, yet noble-looking attire, that strengthened the already strong aura of dignity that was exuding from him.
First Generation Bael, The First Great King and the right-hand of the Great Satan Lucifer, the primogenitor of all devils. His political power excluded even the other three Satans, as he practically controlled the majority of the 72 Pillar Houses.
Currently, he was sitting in his study room, drinking tea while reading a magic grimoire.
"So, what do you wish to say, Vena, normally during this time of day, you would be practicing magic or physical exercises."
Asked Zekram. When Venelana returned from the Sunset Monster Mountain Range she started training, even more, especially focusing on her magic and physique, as she was too feeble by her words.
"When I was in the Sunset Monster Mountain Range, I have met my fianceé."
Started Venelana, as Zekram looked a bit surprised. He didn't think much about her fianceé, considering him like any other Pillar Heir automatically useless.
"And?"
"I was surprised."
"Suprised of what exactly girl?"
"Where to start, maybe from the moment when I saw him using Dark Light."
Said Venelana to him, she got permission from Zeoticus to say this to her grandfather, as he needed for something that would catch his attention to meet him for sure. When Zekram heard that, he looked like he was hit by 9 rounds of lightning bolts all over.
"That... should be impos... Rayla. Yes, Rayla."
Muttered Zekram silently.
"Who is she?"
Asked Venelana slowly.
"Rayla Lilian Lucifer, daughter of the Lucifer and Lilith, the younger sister of Rizevim Livan Lucifer. She disappeared many many years ago, after getting into an argument with her father over something. We assumed that she left the territory of Devil Race and went to the dimensional world of another Pantheon. Who would have known, she was got together of previous Lord Gremory and even birthed a child."
Answered Zekram after a long silence.
"Is she still..."
Asked him when looking at his granddaughter.
"No, died after giving birth. I am sorry."
Said Venelana quietly. She knew from Zeoticus that his mother died after he was born.
"I want to meet with him."
"He wishes for the same thing."
"Why?"
"By his words to discuss future of next generations and devils as a whole."
Answered Venelana as Zekram's face darkened.
"So he noticed that too... hmm..."
Said he grimly.
"Noticed what exactly?"
"He noticed that under there is a problem with us. Our leadership, Four Great Satans, are obsessed with a goal that is impossible to achieve. The world dominance is a pipe dream, maybe if Three Factions united as one, there could be a chance, but now it is night impossible."
While Zekram holds a great deal of respect for the Satans, he was also aware of their rather self-destructive tendencies and the upcoming Great War. All of them were hell-bent on world domination, while they weren't able to defeat even God of their Pantheon. It was understandable, as the disparity between them was too great, Big G was too strong, probably already on the level of Ophis, a true Being of Law.
'Currently, in Draconic Deus, there were only several publicly known Begins of Law. Most notorious were of course, Great Red and Ophis. Then there was also Trihexa, while it was Being of Law, it was overwhelmed by Chaos and went mad. From Pantheons, existences on level of Being of Law were Christian Big G, Shiva of Hindu, and Jade Emperor of Celestial Court in China.'
Thought Zekram in his head. For Christian Pantheon as a whole, it was good that Big G was Being of Law, at least it protected them from foreign threats. While Three Factions often attacked each other, they also often ganged up together when they faced external threats.
'Fortunately Great Red and Ophis are interested in leaving Dimensional Gap, Trihexa has been sleeping for a long time. They aren't a problem. Leaving only Shiva and Jade Emperor. From what spies have found, there is conflict in Hindu Pantheon, between Shiva and Indra breeding. Jade Emperor hasn't left Celestial Palace for several thousand years.'
"We are becoming vulnerable. Without the existence of someone on the level of Big G, our Pantheon become vulnerable for those who are on the same level. Fortunately, most of those people are interested more in increasing their strength, like Jade Emperor he created cultivation for humans, interesting, but they can't reach higher than Early Ultimate-Class."
While cultivators were interesting projects of the Jade Emperor, the highest cultivation stage that was achievable, was only as strong as the Early stage of Ultimate-Class. It was understandable, as Jade Emperor created it based on bastardizing the divine energy of Gods. Without ascending as God, they would be stuck at that level of strength till death. Of course, every Pantheon was very careful, when promoting a person to Godhood. Still, the souls of the cultivators are very good for devils, as they are stronger than ordinary mortal souls.
"Send a letter to the House of Gremory, that I would visit next week."
Said Zekram slowly as he looked through the window, observing the environment of the Underworld.
Chapter 19 - Experiments and Letter
"It shall be done, grandfather."
"And also prepare some gift, on our first visit to the House of Gremory. What shall be suitable?"
Asked Zekram as he looked at his granddaughter.
"Magic Tomes or Grimoires. Zeoticus is fanatical magic researcher, especially on runic magic."
Answered Venelana.
"Hmm..."
Zekram then summoned old looking book, that looked creepy with its pitch-black leather cover.
"This thing would do... who knows how strong he will become if he learns Abyssal Runes."
Said Zekram as he looked at the book. He himself found it thousands of years ago, only several centuries after he was born. He quickly found out, it wasn't of the universe, as it came from another world. Things like that didn't happen often, but if someone is lucky, he could find some things from different Universe, when Space-Time created a portal through Dimensional Gap appear.
After learned Abyssal Runes, he found out, it was a very strong runic language, even superior to that of Aesir Runes that were used by Asgard. What Zekram didn't know, was that Abyssal Runes would soon become the part that was used to create a whole new magic system.
[Architect, start the analysis process.]
I said as I was going to try the first spell of the new magic system I have created.
"Okey, casting process of the Zero-Tier Spell, Fireball starts."
I said as I was trying to cast the spell with the usage of the entirely new magic system for the first time.
It was only an experiment, so I would be glad if it didn't explode in my face.
The first step was the usage of Devil Magic. With the usage of Devil Magic, first thing is to create an image of Fireball with demonic power, afterward, is the creation of a spell matrix based on the model of the fireball created from Devil Magic.
With the already existing model, the creation of a spell matrix, from runes is easier. To create a perfect spell, and fuse both of them, model in my head created from Devil Magic and Runic Matrix, I am using calculations to achieve as high precision and perfect fusion as possible.
Soon enough new type of fireball was created. It was white in color, different compared to the orange-yellow when created with Devil Magic.
[Spell Analyzation complete. Stability of 74.65%, compatibility between Devil Magic and Aesir Runes is low, creating destabilization of the spell.]
That was something I was already expecting. Unless all spells were of 100% stability, my magic system was useless. The main problem was an incompatibility between the nature of Devil Magic, which came from Demonic Power, and Aesir Runes, which were a mix of energy similar to Divine Power and unknown energy. If I had a runic language that was closer in nature to the Devil Magic, but that would be very hard to get.
"How is the power of the spell?"
[Ordinary Fireball created with usage of Devil Magic, has hotness of 1,000 degrees of Celsius, this one has even hotter than Fireball created with pure usage of Norse Magic, which was 1,500 degrees of Celsius. This one is reaching a temperature of 1,700 degrees of Celsius. Versatility and maneuverability of the spell are higher compared to the Norse Magic variant.]
Finished Architect the spelling analysis.
"Hmm... if I increase the stability of the spell, then we could consider the experiment a success. I need to search for suitable runic language."
I said to myself, as I was thinking about the results of the experiment. Still, for the start, the results were pretty good. My initial idea of merging three magic systems appeared to be working rather well.
With devil magic model creation in my mind, creating a runic matrix is faster by two times. With help of calculations taken from human magic, these two things could fuse perfectly, creating a wholly new spellcasting method.
Now it leaves my only stability problem. If I don't solve this, I cannot proceed to experiment with higher-tiered spells, that have higher destructiveness. Instability with those spells should be higher compared to Zero-Tier.
If initial spells, like those of Zero-Tier I have created, have the stability of more than 74%, then the next Tier, I have called Combat-Tier, should have stability only around 45 to 55%, which could be probably pretty dangerous if it exploded into my face, as the destructiveness of those spells, is high to take down the smaller building.
For rest of the day, I have decided to stop training and retreat to the library to read magic books. For me, it was rather relaxing and every time I did it, not only I was resting but also getting stronger, as my knowledge about magic was becoming higher.
As I was walking to the library, I saw a Head Butler of the Fuerig coming to me.
"My Lord. There is a letter from the House of Bael."
Said the man, as he gave me a letter sealed with not sign of House of Bael, but it was a bit different, from what I recognized it was a modified Bael Clan sign, used only by First Bael, Ancestor Zekram.
"Thanks... you can go."
I said as I started reading the letter while revealing a smile of joy. Apparently, Venelana did her job, and Zekram wanted to meet me and would arrive one week later. This was pretty good. I need to create a good impression, maybe some military showdown of my newly trained soldiers would be good.
Among the Lords, including Four Great Satans, only a few Houses have elite trained soldiers. From what I know, the best armies, with the best training and strength level, were of House of Lucifer, Lucifuge, Bael, and Agares. Many of the devil nobles didn't care much about their own legions and their soldiers were untrained or even outright weak... this would in the future lead to countless death. Maybe if I can get the help of Zekram, he has greater influence in the devil society than most.
Chapter 20 - Meeting with Ancestor Bael
During this week, I have spent most of my time in the library, as always. I was studying magic to complete my Tier Magic System, as I called it. Not a very creative name, I was aware of that. Theoretically, I currently have two Tiers completed from the Tier Magic System.
One was Zero-Tier, which could be cast by any Novice Magician, meaning he has Novice-ranked mastery. Spells of the Zero-Tier are either without destructive abilities or with weak destruction abilities, used mainly in one on one combat.
The second was Adjustable-Tier. This one was a bit complicated, but the base premise was that the Tier of the spell was determined by the amount of Demonic Power/Magical Power used during the casting process. Such spell was, for example, Gravity Fall. Based on how much Demonic Power I used in the casting process, this spell could have the power of Zero-Tier or higher Tiers, which are right now purely conceptual.
I have also trained a bit with my Clan Trait, Dark Light, and felt that soon I would be able to reach Exper-ranked mastery, meaning, I could create a half-open Gate of Babylon.
"Vena was right... it appears your love for magic is fanatical indeed."
Said a voice, belonging to a man. When I turned around, I immediately recognized the person who came. The First Great King has come for a visit. Apparently, he found his way to the library.
"It is an honor to meet the First Great King."
I said as I bowed deeply.
'Architect, if you scan him, what is the possibility that he will notice that?'
[Very high. Though I can scan his energy ripples, to detect his class, while not that accurate.]
'Do it.'
[Scanning process complete.
Demonic Energy: 900 to 1,000
The subject is probably around Pinnacle of Satan-Class]
Said Architect in my head. Damm, he was strong. Probably the strongest devil after Original Satans, they should be Super-Devils, though I don't know what stage exactly, but not Pinnacle, maybe Early or Intermediate Stages. If not, they would have better chances at defeated Big G after he was exhausted from sealing Trihexa. Maybe Lucifer was the Pinnacle of Super-Devil Class.
"We can sit."
Motioned Zekram, as we sat down, as he broke me out of my process of thoughts.
"I have brought you something as a gift, for the commemoration of our first meeting."
Said Zekram as he took out the book titles Abyssal Runes and gave it to me. When I noticed that book I was shocked and soon my shock turned into ecstasy.
"I obtained that book when I was still very young, probably 4,500 years ago. It fell into the Underworld, through the space-time crack in the Dimensional Gap, with several other things, that unfortunately were not that valuable. Abyssal Runes are very compatible with Devil Magic, and could greatly boost up your combat prowess."
Explained Zekram to me, as I was tempted to start reading the book right now, but unfortunately for my researcher tendencies, now there was business to talk about.
"So... what do you think about the current situation young Lucifer?"
Asked Zekram with more emphasis on the word Lucifer.
"What exactly? Incoming Great War? Worsening situation of our Pantheon as whole or terrible tendencies of Satans?"
I named several things that came to my mind.
"We could start with the War. During my journey here, I have noticed, that you have already started training your army to be ready for the War. That is good, the quality of your soldiers is increasing steadily, give several years, nad Underworld would have another elite army."
Praised Zekram.
"You should be aware of it far better, Lord Zekram. While Four Great Satans, have built the Devil Race as we know it today, they also lead it to its doomsday. And this war, between our Three Factions, would be one for sure."
I stated my opinion while waiting for Zekram to say something. I knew that he respected deeply Four Great Satans, but he was also a pragmatic person, who wanted the preservation of the devil race at any cost. World Domination tendencies of the Satans were self-destroying for us.
"That is certainly true, but alas what can we do? In front of the strength of Four Satans, that reached Super-Devil Class, we are not their match and could only dance as they order. Our best chance is that all Three Factions receive enormous casualties that would end in cease fire."
Said Zekram after a short time of thinking.
"You should be aware that this is no solution. Aside from Rizevim, all other descendants, especially Bidleid Bashalun Beelzebub, Tsufaame Tereaku Leviathan, and Damaidosu Zereikel Asmodeus are as hell-bent on world domination as their parents. Even if we survive the war, then there is a huge chance for Civil War erupting."
"I am aware of that fact. Then our only chance would be to dispose of tumor in our ranks before it grows or Coup before the civil war breaks when it happens. Still... it would be a shame for bloodlines of Leviathan, Asmodeus, and Beelzebub to be lost."
Apparently, we had similar thoughts with Zekram. With the last sentence I agreed fully, their Clan Traits were powerful, but I had done some research on the Clan Traits and bloodline, maybe with enough research, I would be able to transplant the blooldine.
"What if that was not the case? What if there was the possibility of transplantation of bloodline from one to another."
I said with a malicious grin over my face.
"Oh?"
"I have done some research on our devil bloodlines, and I am confident that with enough research and experimentation, I should be able to achieve such feat. If only I had some living specimen."
I had done only some research on my body. Getting some living specimen with Clan Trait, was extremely hard as all criminals were managed by Archduke Agares or Great King Bael, especially when it came to Nobility.
"Hmm... that should not be that much of a problem. Catch a few useless descendants of Satans during the Great War. Most of their descendants are absolutely useless and weak, so nobody would think there is something wrong if two or three disappears, they would think they are weak. And Satans disdain everything weak, including their own blood."