Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV.
I chuckled as I watched the divine visionaries and Wahlberg open the gifts I'd left for them. Well, besides the heads of Innocent Zero and his children. I'd left those for Wahlberg in a nice gift box. But I'd also left other gifts for each of them. They weren't anything particularly interesting, really, just some curiosities I thought they might find useful.
And they took them like bombs. And when they realized that each of them had received something, they gathered to carefully open them. Each gift contained the object and a small note with instructions on how to use it.
Tsurara Halestone had been given an amulet with a permanent enchantment that would keep her warm no matter how cold it got, thanks to its magic.
Sophina Biblia had been given speed-reading glasses that increased her reading speed by about 100 times.
Kaldo Gahenna wasn't present during our fight; I had obtained his magic when Innocent Zero controlled him, so I left him a gift as well. I left him a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans that constantly refilled itself. It seemed appropriate given his love of sweets, and fun to think about which flavor he would get.
To Orter Madl, that damned fervent follower of the laws, he had given a Sneakoscope, a detector of dark magic, deception, and lies.
Agito Tyrone worked in the magical creature management subdivision of the Magic Bureau, so he received a Nab-Sack that let him transport magical beasts and creatures.
Renatus Revol was really difficult. I didn't know him well enough, but from what I remembered, since he worked at the cemetery, he worked all night and was always sleepy during the day. So I gave him a ring-shaped medallion that let him use ferrochemical bronze so he could stay awake and keep vigil.
Ryoh Grant had received an enchanted full-length mirror that would talk to him. In fact, all it did was flatter him and remind him how handsome he was every time he asked. Which… worked perfectly. Ryoh had already spent an hour in front of the mirror, asking it over and over again who the most beautiful creature in the world was.
I had given Rayne Ames a Buneary as a gift. Yes… a Buneary. A freaking rabbit Pokémon for the rabbit lover. I had bought it and released it immediately from The Company. A Buneary only cost 10 credits. Was it a complete waste? Definitely, and I wanted to know what would happen when the Buneary evolved into a Lopunny? Of course I did. Only time would tell.
Buneary (T4)[ buy] from Pokemon [-10]
And finally, I had given Wahlberg a Pensieve. Something he seemed to like quite a lot. Really. I had understood that the ability to relive memories was something highly valued by those who had lived too long. And perhaps I won't be any different in the future; who knows.
Once I was sure everyone was satisfied, I stole the Bureau's library by copying every magical book and tome I could find without feeling guilty. I also copied all the magical objects there. And finally, I took one last stroll through the Magic Kingdom to buy more things before I left this world.
Once I finished, I teleported to Innocent Zero's flying castle, or what was left of it, and searched the ruins for his library. I was glad to find it had survived our fight. So I took that too.
Finally, I picked up my phone and completed the mission.
Mission Rewards +350 [1004]:
Another One Bites the Dust in Mashle: Magic And Muscles
Other [Forbidden Magic Ritual of Body Construction]; Credits [50]x5; Other [artificial blood-kin heart]x5; Perk [Paradox Defense I & II];
The rewards arrived immediately. A small box fell in front of me, and I caught it. I opened it carefully and looked inside at the five hearts, completely intact, in stasis, perfectly preserved, and waiting to be used. A book lay beside it, and I took it out before closing the box.
I looked at the book, conjured a chair, and began to read it peacefully. The Body Construction ritual was… quite simple, though it would take time. It required a tremendous amount of magic to perform, something I could easily do, and I could even use ancient magic to enhance it with a few slight modifications.
The full ritual required six hearts, but the quest rewards only gave five, so I could use the incomplete form of the ritual. Even so, it would be… quite an impressive boost.
I hummed softly as I considered it. I had no problem with the ritual itself, simply because the hearts were truly artificial. I could see that they were entirely compatible with the ritual, even though they were magically created. I couldn't see how they were created, but I knew they were artificial.
So that eliminated any apprehension I had about the ritual. Really. I was aware of rituals far more repugnant than this one, but I wasn't desperate enough to use them, not when The Company offered me better ways to gain more power if I wanted it, so dark rituals never appealed to me.
But with these hearts… I really had nothing to worry about. I would have to… modify it. The ritual. At least, so I could close it. The ritual, once it began, even if I absorbed five hearts, would remain open until the sixth heart was absorbed. And keeping the ritual open indefinitely opened dozens of ways for something to go wrong.
So I had to close the ritual incompletely. However, that was the easy part. The ritual… let's see. Mmm, interesting. I looked at the book, and it had detailed information about hearts at the end.
The ritual… was excellent. The hearts would be cultivated within a person for years. During that time, the hearts would grow and strengthen thanks to the magic of the heart's bearer. Once they were mature enough, they would be harvested.
These mature hearts, used in the ritual, would amplify all the thaumaturge's qualities, especially the magic. This meant the more powerful the heart, the more effective the ritual.
The artificial hearts were all the same. From the book's descriptions and what I could see with my Six Eyes, the amount of magic emanating from them was definitely on par with Innocent Zero's children. They were all roughly at Famin's level. Which… would be a nice boost. Five hearts of that caliber should push my magic quite a bit, especially since the growth isn't linear; the hearts' magic doesn't simply add to mine, but rather acts as amplifiers, and the magic grows exponentially.
Which was truly impressive, because after some quick calculations, my base magic was greater than all five of my artificial children hearts combined, but the ritual should still at least conservatively triple my magic. It was, to say the least, truly impressive.
It was really tempting to use it. It was all gain. I wouldn't have any problem using it, actually. There was nothing wrong with the ritual.
But… what if I modified it?
I licked my lips as my mind raced, considering the formulas and modifications that surfaced in my head. The hearts I had here were equivalent to magic reactors. Just magic reactors. They would power my physical body, yes, and with them, my other powers would increase slightly, but what would increase the most would undoubtedly be my magic.
But my demonic power, my light, my darkness, and any other type of energy within my body, would not.
Initially, there wouldn't be much difference. My demonic power and my magic were practically linked; if one grew, the other would grow indiscriminately. But… why do it that way when I could change things?
I just needed to modify the hearts. I could dedicate one of them, take the magic from the other four hearts, and place it entirely into one, leaving the other four empty before filling them with something else.
One with demonic power was almost a given, and for that… I had an idea. A King Evil Piece. If I could get my hands on a King Piece, it would be incredible. I could study it and use it to create a Brave Saint equivalent. I could use the ritual to try and harmonize and finally fuse angelic power within myself.
I could use the two remaining hearts for The Light and The Darkness. That… would be more complicated. I could push and cultivate both hearts slowly, though it would take time, especially since it would be my power pushing everything forward; it would be… almost redundant. I would need… a foreign source.
Perhaps… I needed an original fragment of the Traveler, and a fragment of the Veil. I was the Traveler, yes, but I was barely the equivalent of a newborn compared to the true Traveler. His Light had existed for eons; obtaining a fragment to power the ritual… would really help me a lot.
And with a fragment of The Veil, I would solidify my power over The Darkness. Up until now, I've been able to generate it naturally thanks to Added Potential, but my Light has greatly overshadowed it, which wasn't even funny. Having that boost would really help.
This… this would greatly delay the ritual. I needed to modify it, cultivate and change the hearts, alter the ritual, and redo it from scratch. I needed to acquire the items first. It would be difficult. Or not.
Going to Destiny was… utter and complete nonsense. It wasn't that I was afraid we'd die—in fact, I'm sure we could excel and prevail in that world. But to confront the paracausal gods just to perform a simple ritual? Yeah, that was way too much.
Especially since I could easily get it through The Company, I pulled out my phone and looked at the whole thing, then made a face.
There were several fragments of The Traveler and The Veil. But even the smallest cost 250 credits each, and reading the descriptions, it really was exactly what I needed. I bit my lip hard. That was half of what we had accumulated right now.
It really wasn't too much. A T8 companion costs 200 credits. It wasn't particularly expensive, and it was much cheaper than I expected for fragments of imaginary beings like The Traveler and The Veil. They were simply conceptually different. Those fragments were too powerful.
I licked my lips as I tried to calculate the other hearts in the ritual. If I used conceptual beings like those, I needed to balance the other hearts. If they were too weak, the ritual wouldn't achieve the necessary synergy.
In terms of power, the King Pieces would be more than enough. The power increase would be between 10 and 100 times, even more so when amplified by the ritual. So, in terms of power, that wouldn't be the problem. I would need… something else. Lucifer's blood would have served for the devil heart, but… now it would be redundant.
I could push my own Lucifer lineage higher, but it was certainly pointless. I'd need some devil strong enough to serve as the heart, or some object of equal magnitude. That would actually mean buying someone above T8. I grimaced at the expense.
I quickly searched and found that a King Piece, from both the Evil Piece and Brave Saint versions (because obviously they already exist), costs 100 credits each. I almost wanted to close my eyes tightly.
The cost was becoming astronomical. Although… I almost wanted to snort. I wouldn't buy the King Pieces. Buying them would be almost insulting. The Traveler and Veil fragments were necessary since I didn't have access to the Destiny world, and I didn't want it anytime soon.
But the King Pieces? They could be replicated. And that's what I would do. I would create them myself; it would be truly insulting if I weren't even capable of that. I snorted dryly. As for… the necessary devil… Something had occurred to me.
Lilith, the mother of all devils.
Lilith was still alive. Or rather, what it meant to be alive while in a coma, her body a deformed piece of rotting flesh trapped in Rizevim's laboratory or by Hades.
I… could use her body. Lilith could create pure devils from her flesh; she was the progenitor of the entire first generation of devils, including the pillar devils and extra devils. That… might work.
I just… needed something to balance the scales with the Heart of Sacred Power. And… nothing came to mind. Hmmm … maybe… True Longinus? All the sacred relics? I already had the Sephirot Graal. I just needed all the others: Incinerate Anthem, the Holy Cross, and Alphecca Tyrant, the Holy Nail.
I knew where to get each of them, and in fact… I could. Right now, the only one who posed a real threat was Cao-cao with the True Longinus. So I could get them right away, but… would it be enough?
I grimaced as I set it aside. Even if they were useful, I would make a huge enemy of the church and the angels if they realized I was using their holy relics as mere ingredients in a ritual.
Yes… I'd have to think of a better option. Maybe I'll have no choice but to buy something of value from The Company. I almost sighed in pain.
But putting that aside, when the other four hearts were empowered, the magic heart, even if it concentrated all its power into one, proved insufficient again. This time, it was insufficient in every way: power, meaning, and conceptual understanding.
I hummed softly as I considered it.
Acnologia.
The answer came to me immediately, as it had been on my mind for a while. Going to Fairy Tail was one of the things I was looking forward to. And Acnologia's magic was something I truly wanted. But… using his body to empower the heart? That… would be fantastic.
I had considered using the Circle of Usurpation on him. But… anything I could achieve that way would be in a 1:1 ratio by usurping his power. But using it as part of the ritual to amplify everything to the maximum?
That was something else.
Acnologia had bathed in blood and devoured hundreds of dragons, hundreds of spells, and hundreds of souls to the point that his element and affinity was magic itself. That meant he had an affinity for all magic and magic itself. And as long as we don't talk about his raw power, all the better. So… I could use all of that for the heart.
I wasn't really interested in becoming a dragon. I could… appreciate dragons; I wasn't going to lie, they had their appeal. But becoming one? Yeah… no, it wasn't something that appealed to me. So I could just put that aside and get it out of the way to create a heart of pure magic.
I licked my lips. Yes… It could work. But… the problem was the sixth heart. Creating… a ritual many times more powerful than the original needed balance. I could close it and end it with five hearts. But a sixth would balance everything. Seven, counting mine, was a magic number for a reason; the ritual would be at its strongest. It would be a complete waste to close it incompletely after all the trouble and power of the ritual.
So… what could I create for that?
The hearts were coming in pairs. They countered each other and would unite. Light and Darkness. Demonic and holy power. Magic and… and what? And physical?
I grimaced at that. Yes, no. At this point… it wasn't necessary. With the Master Cane I had taken from Doom, and that Cia had assimilated, I could use my magic to increase my physical power to colossal levels.
My body didn't even need to grow or harden to adapt to the great surge of power that would come with the ritual. My body… at this point, was completely composed of The Light and The Darkness. It was so malleable thanks to all the constant changes I make to myself that my body could accept all that power without any problem, really.
So… no, physical wasn't necessary. Then… an anti-magic heart?
I wrinkled my nose at that too. Dismissed immediately as I shuddered. As powerful as it would be to use something like Liebe or Asta's grimoire from Black Clover, changing my nature to something anti-magical sent shivers down my spine. Not as much as Final Shape, but it was close.
So… something that is the counterpart to magic is… technology?
I stayed completely still as I considered it.
That… that might work. My fingers fidgeted, and I licked my lips in excitement. If… I would… I would have to create a mechanical heart. I had no idea where to begin, but that was the most interesting part.
I didn't need it to be a magic reactor; no, that was too crude and useless compared to the other five hearts. They would already provide me with the raw power I needed. No... I needed something else.
Processing, computing, analysis. As much as my brain and my magic had improved by leaps and bounds, I could perform magical calculations on a large scale. It was only constantly increasing; I wasn't arrogant enough not to recognize that GLaDOS absolutely beat me in anything involving processing and computational calculation.
And… I could see it. Yes… that would be perfect. But… I needed something truly powerful to measure up. I… I can't be saying this, and I'm sure GLaDOS would smile smugly at it, but I needed a machine world.
Perhaps… not a world, a moon would suffice. The size of the 'heart' wasn't an issue. It would be used in the ritual and magically absorbed. So I could create a machine moon, focused on processing, and use it as a sixth heart. I would have to create and cultivate that 'heart' to be compatible with the ritual, but… yes… it would work.
Light and Darkness. Demonic and Sacred Power. Magic and Technology. And myself. Seven hearts. Three pairs of opposites. Seven and three. The ritual would be far more impressive than I had anticipated.
I needed reagents to stabilize it. My Sky Flame is the beginning. I… need more things.
The blood of the gods? I had… the blood of Dionysus, Ishtar, and Ikelos. I could get Freya's and Loki's if I had to. Perhaps… Miach's if I asked? The Uranus one, with a little negotiation? I'd need one for each heart. Maybe get blood or essence from a machine god? Where would I get one?
Blood wouldn't make me a demigod directly, no more than an adventurer in Orario is. I wouldn't absorb any of those gods' properties or authority, but... it would push hearts even further, unleashing their full potential. Yes... It would be perfect.
Yes… yes. I would have to prepare a place for the ritual; it would be… much more powerful and complicated than I expected.
I could… I could dismiss all this as a fevered thought and perform the ritual now. I would only receive a fivefold boost to my magic. It would be helpful; I would be stronger immediately.
But… but with this… this would be so much more. Even if it took me months, or even years, to complete it.
I… yes… I could wait. The challenge of completing the ritual was so enticing that I couldn't resist. And the reward was even more delicious than doing it now. Waiting… wasn't a problem at all.
I had to go back home and talk to GLaDOS and Riveria. I had to start preparing and modifying a ritual.
I smiled broadly, created a portal to home, and stepped through it.