— — — — — —
"Mind if I ask something?"
It was the first time Baraqiel spoke. The moment he opened his mouth, his face was already dark. He pointed at the former human who had just been startled by his lightning and said. "The Fallen Angels this thing creates… they don't all have my lightning, do they?"
A faint sense of dread had been creeping up on him. He wasn't even sure he wanted to ask, but he needed to understand where that unease was coming from.
Ryo didn't hesitate. He rolled his eyes.
"Isn't that obvious?"
"The Fallen Angel gene samples I have are pretty limited. The strongest one came from the blood I got after beating you last time. So yeah—of course it's going to replicate that kind of Fallen Angel."
'That kind of Fallen Angel?'
Baraqiel and Akeno both went stiff, their expressions instantly sour.
They were included in that category.
Lightning wasn't just some random ability. It was their bloodline advantage. Baraqiel's mastery of it earned him titles like Lightning of God and Lightning Angel. Akeno, on the demon side, was known as the Priestess of Thunder for the same reason.
And now—just like that—Ryo had mass-produced it?
It felt like watching your most closely guarded secret get cracked and copied overnight. Like hand weavers facing steam-powered looms for the first time—shocking, unsettling, almost terrifying.
Seeing Baraqiel's expression, Ryo assumed he was worried about suddenly gaining a bunch of bargain-bin offspring. He rolled his eyes again.
"Relax. It's just ability replication. There's no bloodline connection to you whatsoever. That kind of thing isn't hard for me."
Baraqiel didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
'Is that what I was worried about?'
…Actually, yeah, it kind of was.
He thought it over. If his genes had really been copied, that would mean suddenly gaining countless sons and daughters out of nowhere. That would be hell for him.
As for lightning becoming common among Fallen Angels?
That might not be great for him personally—but for the Fallen Angels as a whole, it was massive good news.
Newborn Fallen Angels starting off with a high-speed, high-power ability like lightning? Wouldn't they crush both angels and devils with ease?
"Hehe~"
Lightning Angels… armies of Lightning Fallen Angels…
How many could this tree even produce?
Azazel stroked his beard, barely holding back his shock. He almost yanked a few hairs out.
He didn't care how many "sons" Baraqiel might end up with. What mattered to him was something else entirely.
How many Fallen Angels could this thing create? How much would it cost? What was the efficiency?
That was how a Governor thought.
"This thing… what's the production cost? How many Fallen Angels can it make? What's the resource consumption like?"
Ryo thought for a moment before answering. "In theory, it consumes life essence. Hard to quantify exactly. But based on the current output of these 'Himejima-brand batteries'… maybe around ten thousand units at most."
"Ten thousand?!"
Azazel's voice shot up like someone had just stepped on his foot.
Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Too little?"
"No, no—how could that be too little?!"
Azazel rubbed his hands together, looking like he might lunge forward and kiss Ryo on the spot.
Ten thousand Fallen Angels.
Even if they were the weakest tier, that was still ten thousand.
The total number of Fallen Angels right now was under fifty thousand.
That was a fifth of their entire population.
Baraqiel felt the shock just as deeply.
Ten thousand…
Growth on that scale had only ever happened once before—back when the Creator God was still around and they first fell from heaven.
"Is their strength fixed?" Baraqiel asked, a mix of hope and apprehension in his voice.
Ryo thought it over, then shook his head. "It's not fixed. It depends on their individual circumstances. But judging from the data, reaching your level is definitely possible."
"Hiss—!"
Azazel sucked in a sharp breath, practically draining the air around him.
Reaching his level meant Satan-class power.
Ten thousand Satan-class beings? That would send the Fallen Angels skyrocketing straight into the stratosphere.
Well… not guaranteed. It was just potential, not an average. Still, it was terrifying.
The lower-tier Fallen Angels hadn't improved in centuries. He'd been so frustrated he'd practically lost interest in everything—even pleasure.
But now?
Ten thousand with Satan potential.
Give it a few hundred years, and even the weakest among them should rise from two-winged low-tier to six-winged mid-tier.
Ten thousand mid-tier Fallen Angels…
They didn't even have that many right now.
Thinking of this, Azazel couldn't help but rub his hands again.
"Can these Himejima batteries be mass-produced?"
The moment he said that, both Akeno and Baraqiel's faces turned dark.
Himejima batteries? Mass-produce?
What, did he expect the Himejima family, a Great Exorcist Family, to just keep having children nonstop and use them as batteries?
"Right… yeah, that was a dumb question."
Seeing their looks, Azazel slapped his forehead.
Why focus only on the Himejima family? Something this game-changing should obviously be sourced from multiple clans… assuming Ryo could even pull it off.
"Don't bother thinking about it. Mass production is unlikely," Ryo said. "Even gathering the top members of the Himejima family, you'd barely get the equivalent of two Ultimate-class units."
"And the process is extremely painful. Voluntary participation? Not happening."
He jerked his chin toward the "batteries" beneath the tree trunk.
Looking closer, Azazel and the others saw twisted expressions, drooling mouths—faces contorted in agony. It was obvious they were enduring something no one should have to endure.
"Of course, that's under overload conditions," Ryo added casually. "If you scale it back to maximize longevity, you could produce about a thousand per year. Maybe sustain that for twenty years."
"..."
"One thousand a year for twenty years… that's twenty thousand!" Azazel calculated quickly, eyes gleaming. "Round it off, that's nearly half our entire population!"
If not for Rias being present, he might have already asked whether Ryo could build a version that used devils as batteries.
After all, weren't they enemies? They fought all the time anyway. Capturing a few to use as power sources didn't sound like a bad deal.
Still…
This thing was dangerous to hold onto. If the devils found out, war would be inevitable. And the Fallen Angels couldn't handle someone like Sirzechs—that guy's magic power was absurdly dense.
Then again… even Sirzechs probably couldn't imagine Ryo pulling off something on this scale.
You could tell just by looking at Rias. She stood there, completely stunned.
'Tsk, tsk. So the Fallen Angels were the ones who struck gold.'
With that thought, Azazel turned to Ryo.
He hesitated for a moment—then gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and summoned a scroll of parchment. He also took out a quill pen, holding both with both hands as he presented them forward.
"Sir… please sign here."
Azazel spoke with visible pain—but not a hint of regret.
.
.
.