Back in the Ninth Family castle of the Vampire Settlement, Faye turned to Muka as the two continued walking.
"Alright, so we've gone over the 'blood' thing," she replied. "What about the sun? Didn't you mention something about that?"
Muka nodded.
"Indeed, I did," she replied. "Coming into contact with direct sunlight will dramatically weaken you. Additionally, you will begin to sweat heavily, and your head will begin to ring. While this is not a problem on the Settlement, it will be a problem on your 'Base'."
Faye narrowed her eyes.
"And how am I supposed to deal with that?" she asked.
"You will be provided a special ring upon your departure," Muka explained. "Like with the flask, this ring also has a Skill. It will allow you to be unaffected in direct sunlight for three hours." Muka then turned to Faye. "Under normal circumstances, you would be sent to the Trial to acquire the Beast Crystals needed to make the ring, to demonstrate your strength. But this is a special case."
Faye pursed her lips.
"By any chance, is this the same 'trial' that-"
Faye started, before Muka cut her off.
"That got your subordinates killed, yes," Muka replied. "I told you that Planet was very important to us Vampires. You see, there is a specific Advanced-Tier Beast on that Planet called a 'Death Bat'. To make each of these rings, ten of the Crystals from that Beast are required. Vampires wishing to leave the Settlement are required to hunt down ten Death Bats and bring back their Crystals."
Faye's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"I'm sorry, did you say ten Crystals?" she asked, sure that she had heard Muka incorrectly. "Isn't it normally just three?"
Muka looked back at her.
"Well, it's not a normal forging process," Muka replied. "In fact, you could almost call it 'Magic'."
***
Back in the conference room in Military Base 2, Tsukuru looked from one image to another.
'Huh…this feels strangely…familiar,' he thought. 'It's like getting to choose between three starting characters in a video game,'
A moment later, Reiju's voice rang in his head.
"Back when I was making the System, I had no idea how you were going to turn out," Reiju replied. "So I tried to choose characters with a range of powers, personalities, and moral compasses."
Tsukuru turned towards the first image.
'Erza Scarlet," Tsukuru thought. 'She's a chaotic GOOD character who's one of the closest things to an honorable knight there is. There's no doubt that if I chose her, she'd be an indispensable ally. Her mantra of 'Protecting the weak' would make her fit in our group perfectly. Tsukuru's eyes then narrowed. 'However, she also has a mantra where 'There's no bigger waste than the loss of Human lives'. She's much like Leo in that way. There's no doubt that we would butt heads over what to do with the more irredeemable High-Levels, like Mono,'
Tsukuru's gaze then drifted to the third image. Makima was the exact opposite problem. Opposed to Erza's Chaotic Good, Makima was a pure Lawful Evil. Rather than viewing that the strong should protect the weak, Makima didn't care about anyone. She was a master manipulator who viewed all those around her as disposable pawns for her to use to achieve her own ends. She's the kind of person who would look you in the eyes, a smile on her face, as she drove a knife into your back. Even more problematic was her abilities.
Makima wasn't a Human; she was a Devil. Quite literally. And not just any Devil, the 'Control Devil'. She was the physical manifestation of the Human fear of oppression. And as the 'Control Devil', she had the power of 'Absolute Control'. She could completely subjugate anyone whom she found inferior to herself. Not only that, but she could force those people to make 'contracts' with her, essentially making them her slaves. Those chains in the image weren't just for show. They were the 'leashes' for her 'dogs'.
If Tsukuru summoned her, he'd have to watch her like a hawk. And that's if she didn't instantly enslave him the second he summoned her.
'Absolutely fucking NOT,' Tsukuru thought. 'Makima is powerful, no doubt about that. But, it'd be like summoning my own oppressor.'
Finally, Tsukuru turned to the middle option. Coyote Starrk. Starrk was like Tsukuru in a way. He had spent his whole existence isolated. However, seeing as how Starrk was a wandering spirit, that "existence" was far longer than Tsukuru's. He was also fiercely loyal to his comrades, wanting nothing more than to protect those whom he viewed as "friends".
Suddenly, a wide smirk split across Tsukuru's face.
'Yeah,' he thought. 'You'll fit right in,'
Tsukuru reached forward and pressed the middle image. As he did, the rectangle illuminated, and an electronic beep was heard. Instantly, the remaining two images broke apart into pixels.
A System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[Selection has been verified. Beginning Summoning Process.]
Instantly, the TV screen crackled to life without Tsukuru even touching the "on" button.
Seeing this, Shizuka's body tensed slightly, and her hand instinctively went down to her rapier.
Soon, an image appeared on the screen. The screen was a faded, light-blue color, with a faded dark-blue being used to contrast the light-blue. Together, the two colors formed the image. It showed an intricate magic circle.
The magic circle consisted of two overlaid, five-pointed trapezoids. The two trapezoids were reversed, with the top one right side-up and the one belowitupside-down. Doing so, they formed a ten-point star. While the five points of the bottom trapezoid all had circles depicting an eye inside, the five points of the top trapezoid each contained a smaller, but no less intricate, magic circle. At the very center of the magic circle, there was an eight-pointed octogram.
And at the dead-center of this octogram, there was another circle. Contained in this circle was a triangle with an eye in the center. Finally, the magical circle had a set of runes lining its border.
Shizuka's face scrunched up in confusion as she saw the image.
However, Tsukuru instantly recognized the image. It was the same magic circle that appeared in that strange space whenever Tsukuru made one of his Summons.
As Tsukuru stood there in front of the TV, his hand flat against the screen, he suddenly felt something. He felt a solid object being pressed against his palm. It was as if someone was pressing their palm against his. Then, the fingers of a white glove began to emerge from the screen around his hand.
The screen glitched at the point where the fingers were emerging, forming three rows of glitching colors. Going in order, the colors were light-blue, purple, and yellow.
As the fingers emerged, they wrapped around Tsukuru's hand.
Slowly, Tsukuru began to step back. As he did, the fingers came with him. The fingers became a gloved hand, then a white sleeve with a black trim, then a torso began to emerge.
Behind Tsukuru, Shizuka watched on in shock, eyes wide as a figure began to emerge from the screen. Soon, the figure had completely walked through.
The man was around 6'2", with wavy, brown hair that reached down from either side of his face down to his neck. The man had no bangs along his forehead, leaving it bare, and allowing his roots to be seen. Around his neck, the man wore the lower jaw of a white skeleton like a weird necklace.
The man wore a strange, full-body white outfit. Its top consisted of a long-sleeved white tunic with black accents. The bottom of the tunic seemed to have a mismatched length, as the right side reached down to his ankles, while the left side only reached down to his thigh. This allowed his pleated pants to be shown on his left side. He also wore a thick, black sash around his waist. Shoved under the sash on his right hip was a katana sword. The sword had a gold handle and scabbard, but had a white pommel and handle.
The man also wore white sandals with black socks underneath.
Once the man had completely stepped through, the TV screen went out.
A System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[Summoning Process is now complete. You have successfully summoned individual Coyote Stark to the Real World.
-80 Energy. Energy: 120/200.
Max Energy has been permanently decreased by 20.
Energy: 100/180 ]
Coyote Starrk let go of Tsukuru's hand and stretched his arms high above his head.
"Man, that was a weird dream," he muttered. "It's kind of weird waking up by myself. Usually Lilynette does that for me."
Starkk then cracked his neck.
"Hey, Lilynette!" he yelled. "I'm up!"
However, there was no response.
"Lilynette?" he asked.
Confused, Starkk then opened his eyes.
His eyes narrowed as he took in the conference room.
Instantly, his eyes narrowed.
"This isn't Los Noches…" he muttered.