บท 11: Freedom First Test Flight
"...By Satan Leviathan?" Rias asked, she had a very bad feeling about this…
"Yes by Lady Leviathan herself! Do you know how embarrassing it was?" Lady Gremory walked over and dropped a file on top of Rias's table, before taking a seat.
"Read this! This is the summary of what you did in the past 9 weeks as an overseer of Kuoh!"
At that moment Rias quickly realised that she might actually be in trouble. She didn't need to read this; she could easily see that she was in a deep mess just by looking at her mother's facial expression.
So, without wasting any more time she picked up the file and started reading it…
…
…
…
A few minutes later, she put the file down and realised that... yes, she was in a very big mess…
"You want this to end up in the devil council? You are an overseer of Kuoh city. Worst of all you are under a contract, the very same contract Lady Leviathan is. She was scolded by Marcus Goldman for trusting you to test the Diamond Core Heart abilities."
"B-B-But mother...I did…"
"You were only spying on people! You never tested the magic reader. You never tested the other capacities of it! He was even interested in how you were going to train for your inevitable Rating Game against Riser Phenex.
You were contracted to do it! He even left secrets for you to figure out! Sona already figured out half of the capacity on her own!"
Rias looked down, not daring to meet her mother's eyes.
"To make it worse, this revealed that you were doing nothing in that period. Neither were you studying to be the Heiress of Gremory house nor were you training your Peerage in any way.
It even stated that your greatest achievement in this period was doing human homework!" Venelana finished her rant as she started staring daggers at her daughter.
Venelana was already frustrated, the brown-haired devil lady was scolded
by Marcus himself. It was humiliating for a person who is much much older to receive a scolding from a 16-year-old. She doesn't want that to ever happen again... period!
"Lady Leviathan positioned Sona and you for the perfect opportunity to be close to a one in millenia genius inventor. To test his tools and inventions! He could have even helped you with making pseudo-Sacred Gears to fight against Riser Phenex! He already has those according to Lady Leviathan!"
Rias's eyes widened, so did the rest of the girl's peerage who were forced to listen to Lady Gremory rant.
"Well?"
"...I…"
"This is what is going to happen from now on. If I receive another complaint from Serafall Leviathan again about this. You will be returning to the Underworld, permanently. Until your marriage to Riser Phenix… since you don't care about this at all it would seem."
"I CARE!" Rias snapped when Venelana mentioned Riser Phenex.
"No, you don't. The past 9 weeks you haven't even used your demonic energy once. You didn't practise Power of Destruction. You didn't practise teamwork with your peerage. Sona does a weekly teamwork training. Weekly magic training. Weekly tactics training.
This is your last chance, daughter. Mess it up again. And the next time it won't be me who will be scolding you but Lady Leviathan. She mentioned something about sticking out her neck for you. You don't want her to be angry at you." Lady Gremory finished, this time for real, as she got up from the couch.
"I hope the next time we will have a happier meeting than this. I will see you later." With a flash of red, she disappeared from the room.
The moment her mother was gone Rias collapsed into her chair. She looked like her soul had been sucked out.
This didn't last for long as she quickly opened one of the drawers and pulled out a contract, she started rapidly reading through it properly this time. Going page by page.
Then she groaned loudly after finishing it.
"Rias?" Her Queen asked with some concern.
"The contract… it's not a regular one! I thought it was just a regular summoning with the 'doing it and then being done with'! But, this one is a long term one one where you have to follow the contractor for over several years!" The Red-haired devil heiress exclaimed loudly as she realised that she was being dumb.
It didn't just last for the 2 weeks that Marcus was here. Instead it lasted until he decided to reveal himself at large.
Thankfully she didn't tell anyone what kind of technology he has developed… otherwise, she would already be packing her things by now and going back to the Underworld.
Still, although she was on thin ice at this point she still can get it back into the game!
"...I thought you read through it properly before signing it! That's the basics among the basics in devil society!" Her Queen exclaimed loudly, she can't believe her King just slipped at the basics like that! Especially on such an important contract!
"Like you could read this properly when Leviathan was breathing down your back! You could not imagine how serious Sona's older sister was!" Rias said with a flustered look.
Akeno rolled her eyes and sighed with a resigned tone.
"Of course she was serious, it's important to the whole Devil Race. And you just showed an important contractor how lazy devils can be." The black-haired Queen said with a resigned tone.
"M-Maybe so! But he didn't cancel the contract! We can still fix it!" Rias pumped herself up. Although, there still was some cold sweat on her forehead.
"I hope so, just don't… provoke Lady Leviathan more… I doubt even Lucifer can save you from her wrath. Especially when it's related to this contract she is so seriously safeguarding."
Rias nodded at her Queen's words. From what she had seen between Serafall and Marcus, she knows that something deeper is going on between those two. Especially for Leviathan to suddenly contact her mother like that.
Meaning that the Leviathan is probably infuriated with the fellow teen. And the redhead is not going to lie, he is eye candy.
Pity that Marcus found her in a very awkward situation, probably dropping his opinion about the Gremory Heiress considerably.
Nonetheless, she still has one chance. Well, it's not a chance by this point as a lot is hanging on this. So, she can't be lazy anymore…
"I won't. I didn't realise that I was still contracted to him… this means we need to draft a training schedule for everyone and start training…" Rias said as she had a thoughtful look.
Her Queen nodded, she was, in a way, happy that they could start training and her King can finally stop with that silly idea of playing a human school girl especially when her marriage with that Phenex is so close.
~~~
After giving Rias a piece of her mind Venelana returned to Marcus' garage. Now she needs to rebuild trust with her Master.
Especially since she doesn't want that Phenex brat for a son-in-law. Well, that and she doesn't want to force her daughter into a marriage. Since Venelana knows quite well that Rias wants to choose who she wants to marry.
Then… the brown-haired devil lady mind derailed…. When she saw her Master sitting lazily on the couch with his tablet in hand, assuming he is going through some details with his new invention.
But, what truly made her brain stop was that her son's Queen was sitting on his lap with quite a flushed expression. The silver-haired maid was feeding him very...seductively…
It doesn't take a genius to understand what is going on with the Lucifuge.
"G-Grayfia… y-you… when did you…" Nonetheless, this discovery pulled the earth from underneath her feet…
Underworld's two most powerful females serving the same man… this is quite bad…
"Oh… Lady Gremory… I am quite busy at the moment…Master requested me to feed him." Grayfia only looked at Venelana for a bit before returning to feeding Marcus.
This looked quite similar to how lovers behave on a date…
Not even her son was able to make this woman behave like this.
'I won't be able to get anything from him like this… do I truly need to take the next step if I wish for him to help Rias with her arranged marriage issue?' Internally Venelana frowned, realising that she won't be getting anything when both Serafall and Grayfia by this point are probably getting railed quite often by him.
Before long Serafall herself returned with a bored look on her face. Assuming she had to attend another boring meeting with the council.
Then her eyes widened seeing Grayfia taking 'her' place.
"GAH! Grayfia!!! You...when did your relationship with Master develop to the point that you are sitting on his lap!?" The current Leviathan said with disbelief and some jealousy in her eyes.
"The moment he used his modified Ars Goetia, I had the urge to serve him. For some time I resisted this urge. But, eventually, it was too much for me so I decided to serve him to the best of my capacity.
And I am the one who steps in when you are not around." The silver-haired maid said with a matter of fact tone. Sounding like what she is doing is utterly important.
"I see… so… the whole Lucifuge serving Lucifer thing transformed into this?" Serafall was trying to understand how much this has affected Grayfia and how much threat the maid is to her.
"She has a massive servitude fetish. Ars Goetia turned that into power, somehow. Even Aurora can't figure it out. I have run several emulations on this. The only thing which makes sense to me is that she wants this herself." Marcus said from the side his eyes never left the tablet's screen.
"Master~~~ that is embarrassing! You can't just say that out loud!" The maid said with an angry pout. Making both devil ladies see the new face of the silver-haired maid.
Both Serafall and Venelana looked at each other with disbelief. This is the ice-cold maid they used to see?
"I am only stating the truth. And return to your duties." He said sharply, making the maid tingle…
'Oh… she has turned into a Masochist? No...or maybe? It is linked with her desire to serve so if her master is not satisfied she will try harder…' Serafall thought to herself. She realised that Grayfia may even be a bigger threat than she thought.
But, then again Grayfia is a maid. And Serafall can always take a different position to be close to her Master…
'I need to think more on this…'
While the Leviathan is thinking about her future. Venelana is already thinking about getting his help to solve Rias's marriage. At the moment Marcus is the best candidate for that. He is not related to them in any way and he can support her daughter with gears and other things.
But, as it is. Rias herself has messed up her chances. Meaning that she might need to take drastic measures.
'Let's wait and see for now. Rias might get herself together and I won't need to do this…' The brown-haired devil lady thought with a frown before hiding her frown behind her casual smile.
Now that Marcus has two devil ladies who constantly want his attention, she wasn't forced to show her real feelings like that.
So, a light mask can easily be placed… well… as long as she doesn't get too much of Marcus attention as her Master is meticulous that way. One needs to be like that when surrounded by experienced devils.
Over the past few months, she have heard multiple times on how Serafall tried to recruit him to become Serafall's Queen. But no matter how much the Leviathan tried to seduced and by all means, fucked her Master, he would always joke about it.
Meaning that he already sees devils, in some way, as a lower species. Well at least subconsciously. Thus always denying in any way to become a Reincarnated Devil.
'Well, let's sit back and wait. I still have around 3 years until Rias needs to marry that brat.' Venelana sighed internally thinking about her lazy daughter. She has such a good core of peerage members. Sirzechs worked hard on placing her in the right place for each of them. Yet, she wastes away their potential with her nonsense. Hopefully, she grows up... otherwise…
~~~~~~Later~~~~~~
"Is that song…" Serafall appeared in Marcus' workshop after a day of nonsense in her workplace.
The first thing she hears is music. This was the first time she heard it. But then again, this was no surprise as her Master started doing this with each day he was getting closer to finishing the scale mail.
"Meteor… Gundam Freedom theme song." Marcus said as he was partially dressed in the armour. He had both feet and arms suited up in the dark grey pieces of armour.
Serafall nodded before walking forward and inspecting the chest piece armour that was safely placed on a specially prepared mannequin.
And just like before, when she saw a mere drawing become reality. She saw something from an actual anime become real… then going through refitting just so that the armour could work in real life.
It was a fascinating experience. Now though, Serafall is quite curious on if her Master could make true Magical girl stuff? While she can imitate the effects to a certain level, she wants the real deal…
That's why she wants him to ask her to cosplay as a magical girl, so that she could bring up such an idea! Well, she can only wait for the right moment.
"So, what are the specs of it?" She asked curiously as the black-haired devil inspected it from different angles. This was no longer robotic-ish but more human armour-ish. Not as pointy and square-ish as the original design but more fitted to be wielded as a suit of armour.
"Specs… well it's not combat oriented. This is just a prototype. All other scale mails will come from it. Still, if I could place it somewhere…
Taking into consideration that it's powered by perpetual energy, the armour is constantly getting powered with it. The metal itself is as strong as the energy flowing through it. The energy wings allow the user to fly at speeds five times faster than the speed of sound. And that's the limit because of the G-Force cushioning inside of the armour.
I guess that the armour could easily tank and keep up with an ultimate class being. That's without assistance from the person inside of it. I haven't tested the limits of my reinforcement magic while in the suit." He explained casually with crossed arms.
"And that is not combat oriented?" She asked with a baffled look.
"No. There is not a spec of combat oriented systems inside of it. So, it's not combat oriented." Marcus said with a shrug.
"But M.T.M alone could technically fight me! If you can make it sturdier it could face a Super Devil! Since the energy is infinite!" She reasoned with him.
"True. M.T.M was created with Castor & Pollux, but it never was created as a weapon. It was created as an energy source to power the other system. Once the suit is done I will focus on the real weapons to be wielded by the scale mail." He said with a smile. As if the current mark IV Castor & Pollux is not real weapons…
"Real weapons?" She asked with some trepidation. This was truly getting out of hand. Well, all she can do at this point is to mitigate the damage which could end up directed towards her race.
"Since the scale mail is based on Freedom it needs its rifles." He said in an excited tone.
Serafall could only nod at him. She wonders what the people behind the anime would think that they inspired the creation of real weapons capable of slaying deities by this point.
~~~~~~Marcus~~~~~~
Around 8 months into building the armour, and it was finally ready. As expected the hardest part is and always will be the prototype. From there on out, it gets easier as one starts gathering the data with the prototype.
It was much easier with Aurora's help. The A.I behind my OS was assisting in the creation of the Scale Mail considerably. Cutting months and even years of work away purely with its calculation.
From adjusting the designs to real-life, to the grunt work of assembling the pieces.
All that is left is to start collecting the data with fieldwork to make the armour better.
For this, all of the devil ladies decided to come and check it out. The first proper suit up and flight.
It is either from boredom or they just wanted to see it in action. It doesn't really matter. All that I cared about was flying with the power I created myself.
"So this is it? Your answer to the scale mail?" Venelana asked as she walked around the armour curiously. She was looking at it from all different angles.
"It is… while not space or deep water worthy. It is still possible to fly to the arctic with it." I said while putting on skin-tight gloves. I made a special suit which will absorb some extra G-Force, as well as assisting in vital readings specifically for this.
My words made her quite baffled. She decided not to comment on the whole space and deepwater exploration thing.
As if I will be satisfied with only exploring the regular places…
"I see… I guess… we have different types of perspectives on things…"
"You guess? You are Master's first summon and you still don't understand his perspective?" Serafall said with an eye roll before looking back at me.
"Master, we shall follow your progress from the workshop. Let's see how good it is. Worst case scenario, we shall teleport to your location." The current Leviathan reminded me about the countermeasures for the worst case scenario. Although it's impossible for something to happen to me, unless a super Devil class is to pop-up or a meteorite smashes into me.
Nonetheless, Serafall is always ready to earn her brownie points.
I nodded at her before approaching the platform. Seconds later two pairs of boots came out from the ground.
With two easy steps the boots got locked in, I then spread my arms as the mechanical robot arms started putting the armour piece by piece onto my body.
Did I copy Iron Man with this? Most likely yes. Although this step came naturally, as the future models will be something closer to Nanotechnology.
But for now, I need it to be set up the same way Iron man's first models did.
Once all the body parts were placed and done, with the last one being the helmet. My vision turned completely black before the H.U.D kicked in.
[Aurora OS boot up]
[Boot Complete]
[OS Start-Up in process…]
[Aurora H.U.D online]
[Exoskeleton System online]
[G-Force support online]
[Diamond Triangle Core Stable]
[C.E.F.S on online and on standby]
[S.N.M.S.S on online and on standby]
[Synchronising Systems…]
[Synchronisation Complete!]
[Freedom Scale Mail MK I is ready and Standby!]
I looked around and the holographic display followed me. The thought-reading runes are working perfectly and reading my thoughts just like I wanted them to.
This is the first time I am using more than two pieces of the Scale Mail.
Looking at the HUD, it showed that all pieces of armour were green and ready for use. The Diamond Triangle Core is supplying an unlimited amount of energy. I am only looking at the readings to see if the flow is good enough and not to check if I will run out of juice, since as long as the core is in place, it will never run out.
After doing a simple manual check, I walked forward, the ceiling started lowering itself and I could see the driveway leading out of the garage.
Getting outside properly I looked around. It was just past midnight. Best time to test this. Still though, the suit is very visible. That's why Aurora is in the background to make sure no photos or videos are leaked to the internet.
Not that I care much about it, nonetheless, if someone sees me they will have a hard time uploading it to the internet.
Taking a deep breath I finally spoke the magical words.
"Deploy energy wings."
[Deploying C.E.F.S]
A pair of wing frames came out of my back and moments later, pure white energy wings ignited from them.
In the middle of my vision, a horizontal line appeared, the flight assistance was on.
Then…
I thought of flying…
Before I realised it, my body was already rushing up at neck-breaking speed.
My eyes went wide, I knew that this would happen. But the speed was insane! The numbers and real experience are two different things!
And before I knew it, I was already high in the air and approaching the red zone. The void of space.
Quickly stopping the ascent, I took a deep breath, the suit was far too… sensitive. Still though, it stopped the moment I wanted it to stop, the energy wings were just that good.
Looking around, I saw the night sky with no cloud in sight, since the clouds were below me. I was able to see the crescent of the moon, the void of space, and the curve of the planet... The night vision was operating far better than I had expected.
Taking in the sights for a few moments I looked down and saw my birth city which was extremely small. Looking south-east I was able to see the capital which was slightly better-looking size-wise, the night lights give one a sense of the city's size better than it could in daytime.
After having my share of sightseeing I decided that it was time for some flying tests and training…
"Set course for the Baltic sea and switch the flight assistance to adjust according to my learning."
[Destination is set. Adjusting the Flight Support system]
The holographic display highlighted where to fly. Without wasting any more time I leaned forward and started to fly in that direction, this time I was the one flying and not the autopilot. Though the difference is quite small.
It only assists when I start messing up. Nonetheless, it was only needed for a short amount of time as I was starting to get the hang of this type of flying and before long, my speed accelerated.
Since there are no obstructions in the sight I was able to break the sound barrier and stop holding back.
Weirdly enough the flight was quite short. The distance of over 250 kilometres was crossed in an extremely short span. As someone who is quite used to driving a car instead of flying.
I remembered quite well that I used to spend the majority of the day travelling from my home to the seaside… and now I crossed that whole distance in record time… less than twenty minutes.
By the time I had get a hang of flying, I had already crossed the majority of my birth country…
[You have arrived at the Baltic Sea coast]
Looking down I saw the sea. My HUD scanned for any ships in the area.
"Try to find out if there are any ships in the area, if there are any, built up a route… all the way to Denmark. the amount of distance should be enough to test out the flight system."
[Understood. Accessing the GPS satellites in the area…]
[Building navigation route…]
A portion of my vision transformed into the map of the Baltic Sea, all the ships in the area have been marked and the route around them has been established.
[The route has been created. There is a total of 947 kilometres of sea to cross until Denmark's national waters are reached.]
I nodded internally. That sounds about right. Not wasting any more time I rushed forward, this time not restraining myself at all and easily reaching the speed of Mach 2. Then climbing into Mach 3.
This was where I started to feel the manoeuvrability drastically dropping and even the slightest amount of movement can affect my speed. It would seem that the Energy Wings can't just magically overcome the basics of the world's physics…
This means only one thing… finding a magical way to fix this issue.
'Perhaps gravity manipulation? A bubble of negated gravity? Hmm, let's type this down.' I mentally opened the notes window and noted it down before continuing with the flying.
Testing out the maximum allowed speed before the G-Force started affecting me. Magic channelling did not help much here. It would seem that I either need to have more Magic in general or my body needs an upgrade.
Noting that down once again, I continued to test the scale mail capacity, as well as the versatility of the energy wings. To say that they are amazing was an understatement. The amount of physics breaking they can do is simply astounding. It's like they were gliding...cutting through the air. Doing some impossible V turns was not impossible. Or even zigzagging rapidly. The only downside to this was, in the end, the human element.
Even the reinforcement didn't help me here, with the processing of the rapid changing directions. This means…
I need some type of mind magic. Some sort of thought acceleration or mind partition. Those would help me in overall day to day tinkering.
Once again I noted that down.
And so before I realised it, I was already in Denmark. It took me around an hour to cross nearly 1000 kilometres. Quite impressive and it's only a prototype.
"Time to return. And check out the data."
~~~
"Flight test number one: The scale mail thought readers are quite sensitive and some diagnostics need to be run to modify them. Perhaps some extra factors should be included when the thoughts are read.
While the energy wings do break some of the physics of the world, they still fall into some of the rules of the world. A possible solution to improve the speed without adding G-Force is gravity manipulation.
This requires some testing before adding as a possibility to improve the armour.
Next, is the limits of the human body. Freedom could fly even faster than the recommended limits of Mach 5. But the human limits got in the way. First is the reaction speed of a human and second is the body itself, the human body could not handle it, even with all the support from magic and the technology stored in the armour.
Possible solutions are mind magic, genetics to improve the body, and specific spells to improve the G-Force resistance or even negation of it altogether."
I opened my eyes after recording and noting down everything. My dizzy vision went over to the computer screen. I saw the whole of it being recorded. Thankfully, somehow I was able to make the OS pick up what I wanted to record. This means that the Aurora is learning quite nicely.
Nonetheless, it was time to rest now that the test run was over. I guess I didn't take the whole jet lag into consideration now that I was back from the flight and I am feeling like shit.
Slowly getting up from my chair and walking over to the couch, falling onto it face first, the moment I felt the soft pillow I passed out.
~~~
Once Marcus was out the three devil ladies just looked at him. Two of them just sighed. Serafall was impressed just as much as annoyed how her Master didn't ask for help with the whole aftermath of the test. He still keeps them at arm's length. Not fully trusting.
The same was with the Silver-haired maid. Who already sees him as her only true master.
Only Venelana was the most baffled seeing the whole Scale Mail in action. She watched the whole test run. Unlike the previous times when she missed the guns and the Diamond Core Heart. This time she saw it properly and was astounded by the capacities of this.
If Marcus is to mass produce these he could simply rule the world! These armours doesn't need the magic of the user! Unlike the Scale Mails of Boosted Gear or Divine Dividing which need an extensive amount of training just to achieve their armours, her Master can just put it on and he will be a being close to an Ultimate Class!
It was simply absurd!
'No wonder both of them are doing whatever they can to get his affection! No matter what he does it becomes a game-changer!'
"Grrr, this is getting annoying!" Serafall threw a small fit.
"The problem with you Lady Leviathan, is that Master has the mindset that you always have the Devil kind as a priority before him. That's why he is keeping you at arms distance." Grayfia said simply.
This made the black-haired devil quickly take a thoughtful look.
"True… I suppose I should stop with the whole Lucifer thing.
Right… I should take the whole thoughtful wife mindset instead!" The current Leviathan snapped her fingers in realisation.
The silver-haired maid just sighed hearing that. The amount of adaptation that the older Sitri has is simply absurd, even to the devil kind as a whole. Maybe it's just the whole water manipulation side effect that affects the family as a whole…
"That would be for the best. The less reason he has to be annoyed with our kind, the better." Venelana said from the side as her hands were crossed. There was some sweat running down her forehead.
She was thinking about the consequences of the scale mail to the rest of the supernatural world.
"Indeed… well what do you think? This is your first time seeing Marcus in proper action after all." Serafall asked curiously.
Venelana sighed for a moment.
"As humans say; we are royally fucked."
~~~~~~Next Morning~~~~~~
Marcus was eating breakfast and was about to watch some morning shows, that's when he realised that all the morning shows were just talking about some sort of military experiment going on above the Baltic Sea.
"The sound generated by this experimental plane should be above that of any known plane. As the thing broke the sound barrier multiple times over. The sailors reported that their ears were getting bombarded by sounds of cutting air…"
The teen hummed hearing that.
'Right by breaking the Sound barrier, the whistling sound intensified. Besides, I was flying quite low. Fascinating data.'
~~~~~~~~~Inventions/Tech/Sacred Gears~~~~~~~~~~~~
Freedom Scale Mail MK I
The prototype Scale Mail armour built by Marcus, it uses both magical means as well as technical means to create the perfect blend of both.
Classification: Pseudo- Longinus Sacred Gear
Composition: Sacred Gear alchemical metal, Diamond, transmuted electronics, plastic, rubber.
Key magic system and technology:
Exoskeleton system: A support system used to control the scale mail. It reads the user's movements and thoughts and assists the user in controlling the Scale Mail.
Aurora OS: The scale mail runs on Aurora OS and is connected to the main Database in Marcus' Garage.
G-Force Support: A System designed to mitigate the G-Force, which the scale mail is exposed to when flying at high speeds.
Diamond Triangle Core: Modified version of Diamond Core Heart made for the Scale Mails. It's used as a main power source for the Scale Mail and is independent from the user's energy source.
Crystallised Energy Flight Support (or C.E.F.S for short): Magic energy crystallised in the form of wings. It gives an unprecedented ability to fly.
Solomon's Negation Magic Support System (or S.N.M.S.S for short): Specific type of energy is dispersed through the energy wings which affects other types of energies in the area of effect(AOE) type of fashion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Chapters are coming out Monday, Wednesday and Friday around 9:00 AM British time.
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