章節 305: 16
Chapter 16: Open House
"So, the Governor General of the Fallen Angels actually wanted to form a partnership with you. This doesn't bode well…" Sona said.
Keijutsu nodded. "I agree. Azazel seemed sincere about his desire for us to work together on Sacred Gears. However, it could have all just been an act. And even if it wasn't, he's still part of a different faction than us. Working together would only cause trouble."
Sona sighed and sat back in her chair. "Yes, there is that as well. However, I suspect that may not be an issue for long," she said. When Keijutsu looked at her in confusion, she elaborated "I just received word from Rias earlier today, who in turn was notified by Sirzechs. Soon, the leaders of all three Factions—Angels, Fallen Angels and Devils—will be holding a summit here, in Kuoh."
Keijutsu went stiff in shock, staring at her. "Are you serious?" he asked. And when she nodded, his mind began racing.
It was easy to see that this summit was in response to Kokabiel's attempt to restart the Great War. However, what wasn't obvious was what the leaders might do once they sat down together. Would they continue what Kokabiel started and declare the War to have resumed? The Devils, Keijutsu supposed, would have enough reason to declare war on the Fallen.
After all, this was the second issue that occurred regarding them in the past year, and in the same town. Whether it be because of Azazel not keeping a tighter leash on his forces, those same forces betraying him, or something else, Fallen Angels had launched unsanctioned attacks in Kuoh twice now. With the latter having been personally done by a Cadre-class member of the Grigori.
And if the Four Satans did declare War on the Fallen Angels, there was no telling how the Angels would react. Would they try to prevent that by negotiating for peace? Join one side to finish the other? Or elect to wash their hands of it and stay out of the War entirely?
Though, that was all assuming that the summit was to officially declare war. It could also be an attempt to prevent exactly that, whether by punishing the Grigori for Kokabiel's actions or possibly even forming a peace treaty. It was hard to say.
But if Azazel was offering to have them work together, it was possible that Azazel was leaning more towards peace. Perhaps even by offering to have knowledge and resources be shared amongst the factions. He had mentioned believing in a 'free and open exchange of ideas'.
Returning to the present, he said "Unless given a very good reason otherwise, I think I'm going to reject Azazel's offer. As much as I would love to resume working on Sacred Gears now, I don't think the risk is worth it. And I still have to finish my current project as it is."
"I agree. We can consider the matter more after the summit. Until then, it'd be best to not even approach Azazel. Also, the fact that the Vanishing Dragon is apparently working for him is cause for concern," Sona said, something he agreed with.
Just from his brief appearance alone, Keijutsu could already tell that the Vanishing Dragon was a powerful opponent. Not only was his raw power equal to that of Kokabiel, but then you threw in his Divine Dividing and its ability to halve the power of an opponent. Just like with Issei, this made any fight hopeless if it lasted long enough. But unlike Issei, this enemy had enough power that you couldn't just destroy him before he had a chance to react.
Keijutsu said "I think Azazel actually had him appear in order to send a message to the rest of the Grigori. From what he told, more and more of his troops haven't been happy with the cease-fire between factions, and he needed to demonstrate that insubordination like Kokabiel's wouldn't be tolerated."
Sona stifled a snort. "Well, showing that you have a holder of one of the thirteen Longinus in your pocket would certainly take care of that," she remarked, before shaking her head. "If there's nothing else, we'll end our discussion here. I have to get ready for Open House tomorrow."
"Ah, right. That is tomorrow," the Artificer muttered. Because of Open House, most of the regular classes would be canceled, which left him with more time do research. A win-win, in his book.
The first indication Keijutsu received that something was wrong was when he was inside the lab set aside by the school for metallurgy.
He had decided to take a short break from his research on artificial life by working on one of his side projects. On the table in front of him appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, a massive square of cloth. However, one looked close enough, they could see strands of metal interwoven into the fabric, as well as several runic arrays inked on.
What the purpose of these runes were, it was hard to say. Keijutsu was reviewing his notes on both them and the object itself, when his senses suddenly picked up two energy signatures coming towards him.
One of them, he could easily tell, was Sona. However, the other energy signature alarmed him greatly. Not only did it seem to be chasing after Sona, but it's power level was beyond almost anything he had ever encountered. It was beyond that of Kokabiel, beyond the Vanishing Dragon, and seemed to even match Azazel in turns of raw strength.
'What in the Underworld is something like that doing here on campus?! And why is it chasing Sona?!' he thought, putting down his notes.
No sooner had he done so than the door to the lab burst open, and Sona ran inside. Her hair was disheveled, glasses crooked, and she was breathing heavily from running.
However, he didn't have a chance to ask what was going on, as Sona looked straight at him and said "Keijutsu, hide me!"
The Artificer blinked. Even for him, this was too much to take in instantly. Thus, his only response was "What?"
"Don't ask, just hide me somehow!" she said, nearly panicking as the large energy signature grew closer.
Keijutsu wondered what was going on, but upon seeing his King's desperate expression, he decided to get answers later. For now, he simply nodded and gestured for her to stand in the corner of the room, away from the door. Once she was in place, he grabbed the cloth that was on the lab table and came close.
"Try not to make any noise, suppress your energy signature as much as you can and avoid moving," he said, before literally tossing the cloth over her, so that she was completely covered.
Sona stared at him for a moment in shock, her vision partially obscured. This was it? This was his idea of hiding her? Having her stand in the corner while covered and hope that she wasn't seen?! Was he insane!?
But before she could lay into him for such an idiotic idea, however, the lab door slid open again, and her anger turned to dread at seeing who was there. Now, she had no choice but to resign herself to her fate.
Keijutsu looked over the newcomer and stared at the sight of her. It was a girl, a rather beautiful one at that, who appeared to be in her late teens. She had long black hair tied into twin tails and violet eyes, as well as a small body (except for a pair of large breasts). She was wearing what appeared to be some kind of magical girl outfit, complete with a magic wand, and possessed an expression far too innocent to be real.
The new girl looked around for a moment in confusion, asking "So-tan, where are you? I could have sworn that I sensed you coming this way!"
Sona resisted the urge to whine in misery. Well, there was no escape now.
But to her shock, when the girl's eyes landed on the spot where Sona was standing, her gaze lingered for a moment… and then passed right over her, as if she weren't there. What the hell?
Keijutsu cleared his throat and stepped forward, saying "Forgive my interrupting, but who is this 'So-tan' that you're looking for?"
The magical girl blinked and looked at him. "Oh, I was talking about Sona Sitri, my cute and adorable little sister! Have you seen her?" she asked cheerfully.
Now it was Keijutsu's turn to blink. Sona was this girl's younger sister? But wait. Didn't Sona say that she had a sibling who was the current Leviathan, one of the four Satans? In that case, then this girl… she was… Oh shit.
'Well, that explains her massive amount of power,' he idly thought.
Standing straighter, he said "I apologize, ma'am, but I haven't seen Sona-kaichou at all today. Perhaps she left to go elsewhere?"
Sona's sister pouted, muttering "Aw, bummer. And I was so looking forward to spending time with her…" Then she looked up at him. "But who are you? I can tell you're a Devil, but I've never seen you before."
Being sure to bow formally, he said "My name is Keijutsu Hatsume, and I am a Bishop in service to Sona. What is your name?"
At that, she smiled, and struck a pose by spinning around in a circle—making Keijutsu realize that her skirt was far too short in the process—before pointing her wand at him and flashing a 'peace' sign. "My name is Serafall Leviathan, a member of the four Satans! But you, Kei-chan, can call me the Magical Levi-tan!" she declared.
Now even further flummoxed by both her nickname and the one she just gave him, he said "Okay… It's a pleasure to meet you, Leviathan-sama. Are you here for the school's open house?"
Swiftly resuming her pouting expression, Serafall said "Yeah, but So-tan was being mean and didn't tell me that it was happening! I had to find out about it from Sirzechs-chan, and he only knew because his little sister told him!"
Keijutsu looked at her but said nothing, while she kept going. "And when I did show up, my precious So-tan wasn't even happy to see me! It didn't happen at all like I envisioned it! She was supposed to give a big smile and jump into my arms, telling me how much she missed me! Then I'd tell her that I missed her too and give her a big kiss, and she'd give me a big kiss back, and that would lead to some girl-on-girl action, and it would be so hot!"
'Wait… what? Did she just suggest that she wanted to… have a round of lesbian incest with Sona?' he thought, seriously wondering whether he had heard that right or not.
"And when I found out about open house from someone other than Sona, I nearly laid siege to Heaven itself to get rid of my anger!" Serafall finished, pointing her wand at the ceiling.
Coming back at reality, he said "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't starting a war with another faction exactly what we're trying to prevent?"
Serafall nodded. "Yeah, it is. And I'm feeling better now, having gotten the chance to see Sona. Are you sure you have no idea where she is?" she asked.
Making sure not to glance over to where Sona was standing, he said "I'm sorry, but I really have no idea. Maybe you could see if she went back to the Student Council room?"
"Hmm… That's a good idea. It's definitely a place to start." With that, the Satan nodded, and Keijutsu sighed in relief.
Too soon. No sooner had he done so than Serafall was suddenly right in front of him, having moved faster than he could see, and was leaning even closer. Keijutsu's eyes widened and he leaned back in response. However, there was only so far back he could lean without falling.
"That said… I have to admit, So-tan does sure no how to pick them," she said, her normally childish voice turning both serious… and seductive.
"Um, I'm afraid that I don't know what you mean," Keijutsu said.
To that, Serafall chuckled and moved even closer, to the point that her sizable chest began pressing against him. "Oh, I just mean that my precious sister seems to have a gift for picking out cute guys to be Devils. But that Saji-chan is way too strict, and I'm not interested in that." Then she rose up on her tip-toes, so that her face was even closer to his.
Almost against his will, Keijutsu glanced down at her lips. Smooth, well-proportioned, not artificial like a lot of girls'… Then he snapped back once he realized that there was less than half a foot of space between Serafall's face and his.
"But what I am interested in…" she added. "Is to see if you're good enough for my little sister."
Fighting with everything he had to keep himself from blushing, he said "L-Leviathan-sama… I think you should get back to looking for Sona."
But Serafall merely chuckled again. "I told you, call me Levi-tan. I have enough people calling me 'Leviathan-sama' day in and day out…"
She leaned in closer. "Can't my sister's handsome Bishop make an exception?" she asked.
'Any closer and she's going to make the blood flow to my head increase to the point it pops off. And I mean the head above my shoulders,' he thought. Out loud, he said "I… I guess it wouldn't hurt… Levi-tan."
And just like that, Serafall smiled brightly and stepped back, saying "Oh, that's wonderful! I was hoping that I could finally get someone to call me that! It makes me so happy!"
Keijutsu nearly stumbled back, her sudden switch back to her usual personality generating a massive amount of whiplash. While he tried to come up with something to say, Serafall said "Well, it was fun talking to you, Kei-chan, but I think I'll take your suggestion and start searching at the Student Council room. See you!"
Then she conjured a blue magic circle and vanished, leaving just as abruptly as she arrived.
Keijutsu stood there for several minutes afterwards, simply trying to process everything that had happened so far. In that time, Sona reached up and removed the cloth that had been over her. "Thank goodness; I was starting to think she'd never leave," she muttered before approaching him.
"Thank you for your help, Kei-san. You have no idea how much this means to me," she said.
At that, Keijutsu finally managed to break out of his shock, and shrugged. "Don't mention it, Kaichou. I can see that your sister is very… energetic… and I can only imagine how much that clashes with how serious you are about things," he told her.
Sona nodded, before placing the cloth back on the lab table. Curious, she asked "If you don't mind me asking, what is this thing supposed to be? And how did it keep my sister from noticing me?"
He smiled. "Oh, just a side project that I've been working on from time to time. Basically, I've been trying to create a working cloak of invisibility," he stated.
Sona paused, blinked, and then looked at him. "A cloak of invisibility? Really?"
"Really," he responded. "Basically, with what I have so far, the cloak itself can bend electromagnetic waves in the visible part of the spectrum away from the user, ensuring that no visible light comes into contact with them and preventing the user from being seen. However, that's not all I want this to do."
Smoothing out any creases in the material, he said "I want this thing to be able to render the user completely invisible to all forms of detection. Whether that be by infrared, X-rays, anything, I want this to block them all. Plus, I also want it to be able to make the user completely undetectable by any other methods, such as sounds, scent, even by tracing the magical energy they could emit."
The Sitri heiress stared at the cloth, then at him. "And you're calling something like that a side project?" she asked incredulously.
"Yep. My work on the limits of magic takes precedence, but I tinker with this whenever I want to cool off. Plus, as you just saw when I had you use it, I've already had a limited amount of success."
Then Keijutsu sighed. "Unfortunately, while I have been able to render the user visually undetectable and muffle the magical energy they could emit, that's it. I haven't made progress on the audio blockage, scent remover, or anything else. Plus, the device itself starts fail if the user moves too much or tries casting any magic."
"I see…" Sona said, before eventually nodding. "Well, I'll let you get back to it, Kei-san. Now that Onee-sama is no longer chasing me, I can see about actually getting some work done. I'll see you soon."
Keijutsu nodded back, and she left the room.
The next day…
'It seems that whenever I encounter the Occult Research Club, something strange is always going on,' Keijutsu thought.
He had just been walking home from class and was passing by the Old Schoolhouse. However, as he had gotten closer, he could sense the energy output from all of Rias's peerage with the exception of Akeno, Kiba and Rias herself. What was more, Xenovia seemed to have summoned Durandal, and he could sense that Saji was there too.
Deciding to see what was going on, he approached the clearing where they were all located, and was treated a very strange sight.
Xenovia was running around with Durandal held high, chasing after what appeared to be a young girl. Said girl had platinum blonde hair styled in a short bob, with pointed ears and pinkish-purple eyes. She was also rather short, just about one-and-a-half meters, and dressed in Kuoh Academy's female uniform. If he looked close enough, he might have also spotted a tiny pair of fangs.
"Is this what you call running? If you don't pick up the pace, Durandal will have your head!" Xenovia called.
"NOOOO!" the little girl screamed, running even faster. After another few minutes, she finally collapsed against a tree, and looked at the bluenette with tears in her eyes. "Why are you being so mean to me?!" she demanded.
Xenovia smirked. "Trust me, you won't think I'm so mean when you've become stronger," she declared.
Before the girl had a chance to protest, Koneko stepped forward. "Gasper, eat this and you'll feel better," she stated, before holding up a handful of garlic.
Gasper screamed and got back up, running away rom the garlic-carrying Rook. However, Koneko was easily able to keep pace, even as she kept running back and forth.
Finally deciding to see what this was all about, Keijutsu stepped closer. "Would someone mind telling me what the heck is going on?" he asked.
Issei looked over and waved. "Oh! Hey, Hatsume-san. What's up?" he asked.
"I was just heading home when I heard all this ruckus and decided to take a look. So why are Xenovia-san and Koneko-san chasing around that blonde girl? And who is she anyway?" Keijutsu questioned.
Issei shrugged. "The blonde is Gasper Vladi, and we're just trying to help him get better control over his Sacred Gear. And, and by the way, he's not a girl. He's a guy."
Keijutsu paused. "Wait…" he said, before looking at the short blonde. "You mean that girl is a boy?!" he said, his tone making it clear just how little he believed that.
The Pawn nodded seriously. "Yeah. Trust me, I was as surprised as you were when I found out. But Gasper's really a guy, one who just so happens to look a lot like a girl and who enjoys cross-dressing."
Keijutsu went over that in his head, trying to come to grips with the fact that this obviously feminine being before him was actually male. For some reason, that was proving really hard to process. Still, he was eventually able to come to grips with it, and sighed. "Okay, that explains why you're chasing him. But what kind of Sacred Gear requires training is this intense?" he asked, seeing how Gasper kept running from Koneko and the garlic despite being clearly exhausted.
Asia was the one who answered, explaining "His Sacred Gear is called Forbidden Balor View, or 'The Evil Eyes that Stop the World'. Gasper can use it to freeze time for anything he can see. But he doesn't have a lot of control over it, so it usually only happens to a lot of people, and for just an instant."
But Keijutsu had stopped listening after the 'freeze time' part, as his own eyes went wide as he considered the possibilities of such an ability. Quickly, he called "Hold on a second!" and everyone stopped what they were doing.
Moving right in front of Gasper and dropping to one knee, he said "My name is Keijutsu Hatsume. Gasper-san, do you really have the ability to stop time in a localized area?"
Hesitantly, the blonde nodded, saying "Um, yes, that's what my Sacred Gear lets me do."
Grinning with stars in his eyes, Keijutsu said "That is simply marvelous! Can you demonstrate it for me? Please?"
Now thoroughly unsettled by the Bishop's sudden interest, Gasper tried to protest. "Bu-But I don't have a lot of control over-"
But Keijutsu overrode that. "It doesn't have to be something grand. Just a small demonstration will do!" he said eagerly.
By now, the others were also perplexed by his sudden shift in behavior, to the point that Issei asked "Dude, what's going on? How come you're getting so worked up over this?"
The Artificer looked back at him. "All my life, I had written of the ability to control time as sheer fantasy, unobtainable even with the use of magic. But do you have any idea of the potential applications for such a thing? Besides being able to freeze an enemy in combat and simply hitting them while they can't react, they are so many other things that can be done!"
He rose back to his feet, continuing "Keeping someone's who's injured stabilized until they could receive proper treatment. Traveling insurmountable distances in a fraction of time. Even direct manipulation of spacetime, since time and space are simply two connected aspects of the same concept. The possibilities could be endless!"
Then Keijutsu turned and faced Gasper once more. "That's why I'm asking this of you. Please, show me an example of your stopping time for something. I have to see it to believe it!" he said fiercely.
Unfortunately, Gasper's natural fear of other people, combined with how emphatically Keijutsu was addressing him, overrode his hesitation, and he yelled "Eeep!" before the world suddenly vanished in a flash of pink.
The pink light faded, and Keijutsu blinked upon seeing that Gasper was gone. "What the-? Where did he go?!" he nearly yelled.
"Waaah! I'm sorry!" he heard Gasper call, and looked up. The half-vampire was now sitting up in a tree, and looked to be one step away from bawling his eyes out.
"I didn't mean to do it! Please don't get angry with me!" he said.
But rather than get angry, Keijutsu simply stood there, eyes huge. Not only had this child just frozen time for every person within the clearing, but he had done so for long enough that had he time to actually climb a tree and try to hide. From Gasper's perspective, it must have been like they were all frozen in place. But from their own point of view, it was as if he had moved instantaneously, with not even a nanosecond passing at all.
"This… is… AMAZING!" he yelled, beaming up at the Bishop.
Gasper stopped sniffling for a moment. "Wait. You mean… you're not mad that I froze you?" he asked.
"Mad? Heavens, no! I'm more impressed than anything else. Actual time manipulation! Will your Forbidden Balor View work on any being, regardless of who or what they are? What exact method do you use for activating it? How long could you keep them frozen if you tried? Would you be willing to participate in a series of tests for me?" he asked, firing one question after another.
Gasper didn't say anything, staring at Keijutsu as if he were the one with a world-changing ability.
It was at that moment that a new voice spoke up, saying "Now what do we have here? It's cute that the Devil houses are spending time together for once."
As one, everyone looked in the direction of the voice, and saw that it belonged to none other than Azazel.
Instantly, Issei summoned his Boosted Gear while Xenovia raised Durandal, and everyone except Gasper and Asia moved into fighting stances. The Fallen Angel didn't even blink at the display, saying "Nice to see you again, Hatsume-san, Red Dragon Emperor."
Saji, momentarily shocked by Azazel's sudden appearance, called forth his Absorption Line and moved to Azazel's flank, while Koneko moved behind him.
Still not losing his smirk, Azazel said "You could attack me all at once, but it still wouldn't make a difference. Even Low-Class Devils like you should know that."
Keijutsu glared at him for a moment, before sighing. "He's got a point, everyone," he said, and relaxed. After a long moment, the others did as well, and he asked, "So what brings you here, Azazel-san?"
"I came because I wanted to see the one carrying the Holy-Demonic Sword. Is he here?" he asked.
Issei replied "No, he's not. And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from Kiba."
Azazel sighed. "Such a feisty one. Still, no Holy-Demonic Sword. How boring," he said, before looking over at where Gasper was hiding. "Hey, cute-looking vampire!"
When Gasper slowly moved down into view, he said "As you no doubt have experienced, something like Forbidden Balor View can be downright dangerous if its user can't control it. Why don't you have that kid with the Absorption Line siphon off some of your Sacred Gear's power, take the strain down a notch?"
While Saji blinked, not having thought of using his Sacred Gear for that, Azazel continued "Although, since this kid is also half-vampire, there is an even faster way to do it. He could just drink that Red Dragon Emperor's blood, and that'll take care of it like that."
Gasper tensed at the mere thought of drinking someone's blood. Keijutsu, on the other hand, hummed in thought. Not even he would have thought of that. Taking in the blood from a Longinus-level Sacred Gear to help control his own… "Interesting," he said aloud.
At that, Azazel focused on him, saying "Also, I came to see if you had reached a decision regarding my offer. Well, Hatsume-san?"
The rest of them looked at him, and Keijutsu tensed. While he had been planning on rejecting Azazel's offer of a partnership, that was before he had learned that Sacred Gears could do something like freaking freeze time. And if even that were possible, what else could they do? It was his question about magic and its own limits all over again.
"I… I need to give it more thought," he eventually said.
Luckily, Azazel appeared to be fine with it. "Very well. Just know that I'm not sure whether I'm staying in town or not after the summit, so you'll want to make your decision by then," he told him.
He merely nodded, and the Fallen Angel began walking off. "I guess that takes care of everything I needed for now, more or less," Keijutsu said, before looking back at Gasper. "I still want to hear your answer regarding those tests. See you around." And then he vanished.
That evening…
"All the magic circles are drawn and ready, Hatsume-san," Suzuno said, moving away from the center of the room. They were currently in a section of his lab that was normally filled with workbenches, workbenches where he had his golems testing various devices or building something too delicate for human hands. But now both the golems and benches had been removed, and in their place stood a total of three large magic circles.
Each circle contained a near-dizzying number of runes and sigils, interweaving and containing words or phrases from over a dozen languages. A pair of adjacent circles occupied the center of each array, and together they spanned the entirety of the room.
Nodding to his newly-acquired assistant, he said "Thank you, Suzuno-san. Fronea, would you bring me the samples?"
His Sphinx of a familiar grunted and took a pair of test tubes from Rasiel, who was also standing off to the side and watching. Gently carrying the test tubes between her teeth, she padded over and deposited them both into Keijutsu's outstretched hand.
Holding them up to the light, he could see that one contained the stand of Rias's hair that had gotten possession of. The other one, meanwhile, contained a sample of his own skin. Seeing the both of them together, along with the circles on the ground, he had to struggle to keep himself from shaking.
'This is it. All my planning, all my research, my success and failures in trying to develop artificial life, all done to answer one question. Will this work?' he thought. If it failed, then he had learned that there was one thing which magic could not do. But if it did… he would be responsible for bringing new life into this world, for creating a living, breathing human being. To him, the importance of this moment could not be understated.
But the moment would not go on if he just stood there. And so, taking a deep breath, he released the seals on the test tubes and uncapped them. He placed the strand of hair and patch of skin in the first magic circle, before also stepping back and clasping his hands. "Well, here goes everything," he muttered, before focusing his energy.
The circle containing the samples lit up, regular ink shining a bright blue, casting everything around it in either bright light or harsh shadow. Keijutsu began actively channeling magic energy into the array, while also muttering to himself "Duplus… Dipló…Doble… Daburu… Double…"
The light coming from the first circle pulsed with each word, and the DNA samples became infused with the same glow. Then the light began traveling along a series of lines inked into the ground. It coalesced in the center of the second circle in the array, building intensity by the moment.
Keijutsu grunted and the mass of light burst apart, revealing another strand of hair and patch of kin in the second array. Perfect copies of the original, down to the last atom.
Rasiel looked at the new samples with surprise. "So, your replication array really does work," he said, sounding rather impressed.
The artificer nodded but didn't say anything. It was still time for Step 2. Using a small levitation spell to keep himself from having to touch the sample, he lifted them into the air and had them drift over until they were over the first circle in the second array. Then he let them fall to the ground and walked over to stand in front of said array.
Now that he had recreated a DNA sample using nothing but magic, Step 2 was to take the hair and skin created from magic and convert them into egg and sperm cells, respectively. This part would require much more out of him than the first and had a much greater chance of going wrong. But if he remained calm and did not falter, everything should turn out fine.
With that in mind, he brought his hands together and refocused. Much like the first time, the runic array began glowing bright blue, and a similar but much fainter glow enveloped the samples. This time he could actively sense as the sample seemed to resist the change. Not particularly surprising, as he imagined that magic was never intended to manipulate organic life in such a way. Hell, normal science was only just starting to break ground on this.
However, Keijutsu persisted, and increased the flow of magical energy. He also began muttering in the same languages as before, saying "Converte… Metatropi… Convertir… Henkan… Convert!" With each proclamation, the glow around the samples throbbed like a heartbeat, and took a little more from his reserves. It happened very slowly, but eventually the strand of hair began to wrap around itself until it formed a tiny ball, and the patch of skin did the same.
Then both samples seemingly dissolved into light, light which then vanished only to reappear in the circle adjacent to it. At that instant, Keijutsu gasped as he felt the runic array take a massive chunk out of his reserves, almost half of what he had left. But then the light coalesced, and lying in the second circle were a sperm and egg cell.
Acting quickly, Keijutsu said "And now, Step 3!" and quickly encased the two sex cells in a sphere of energy, completely isolating them from their surrounding environment. It wouldn't do for the subject to be contaminated now. Not when he had come so far.
While he carefully transported the sample to the final array, Suzuno stared. "I can't believe what I just saw. You actually made real sex cells from DNA samples. I… I don't know what to say," she said faintly.
Fronea nodded in agreement, but kept her eyes trained on process at hand. "Yes, but now there remains one part left. To use the final array and ensure that the two cells join," she said.
Keijutsu nodded, and placed the energy sphere suspending the two cells within the final array. Unlike the other two, this one only had one circle in the center, since he wouldn't need to be creating anything this time around. He was just guiding the two cells towards each other. With that in mind, he dropped to one knee in front of the array and reached forward, both of his hands becoming enveloped in similar, smaller runes.
Using a separate spell to 'zoom in' his eyesight enough to see the cells themselves, and acting with utmost precision, Keijutsu grasped the two of them with his magic. Holding the egg cell in place, he gently guided the sperm cell to it. Once it was close enough, he let it come into contact with the corona radiata on the egg's outermost surface. After a moment, they dispersed, enabling the sperm cell to enter the perivitelline space… and into the nucleus of the oocyte.
Keijutsu exhaled and stood. He was unable to stop his hands from trembling now, but even so, he guided the sphere to where he could grasp with his hands, and turned around. Before him, Suzuno and, to lesser extent, Fronea, waited with baited breath while Rasiel had an eyebrow raised.
Slowly, he held up the sphere contained the joined sperm and eggs, and proclaimed "We have fertilization."
Suzuno's eyes went huge, and she stared at him. 'She hasn't looked that shocked,' he idly thought 'Since she learned that God was dead.'
Fronea also seemed shocked, but also immensely proud. And why shouldn't she be? She had just witnessed the Devil was familiar to accomplish a feat never before done in all of human and Devil history. The use of magic to create life.
Rasiel smiled widely and stepped forward. "Congratulations, Kei. I admit that even I'm impressed by what you've done today. What will you do now?" she asked.
Keijutsu looked at her… and then grinned. "Now? Now I do the very thing I went through dozens of tests to prepare for." He held up the sphere. "I'm going to use my aging device on this egg, and ensure that it develops into a working, intelligent human being," he said.
Then he began walking and entered into what had been his office. However, the note-boards, desk and chairs were gone, replaced a single white bed not unlike the kind you'd find in a hospital. Placing the enclosed sphere of energy on the bed, he pulled out a stopwatch and pressed down on it. Instantly, the sphere isolating the fertilized egg from its environment vanished. Only to be replaced, in the next instant, by another sphere of blue energy coming from the stopwatch.
Summoning a chair for him to sit in via magic circle, he said "I'm going to age my newly created human to a biological age of approximately sixteen. With the latest improvements I've made to my entropy-manipulator and including the time of each cycle of starting and stopping the device, it should take no more than about twenty hours. Rasiel, the books."
The green-haired girl nodded and produced the Books of Wisdom and Equivalence. She held the out and he reached for them, but he stopped when her expression suddenly turned serious. "Remember my warning, Kei. Using these two Phantom Books will ensure that this person you've created will have the knowledge needed to function. But you must be adamantly sure that you consider this trade to be equal, or it will take from whoever stands to gain more."
Keijutsu nodded. "I understand," he said, and she let him take the books. He activated the aging device and opened both books, before looking back at them. "And now, would you mind shutting the door on your way out? I'm going to be here a while."
Suzuno nodded and shut the door, leaving Keijutsu alone with the new life he had created. If he had the time to, he would have been spinning around the room and off the walls in joy. But for now, he couldn't do that. More work needed to be done.
Holding one book in each hand, he looked between them and the egg on the bed before him, before grinning. "Now, let's get started."
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