Never in her life had Venelana imagined she would be summoned to become a servant to a mere human child. Especially when the child, judging by his knowledge, seemed to possess Solomon's intellect. Solomon, the human mage who was considered a taboo among the Pillar members.
The Bael Devil had only heard of Solomon from Zekrom Bael, who had spoken of him in hushed tones. Solomon, with the help of the vengeful Biblical God, created the Ars Goetia summoning system. This system, based on the same teleportation principle devils once used to prey on humans, allowed him to reverse summon specific devils and bind them for life.
But Venelana realized her summoning was unique. As her new master had mentioned, he had significantly improved the circle, making her incapable of lying to him and unable to tell anyone about him. How this worked, she didn't know, but the more time she spent around this boy, the more terrified she became. He wasn't just any child; he reminded her of Ajuka, the very same Ajuka who had become one of the Satans and a Super Devil. If this boy were anything like him, the Devil race could be in extreme danger… or perhaps, if she was clever enough, she could manipulate him for their benefit.
However, the more time she spent around him, the less confident she became in her ability to manipulate him. The boy had no interest in politics, no interest in women—after all, he was just a child. Worst of all, he could only hear the truth from her, making any attempt at manipulation exceedingly difficult. She couldn't even make him view devils in a positive light.
The argument they'd had about the Evil Pieces had left her cringing in defeat. So, for the next few weeks, she taught him everything she knew about devils, angels, fallen angels, and all the tricks she'd learned to keep hidden from them. She explained theories on barriers and various magical principles.
But when it came to magic, Venelana was stunned. All her life's worth of magical knowledge was drained by him in less than a year.
She showed him how magic flows and the differences between devils, angels, fallen angels, and other species, along with their unique magical energies. Then, one day, she finally saw the boy's genius in action.
The comparison to Ajuka became undeniable. First, she witnessed what he called a transmutation circle—a form of magic she had never seen before. She assumed it was the same kind of magic Solomon used to craft his infamous ten rings. It could change anything—dust into a plain-looking material, which Venelana could only assume was some form of clay. And then, using runes from multiple pantheons, he crafted a ring made of pure-looking gold.
"Is this... one of Solomon's rings?" she asked, some trepidation in her voice.
"No," the boy answered casually as he picked up the ring from the circle. "This is my foci."
"Foci? Like a mage's staff?" she asked, relieved.
"Yes. This will allow me to cast magic in a similar way to devils," he explained, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
Her eyes widened as the implications hit her. Devil magic, one of the main reasons humans agreed to become reincarnated devils, was versatile and deadly. Now, a twelve-year-old human had created an artifact capable of using it. What could he accomplish with more resources or simply more time? The thought alone made her shiver in fear.
"You can use your magic to build a floor below that garage, right?" I asked Venelana, who was standing next to me.
The Ars Goetia's abilities were fascinating. I could summon Venelana anywhere I wanted, and using the devils' own magic against them gave me a strange sense of satisfaction.
I also recalled more about High School DxD—I had watched it during my "horny teenager" phase, but as time went on, I'd lost interest. I started focusing on stocks and getting rich by selling licenses for phone and computer apps.
Still, I remembered enough. Kouh, a city on the other side of the globe, was the epicenter of everything. That meant I'd be staying far away, more than 8,000 kilometers from Japan.
"Yes. All devils can do basic things like these. Do you have any specifics, Master?" Venelana replied, still struggling to get used to the fact that she was calling me Master.
A trick Solomon had added to the system, no doubt. I hadn't bothered reading into the details of how devils were meant to address their masters.
"We'll start with the stairs, then a main room, followed by several corridors…"
"You want an… underground base? That's rather… childish of you, Master," Venelana said, laughing.
Snort
"I don't think many people will appreciate the light shows I plan to put on in the attic," I replied, rolling my eyes. It wasn't the first time she had tried to provoke a reaction from me. I assumed she was trying to learn more about me as we built this Master-Servant relationship.
"Yes, I suppose you're right… I could use some of my family's resources to buy you land," she offered with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Nice try. But no." I shook my head. I wasn't interested in getting caught in their web of manipulation.
"What about your family? Should I continue altering their memories?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, but once you're done with the basement, we won't need to hypnotize them anymore."
After summoning Venelana, my family had immediately sensed something was wrong. To cover it up, the devil had used her hypnosis to alter their memories. I hadn't learned any hypnotic magic yet, but I intended to look into it once I started studying mind-related arts.
Once the alterations were complete, I could move freely around the house without worrying. Nothing major was changed, just enough so I could practice magic without interference. And, of course, Venelana's existence had to remain a secret.
We walked to the garage, and I pointed to the spot where I wanted the stairs to be. Venelana, with a casual wave of her hand, summoned several Gremory magic circles and began quite literally digging the ground. More like erasing it from existence.
In less than thirty minutes, we stood in a newly created room, with stairs descending into the space.
"Hmm... while the creation of the room was rapid, there's quite a bit of ambient magic in the air," I commented, feeling the magic that lingered around us.
Through my training, I had developed a natural sense of magic. The method was simple: channel as much magic through your body as possible until exhaustion, rinse, and repeat. Over time, you developed a deep awareness of it. Having a magical connection to someone like Venelana accelerated the process.
"Is that bad?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Normally, no. But I plan to create artifacts and experiment with rituals and magic circles, so I'll be mixing devil energy with regular human magic energy and whatever other energies I experiment with in the future," I explained casually, with no need to hide my plans from her.
"What kind of artifacts are you talking about? Like the ten rings?" she asked, clearly uneasy.
The ten rings were absurd even by DxD standards. Solomon, using those rings, could negate any form of energy, including Touki. The only way to defeat him was through pure physical combat, which was near impossible considering he could wield magic from any pantheon and command 72 devils.
If Solomon hadn't died, the Underworld would have been lost. Lucifer's 72 Pillars would have been replaced with Solomon's Ars Goetia 72 Pillars.
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