MAEPG: Episode 47

Episode 47 Preparation (1)

I quickly wrapped things up on Earth.

Hans strengthened his nightly patrols to find any remaining members of Heaven’s Turn Society, and Heinz met with the moderates and negotiated.

“I have no intention of giving you any unreasonable orders. All I want is to maintain peace and order, and to completely eradicate those related to ‘Heaven’s Turn Society’.”

“Don’t you think those two goals are contradictory?”

“It depends on your perspective.”

From his perspective, punishing evil was also part of maintaining peace and order.

And it was obvious that power was needed for that.

Aria, the leader of the Blood Alliance moderates, who was sitting across from Heinz and having a conversation, didn’t refute his words.

She just sat in her chair with her eyes closed, as she did when they first met.

“Alright. I’ll help you absorb the hardliners.”

And she readily accepted his proposal.

It was a slightly unexpected development, as he had been considering some forceful coercion.

“…It’s a bit late to ask this, but what makes you so confident to accept without any hesitation?”

“It’s a conclusion I reached after careful consideration. There’s no reason to refuse when it’s beneficial to both of us. And what makes me confident… Of course, it’s myself.”

Aria answered with a slight smile.

Her eyes were still closed.

“You’ll need someone to act as a bridge between us. Take So-ran with you. I’ll let her know. And I’ll also see if there’s anyone on our side who wants to follow you.”

There was a limit to forcibly subjugating an entire organization alone.

It wasn’t impossible to gradually expand his power through force, but it would take a lot of time.

That wasn’t what he wanted.

So he was planning to reveal his plan and subtly threaten them, but they were more cooperative than he expected.

They even showed their sincerity by saying they would personally persuade Jin So-ran, who was an executive of the moderates.

‘What kind of ability does she have? Can she read minds? Or can she just see someone’s personality? She can’t see the future, can she?’

He wanted to subjugate her by force and find out what she was thinking, but it was too much to do that to her, who was the leader of a faction.

The subordination through “Refined Blood Essence” didn’t have the effect of brainwashing.

She would follow his orders, but it would be obvious, and that wouldn’t be helpful in taking over the Blood Alliance.

There was no reason to act tough when they were cooperating like this.

“Okay. Then I’ll leave it to you to inform the moderates. Now, shall we talk about the plan to absorb the remaining hardliners?”

“Sure. To do that, we need to first…”

The beginning was to become the leader of a new faction by absorbing the remnants of the hardliners.

The takeover of the Blood Alliance was proceeding smoothly.
___________________

To smoothly carry out Operation ‘Home Theater: Demon King and Hero’, the more capable subordinates he had who moved according to his will, the better.

He felt that Hans and Heinrich, the main characters, and Heinz, the supporting character, weren’t enough.

Therefore, the biggest problem he currently faced was how to strengthen ‘Harley’, whose path was still undecided, as quickly as possible.

[Oh, this is very interesting.]

And he had just found a pretty good method in the data that the head of Heaven’s Turn Society’s research lab had cherished.

Hans was currently far away from my residence, taking out their research data and absorbing their achievements.

Even if he couldn’t use it directly, the concept itself was helpful, and above all, thanks to the lab head, the data, which was ‘in the middle of research’, remained intact from beginning to end.

[An experiment to transplant body parts of inhuman Devils to others? This is practically a chimera procedure. Ordinary people naturally failed… and the side effects are severe even for awakened ones.]

Hans, who now had excellent insight in other fields due to the influence of “Path of Magic”, couldn’t help but specialize in dark magic.

And ‘chimera research’ was a field closely related to dark magic.

‘It’s a blessing in disguise. Even if I had taken advantage of the time difference in Auterica and only delved into “Forbidden Knowledge”, I wouldn’t have grown this quickly.’

Quality over quantity.

By experiencing spells from various worlds and breaking his own mold, Hans had laid the foundation for faster growth.

[…But this wasn’t just a simple chimera research. Discarding weaknesses and accepting only superior elements, constantly pursuing evolution… Is the ultimate goal to create a perfectly evolved creature?]

Perhaps because it was still an ongoing research project, not only the data but also the body tissues used in the experiments were stored together.

[Oh, is this dragon blood? It looks like melted jewels.]

Even ‘dragon blood’, the core material.

The purple liquid in a small bottle shimmered, scattering light as the angle changed.

[Heh… If I combine this data with the knowledge from my skills, I think I can get some useful results… Evolution through “Adaptation” to external tissues.]

Now that things had come to this, time felt precious.

He had obtained enough on Earth, so it would be nice if he could go to Auterica and focus on research.

‘But the Church is a problem…’

More precisely, it was because of the Saintess, who was still trying to find the Immortal King’s descendant every day.

‘But I also obtained some useful clues.’

It took about three weeks for Hans to complete the ‘Contagious Familiar Magic Final_Revised_2nd_FINAL(3)_ReallyTheLast’ while holed up on a mountainside.

And that was also the amount of time it took for the Church to sense Hans’s presence and start searching.

‘They immediately sensed Hans’s presence, but they couldn’t pinpoint his exact location because of all the concealment barriers he had set up. It means that even the Saintess’s detection isn’t perfect.’

And Hans had become even better at concealing his presence since then, and he had achieved a higher level of magic, as well as obtaining “Path of Magic”.

‘If that’s not enough, I can also use Heinz’s “Concealment” and “Blood Mystery”.’

He could also grasp the Church’s movements in real time through Heinrich, so he was confident that he could fool the Church’s eyes.

Of course, that was only possible after Heinz’s takeover of the Blood Alliance was settled to some extent.

‘But I can start preparing now.’
_______________________

《Transfer to the Auterica Dimension complete.》

After the transfer was complete, Harley cautiously looked around.

It was a secluded alley connected to a main street, but its structure prevented sunlight from entering.

It was a large city in the Tulk Kingdom, located in the western part of the Ion Continent, one of the cities Heinrich had passed through on his way to the holy land.

“Whoa! You scared me! When did you get here?”

As he stepped out of the corner, a shabby-looking man who was squatting in the alley, smoking a cigarette, jumped up.

Harley ignored him, blinking, and headed out to the main street.

‘Aonia County, Tarak, in the northern part of the Tulk Kingdom. Fortunately, it’s still daytime.’

The sun was shining brightly, so it seemed like he wouldn’t have to wait until the next day to move.

Tarak was a place that Heinrich had found impressive during his preliminary investigation.

Mercenaries with weapons walking around the streets, occasional mages in robes.

Even merchants transporting all sorts of things in large carts.

It was the ideal fantasy world.

‘It was a fantasy world before… but this is more typical.’

This place, as if it was the embodiment of stereotypes, was a city where the mercenary industry flourished due to the diverse monsters in the northern mountains.

It was a large and prosperous city, located near the kingdom’s border, with even a temple.

It was the last place to make preparations before heading to the ‘Iron Fortress’, which guarded the northwestern foothills of the vast northern mountain range that spanned the entire northern part of the continent.

There was a mercenary guild for receiving monster hunting requests, a merchant guild for transporting corpses, and even a branch of the magic tower for research.

Thanks to that, the city was bustling and lively with all sorts of people.

‘It seems like there’s more trade going on than I thought.’

It seemed like there wouldn’t be much difficulty in obtaining items.

Of course, he would have to hire bodyguards later for safety.

Rare materials, monster byproducts with magical value, and even magic tools that could be helpful for research.

He would be spending a lot of money in the future.

‘Saving time is the priority now that I can earn as much money as I need. I brought as many valuables as I could in the subspace I brought, but I’m not sure if it’ll be enough.’

It seemed like he would have to go to the magic tower branch and buy more subspace magic tools.

“Welcome~. This is the magic tool shop at the Lokapelli Magic Tower’s Tarak branch. Are you looking for something~?”

A man who looked more like a merchant than a mage was greeting customers at the shop attached to the magic tower branch.

“You’re looking for a subspace magic tool? You’ve come to the right place! Our Lokapelli Magic Tower’s products are top-notch, with 20% more space efficiency than other magic towers…”

“I see.”

I deliberately came to a magic tower with a good reputation because I was planning to use it for a long time.

Since the monster industry was developed, even mercenaries used subspace magic tools when going on hunts, so products with various specifications were traded.

“And this product has an antiseptic effect on the items inside, making it more suitable for long-term…”

“That function seems necessary.”

Of course, the price was exorbitant, so it was often used by large mercenary groups or high-ranking mercenary parties.

“And that’s not all! It’s specially processed to withstand extreme conditions, so no matter what wilderness you go to…”

“Oh, how much is that?”

As I was nodding along to the magic tool merchant’s eloquence, the valuables I had brought in the existing subspace were all gone, and only a few magic tools were left in my hand.

“Thank you for the great deal~! If you need anything else, please feel free to visit Charlton at the Lokapelli Magic Tower’s Tarak branch magic tool shop!”

I left the shop in a daze, leaving behind the merchant who was bowing ninety degrees and seeing me off.

I felt like I had been possessed by a ghost.

Subspace magic tools with various functions, including a large bag-shaped one with a large capacity.

I stared at the new items for a moment and then shrugged.

‘They were necessary items anyway. Even if I just resell them on Earth, I’ll make several times the profit.’

It felt like I had made some impulse purchases, but considering their value, it wasn’t a bad thing.

And since this city specialized in this industry, it was cheaper to buy them here than elsewhere.

‘But I’ve used up almost all my funds, so I need to go back to Earth again.’

The only troublesome thing was that I had to go back to Earth to replenish my empty funds.

‘I should consider making a fortune through trade with Earth. What can I bring into this world that would be worth money? Would spices work?’

Thanks to that, I also came up with a new business idea, so it was still a satisfying deal.
___________________

Crack— Crack!

“Haa…”

Jin So-ran sighed as her bones twisted and cracked.

The bloodsucking factor in her body began to evolve slowly due to the catalyst introduced from outside.

Her muscles became tougher and more flexible, her bones became stronger, and her senses sharpened.

The amount of blood magic power didn’t increase, but her control and maximum output increased, allowing her to use her power more stably.

‘It doesn’t feel like my body! It feels like I’ve been reborn!’

Jin So-ran looked at her body in admiration as the physical changes stopped.

She felt power surging through her, as if her combat power had increased several times over.

“Hmm, this is the limit with this much “Refined Blood Essence”. I’ll have to observe how much she evolves if I increase the amount.”

Of course, her feeling was just that, a feeling.

The “Refined Blood Essence” he had injected into her didn’t have that much of an effect.

According to “Insight”, it was only about a 30% enhancement.

‘Of course, a 30% increase in Jin So-ran’s power, who is Level 6, is not to be taken lightly.’

Jin So-ran readily joined Heinz’s side after receiving Aria’s proposal.

To be precise, it was a concurrent position to act as a bridge between the moderates and Heinz, but since she accepted “Refined Blood Essence” and became subordinate to Heinz…

It seemed like Aria felt the need for someone to mediate between the factions to prevent further conflict, having experienced it firsthand.

‘It’s convenient for me to have someone who can handle things on their own. There’s no need to worry about betrayal if I set some restrictions.’

Heinz waited for Jin So-ran to recover her strength and then spoke.

“Let’s move as soon as you’re ready. There’s a lot to do.”

“Yes! I understand. Lord!”

“…Lord?”

“Yes? Yes! Lord. You’re practically the ‘King’ of our new clan. Do you not like the title?”

Come to think of it, Jin So-ran’s origin dimension, Nocturnia, used chess pieces to classify vampires.

Since a new subordinate relationship was formed through blood, she meant to treat Heinz as the Clan Lord, the progenitor of the bloodline.

“Hmm… no, it doesn’t matter.”

It wasn’t unpleasant.

It felt like he was being treated with respect.

“So, Lord! This is like a new family tree has been created on Earth, right? Then we need a new name to match it. Do you have anything in mind?”

She spoke with a cheerful smile.

Even though she treated him as Lord, her personality hadn’t changed.

“A name…”

He hadn’t thought of a name because it was unexpected.

But considering things like a sense of belonging and loyalty, it would be good to have a decent name.

‘I think it would be good to use a distinctive characteristic to create a name.’

The enhancement through “Refined Blood Essence” was the process of mutating other vampires using Heinz’s bloodsucking factor as a catalyst.

It was about being influenced by a ‘hybrid’ who had already evolved by accepting dominant factors from various worlds.

The degree of mutation varied depending on the quality and quantity of the injected “Refined Blood Essence”, but no matter how much they changed, they would be more advanced than before.

As he was thinking about that, a word came to mind.

“…Let’s go with Heterosis.”

“Heterosis! I don’t know what it means, but it sounds cool!”

It was the moment Heterosis, which would become the elite combat unit within the Blood Alliance, was born.

Comments

  1. Apparently, Heterosis refers to an offspring that has qualities superior to those of their parents.

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