Chapter 18

"Kekeke. What a lucky day, Albert," two grown men, one blond and one brunette, surround a little girl in a dark alley. The two wear black clothes, a crucifix around their necks and have rebellious hairstyles.

"How troublesome," sighed Albert, the blonde between them.

"Leave me alone," said the little girl in a tearful voice when she found herself backed against the alley wall.

"Get out of the way. She's mine," smiled the brunette as he pushed his partner aside and pulled a pistol from his sleeve.

"P-Please," the girl starts crying with her hand on her chest and says, "I going to t-tell m-my mother. Please -- let me go."

"Stop that theater, monster. I'll exorcise you for the sake of justice."

Bang.

The girl who looked to be only eight years old jumped ten feet into the wall, dodging. Her body nailed the surface of the bricks like glue and the face began to deform, until four spider jaws popped out of her cheeks. Several eyes also appeared on her forehead, and the body from the waist down exploded into a chewing goo, until it formed the body of a spider.

"I'MMMM HUNNNgry. Give me yourrr heads and I promise to be painless," sounded an inhuman and horrifying voice.

Sigh, "Why do the cute ones always become the ugliest?" Albert asked himself without energy.

Bang. Bang.

The spider-shaped stray devil dodged in a zig-zag with the alley walls that were narrow to one another. With each jump a web was left in the way and before long, the two heretic priests were surrounded by a cobweb dome.

"YOooOou CaNnmn't RuuNnnn away anymore. HaHAhha. Accept your fates, my snacks."

"Heeyy, Albert. Give me a little help here," complained the brunette as he reloaded the pistol and sweat dripped down his face.

"You said you didn't need my help."

"And I don't need to. But don't you see that this abomination is cowardly? It keeps running," he said irritably to his lazy fighting partner.

"How troublesome," Albert shook his head in disappointment.

The two continue fighting, until an opportunity arises for him.

"Now," shouted the brunette to his fighting partner.

"By the god name," said Albert and for instantly saying the name the spider seems to be shocked.

"This is where we got you," said the brunette, pointing his pistol and...

Bang.

"Huh?" The brunette doesn't understand.

"You missed the shot, Louis," said Albert with sweat running down his face.

"No!!! I didn't miss. I would never miss a shot at this distance," complained Louis as he checked his own to see if everything was right.

The spider that had both arms covering its face due to fear from the previous shot, peeks its eyes out and sees that it is unharmed.

"Haahaha. YoOooOou WoNnn't go unpunished even with this kindness."

A magic circle appeared from the spider's mouth, a sickly whitish-colored goo flew towards them.

A moment's silence ensued, before Albert said, "You missed your shot too."

The spider also looked at it with incomprehension, until they noticed something.

Right there, a black butterfly with a faint purple glow flies by. Her presence had something that made it discreet and if you lost focus of it, you would forget about it.

Shoe footsteps could be heard approaching.

Everyone looked from side to side, as the noise seemed to come from all directions.

A hole in the cobweb dome collapses to the right, making a door for a figure to pass that made everyone there freeze.

"Good evening, gentlemen. I hope I'm not interrupting anything," said the figure who wears an opera mask with a sinister smile, top hat, white gloves and a red suit.

"W-Who are you?" asked Louis tensely, as he took the pistol from the stray devil's direction to point at the new intruder.

"These toys are dangerous, let me help you," the figure snaps his fingers and...

"Huh?"

The two metal pistols were drawn to the floor like a magnet.

"Stay away!!" Louis tries to pull the pistol off the floor but it appears to be nailed.

"My interest is not in you," said the stranger before pointing at the stray devil. "But for her."

"Meeee?!!?" said the stray devil with a shaky voice.

"You can have her," Albert said as he half turned to walk away, but he was pulled by the collar by Louis.

"Who do you think you are, huh?" said Louis with his usual bad temper. "She's our prey, asshole. Go find another one."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you. But I need her," said the figure nonchalantly as he approached the stray devil with both hands behind him.

"I dOoonNNN't KnNow who you are, but it doesn't matter ---- I'll have youuuurrr HEAD too," cried the lost demon as another magic circle emerged from its mouth.

But before she could do anything.

She feels like she's wrapped around ropes, holding her.

"This!?! MYYY ENERGY," shouted the stray devil, realizing that her entire body is surrounded by roots that grew from the ground.

Her magic was being soiled by the roots that bound her body like ropes.

Wide-eyed at that scene, because from Louis' perspective, the roots appeared instantly and without any sign of magic activation. "Hey Albert. Let's get out of here."

Without the expected response, looking to his right, Louis sees his partner lying on the floor and yells, "Hey Albert. It's not time for bed now."

"Shit," Louis' eyes also start to get heavier and soon he finds himself in the world of inconsistency as well.

"Mnnnn," cried the stray devil girl, gagged in her former human form.

"I'll see you later," touching the glove over her, a teleportation magic circle formed and she disappeared.

...

Standing in the deserted alleys of Osaka city, I meditate on my last steps.

It's been exactly two months since I sent Mr. Sato went abroad and a lot changed then.

Behind my back the previous butterfly flies until it reaches me. I held out my hand and it landed on my palm, before turning into a kanji-filled piece of paper.

This was Eastern magic to create an artificial familiar.

I made Osaka as my temporary base, as it was perfect for my plans. Full of unaffiliated mages, stray devils and many other things that interest me. Not to mention that it was practically next to Kuoh.

Removing my disguise and opting for a more ordinary ensemble, I hum along the crowded streets.

Even though I was humming, there was a hidden feeling that made ordinary people ignore me.

My destination is the place that I have visited several times in the last few months.

In front of me is that same bar I visited the first time I came to this city.

While it looked like a fancy and mundane bar, it was actually a spot for unaffiliated mages to take jobs, order products, and a plethora of other things.

"The usual, Frank." I say to the bartender as I sit in one of the chairs in front of the bar.

Frank hands me a glass of 62 dalmore Whiskey and I ask him, "Any updates on what I ordered?"

"I'm sorry. None of my informants have ever heard of this Hikimage guy."

"Tsk. I was expecting that," I said before taking a small sip from the glass.

"Cough. May I ask you something, sir?" said Frank, the bartender, regarding the teenager in front of him.

"Umm? Say it."

"What's your interest in meeting so many artisans? Some of our customers are already upset that you just look and don't buy anything from them."

"Oh? Well," I scratch the back of my neck and say awkwardly, "Actually, I just enjoy seeing their creations. Think of it as a good art connoisseur who wants to see beautiful paintings."

Mages without affiliations are not necessarily isolated. On the contrary, the habit of exchange and negotiation is very common in our culture.

In the last few months I've met several artifact creators, most of their creations trinkets without values ​​and complete flaws... But there were small treasures that I had the pleasure of using Appraise magic to study them.

"Anyway, it was my mistake. For everyone's sake, I'll pay a small amount next time for lost time," I try to defuse the situation. "Better that way?"

"Much better," he said with a grateful smile.

After a while.

"What about the killer? Why hasn't anyone on our side been involved yet?"

Frank looks around uncertainly, before deciding to say, "Politics. Demons and yokai have very delicate relationships with each other. Especially after you know what."

"The Nekoshou incident?" I decide to confirm.

"Exactly. In order to do the investigations they would have to invade each other's territory. The murders take place in different parts of Japan after all."

"For such a futile thing of not being able to walk freely, did they decide to put that aside?" I look in disbelief at such a lame and meaningless excuse.

"It wouldn't be the first time that a ruler has acted irrationally. Human history is full of leaders who make senseless decisions and the same goes for the supernatural world."

"On this I must agree." I say politically, before taking one last sip from my glass.

"Not to mention that we also have a society of vampires who do not collaborate at all. They are reclusive and territorial bastards. We can say that disunity and distrust in each other that prevent collaboration. No one wants to see a foreigner in their territories."

"But that doesn't explain why they can't help behind the scenes. Think about it --- Don't devils have control of security cameras? Why hasn't anyone helped the human police do their investigative work yet? They don't necessarily need to send members of themselves to close the case." I asked not believing these excuses.

Frank shakes his head to the side and says, "The killer is very meticulous and slippery. His deaths and disappearance are almost theatrical. No camera caught him."

Meticulous and slippery, huh?

I frown at this information and get up from my chair.

"Something wrong, sir?" asked Frank when he saw me turn away.

I leave the money on the counter and say, "I have to go now."

...

In front of a 20-story building, I entered the reception and took the elevator. The button I pressed was number 17 and I wait in silence as I think about the latest information.

Did I already have the power to face Hikimage? I look at my own palms doubtfully.

It's not like there's a spell or some item to define a person's power in numbers.

The winner of a fight takes into account various details, knowledge, experience, skills compatibility and also luck. A well-used first-sphere spell can be just as dangerous as a third-sphere spell or more.

Of course, if your strength is totally disproportionate to your opponent, the previous details are irrelevant.

"Index on," I say in a low voice.

In front of me appeared an illusion that only I could see and acted like a hologram.

This is my artwork.

A combination of many weak spells and programming to become something great.

The illusion is a holographic screen that shows my miniature 3d figure, various real-time information about my health, heart rate, blood pressure and even how much mana I have.

In another tab I clicked on and saw a list of countless spells at my disposal that I could invoke through [Index].

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[Index]

A non-stop spell that functions as a database of magic formulas. It also monitors the user's body and is a method of indirect manipulation with the core.

Weakness: Can only save spells below the third sphere and cannot be composited.

It is a mixture of 19 spells: [Mirror of adonis]; [Minor Mind Control]; [Magic Detection]; [Exoteric Mind]; [Minor Nucleus Stimulation]; [Weak telepathy] ...

Number of spells currently saved: 274.

On/Off switch: Index on; index off

Recharge time: None.

Mana spent: 0

-----------------------

I no longer needed to enter my inner world if I wanted to manipulate the magic formulas in my cores. A simple command and a computer keyboard would appear in front of me to add new spells. Nor was it limited to the number 7 anymore.

The only pity was that it could only be spells below the third sphere that could be saved in [index].

I came to build this magic from various inspirations.

First I used appraise magic on a computer to learn piece by piece and its proper functionality. Then I learned about magical artifacts in search of some inspiration on how to transfer human technology into something magical.

Luckily I discovered a mana-powered calculator and its databases were also made up of magic formulas.

Along with my experience manipulating compound spells like [Fighter]... I put together what looked like a computer in magic formula format.

Inside my inner world.

In the statue of the woman holding a grimoire.

You could see countless glowing numbers circling it. The size in relation to the other statues is completely disproportionate.

This is my artwork, index.