In a room on the first floor of the sanatorium, Schiller drew an enormous Magic Circle in blood—not one from any established system, but something he had improvised. Still, it looked ornate and complex, quite convincing—while the Johnny brothers helped him arrange the items needed for the ritual.
Mephisto, standing nearby disguised as Schiller, wore an expression that practically screamed, "What the hell are you doing?"
Schiller caught sight of Mephisto's expression from the corner of his eye and detected the slightest hint of hesitation beneath his confusion.
What kind of Magic Circle is this? Why have I never seen it before? Mephisto began to feel uneasy. He had heard that Dr. Sohip had just returned from the Vatican. Could those Bird People have come up with something new again?
Could this thing actually drive me away???
Of course, Mephisto had no idea Schiller had made it up. The logic simply did not add up. A doctor from humanity's most formidable occult institution had just brought back academic findings from the Vatican, then came here to perform an exorcism and drew a Magic Circle he had invented on the spot? That made no sense at all.
Besides, while some of the elements in the Magic Circle were unfamiliar, they were clearly interconnected. There had to be an internal logic behind it. No one could make something like that up at random.
Seeing Mephisto's expression, Schiller could more or less guess what he was thinking. He chuckled inwardly. This was no ordinary improvisation. Even with his talent for making things up, he had drafted it first, revised it several times, and only then finalized the design. To fool an experienced and cunning devil like Mephisto, he had put in quite a bit of effort.
Following Schiller's gaze, the image froze on