Ansu had originally intended to talk to Cecilia about something, but her excitement made him curious.
"So what's the new research?"
"It's the thing I told you about the other day!" Cecilia hurriedly replied. "That forbidden, incredible flesh magic!"
"Oh..." Ansu suddenly remembered Freya's head sprouting tentacles and crawling around not long ago...
It had been a serious assault on the senses.
That bizarre magic must have been the "new research" she'd mentioned...
"Then I think I'll pass. By the way, I came over today to—"
"No way!" Cecilia grabbed Ansu by the wrist and pulled him deep into the room.
"This new magic is so fascinating, and I can't find anyone to share it with! You have to watch it with me!"
Ansu gazed helplessly at the beaming Cecilia. She really did love studying magic.
Cecilia's room was indeed huge. It was packed with bookshelves and all kinds of magical materials, and she led Ansu to the innermost row of shelves. Then she stepped forward and softly recited a spell.
The bookshelf slowly swung open, as if she'd said, "Open sesame." A chill washed over them, and a gloomy passage appeared straight ahead.
"Follow me~"
Led by Cecilia, Ansu stepped into the darkness. The magical lights along the passageway flickered on at once.
The passage sloped downward. After following Cecilia through it for two minutes, the space suddenly opened up, revealing a circular altar covered in densely packed, twisted symbols.
"What is this...?"
Ansu's attention was drawn to the object atop the altar, and his eyes widened.
Under the flickering blue flames, a bloated, deformed monster was secured to the altar with chains and nails. It had four pairs of hairy, long legs resembling those of a Magic Spider grafted onto it, while countless thick, twisted tentacles writhed atop its head. Just looking at it inspired an indescribable sense of evil...
But what drew the most attention—or rather, what was most unsettling—was...
A swollen, fat human face was squeezed between its many tumors, letting out low, animalistic growls over and over.
Although the face was twisted and deformed, Ansu still recognized its owner instinctively.
"Teacher Mary?"
"Right!" Cecilia nodded. "Wasn't I short on experimental materials that day? Then this damn traitor came right to my door! Of course I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity~"
"Tsk..." Ansu watched Cecilia admiring her handiwork and sensed the Witch's wicked sense of humor.
"Why are you making that face?" Cecilia blinked. "Isn't it interesting?"
"It is. Pretty interesting..." Ansu nodded silently.
He remembered that later in the game, players did encounter Grafted monsters under the Witch of World Destruction. They had high stats and came with Corruption. He hadn't expected her to have started researching them this early.
Cecilia excitedly explained the "excellence" of her test subject to Ansu.
Mary now had a certain degree of physical and magical resistance, and had fused the strengths of several kinds of monsters. She was fast and agile, could take a beating and dish one out, and could launch surprise attacks...
"Your new magic is certainly impressive, Witch," Ansu said, studying Mary, who had long since lost her human reason. So Teacher Mary really was the true King of Modification...
A tribute to the legendary King of Modification, Teacher Mary.
"But I think the overall concept could use a bit more creativity." Ansu shook his head, rubbing his chin. "Your creation is missing a certain spark."
"A spark?" Cecilia's eyes glimmered with curiosity. "What do you mean?"
"You've mastered such incredible flesh magic, but what you've made still just charges at people, pounces on them, and tears them apart, doesn't it?" Ansu questioned Cecilia's research instincts.
"It doesn't seem much different from ordinary beasts and monsters. There's still plenty of room for improvement."
Cecilia hadn't expected Ansu to offer her advice. Excited, she pressed him for more. "Then what do you have in mind? How do you think it should be modified?"
"Well, naturally..." Ansu chuckled.
Flesh is weak.
Mechanical Ascension!
"Here's what you do: since it doesn't have to worry about rejection anymore, install one of those standard steam turbines from the factory. Use the Magic Crystals developed by the academy for its power source! Then..."
Ansu let his imagination run wild. After all, technology was the primary driving force.
"I remember a Magic Scholar invented a long-range weapon powered by Magic Power. Modify the weapon into a cannon and mount it on its back. Then transplant the tentacles underneath it. That'll give you an all-weather, all-terrain, mobile field cannon powered by magic."
By the time he'd finished explaining at length, Cecilia was staring blankly.
"This..."
"That's so cool!"
Cecilia's eyes widened, her amethyst-like irises practically sparkling. "Everything you suggested is completely feasible, Ansu! You're a genius!"
"Not at all..." Ansu replied modestly.
It wasn't all his own idea, really. After all, in another world, the thing he'd described was called a "tank."
Cecilia was suddenly overcome with a joy that felt like a meeting of minds. She looked at Ansu and thought that, just as she'd expected of the person she'd chosen, the two of them were truly cut from the same cloth!
The thought even made her feel a little frightened. It was a good thing she'd forcibly tied Ansu to her side back then.
Losing such a talented person would be an enormous waste. And if he ended up with the Empire or the Church, the consequences would be even more unimaginable...
"I need a blueprint! I'm going to build an entirely new Magic Rune structure!"
Ansu silently watched Cecilia, utterly thrilled and busily scribbling away at the workbench according to his ideas.
He thought to himself...
At this rate, was he pushing the World-Ending Crisis forward by leaps and bounds?
May the world be spared (prays with hands together).
They spent a long time in the gloomy basement before finally returning upstairs.
Ansu watched Cecilia, who was already engrossed in her "major modification plan," and reminded her:
"I came over early today because there's something I wanted to report to you."
"Hmm?" Cecilia looked up. "What is it?"
Ansu told her honestly, "I met the Church's Saintess, Freya, today."
Cecilia frowned, and her good mood suddenly vanished.
"Oh? What did she say to you?"
"She'd figured out I was the one who wrote that note, so she met with me privately." Ansu didn't tell her the whole truth, of course, but thought she should know about the meeting.
It was called giving her a heads-up.
Secretly talking to someone from the Church behind Cecilia's back—especially Saintess Freya—was a major taboo.
But if he confessed willingly, then based on what Ansu knew of Cecilia... even if she was displeased, she'd probably just complain a little. At most, she'd lock him up and keep him from going out. Nothing worse would happen.
After all, betrayal was what she cared about most.
"You should know..." Cecilia's face darkened. "I don't want you associating with people from the Church, especially not meeting her, right?"
"I know." Ansu nodded and replied candidly:
"But it's already happened, and there's nothing I can do to change that. Once that note was sent, the course of events became unpredictable. Even if it hadn't happened today, it might have happened tomorrow."
"You really do have a way with words!" Cecilia snorted. "Fine! I know you couldn't help it, but don't let it happen again. Now tell me what you talked about."
Ansu was a little surprised. She hadn't used Hypnosis this time?
It seemed that her Scum Witch form really was easier to deal with than her Mad Witch form...
And she trusted him more, too.
Before you continue