Fairy Tail: The Uncrowned King of Magic

Chapter 174: Chapter 174

Marshall became completely absorbed in his research into Slayer Magic.

It was the magical equivalent of receiving a fascinating new toy!

The more he experimented with it, the more ideas occurred to him, and before long he was spending practically every spare moment tinkering with Slayer Cores, elemental conversions, and different applications for the technology.

He also had to retract one of his earlier conclusions.

Devil Slayer Magic was not nearly as redundant for the Seven Sins Apostles as he had initially assumed.

It was true that the Apostles already possessed the ability to absorb emotional energy and convert it into Curse Power.

Adding another system that performed the same function would accomplish very little.

But that was only half of what Slayer Magic could do.

The ability to devour an element and convert it into usable power was vastly more valuable.

What Marshall had actually gained from Slayer Magic LV1 was not merely the ability to practice a particular Slayer discipline.

More fundamentally, he had learned how to manufacture the Slayer Cores upon which those disciplines depended.

After repeated experimentation, failure, adjustment, and more experimentation, he gradually mastered a new technology for producing specialized Elemental Slayer Lacrima.

Naturally, the Seven Sins became his first batch of test subjects.

For Pride, Marshall created an Iron Slayer Lacrima.

For Wrath, he implanted both Fire and Lightning Slayer Lacrima.

Gluttony received an Earth Slayer Lacrima.

Envy received both Water and Ice Slayer Lacrima.

And Lust received a Wood Slayer Lacrima.

Sloth and Greed were the only two who received nothing.

It wasn’t because Marshall had forgotten them, it was because he simply couldn’t make suitable cores.

No matter how many times he tried, he failed to produce Slayer Lacrima representing Sky, Time, or Space.

His best guess was that Slayer Magic LV1 was still limited to relatively conventional elements.

More abstract or conceptual attributes were clearly operating on a higher level than his current understanding allowed.

If he wanted to manufacture cores based on concepts like space and time, he would first have to raise Slayer Magic further.

For now, however, ordinary elemental cores were more than enough.

Once the corresponding Lacrima had been implanted, the Seven Sins gained substantial resistance to their own elements as well as an entirely new way to replenish Curse Power during combat.

Instead of relying solely on surrounding emotions, they could now devour compatible elemental attacks and convert the absorbed energy through their Slayer Cores.

The increase in combat endurance alone was enormous.

Marshall naturally needed a test subject to measure exactly how enormous.

So he sent Wrath after Natsu.

The result surprised even him.

Natsu started losing.

Wrath could devour Natsu’s flames.

Natsu, however, couldn’t devour hers.

The Fire Slayer Lacrima converted Wrath’s Curse Power into Slayer-attribute flames, and those flames were fundamentally different enough that Natsu’s Dragon Seed instinctively rejected them.

Marshall spent some time analyzing the interaction before settling on a simple analogy.

The two kinds of fire were like oil and water.

Imagine a glass already filled with water. Pouring oil into it wouldn’t allow the oil to sink to the bottom; the water already occupying the glass kept the two separated.

If the water were emptied first, however, the oil could fill the space without any problem.

Reverse the situation and pour water into a glass of oil, and the denser water would sink straight through.

Natsu’s Dragon Seed worked in roughly the same way.

As long as his own Dragon Slayer magic remained circulating inside him, Wrath’s Slayer flames were treated as incompatible foreign power and rejected.

But if Natsu completely emptied his reserves first, his Dragon Seed should theoretically become capable of accepting those flames.

That gave Wrath a significant advantage.

Fortunately for Natsu, his physical constitution was still far stronger than hers.

Even while losing the elemental exchange, he remained tough enough to keep fighting, and the two quickly became locked in an increasingly ridiculous struggle.

Then Natsu became angry because he couldn’t eat the fire.

His magic power surged.

Wrath saw him suddenly getting stronger and became furious in response.

Her Curse Power surged too.

Marshall watched their power rise back and forth and nearly burst out laughing.

One got angry because the other got stronger.

Then the other got angrier because he got stronger.

At this rate, the two idiots were going to step on their own feet and somehow climb into the sky.

Anyone who didn’t know better might have assumed Natsu was the Apostle and had a Devil Core hidden inside his body as well.

Eventually, Natsu exhausted his magic completely.

The moment his reserves hit rock bottom, his Dragon Seed stopped rejecting Wrath’s flames.

Natsu opened his mouth.

And ate them.

His depleted reserves instantly recovered enough to drag him back into the fight, and with his superior body giving him the advantage again, he finally managed to defeat Wrath.

Technically, Natsu had won.

He looked absolutely miserable about it.

Not long ago, he had been able to fight all seven little Apostles at once and hold his own for a while.

Now one of them had nearly beaten him by herself.

Realizing that his own growth rate was being outpaced by something Marshall had built in a laboratory did absolutely nothing for Natsu’s mood.

Marshall, on the other hand, considered the test a tremendous success.

...

After finishing Wrath’s combat evaluation, Marshall went to Mira and asked whether she wanted to learn any Elemental Magic herself.

Mira declined.

She simply didn’t possess much natural aptitude for elemental disciplines and had no interest in spending months struggling with Magic that didn’t suit her when Take Over already fit her perfectly.

Marshall thought about it for a while.

Then decided there was an easier solution.

He transferred the Devil Slayer Core he had created inside himself directly to Mira.

There was little reason for Marshall to keep three different Slayer Cores inside his own body anyway.

His existing Dragon Seed already handled space-time concepts, while the artificial God Core could easily be modified if necessary.

In a world where he had yet to encounter an actual god, the incomplete reconstructed form of God Slayer Magic looked increasingly like the inferior member of the Slayer family.

If Marshall ever needed those functions for himself, he could simply convert his God Core into a Devil-type core and gain access to both elemental absorption and emotional-energy conversion.

Mira, however, could make far better use of the Devil Core immediately.

Once it stabilized inside her, she gained access to non-elemental Devil Slayer Magic, allowing her to absorb and manipulate emotional energy as Curse Power.

More importantly, Mira already possessed the ability to transform into demons through Take Over.

Where another Mage would need to learn how to adapt their body to demonic power, Mira’s entire magical system had been built around exactly that concept for years.

The Devil Core fit her almost unnaturally well.

Her combat strength rose dramatically.

Ever since Erza obtained the Crimson Armor, Mira had begun falling slightly behind her in their spars.

After receiving Devil Slayer Magic, however, the balance shifted again, and the two could once more fight on roughly equal footing.

Marshall was very satisfied with the result.

Mira had received her upgrade.

But Marshall hadn’t forgotten about one of his oldest test subjects either.

Loki.

...

Marshall had spent years studying Loki’s problem.

Previously, he had understood the theory but lacked the necessary technology to permanently solve it.

Loki was a Celestial Spirit trapped in the human world, and without access to the Celestial Spirit World, his spiritual power would gradually decline.

Now Marshall possessed two crucial technologies that had changed everything:

Heteromorphic Magic and the ability to manufacture Slayer-type conceptual Lacrima.

That was enough.

Marshall created a special Celestial Spirit Lacrima for Loki.

Its structure resembled the God Core Lacrima implanted in Phoebe, but instead of producing God Slayer power, it absorbed light energy and converted it directly into Celestial Spirit Power.

Then Marshall used the implantation techniques he had perfected on the Apostles and installed the Lacrima inside Loki.

The procedure was... not entirely smooth.

At one point, Marshall nearly killed him.

Loki had expressed several extremely strong opinions about this!

Fortunately, the operation ultimately succeeded.

And when Loki recovered, the difference was enormous.

He had effectively transformed into a superpowered man of light.

The artificial core continuously converted surrounding light into Celestial Spirit Power, meaning Loki could now access the deeper level of strength that belonged to his true existence as a Celestial Spirit—much like Virgo could.

More importantly, the fundamental problem threatening his life had disappeared.

Loki no longer needed to return to the Celestial Spirit World.

As long as light existed around him, he could absorb it and sustain himself indefinitely.

He could remain in Earth Land for as long as he wanted.

A year.

A century.

Potentially until he simply became tired of living.

The exile that had once been slowly killing him was no longer a death sentence.

And yet...

Loki still wanted to go home!

Marshall looked at him strangely.

"You seriously still want to return to the Celestial Spirit World?"

"Of course I do."

Loki adjusted his glasses.

"Why wouldn’t I? The Celestial Spirit World is my home."

Marshall stared at him.

"What about all your girlfriends?"

Loki sighed with profound melancholy.

"Ah~ People meet, people part. Such is life."

Marshall’s expression became disgusted.

"You really are human garbage."

He paused.

"Oh, sorry. Forgot you aren’t human."

Loki nearly fell over.

"Hey! That’s too far!"

He pointed accusingly.

"Aren’t we best friends?!"

Marshall ignored the complaint.

He had begun thinking.

Now that Loki’s survival was no longer an immediate problem, perhaps it was time to address the actual reason he couldn’t return home.

After several seconds, Marshall spoke.

"I might have a way to get you back into the Celestial Spirit World."

Loki’s sunglasses fell straight off his face.

He caught them at the last moment.

"What?!"

His eyes widened.

"Seriously?!"

"I said might."

Marshall raised one finger.

"I can’t guarantee anything, but I think there’s a possibility."

Loki immediately became serious.

"What kind of possibility?"

"You know what I discovered while studying the Apostles?"

Loki waited.

"As their creator, I possess absolute authority over certain fundamental rules built into their existence."

"Okay..."

Loki nodded slowly.

"And?"

Marshall leaned back.

"So all those ridiculous laws in the Celestial Spirit World—the contracts, the restrictions on entering and leaving, the punishments imposed on Spirits—when you strip everything else away, they’re basically house rules your creator left behind."

Loki blinked.

Marshall continued.

"If the person who created the Celestial Spirits personally decided to change one of those rules, then changing it might be as simple as issuing a new command."

Loki stared at him.

"Sure, but how does that help us? None of the Celestial Spirits even know where our creator went."

"That’s where my older theory comes in."

Marshall leaned forward.

"I’ve always suspected that the Celestial Spirits were created specifically to protect the creator’s descendants."

Loki’s expression changed.

"And if that’s true, then those descendants may have inherited some degree of the creator’s authority."

Loki stared blankly for several seconds.

"Wait."

He swallowed.

"Seriously?"

"I’ve never heard anything like that."

"Neither have I from a Celestial Spirit."

Marshall shrugged.

"But that doesn’t make the theory impossible."

Loki suddenly thought of the obvious problem.

"Even if you’re right, where are we supposed to find the descendants of someone who created the Celestial Spirits who knows how many centuries ago?"

Marshall looked at him.

"I’m not certain."

Then he smiled.

"But I think we may already know one."

Loki’s eyes widened.

"Who?"

"Lucy."

"...What?"

His entire face froze.

"Lucy?!"

"Why Lucy?!"

Marshall folded his arms.

"There are old documents suggesting that the ancestors of the Heartfilia family may have been involved in creating the Celestial Spirits—or at the very least had an extremely close relationship with whoever did."

Loki looked increasingly skeptical.

"How reliable are these documents?"

Marshall thought about it.

"It was an ancient forum post analyzing the theory."

"..."

"The guy made a very convincing argument."

"..."

"So I believe him."

Loki drew in a long breath.

This was perhaps the least reassuring source Marshall could possibly have named.

Still...

The possibility alone was enough to make him hesitate.

Then a different problem occurred to him, and his face collapsed.

"Wait."

Marshall raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Loki looked miserable.

"My relationship with Lucy is terrible."

Marshall stared.

"I avoid her whenever I see her!"

Loki grabbed his hair.

"She already thinks I’m weird! Even if she really has this authority, why would she agree to help me?"

Marshall gave him a look of complete contempt.

"That’s what you’re worried about?"

Loki blinked.

Marshall stood and dusted off his clothes.

"Relax."

A confident smile appeared on his face.

"Watch and learn."

He pointed toward the door.

"Lucy’s easy!"

"I’ll have her wrapped around my finger in five minutes."