Demon's Virtue
chapter-291-30041322

Eiro analyzed the magic flowing through the flower-bud, noting down as much of its properties as he could. He sketched down the different possible parts of the counter-spell, by first trying to figure out how this spell was cast in the first place.

"You won't be able to figure it out." A voice could be heard from behind the Demon, although it seemed he was the only one that could actually hear it. After all, it was Bahlsen again. Or Edward. Or whatever name he was going by, although Eiro didn't really know either of those names anymore. This Ghost had been haunting Eiro ever since he picked up this oversized flower-bud. As far as the Demon was concerned, his goal was just to annoy the crap out of him and nothing else. But since he didn't seem capable of doing much beyond that, Eiro just chose to ignore him for now.

The pen in the Demon's hand ran over the page as if it wasn't even touching it, just dancing slightly above it, as Eiro was sketching out different versions of possible magic circles. This sort of magic wasn't something that he was particularly adept with, simply because it was very different to what he was used to in its very nature. This was the same as 'Buff' or 'Debuff' magic, basically. This took basic, non-elemental magic in the form of mana and transformed it into something that was capable of affecting someone's mind. Through the magic circle, the mana was basically being infused with an artificial magical element, which is the magic that Eiro had been sensing the whole time and that was fused with the storm outside.

But the actual magic that was making use of this specific element was different again, since it once more went through a transformation so that the specific use could be verified. Basically, this kind of magic was created by going through one extra step than what Eiro usually was when using magic-circles.

Although, to an extent, it was similar to healing magic. You fused your intent into the magical element you were controlling and used it to heal someone. And in this case, you fused your intent into the mock-element that you created to cause any sort of effect that you wanted. It was quite hard to do, and required you to have actual talent in that field in order to achieve it in the first place, much like it was with healing magic.

But for now, that didn't matter. As long as Eiro managed to figure out this counter-spell, then it would be fine. It was the first time that Eiro was actually creating a direct counter for a spell like this... An official counter, that was. Usually he would just try and quickly create the perfect defense for a certain spell, or copy it and use it to cancel the spell the other person casted out, but a counter was rather different.

For one, because 'Spell Counter' was an actual skill. A rare one that requierd a lot of practice to even attain, but a skill nonetheless. Luckily it was the sort of skill that you could make use of fully without having it at a high-grade, the only thing that it did help you with was analytical abilities to figure out the composition of a spell.

And sure, that did seem useful, but Eiro figured that the benefit from a beginner grade skill would have a miniscule impact when compared to the Knight of Pentacles, so he didn't try to get the skill first.

He had to spend all the time he could on this specific counter-spell, since this was possibly one of the most important things in Eiro's life he had to do so far.

"Wrong~." The Ghost pointed out while looking over Eiro's shoulder at the spell that he had just sketched down in his notebook, but the Demon tried not to react, "Oh, how sad, are you ignoring me?"

Eiro kept on not paying attention to him, although it was getting harder and harder. He was incredibly stressed and he still had the mark of [The Devil] influencing his anger. The fact that Eiro was fused with another being with extreme anger-issues really didn't help that.

But still, Eiro had a goal, so he managed to keep himself calm by just focusing on it as much as he could. He looked at the spell that he just sketched down and immediately got to work on the next best idea that had come to his mind when it came to the nature of this element. And just as he did, Solomon opened the door to the study and walked inside, accompanied by some guards as well as James, all of which were carrying some books into the room that they placed down on the ground.

Eiro turned around and looked at them before jumping up, "Thank you." He said as he took the first stack of books from one of the guards while the others just placed them down onto the ground or the table Eiro was working at.

Once Solomon ordered the Guards to leave, James had something that he just had to ask about, "So, why exactly is he researching mental manipulation magic? What exactly is that storm?" James asked. As he knew about the situation, Solomon looked at Eiro's back with a bitter expression, "We'll explain it to you once we manage to clear everything up, don't worry..." The King explained. James slowly nodded his head, although he was still a bit awkward just standing next to Solomon like that and speaking to him in such a casual manner, although it was something that Solomon had specifically requested from him.

Eiro immediately noted down some of the magic circles that had been shown as examples in the books so that he had them in one place, and immediately analyzed what exactly the patterns between them were. And then, just as he was thinking this, a phenomenon that happened to Eiro before once more unfolded around him.

The lines of black ink on the paper started to glow in a bright light and from Eiro's view, detached themselves from that paper. These magic circles were floating in the air in front of Eiro, and when he looked at one of them, he was able to figure out the effect as if it just flowed right into his mind immediately.

And soon, Eiro was able to narrow the essence of these magic circle down to a certain point that seemed to be necessary in all of them. But at the same time... When he was looking at these magic circles floating in the air in front of him, he could feel something like the magic that they would produce. They were all slightly different to each other, just small differences in the 'flavor' of the magic.

But if the difference between the flavor of these instances of magic was something that could be something that could be compared to when too much of a single spice was added to a dish, then the magic that was ravaging outside was a whole other dish that simply used the same base ingredient.

The methods of preparation were completely different, the complexity, and the mere concept were at a whole other level. This didn't particularly help Eiro figure this out.

"Oh? How interesting, you're grasping at straws now, I see~." The Ghost pointed out from behind Eiro, but this was probably the worst time for this sort of comment, "Will you be quiet already, you dam-" The Demon growled loudly as he slightly turned around, causing the few people, as well as Lugo, here in this room to flinch in response.

"Is something wrong?" Solomon asked, concerned about what was going on. After all, what if something went wrong and Eiro just made it worse? That was something that was going through the King's mind at the moment. But instead, Eiro came to another conclusion, "It's... Necromancy." Eiro muttered quietly. The analogy he came up with was changing in his mind.

"If regular mental manipulation is fish, then this is pork... The base is different, not the method of preparation..." Eiro muttered quietly to himself with a broad smile that was hidden under his mask. He finally understood what exactly happened.

It was something that he understood because he was feeling Sarius' annoyance at the Salamander King for practically forcing him into a contract with Eiro at the moment, while Eiro himself was staring at the Ghost behind him.

The Salamander King clearly used Fire Magic to heal, although it was something that many thought would be impossible to do. The effect of magic didn't rely solely on the element of magic that was used. However, Necromancy, a sort of magic that was capable of manipulating the soul of the dead and the living, would be able to help out mental-manipulation magic quite a bit. After all, the soul and one's memories were deeply connected with each other, as far as Eiro could tell from all the explanations of mind-magic he had read in these books so far.

Eiro had managed to figure out this magic, finally, it just made sense to him now. It seemed like he would be able to figure it out no-

"...Wait..." Eiro muttered quietly to himself, and the Demon slowly realized something else. If this magic had necromancy deeply ingrained within it, as it was the source of magic that was being transformed into magic that could be used to manipulate one's mind, then it was much more dangerous than Eiro thought.

Regular mind-magic could be reversed even after the fact in rare cases, but with necromancy, it would be different. It would change the soul itself and make sure that there was no possible way for the memory to be recovered in any possible future. Eiro immediately started to try and figure this spell out in its effect some more, and then he realized what would happen if one tried to make someone remember.

If one had fully forgotten because the soul was altered in that way, then it would cause the soul of those manipulated to be damaged. Eiro didn't know how far it went, however. This soul-damaging effect could be triggered if Eiro tried to use magic to make people remember, or it could be triggered when they simply saw the Demon.

He might never be able to even speak to his children ever again if he doesn't manage to create the counter-spell.

"How about you just give up? The moment that I realized what you were, I was given all the knowledge about you as possible. Currently, I am the only one that knows every single detail about you. Every step you've taken, every memorable image imprinted into your brain, I know all of it. This spell was created to counter you perfectly. It has the greatest stakes for one like you." The Ghost explained to the Demon, and at that moment, it sparked up inside of him. He realized what he had to do.

If that spell outside was created to counter Eiro himself, then he knew what he had to do to create the counter for this counter.

Eiro had to create a spell that was an incarnation of himself.