"Wait, wait! Hell Prototype? What the hell is that supposed to be?" Zeroy's voice shot up sharply, her emerald eyes widening with disbelief.
Patchouli tilted her head slightly, a flicker of puzzlement in her violet eyes, as if wondering why the reaction was so extreme. "Didn't you say it yourself? That you wanted a device capable of containing a large number of souls and making use of them."
"No… that… I…" Zeroy's green eyes were wide as saucers, and the usually quick-witted girl was suddenly at a loss for words.
"Well, yes, it was my suggestion… but didn't you say it wasn't possible? And besides… Hell? Patchi, you can make something like that?!"
This was getting a little too outrageous.
Patchouli gazed quietly at Zeroy, catching that rare blend of shock and curiosity on her face. Her lips curved ever so faintly in a nearly imperceptible smile.
She quickly smoothed it away, returning to her usual composure, and shook her head lightly. "It was impossible before; that said, recent experiences gave me plenty of inspiration."
"However, don't misunderstand—"
The witch's gaze returned to the ritual. Her fingertip tapped the grimoire, pages turning as runes glowed and flowed across her hand.
"I never said I could make a true Hell. I call it the Hell Prototype for a reason. It's far from reaching anything like the myth."
She paused, adding new materials into the magic circle. The faint glow painted her face in mystery.
"It's just a prototype, a seed. Limited in function, though enough to satisfy your request."
Zeroy blinked, the shock fading into wide-eyed curiosity.
She leaned in closer, her emerald eyes shining like stars. "A seed? Then what exactly is it? Patchi, tell me, how does it work?"
Patchouli let out a quiet hum, narrowing her violet eyes with an air of feigned detachment. "What's the rush? Since I made it according to your request, naturally I'll give you an answer that satisfies you."
"For now, the ritual is far from complete. If you're really interested, then behave and sit quietly, don't disrupt its flow."
"Ahh… keeping me in suspense!"
Zeroy puffed out her cheeks in frustration, but seeing Patchouli busy with the ritual, she had no choice except to wait quietly, though sulkily, to the side.
Roughly ten minutes passed—
The brilliance of the ritual began to wane. It looked like the ceremony was nearing its end.
Suddenly then, Patchouli's brow furrowed.
"No… it's still missing one material…"
"What material? I'll go get it right now!"
Zeroy immediately perked up with energy.
"..."
Patchouli closed her eyes, seemingly reaching out with her magic to sense something.
After a while, she turned to Zeroy.
"No need to look. You should be able to provide the last material yourself."
"What is it? My blood, my hair? Or my mana? Don't tell me—it's… offering myself up to become Hell?!"
Well, given how excited the Sky Striker Ace was at the thought of obtaining the Ten-Thousand Soul Banner, she was getting a bit carried away.
Patchouli replied with dead-fish eyes. "…Be serious."
With her friend refusing to play along, Zeroy puffed her cheeks again. "Emmmm, fine, so what is it then?"
"An item connected to the concept of {evil}."
"Connected to {evil}? Hellfire? Evil Slayer?"
The first things Zeroy thought of were her two frequently used skills.
"No, an item."
"An item… Do I even have something like that?"
Zeroy sank into thought.
As far as she could recall, she didn't have many items that could count, much less something tied to {evil}.
However, a glance into her inventory reminded her.
She pulled out the Evil Flower. The moment it appeared, its properties caused it to bloom in her hand with dazzling brilliance.
She had bought it casually from a roadside vendor after her first mission. Its effect was as a sin detector—regardless, hardly reliable.
As long as a life was taken, it counted as sin. Reasons didn't matter, nor who the victim was.
So Zeroy had tossed it into her inventory to gather dust, forgotten over time.
"Is it this?" she asked, shielding her eyes against the Evil Flower's glow.
"Yes, that's it. It shouldn't matter much to you, right?"
"Of course. It's practically useless."
"Then I'll fuse it."
Patchouli took the Evil Flower and cast it into the ritual.
The brilliance vanished. The ceremony neared its end, the colorful motes of light fading until only black remained.
After compressing and condensing, the black light finally solidified into a black ring.
"It's done."
"So this is the Hell Prototype? Now you can tell me what it actually is, right, Patchi?"
Zeroy looked it over, but a mere ring didn't reveal much.
"Simply put, it's a growth-type vessel for collecting souls. The more souls you feed into it, the larger its capacity grows."
"For now, it can only store souls. But as it continues to grow, it will edge closer to a true Hell. Reincarnation and rebirth won't be possible, of course. Though if it's tormenting the souls of sinners you want, this vessel will do nicely."
"Essentially, it's something crafted to mimic Hell."
"However… if the power of faith is poured into it endlessly, perhaps one day it could become a real Hell. That, however, is a matter for the future."
"Endless growth?"
Zeroy's emerald eyes sparkled brightly.
"Impossible."
Patchouli shook her head.
"Unfortunately, infinity is not so easily achieved. Its growth rate is also limited. You can't just cram an absurd number of souls inside all at once. Nutrients must be digested before being converted to growth."
"Still, while not infinite, its upper limit is very high. It should serve you well for quite some time."
"Even in a situation like the world of Black Bullet?" Zeroy asked tentatively.
"..."
Patchouli's eye twitched.
So, in other words, she was already planning on stuffing billions of souls inside.
"Can't you ever hope for something better… Forget it. Fine. Even if it's a Black Bullet–level scenario, it'll hold up. But only if you give it time to grow."
"Relax. As long as souls are abundant, and with the Evil Flower's trait helping it digest the nourishment of sinners more efficiently, its growth won't be slow."
...
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