Chapter 294: The Domain’s Research Lab
After Arthur finished with his little ’self-discovery’, he didn’t take any further actions after breaking whatever spell "he" placed on himself.
As for why it was so easy to break, he guessed it was because if "he" used anything stronger, either he or Cattleya would have long realised something was off.
But it seemed meeting Lucifer and going on this law comprehension speed run wasn’t within "his" plans, otherwise, Arthur would not have been able to detect it so easily.
The boy didn’t put too much thought into it as he casually finished his chocolate chips and tossed the wrapper in a nearby trash bin, before pulling out one of his phones from his subspace and began scrolling through his novel-reading apps.
’I guess I should read this novel about a guy who reincarnated as a hero within a world with a system.’
Thinking that to himself, he spread out his aura to sense for any nearby presence, noticing two who were in a ’room’ not too far from his location.
’Huh? Isn’t that Aunt Jaelyn?’
His steps speed up as he noticed a familiar presence belonging to someone he hadn’t seen in quite some time, reaching the Domain’s Research Lab within a few seconds.
The entirety of the Lab was imbued with multi-layered spatial expansion cosmic magic, teeming with arcane apparatuses and shelves lined with vials and scrolls holding text written in a thousand and one languages.
The air crackled with the energies of the laws of wisdom, knowledge, Parsimony, and Innovation.
If someone entering this place hadn’t stepped on the path of law comprehension, the sheer amount of law energies here was enough to suffocate their souls.
Nevertheless, this was nothing for Arthur who was infinitely close to achieving a Pseudo Authority in his main laws, as he sauntered into the lab with an expression of light surprise on his face.
A massive eight-ringed magic circle dominated the floor in the heart of the lab, pulsing with various energies, with the most prevalent being cosmic energy.
Atop this circle, nestled atop a pedestal, was a half-formed homunculus. Veins of pulsating energy traversed its pale, imperfect form while delicate wires and tubes connected it to humming machines.
Arthur turned his gaze around and looked at the Glass containers of various sizes on the shelves, housing specimens of many creatures the boy didn’t even know existed, preserved for dissection and analysis.
Whiteboards and parchment maps were strewn with intricated diagrams and equations all over the place. He noticed a few that unravelled some secrets of the cosmos, ones he presumed belonged to Lucifer.
Shaking his head at the sight of things that made his brain ache just by looking at them, he turned towards the two women seated not too far from the homunculus while asking one question to himself.
’It’s fine if you want to write equations, but why the heck do you imbue your writing with the energies of high-rank authorities?! Merely trying to read whatever’s written there might kill me!’
"Hmm? Oh, Arthur.
Come over and help me adjust the flow of this cosmic energy thingy to match the others."
The voice of one of the women, his maternal Grandmother, Inglis, rang out as she beckoned him over to the massive magic circle in the centre of the lab.
The woman’s glossy black waist-length hair was tied up into a single slightly unkempt braid, and when coupled with her framed spectacles and dark-coloured eyes that seemed to pierce through one’s very soul, she exuded an air of intellectual intensity.
"You sure I should be touching anything here?"
"Worry not, you would not receive any backlash.
Just redirect the energy flow and let it match the other energies’ wavelengths."
"Okay..."
Arthur replied lightly as he waved his hands and seized control of the ambient cosmic energy, redirecting it according to Inglis’ instruction while the woman checked out the readings on some strange device.
"Stop! That’s enough."
Right after he stopped, Inglis tapped her hand in the air, generating dozens of tier 7 magic circles that Arthur didn’t even bother to study, instead, he turned his gaze towards the other woman in the room who was tinkering with what he presumed was the homunculus core container.
"Aunt Jaelyn. Been a while."
He spoke up as he sat down on one of the rectangular table’s shorter sides, addressing the pinkish black-haired woman whose hands moved at speeds Arthur’s eyes could barely catch.
"Hello, your highness."
The woman replied without pausing her movements, configuring magic circles around the core container for a few more seconds before putting her hands down and sighing.
"That should be enough for this stage."
"Have you matched them up?"
"Yeah, yeah."
She replied to Inglis’ inquiry as she took off her gloves and sat down, before turning to Arthur and smiling.
"Your Highness, Arthur. How’re you doing?"
"Cool. Would be better if I could get my mother’s permission to go out."
"Go out? To where?"
"Another Universe."
"..."
Jaelyn was wondering just where in Hell Arthur needed to ask for permission to go to but the boy’s casual answer left her momentarily silenced.
’I can understand why the Princess wouldn’t let him out so easily.’
She thought to herself with a light sigh as she recalled the recent situation outside the Domain that Arthur was naturally unaware of since he had been inside it for close to two weeks outside.
It was just two weeks, but a lot of things happened within that short amount of time.
Meanwhile, Arthur was looking up at the woman with his crystal blue eyes comparing her current appearance to what he had in his memories.
’She looks prettier each time I see her. I guess this is because of her power, huh?’
Jaelyn exuded an allure that transcended mortal comprehension, with long flowing locks of pinkish-black hair cascading down her back, and flawless porcelain skin that seemed to emit a faint, ethereal glow.
She wore a regal attire of rich dark-coloured fabrics with intricate designs, that contrasted nicely with her eyes, a colour of molten gold that gleamed with an intoxicating mix of mischief, amusement and a tinge of seduction.
Arthur didn’t stare into her eyes for too long, as he feared that even with his law energies protecting him, he might still end up getting captivated by her passive charm that emanated from her very essence.
Then again, it’d be weirder if he wasn’t wary of such happening. After all, Jaelyn, like Inglis; was one of the Seven Deadly Sins of the Hell universe.
The one who held the Authority of Lust, and the Duchess of Asmodeus.
Contrary to popular belief, Jaelyn was one of the most powerful Swordswomen in the Hell universe, as even Diablo would have to go all out in order to match her in a Sword-only battle.
She was also someone who was very close to attaining a Monarch rank Authority in the Law of Swords.
Arthur had been under her tutelage in swordplay for a while during the past two years, and she had elevated his skill with the blade to new heights.
’Come to think of it, throughout the entirety of that time, I was only focused on swords and I forgot about asking her about her Deadly Sin abilities.’
The Hell Universe was the only known universe where the title and powers of the ’Seven Deadly Sins’ could be passed on from one person to another.
Almost every universe had a set of Seven Deadly Sins, but due to certain circumstances, some never awaken, some get hunted down before they can rise to power, and in such situations, it takes a very long time before the Deadly Sin powers can reappear.
But the Hell Universe was able to control the Deadly Sin authorities and their control was so great that they could pass it on from one person to another at will.
This was one of the reasons why theirs were the most feared and most dangerous.
’They are the most powerful in this part of the multiverse. And with Belphegor in the mix, I doubt any Deadly Sin in the multiverse can beat them.’
The Ancient Breed Devil Belphegor whose true realm of existence Arthur was unaware of, was definitely the most powerful Deadly Sin Authority holder in this Multiverse.
"I wanna know more about some of you guys’ powers."
Inglis who was tinkering with the nerves on the Homunculus’ arm rose an eyebrow upon hearing Evan’s words, but she only shrugged and went back to what she was doing, thinking he was asking because of his desire to utilize Seven Deadly Sin magic.
As for Jaelyn, a mischievous grin appeared on her face and for some reason, Arthur’s senses began warning him of ’danger’ upon seeing it.
"Lemme try something. I haven’t done this to you yet."
Hearing her words, Inglis instantly figured out what her fellow Deadly Sin was talking about, with memories of her doing the same to Cattleya and Creusery when they were younger crossing her mind.
Before Arthur could tell Jaelyn to stop whatever she was about to do, the woman’s eyes glowed with a tinge of pink as she asked the boy a very simple question.
