As for Alicia, she is not mortal, but a god of the new era, that's true. But who says every god can defeat a demon? Do you think a celestial maiden responsible for singing and dancing can defeat a high-level demon?
What a joke! If even singing and dancing celestial maidens can defeat high-ranking demons, why would the gods need to spend money to create heavenly soldiers and generals?
Therefore, generally speaking, dealing with advanced demons requires the elite security forces of large corporations. In other words, it requires the warriors of the new era's Protoss.
(Normally, if a demon appeared in an upscale residential area, the elite security forces of a large company would rush over immediately. This time, they actually had the mercenaries hack into the villa's barrier first, and then let the demon break in...)
As Hayden thought this, he suddenly felt a pang of fear.
(Could the guy who tried to assassinate Adam's wife be connected to those anti-corporate, devil-worshipping terrorist cults in West Asia and North Africa?)
Damn it. He was just worried about his friend's wife being murdered, how did he get dragged into something more and more troublesome?
018: Exorcising Demons
Modern people usually deal with sophisticated demons by relying on elite security forces from large companies to use heavy firepower to pulverize them.
Ancient magic had another method for dealing with demons, but it was all particularly troublesome.
The biggest problem with ancient magic was that it required time. It involved lengthy incantations, rituals, artifacts, materials, and magic circles. While an ancient sorcerer might spend three hours preparing a single ritual, a modern arcanist could cast an arcane spell in three seconds.
So, can't we use modern industrial mass production methods to prepare magic circles and similar items in advance? No, we can't. Because according to ancient magical theory, the creation of ritual tools is actually part of the ritual itself. The ritual doesn't just begin during the ritual; it begins beforehand. Therefore, the tools must be prepared personally by the caster.
Furthermore, ancient magic emphasized specificity and unrepeatability. The same situation occurring in two different people wouldn't necessarily be resolved with the same magic; instead, it required the caster's on-the-spot judgment. Moreover, in those ancient texts, ancient magicians particularly favored metaphors, poetry, and symbolic, enigmatic methods to describe processes and effects, as well as their own imagined magical theories. This made extracting truly useful information from them even more difficult.
False teachings fill countless volumes, but true wisdom is contained in a single sentence. Would a company really want to spend enormous resources sifting through a sea of ancient texts only to find a single, potentially useless, piece of nonsense? Certainly not.
That's why modern large corporations have abandoned ancient magic and adopted arcane arts based on modern theories and paradigms. And indeed, modern technology has proven to be far superior.
Ancient mysteries have been rendered obsolete by modern esoteric technologies.
So, what about Hayden? Was he the kind of retro person obsessed with ancient magic and craftsmanship?
Of course not. His initial reason for studying ancient magic was to develop mass-produced, affordable traditional potions. Who cares about craftsmanship?
So even if he wanted to use ancient magic to deal with demons, Hayden had his own way of doing it.
He put down the pentagram in his hand and dispelled his spell. The demon was stunned for a moment, then immediately rushed towards Hayden, only to see Hayden pick up his phone and use its 3D projection function to project a magic circle onto himself, Angela, and Alicia.
The demon burst into laughter. Having roamed this world for a long time, it knew perfectly well that such non-manual magic circles were utterly useless against demons. So it continued charging forward, raising the totem pole to smash it down on Hayden's head—then suddenly stopped in mid-air.
A quiet and invisible force surrounded Hayden, blocking the devil's totem pole.
"The key to a sealing magic circle lies in the inner and outer circles, and the name that bestows authority and protection. Other symbols are not so important."
Hayden spoke gently, a bead of sweat still dripping from his forehead.
"I studied these spells for half a year, discarding the dross and retaining the essence, and finally came to this conclusion: as long as I carry the hand-engraved divine name on my body and stay in the magic circle as the core of the magic, then even if the ring itself is a three-dimensional projection, the protective effect of the magic circle will be retained by about 80%."
There are only two ways to deal with the devil: either use greater firepower to smash it to smithereens, like modern people do, or use something that it fears or that can restrain it, like ancient people do.
Names have power. The ancients believed that knowing a name and using a name was to exert its power.
Hayden didn't know why the devil would fear these ancient names, but... it just worked. The world was full of all sorts of powers, and a wizard could go far by simply taking a little bit of advantage of them.
Enraged, the demon hissed, its snake-like tongue lolling out. It raised the totem pole and slammed it down upon the invisible magic circle. The mere shockwave caused the entire villa to shake and tremble. Two more blows, and this luxurious house would surely crumble.
Hayden was also suffering terribly. This new classical magic circle centered on him was, after all, something that hadn't been tested in actual combat. Every time the demon smashed the magic circle with a totem pole, Hayden felt as if his head was being hit by a sledgehammer. If this continued, either his head would crack open first, or the house would collapse and smash down on his head.
This magic circle only protects against demonic attacks and offers no protection against normal physical phenomena.
"Angela!"
In desperation, Hayden shouted loudly,
"You hold them off for a bit! Just defend with all your might and stall until the security forces arrive!"
Hayden really didn't want to do this. He didn't know exactly how strong Angela was, only that she was at least as strong as a main battle tank. But this devil was definitely stronger than a main battle tank. What if Angela was destroyed by the devil?
But if Angela doesn't go up first, by the time Mitra Group's elite security forces realize something is wrong and rush over, their bones will have already been used by the devil to beat the drum!
However, Angela shook her head when she heard Hayden's words:
"I cannot comply, Master."
she said so.
"what!?"
Even Hayden was dumbfounded.
It wasn't even a request to reconsider; it was a direct defiance of his master's orders. To be honest, Hayden felt betrayed.
"Because of inefficiency."
But Angela continued speaking, and then calmly walked out of the magic circle.
What happened next made Hayden and Alicia doubt their own eyes.
Angela walked towards the devil and poked its totem pole before the devil could react.
The totem pole instantly turned into snow-white salt, which spilled all over the ground.
Now, not only Alicia, but even the devil was stunned. It first looked at its own hands, then looked down at the salt at its feet, its face filled with disbelief.
Hayden, at least, understood more, though this also horrified him: as a professional sorcerer versed in both ancient and modern times, Hayden's eyes could see not only magic, but also characters composed of magic.
To the naked eye, Angela merely extended her hand and gently poked at something. However, from a magical perspective, that poke was an extremely dense array of text, hundreds of millions, even trillions, of magical phrases. Hayden, witnessing this directly, nearly trembled with terror—because he couldn't understand at least ninety percent of the words in these texts. The only parts he could decipher were the names of ancient deities he had previously found in old books and even on stone tablets.
Even more terrifying was that Angela had expended almost no magic power. This absolutely violated the known rules of magic. In that instant, Hayden felt as if all his magical achievements were crumbling beneath his feet.
Damn, this is indescribable.
So Hayden took a second to calm himself down. After all, he was a pragmatist; he wouldn't go crazy and end up in a mental hospital just because he saw some indescribable knowledge.
Meanwhile, Angela didn't let the poor devil off the hook either. She picked up some dirt that the devil had smashed and churned from the ground, blew on it, and then sprinkled it at the devil. Instantly, the dirt transformed into ten lifelike mud dolls, each a meter tall, swarming over and grabbing onto the devil. Four grabbed its legs, four grabbed its hands, and two climbed onto its head, trying to shove the devil to the ground.
The demon struggled and roared. It uttered ancient incantations, the sound alone revealing them to be evil, ancient magic: hatred, resentment, anger, contempt, and mockery. It was a curse, like boiling all the world's negative emotions in a pot, capable of silencing the winds, drying up the waters, corrupting the earth, and extinguishing the flames.
"No."
So Angela said calmly.
Her tone was neither threatening nor malicious, and her voice was not loud.
However, the demon stared wide-eyed in terror—its magic had gone out of control. The next instant, with a deafening roar, it exploded from its mouth with intense poisonous smoke and flames. While it didn't kill itself, it coughed incessantly, looking utterly pathetic.
Fortunately, the explosion at least blew away the little mud dolls that had pounced on it. Taking advantage of the situation, the demon charged at Angela, swinging its enormous claws at her. Angela didn't dodge, instead extending her hands to block the claws. The golem and the demon clashed head-on, their forces clashing and exchanging blows.
Veins bulged and muscles bulged on the devil's thick arms. It braced itself on its four feet, channeling its power. This power was enough to overturn tanks, demolish houses, lift trains, and throw them away.
"...Who...who are you?!"
Then the devil's expression changed drastically, and he began to speak in human language.
"I don't believe it! You are...you are..."
Angela ignored it and calmly continued pushing forward, and forward still. The three-meter-tall demon was actually pushed against the wall. Angela didn't stop, continuing to push. Soon, Hayden and Alicia heard the demon let out a fierce howl of "Goooooooo!" before Angela broke all its bones and turned it to ashes.
"The threat has been eliminated, Master."
Angela turned around and said to Hayden with a smile.
For a moment, Hayden almost wanted to give up thinking, but his pride wouldn't allow it.
"not at all."
So he answered, turning to look at Alicia, who was clearly terrified.
"You see now, ma'am. Someone is trying to make you 'disappear forever,' and they can not only afford a top-notch mercenary team, but they can even command demons to kill your maid. Shouldn't you be seriously considering hiding in the company's safe house as soon as possible, and while you're at it, think about who might have the ability and motive to do such a thing?"
Hayden paused here, frowning.
"Moreover, this person may also be connected to terrorists who worship the devil."
Damn it, how did I get into this mess?
However, after listening to Hayden's words in a daze, Alicia said something that surprised him: "No."
"……What?"
"This matter has nothing to do with anti-corporate cultists who worship the devil."
Alicia answered, still somewhat dazed, but gradually regaining her senses.
"A true devil does not immediately turn to ashes after he dies."
She pointed to the pile of ashes that Angela had pushed into the corner: "This is just a projection of a demon, a summoning spell."
Hayden cursed himself for his stupidity and slapped his forehead. He had indeed read about this in ancient books, but he had never actually summoned a demon (after all, who would summon a demon so casually?), nor had he ever fought a demon in real combat.
But why would Alicia, an artistic corporate person, know this kind of knowledge?
"Invoking demons to attack certain places and then claiming it was done by anti-corporate terrorists is a common tactic for corporations. I've seen it far too many times."
Alicia quickly answered his question.
“True devil believers worship the devil as a god. They don’t just let one devil come out, but they all rush in to fight alongside the devil, believing that they can be reborn as devils after death.”
This argument is somewhat biased, but what she said is generally correct and more in line with what Hayden has observed so far.
What has Hayden seen so far?
Illegal dream chips are being sold all over the new Seattle.
Someone is testing a strange new type of personality correction chip at the Wenle Club.
Someone paid mercenaries to spread false information about Alicia cheating on her husband with a younger man.
Some even spent a fortune hiring top-notch mercenaries and summoning demons, hoping to make Alicia "disappear forever."
Assuming all of the above was done by the same person (based on Hayden's experience, this is highly likely), and considering Alicia's current testimony, this person is very likely someone from a large corporation. For example, a manager at a large company might have done something to Adam or his wife for dirty office politics.
Hayden also has to find and deal with this guy because he stole the other person's personality chip data. If the other person keeps thinking about it and continues to send people to cause trouble for Hayden, Hayden's daily life will become very complicated.
So if Alicia could tell him which corporate dog might be trying to harm her or her husband, Hayden might be able to find him, investigate, and take care of him.
"Speaking of which, we need to inform Adam about this as soon as possible. Don't you two have any emergency communication lines or anything like that for couples?"
Hayden picked up his phone to try and contact Adam, but the system indicated that he was at work and refused any disturbance.
"No. There's no need to rush to tell Adam."
Alicia, regaining her senses, quickly waved her hand.
"We must first get to the bottom of this."
This might seem a bit strange, but Hayden happens to like this approach of figuring out the goal first.
"So, do you know which suspect might be the mastermind behind this?"
He asked with an expectant look on his face,
"I can help you get rid of him, and I'll give you a 50% discount."
But upon hearing his words, Alicia hesitated, as if she did know something but was reluctant to say it.
"My God, sister-in-law—you don't mind me calling you that, do you?—Who could be so scary to you? It can't be the CEO of the Mitra Group, can it?"
So Hayden deliberately exaggerated his tone, waving his arms around, trying to ease the serious atmosphere—frankly, it really should be serious now. The maid's body, its head smashed open, was still sprawled on the living room floor.
However, Alicia clearly didn't care about her maid's death. She didn't even glance at the maid's body, but stared at Angela with a bewildered and awe-inspiring look for a while.
Angela was humming a song as she repaired the damaged parts of her house. As always, she blew on the damaged areas, and everything came back to life, jumping back to its original state and fixing itself. The scene was truly chilling upon closer inspection.
Clearly, Alicia was having similar thoughts to the devil's earlier—look at what Angela has done so far! What exactly is this doll?
Honestly, even Hayden was curious to know the answer to this question. Good heavens, what exactly is Angela?
But one thing at a time, the important thing at hand is more important.
So Alicia hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke:
"Only one person will benefit from making me disappear."
Hayden listened attentively.
Her next words truly horrified Hayden.
“That’s the person you call a friend, and I call a husband, who’s the new project manager at Mitra Group’s New Yatu branch.”
Alicia looked serious.
"Only Adam will benefit from my disappearance."