The Advantage of Foresight

The devil’s hostility had indeed affected Salomon’s life. No matter how insane Marduk, the Hell Lord, might be, he was still a devil whose nature was exceedingly cunning. He was merely more prone to impulsiveness and lacked Mephisto’s old, calculating craftiness.

He was, after all, a devil bold enough to crown himself Satan. Cunning was in his nature.

Salomon believed that once Marduk calmed down somewhat, he would resort to conspiracies to ruin his life. That was how devils had always operated.

After that attack, Dark Magic Creatures had appeared several times around the orphanage. Bayonetta and Jeanne rode Pegasus through New York City and its surrounding areas at night, ensuring that no Dark Magic Creatures from the Prime Material Plane approached their residence.

Those tense days continued for several days. It was not until Salomon cast alarm spells within a hundred-meter radius of their apartment, along with defensive and counterattack spells inside it, that the witches’ reconnaissance patrols came to an end. Only then did Bayonetta have time to try making dinner.

However, Salomon did not think this could continue indefinitely. He swore dinner had nothing to do with it. People always had moments of carelessness, and he could not bear the consequences of a single lapse in attention.

Could Father Morlu’s prophetic dream truly be his future? Salomon could only hurry to study what he had brought back from the monastery—the parchment depicting the Kabbalah and Jacob’s Limbs.

The latter was a combination of trained muscle memory and a long-lasting magical effect. Salomon could spend time practicing it. But compared with Jacob’s Limbs, the Kabbalah Tree of Life was closely tied to Holy Marks. It was something extraordinarily difficult to comprehend. Even with "Comprehend Languages," Salomon could not understand the meaning beneath those Hebrew words at all. Comprehend Languages could not decipher code words or ciphers.

He could only forcefully interpret their literal meanings, then read through them with only half an understanding. This was of no use whatsoever in grasping the nature of the Holy Marks on his hand.

Unless he went back and studied ancient Hebrew, he would never be able to smoothly read the contents written on those parchments. So while learning Hebrew, he also drew upon the wisdom of his predecessors, even if that wisdom did not encompass the entirety of Kabbalah.

While reviewing his a-level courses, Salomon had added another subject to his workload: studying the works of modern occultists. For example, Eliphas Levi, the modern occultist who combined the Kabbalah Tree of Life with Tarot Cards—his work, The Key to the Great Mystery, became one of Salomon’s references. In addition, Samuel Mathers’s translations of The Kabbalah Unveiled and The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage were also important textbooks for studying Kabbalah.

Those books had been gathering dust in Kamar-Taj’s library, and only Salomon ever bothered to read them.

According to Father Morlu, the Golden Dawn had indeed received some wisdom from Kabbalah, but not all of it. Even the Solomonic magic circles used by Samuel Mathers were incomplete. Salomon had studied Solomonic magic circles when he was young. Back then, he could only perform a few tricks in practical application, but that had not stopped him from learning the theory.

Yet to his disappointment, the Golden Dawn was not an order that studied the orthodox Kabbalah Tree of Life. It did not even possess the Mystical Kabbalah commonly used by medieval mages. The Golden Dawn’s techniques were mixed with far too many other things, offering Salomon no help at all in understanding the writing on that parchment.

"Do you know the date of the exam, Salomon?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you still daydreaming in class?" Jane Foster angrily slammed the thick physics textbook down in front of Salomon. The water cup, pencils, scratch paper, books—everything on the table jumped from the force, including Daisy Lewis, who had been sleeping with her head on the table beside them. She had spent last night helping her advisor with experiments, so Jane Foster had specifically allowed her to rest for a while today. Daisy sat up with a dazed expression and shouted loudly in every direction, trying to prove that she had not been deafened by the impact.

"I have a lot of coursework, Professor Foster." The Arcanist helplessly stuffed the parchment into his backpack. "If I don’t study this subject, my life will be in danger."

"And studying this random nonsense during my class won’t put your life in danger?"

"Ah, no, how could you possibly… Hey, woman, don’t pick up the compass!"

"Your advisor is quite fierce, child." Athena teasingly pressed an ice pack to Salomon’s forehead. "This is the first time I’ve heard of a woman using a physics textbook as a weapon."

"It’s nothing to be surprised about. I suspect that woman doesn’t even know what fear is. Gently, gently, that really hurts!" Salomon cried out in dissatisfaction. At first, he had not expected Jane Foster to actually dare hit him, but his advisor was no ordinary person.

As expected of a woman who could punch Asgardian royalty and shout at the All-Father, she truly did not take Salomon’s identity as a spellcaster seriously.

"Alright, go play somewhere else. It’s afternoon tea time, and I want to read." Athena waved a hand, signaling Salomon not to disturb her reading time. But the Arcanist showed no intention of leaving.

"How is the orphanage?" he asked. "And the children? Were they frightened?"

"Do you really think those fools could cause any trouble?" the War Goddess said disdainfully. "Don’t forget who I am. As long as they enter the range of my spear throws, those monsters won’t leave alive. As for the children, they have no idea what happened. They are merely dissatisfied with the recent order restricting them from going outside. Even little Lorna, who is in her rebellious phase, has been quite obedient. She seems to know something, though. I even saw her firing a handgun outside! Tell me, did you give her that handgun?"

"Shh, shh, shh…" Salomon turned away and whistled, trying to find something that could divert Athena’s attention.

"This is not something you need to feel guilty about, child." Athena saw through Salomon’s thoughts and lightly let the matter of the handgun go. "The Hell Lord’s lackeys would not spare any human. This time, their target simply happened to be you. Even though Kamar-Taj has been clearing out these pests for over a thousand years, haven’t they remained impossible to eradicate? There is no need to dwell on it. What you need to consider is how to deal with Marduk. That prophetic dream cannot reveal the outcome, after all. No one knows whether it was an oracle or a prophecy, so the result cannot be judged."

"You know about it too?"

"I am the Goddess of Wisdom. What could possibly happen that I do not know?" Athena smiled viciously. "Besides, do you think Marduk did not anger me as well? That orphanage is my temple. Attacking my temple means becoming my enemy. Whether they are Turks, Lord Elgin, or devils, as long as they anger me, I will not let them go!"

"The Sorcerer Supreme has already said that the war between Kamar-Taj and the Hell Lords has begun. Do not let your guard down just because of one compromise with Mephisto. Child, I will arrange the course of your war. I will make that Three-headed Poison Dragon die beneath your lance."

"What is this?" Salomon took the paper Athena handed him.

"Marduk’s weakness." Before the war had even begun, the wise War Goddess had accurately seized her enemy’s lifeline. "This is his offspring. Mephisto revealed this information. The Sorcerer Supreme signed a contract with Mephisto for this very reason, and Mephisto used this to incite Marduk against you."

"So the Venerable One had long foreseen the war between Marduk and me? Was this also part of the Venerable One’s plan?"

"What do you think?"

Please vote~~