"Yo, Nero. Tell you what—why don't you just chop that arm off and let me swap it out for a mechanical one?"
"You know my work. I guarantee the prosthetic I build will be even more responsive than your original arm. It'd save you from walking around all day with that cast, pretending to be a cripple."
Nero, already in a foul mood, stepped into the Order's Technology Bureau workshop only to be greeted by his best friend's ruthless roasting. His face instantly darkened.
Fortunately, they were alone in the private workshop. If anyone else had been there, Nero might have actually torn the guy's mouth off.
Annoyed, Nero rolled his eyes. Seeing his friend slouching lazily against the workbench without a care in the world, Nero flopped onto the nearby sofa, limbs sprawled out.
"Don't worry about the arm. How's the Red Queen coming along?"
The chestnut-haired teenager leaning against the workbench pursed his lips toward the corner of the room, signaling Nero to look over there.
He didn't forget to add a snarky comment, though.
"Over there. Get it yourself! You think everyone has monster strength like you?"
Nero, having barely sat down, didn't mind the attitude. He sprang up like a compressed spring and opened the long case in the corner with a hint of anticipation. He pulled out his prized greatsword and examined it meticulously.
Seeing Nero looking at it so seriously, the chestnut-haired boy offered a casual explanation.
"You chipped the thermal blade I installed last time. I gave it a major overhaul. I kept the new edge but added a high-frequency vibration function..."
"Never mind. With a brain like yours, explaining it is a waste of breath. Just know it's sharper now."
"Be careful when you use it. If you chop your hand off, I can build you a mechanical one. But if you chop your head off, I'll have to cry at your funeral."
Nero, looking like a kid on Christmas morning as he toyed with the new blade, ignored his friend's jabs. He twisted the throttle on Red Queen's handle.
Vroom!
With a roar like a motorcycle engine starting up, the entire blade was instantly engulfed in blazing red fire. The edge, glowing white-hot, seemed to vibrate at a frequency almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
Nero gave it a casual swing. He barely used any force, yet a massive gash instantly appeared on the solid metal wall.
The cross-section of the metal was smooth and clean, with the edges glowing red from the intense heat.
"Luca, your weapon forging skills are getting harder and harder to understand!"
The boy leaning against the workbench—Luca—just curled his lip in disdain.
"You say that like you ever understood them in the first place. Now get out of here. I'm sending the bill for that wall to your brother-in-law."
Nero, who had planned to chat for a bit longer, turned beet red at the mention of "brother-in-law."
muttering something like "Kyrie and I are just family," he hugged his greatsword and bolted out of the room before Luca could say another word.
Watching Nero's retreating back, Luca dropped his cynical facade and sighed helplessly.
Luca was the adopted son of Agnus, the Chief of the Order of the Sword's Technology Bureau. He had shown exceptional talent for scientific research since he was a child.
When Agnus was recalled by the Sanctus (the Pope) to lead the Technology Bureau, the man had abandoned his wife and daughter without a second thought, yet he brought his adopted son, Luca, along with him.
He brought Luca back to the Order to groom him heavily.
However, over the past decade, although Luca displayed remarkable talent, he never quite fit in with the Order of the Sword.
For one, Luca's faith was shaky at best. He showed zero reverence for Sparda, the deity the Order worshipped.
Even in his research, Luca preferred studying mechanical gadgets and firearms—things that ran completely counter to the Order's philosophy, which glorified the sword and discriminated against gun users.
As time went on, Luca, who was once poised to become the second-in-command of the Technology Bureau, began to be marginalized.
Although his participation was still required for various research projects and weapon upgrades, Luca held no real power within the Order. To say he was universally hated might be an exaggeration, but he was certainly estranged from the organization as a whole.
This was exactly why he and Nero—another outcast of similar age who wasn't well-liked within the Order—had become thick as thieves.
Fortunately, Luca didn't care much for power or faith.
There seemed to be a voice in his head, constantly urging him to learn as much as possible.
So, even though he was repulsed by things like "demonic rituals" and "soul modification," Luca still worked hard to understand them.
But recently, when Nero came to him and confessed that he had suddenly sprouted a demonic arm after an injury in battle...
Luca had a feeling that these peaceful, study-filled days were about to end.
Sigh. A demonification that happened autonomously, without the Ascension Ceremony? And that white hair... I'm afraid that kid really does have Sparda's bloodline. If the old man, the Pope, finds out about this...
The Ascension Ceremony.
It was a biological modification technique combined with ancient demonic rituals, developed by Luca's adoptive father, Agnus.
It was a miraculous technology capable of fusing humans or objects with demonic power to create entirely new species.
By now, most of the Order's personnel had undergone this modification, gaining the ability to "Devil Trigger" (transform into demons).
However, because the modification only granted humans demonic power, the resulting form had a strange "appearance born from the heart" quality.
This meant that many Order members, despite undergoing "demonification," maintained a firm belief in their righteousness (or were simply ignorant of the truth). As a result, their demonic forms possessed both the vile nature of demons and the sanctity of angels.
These so-called "Angels" were one of the Order's biggest secrets.
The reason Luca was being marginalized was linked to this.
Because he was "afraid of death," he had refused to undergo the Ascension Ceremony.
Having been deeply involved in the research, he knew perfectly well that the modification was tied to the subject's physical constitution. For a normal human like him, the success rate of the Ascension Ceremony was less than ten percent.
The reason why Fortuna, the city where the Order was based, was suffering from frequent demon attacks lately was largely due to the failures—those who lost their minds after the procedure and became "demons."
And the reason the Order allowed these demons to attack the ordinary citizens of Fortuna... well, they had their own agenda for that.