Eminence in Technomancy c11 (Patreon)

Delta, like a wolf in a pasture of sheep, proceeded to slaughter all of the strangely dressed men.

With each swing of her hand, she would cut people, clothes, and swords. Nothing could stand in her way.

It was a one-sided slaughter.

“W-What are you!? How could—” He wasn't even allowed to finish as the man was cut in half.

“Hahahaha, this hunt is so much fun! Boss’ toys are so good!!!”

As the girl was laughing and slaughtering through the ranks of these zealots, the blonde saint looked at this with horror as she had never seen someone who could kill like this!

That armour was a legitimate artefact!!!

Before she could join with her sword, she was intercepted by another one who had a blade.

“Guh!!!”

“I am your opponent, Saint!”

Victoria’s eyes briefly narrowed as she exchanged blows with this armoured girl.

However, before she can continue, her sword is cut in half.

“I-Impossible!”

What followed next was a kick to her gut from the armoured girl; the kick sent Victoria flying away.

Instead of continuing the fight, the Saint proceeded to order her men.

“Everyone retreat! Retreat!”

The zealots were confused for a second, but seeing the sheer slaughterhouse, the men nodded at her and started to run away.

Delta was about to run after them, but Alpha stopped her.

“Delta, it's enough. You don't want your boss to be mad at you?”

Those were the magic words as the Therianthrope stopped in her tracks.

“Yeah! That would be horrible!”

Just like that, Delta’s killing switch was turned off.

“Alpha, why did you let that Saint go?” Claire asked with an annoyed tone.

“That's because she has the signs.” The blonde elf sheathed her sword.

“Signs? You mean-” Claire realised what this meant.

“Yes, her cells are active; it won't be long until she is betrayed. Besides, I left some of my mana on her. Lord can track that, and we will know where their base is.”

“Fair enough.”

Their gaze went to the side where Gamma and Beta stood close to the blonde Therianthrope.

“What's your name?” Alpha asked the girl.

“Lilim, what are you people? Are you fighting these monsters?”

“What you just witnessed is the cult. Cult of Diablos. They are people behind the church. They harvest people like you and me. You have the signs, see? The so-called demonic possession is nothing more than mana going out of control thanks to the cells you inherited from the ancestor Lili.”

“Lili? The Hero?” Lilim was confused for a second.

“It's a long story. But to keep it short, it's nothing more than a plot to harvest power. We all experienced that, nearly becoming food to the cult.”

“...I see…” The girl’s eyes trembled as red lightning crackled around her, and her condition proceeded to worsen.

“We follow Grand Alchemist and his Light of Technomancy; the armours you see are his creations. He gave us a roof, food, training, and a reason to live. You can join us if you want.”

“...Grand Alchemist…”

The girl’s mouth twitched. How amusing is that? She was rescued by followers of a hero-like or more like Godlike existence.

Is this the salvation she needed after running from these monsters for days?

“I will come with you.”

~~~

Marcus pressed the enter button, and all the lights in his underground base turned off.

A second later, they turned on. Basic controls were added to the base and are controllable from his computer.

Now, he can expand on these.

This software was something beyond pre-alpha, but it was a start.

Not long after that, the girl returned to the base.

The Alchemist was curious to see what they brought was a girl who was still changing midway.

As Alpha removed her helmet, she proceeded to speak.

“My Lord! We have returned, and our mission was a success!”

Marcus patted her head, making her blush.

Soon enough, others did the same; they all wanted those head pats.

Claire was the only one left, standing at the back with crossed arms.

Regardless, she ended up being patted as well.

After the ‘ceremony’ was finished, he looked at the Therianthrope.

“You are a golden panther, aren't you?”

“...Yes.”

“What's your name?” He asked her.

“Lilim.”

“Lilim, I assume you know some things, as Alpha has given you a basic introduction.”

“She did. You are some sort of Alchemist, aren't you? This place smells strange.” She said while looking around.

“We'll talk about this after I remove your condition.”

His mana roared to life, making Lilim's eyes bulge out. She could see the air around him warp!

This guy was a monster!

Seconds later, the rotten flesh disappeared, and she was in pristine condition once more.

The panther girl looked at her hands; she was shocked to see them.

It was more like she was delighted to see her hands once more! She was extremely relieved.

The girls who saw this were happy to see this, too. Helping like this makes them happy, too.

“...Amazing. You are truly almighty!” Her tail moved from side to side. She had that look.

Marcus internally grimaced. Yep, young traumatised people quickly attach themselves to their saviour.

Well, the same could be said for adults, but adults can be less extreme.

“Will you join me in this cause?” He asked the Therianthrope.

“Yes! I will do anything to destroy those monsters! They took my family from me! They killed my brother when I was holding him in my hands! They will pay.”

The girl was getting agitated. So Marcus placed his finger on her forehead. At that moment, a soothing energy washed her over.

“Relax, they will get what they deserve, but you can’t randomly get angry. The process will take time, but you need to have patience.”

“...Yes.”

Seeing that she was starting to cry made Marcus internally sigh.

‘Here we go again.’

He proceeded to hug the poor panther girl.

Seeing the hug made other girls pout from jealousy.

“Alpha, Beta, prepare a room for Zeta.”

“...Zeta?”

“That's right. That is your new name. Lilim died from demonic possession; in her place, Zeta was born.”

“I understand! Thank you, my Lord!”

~~~

Zeta had the traits of a cat. Stand-off-ish only cares about her Lord and is always some distance away from everyone.

But this is not the worst of it. The worst part is that she quickly gets bored of things.

“I don't wanna! This stuff is boring! Can we do something new!?” Once again, the panther girl was throwing a fit.

Alpha’s eyebrows were twitching. She was losing her patience.

But at that moment, Marcus’ finger went for Zeta’s forehead; he flicked her hard.

The girl reeled back in as she bent backwards. Her forehead was red like a tomato.

“Oww!!!”

“I do not care if you find this boring. You will master everything I am teaching you. I do not accept half jobs like this. It disgusts me.

Do I make myself clear?”

The alchemist, with a pissed-off voice, explained to her. All the girls who were learning as well paled as for the first time they saw their Lord angry, and it was a terrifying sight!

“I-I understand! Please forgive me!”

“We will see from your performance. Don't disappoint me.” He said with narrowed eyes.

Zeta fearfully nodded her head.

While the rest were impacted by this outburst as well, they swiftly started to check their notes to look for any sort of mistakes.

In the meantime, Marcus returned to work; he was close to having basic OS for Mark II. Apart from that, he is close to finishing the micro parts for the new model as well.

“Do you have to make him angry?” Beta hissed from her seat as she saw that Marcus was gone from the room.

“...I am sorry, okay? I just— well—” How could she say that she was spoiled rotten by her father? For some reason, she thought she could get some of it back.

From what she experienced so far, the Grand Alchemist is exceptionally understanding.

But even he has limits.

“Doesn’t matter. Just return to your assignments! Since Zeta annoyed him, WE have to finish this to perfection.”

Alpha’s words made Gamma and Epsilon nod, while Claire ignored them. She was already doing just that.

“True!” Beta nodded as she proceeded to write furiously.

Only Zeta sniffed and stroked her forehead. It was hurting more than she thought.

~~~~~~Several Days Later~~~~~~

In Marcus’ workshop, the alchemist prepared a new ‘tool’. It was table-like in shape. However, the surface was glowing and casting light upwards.

“...so this is the hologram table!” The elves were gushing over this while the alchemist reborn was furiously writing something on the PC.

He was nearly done with the essential software for designing.

With the last enter button, press the table turned off and then restarted.

This time, the table had blocks of light floating above its surface.

“Whoa, is it functional now?”

Beta asked with a curious look. Her finger went for the block, and she felt its surface!

“I-I can feel something! It's warm!”

“Magic bonds with light particles in the air, which the table produces. Allowing me to project whatever I want or my computer wants to show.” Marcus explained to Beta and the rest who were interested.

Alpha considering how to utilise this in combat, and Gamma pondered how to use it in future wealth-generating endeavours.

Epsilon is thinking about displaying shiny things, and Beta is just thinking of showing a story through this somehow.

Marcus noticed their looks. He was pleased they were thinking instead of just gazing at this.

Except for Zeta and Delta. Those two were different cases.

The Alchemist understood that their animal traits controlled both of them. Zeta is like a feline, and he just knows that she will take scouting jobs in the future. The girl loves exploring. While Delta— she will be his attack hound.

The structuring of organisations is coming soon. The girls are coming to their strengths, and once that is done, he can let them loose on the world.

“You are going to use this to model your next armour?” Alpha asked him as she saw the sketches before.

Mark II is nothing like Mark I.

From design to performance, she is expecting great things.

“Indeed. This projector helps to model it in three dimensions and adjust the sizes.” He nodded at her before turning around and looking at the gathered group.

“I assume you girls returned from the operation?”

“Yes. As expected, our operations are causing them to retreat from Kagenou lands.”

Claire nodded happily to that revelation.

“Before long, we will need to expand if we wish to clean all the garbage,” Alpha explained to him.

“Indeed. And I am planning to structure our—organisation. Or whatever it is we are making.” He said with a shrug.

When Alpha heard that, she immediately thought about an order, or maybe a secret society or something like that.

“I think it's more like a secret society,” Claire said from the side.

“We are all going to have ‘public faces’ and ‘true faces’, no? I already do; it's similar to a cult, only our cult doesn't do what THEY do.” The black-haired girl explained with a shrug.

“While it sounds—annoying, you are right.” Beta agreed with the reasoning.

“I suppose you are right. We follow our Lord; it makes you our leader. We will do what you say.” Alpha agreed as she looked at Marcus.

“Yes, well, for now. We need to focus on leads. Zeta, you will join the next mission; your suit is almost done.”

“Oh?”

The panther girl walked over as the Alchemist revealed the new armour.

It was opposite to Delta’s bulkier variant. This armour was more feline-like in design, more slender, yet it had those claws.

As the girl picked up the gauntlets, she inspected them.

“...Amazing…”

After inspecting the claws, she picked up the helmet; it was a panther-like head instead of a humanoid.

“I didn't think you would put this much effort.”

Instead of answering, he flicked her forehead.

“To whom do you think you are talking too?” He responded with an eye roll after flicking her forehead.