A few days later.
"Why are you here?" Kousuke asked with a deadpan look on his face. He was staring at Morgan standing in front of his doorstep with a modern day clothing instead of her usual witch dress. After he cleanly defeats the Hero Faction and branded them with a curse, he had immediately went home to do more research on the Snake Orb.
After what he saw in Cao Cao's soul, Kousuke thought there's more to it than just boosting power to another scale. After all, he had seen Infinity, or rather a fragment of said concept. That can only means one thing...Ophis herself is the concept of Infinity.
"What do you mean? I'm just here to greet my neighbour, as your nextdoor neighbour~" Morgan said a cheeky smile. She raised her pointy finger and around them were a set of key. Kousuke furrowed his brows at that, then he turned to look at the house next to his. It looks different, he couldn't find the familiar old wooden bench sitting on the grassy field. Even the 'No Entry' sign was long gone, clearly his old neighbour is no longer living there.
"What did you do to the old man? He had lived here since I was born, he wouldn't budge when real estate people came offering to buy his house at incredible price—but he rejected them all."
Kousuke still remembered a distant memory of being lectured for trespassing into his neighbor's land. He had kick the ball a little too strong as it went over the wooden fences. Being a stubborn kid, he ignored his parent's warning and jumped over the fence to grab his ball. But he accidentally stepped on a broken toy and the noise attracted the sleeping old man into a fit.
"Nothing a good old brainwashing can't do~" Morgan replied with a sly smile. As a witch who had lived longer than anyone can imagine, she had no restrain in abusing her power to get what she wanted. She could make the old man believing he had always been homeless, but she wasn't so inhumane. She did leaves him with more than enough wealth for him to enjoy a retirement for years to come.
"Of course you did, why did I bother asking," Kousuke said with a sigh. "Then come in, my parents is out at the moment. I sent them on a vacation trip so that I can do my research in a quiet environment."
As Morgan stepped inside, her eyes wander around. This is the inside of the Hero's living space, she secretly take notes of everything, not letting a single thing go unnoticed. It looks like the living abode of a humble family, nothing particularly stood out. Or that's what ordinary person would think, but Morgan is a witch.
"I see, this house is well protected," she mumbled with a nod of appreciation. In her eyes, she could see invisible runes all over the walls. It encapsulated around the land in a barrier that prevented unwanted people from detecting the House's specialty. Even now, she can senses the ambient mana being pulled toward it like a vacuum, powering the barrier without Kousuke having to manually fuel it with his own mana.
"You have learned a lot since we parted," Morgan continues, a mysterious smile surfaced on her face. It was her knowledge that gives him access to magic, but the technique he used with the runes was unknown to her. It was complex, her vision could only glimpse into a small part of it.
"Well since my magic teacher suddenly gone out to look for milk, I had to find other means on my own," Kousuke said with a shrug. As they head up the flight of stairs, he eventually brings her into his bedroom. It looks very somehow messy yet clean, the dirty clothes on the floor was the only mess in the whole room. There wasn't a hint of dust anywhere to be seen.
Morgan casually walks toward his bed, before nonchalantly sit on it as her nose picked up his scent the most here. There was a glowing orb with snake emblem embedded in the center sitting on the table near the window, it was none other than Ophis's gift.
"Is that the thing you're researching?" Morgan asked, it was clear that the orb piqued her interests as well. The Hero Faction didn't trust her so she was kept in the dark about it. At most, she knew it exists as the faction's trump card.
Kousuke sat on the chair as his clothes had suddenly shifted to that of a scientist. He worn long white coat and underneath it lies a white T-shirt and a black jeans. He also equipped glasses just to give other the impression that he's smart. Morgan simply chuckles at the sight.
"Yes, this is called a fragment of Infinity, a part of Ophis if you can even call it that. It possessed tremendous power, and also constantly generate energy from unknown source—likely from Ophis. this thing is a slap to the natural order."
Morgan salivates at his words, her eyes bore a hole into the orb like a hyena eyeing a prey. If she have it, she could unleash her destructive magic on the level of Satan at the snap of her fingers. It wasn't impossible with her current power, but it will take a lot of preparation and time.
"But it costs just as heavy. It burn your body and lifespans to grant you more power, so it's ineffective long-term." Sensing her gaze, Kousuke mentioned one of the big flaws from consuming the orb. Another one was that Ophis herself can cut off the connection if she will it, it's her power after all. So the chance of people using her orb to subdue her were low, but not zero.
There's no such a thing as impossible in this world. His existence is a solid proof to that statement. He wasn't interested in the constant stream of energy, but the Infinity concept itself. If he can somehow get it in his grasp, then he will have enough fuel to open a permanent portal to Otherworld. There are still many questions that needed answering, especially the Demon God's origin.
"That aside, I'm curious about something," Kousuke said as he turned to Morgan, "where did you send Vali? I didn't see him when I beat the Hero Faction."
The corners of her lips curled up, there was a hint of amusement in her eyes as she speaks.
"Somewhere far and cold~"
"...Poor guy." That's all Kousuke thought about it before shrugging off and going back into his research.