Chapter 72

## Chapter Chronology

**Humanity's Progress** is the 72nd chapter of the "*Shuumatsu no Valkyrie: Record of Ragnarok*" manga series.

## Summary

On January 7th 1943, Nikola Tesla died. Nine months later, on October 28th, a top-secret experiment was conducted, based on Tesla's final research. It was known as the "Philadelphia Experiment". In a naval shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dozens of powerful Tesla coils were loaded onto the destroyer ship, USS Eldridge.

Ostensibly, this was to "pass high voltage currents through the hull in an attempt to render it invisible to radar." However, the moment they flipped the switch, something terrible happened. It generated a magnetic field that was much stronger than they had ever expected and the Eldridge then vanished. The massive battleship disappeared from not only radar, but from any view at all. In the next instant, the ship appeared in Norfolk, Virginia, 363km away. When he was being interviewed by a journalist about what happened, Ensign T of the US Navy would say that calling it a "radar stealth experiment" was just a cover story. The real experiment was something else.

T didn't believe it but he had saw it with his own eyes: it was teleportation. The Philadelphia Experiment, or the Teleportation Experiment, was thought to be a success but in truth, the interior of the Eldridge became hellish. There were sailors whose bodies were fused with a wall as one sailor kept laughing on the ground nearby. There was a sailor who was missing his entire lower half.

The scientist who had pulled the switch and started the experiment was found dead, with all of his skin missing from his body. Of the sailors and scientists aboard, 13 were declared dead or missing in action, and 6 were driven insane due to what happened.

And so, was Tesla's final research truly a failure? No. Tesla had, indeed, achieved teleportation. In one moment, Tesla was standing in front of Beelzebub. In the next moment, Tesla suddenly appeared behind Beelzebub. As Beelzebub turns around, Tesla strikes him with **Plasma Pulse Punch**, causing an explosion of electricity to fill the cage. Beelzebub is thrown back through the smoke with the clothes on his upper body ripped off, much to the surprise of Zeus and Adamantine. Heimdall wonders if this is also science and declares that Tesla seemed to disappear for a second. In the next second, Beelzebub took a direct hit from a **PPP** in his blind spot.

As Beelzebub gets up, huffing and bruised all over his body, Isami Kondo questions what that absurd speed was as he couldn't see Tesla's moves at all. Soji Okita says he doesn't think Tesla moved and Kojiro Sasaki smiles about how Tesla certainly "disappeared." Ares panickily questions Hermes as to what he means when he said that Tesla disappeared. Hermes doesn't quite entirely understand it himself but points out Beelzebub has already figured it out. Beelzebub states that was teleportation and Tesla reveals he calls this move: **Tesla Warp**.

Tesla laughs over how cool that sounds, causing the scientists who helped him to feel embarrassed. Beelzebub suddenly puts up three fingers and says that **Tesla Warp** has three conditions. The first is that Tesla needs to build up time in order to activate it. Right after that last attack, if Tesla teleported to his blind spot again, he might've been able to kill Beelzebub but Tesla didn't attack. Instead, he seems to be preserving this distance between them, which is what allowed Beelzebub to infer what the first condition is. Tesla seems to be impressed as Beelzebub carries on, revealing the second condition is that Tesla's teleportable locations are limited. Before Tesla performed his initial teleportation, Beelzebub felt a slight irregularity with his **Tesla Step**.

At first glance, such flashy movement seemed unnecessary and wasteful, leading Beelzebub to suspect that Tesla had another goal in mind. It was all for Tesla to lead Beelzebub to a place where he could warp to. Huginn & Muninn are surprised to hear that Tesla's attack and defense were all just maneuvering and a trick. Leaning back on his chair, Loki says that Tesla sure is clever. As Tesla smiles, Beelzebub reveals the third condition is that the number of times he can teleport is itself, limited.

As Beelzebub says that, the coil hovering over Tesla's left fist shatters. As Brunhilde, Göll, Jack the Ripper, Hlökk, Kojiro and Hrist look on with surprise, Tesla claps and compliments Beelzebub on his insight. Tesla decides to elaborate a bit further and starts by mentioning how **Tesla Warp** can only be done inside the **Gematria Zone**. It is not possible to pull it off outside the zone, or rather, it's far too dangerous to try. To get to a place he wants to teleport to, Tesla requires a large concentration of Super Tesla Particles, which is why he's been using such big empty punches. Beelzebub figures out that when Tesla swung his electrified fist, he amassed the particles to that spot. Tesla remarks on how ecstatic he is that the God got the right answer and reveals how, as he attacked, he was creating particle-dense areas all around, although it's obviously invisible.

Once he has decided where he wants to teleport to, all Tesla has to do is synchronize the particles there with the "Super Tesla Coil" on his **Super Automaton β** and off he flies.

There are weaknesses, of course, with Tesla revealing that it takes 63 seconds to perform the synchronization. As Thomas Edison sighs over how Tesla is telling Beelzebub about his weakness, Tesla adds that one Super Tesla Coil is consumed per warp. Just as Beelzebub inferred, Tesla has a limited amount of times he can use it – with only two Super Tesla Coils left, he can only use **Tesla Warp** two more times. Göll asks what will happen if he uses it more than two times and Brunhilde guesses that Göndul, the material for **Super Automaton β**, will shatter and since their souls are intertwined, Tesla will be sent to Niflhel too. As Göll worries about her sister, Beelzebub asks if Tesla can really afford to tell him about his strengths and weaknesses so clearly. Wagging his finger, Tesla reveals it's for the sake of science.

Withholding information is a crime to science itself. Tesla says that by freely sharing all the wisdom you acquire without restrain, that is how science, or rather, how Humanity has progressed. Taken aback, Beelzebub then smiles for the first time in the battle. Standing up, Beelzebub comments on how Humans talk too much. Beelzebub suddenly spits out blood.

Hermes guesses the damage done to Beelzebub was a lot graver than they had thought. Beelzebub admits to himself that he hasn't felt this kind of pain "since then". In the past, at Hades' castle in Helheim, someone has broken in and killed all the guards. Approaching two large doors, that person then opens them. Sitting on his throne and reading a book, Hades says that it doesn't seem as if the intruder has accidentally stumbled into the king's chamber. With a painting of himself and his brothers on the wall behind him, Hades sets down his book and asks Beelzebub what he wants. Confirming he's Hades, Beelzebub challenges him to a fight. Hades had heard rumors about a reckless fool who fell from Heaven, whose been constantly picking fights with the beasts of Helheim.

It is said that a mad demon resides within him. Since Hades knows that, Beelzebub says there's no need for words as he readies the vibration blade of his right hand. Hades is mildly surprised Beelzebub wants to challenge him in that raggedy state and questions if he has a death wish. Beelzebub simply asks for Hades to kill him. Silent at first, Hades calls him a troublesome guest as he takes off his eyepatch. Picking up his bident, Hades introduces himself as the King of Helheim and accepts Beelzebub's challenge.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Ensign T (Flashback)
* Nikola Tesla
* Beelzebub
* Zeus (No lines)
* Adamantine (No lines)
* Heimdall (Voice only)
* Kojiro Sasaki
* Hrist (No lines)
* Soji Okita
* Isami Kondo
* Hermes
* Ares
* Thomas Edison
* Isaac Newton (No lines)
* Albert Einstein (No lines)
* Marie Curie (No lines)
* Alfred Nobel (No lines)
* Galileo Galilei (No lines)
* Odin (No lines)
* Huginn & Muninn
* Loki
* Brunhilde
* Göll
* Jack the Ripper (No lines)
* Hlökk (No lines)
* Göndul (No lines)
* Hades (Flashback)