Chapter 2453 – 2453. Dark Moon
I killed him by destroying his heart, the magic stone that served as its power source.
His body collapses to the ground.
[Telekinesis]
Using telekinesis, I extracted the soul core embedded in his brain. The soul core was intact. Naturally, so was his soul within it.
‘The body can be replaced as many times as needed. What’s important is the soul core. As long as the soul core is intact, I can kill him multiple times.’
I took out a new body from my inventory.
This time, it wasn’t a human corpse.
A monster.
A goblin’s corpse, to be exact.
‘The corpse is as intact as possible, killed by burning the brain with lightning. Other organs aside, the brain is definitely non-functional.’
I embedded the soul core into the goblin corpse’s head. I placed a magic stone in its heart.
Twitch.
The goblin corpse moves. The traces of the soul core and magic stone embedded in the corpse quickly disappeared. It had recovered.
‘One of the functions of the soul core. It recovered using mana. …No. Since he’s already dead, it’s not recovery but restoration.’
I know the magic to turn a target into a soul core. However, I don’t know the exact principle behind how a soul core is created. It’s the same even when examining the spell formula.
‘Illyario created this arcane magic with a demon. It must be that demonic power was involved.’
Not some random low-level demon. At least a high-level demon. Perhaps even a demon god-level demon made a contract with Illyario.
“Kkeueuk. Aaaah! Me, I’m a goblin!!”
“You speak human words clearly. It’s impossible to speak with a clear tone given a goblin’s vocal structure. Are you using mana to speak? Well, Illyario would have thought of putting this in a doll first… It must be able to speak regardless of the vocal cords.”
“You bastard!! Turn me back to normal!!”
He shouts in anger and charges at me.
Bang! Thud!
The power of the goblin’s fist pounding against the barrier was similar to that of a cannonball. But it was still not enough to break through a barrier cast by a 6th-circle mage.
“You can use your abilities even in a goblin body. Your ability is related to the soul.”
I take out a dark hole and use black magic.
[Corpse Explosion]
However, the magic didn’t activate.
‘The 5th-circle black magic, Corpse Explosion, detonates corpses that are far away or undead made of corpses. Undead with no magic resistance can’t resist it. But Corpse Explosion didn’t work.’
The goblin corpse was ordinary. It didn’t have any magic resistance. This means the soul core itself has high magic resistance.
I flick my fingers. A blood-red blade appears and cuts off the goblin’s limbs.
“Aaaah! You son of a bitch!!!!”
“If you act up one more time, I’ll torture you forever.”
“……”
He immediately shut his mouth.
‘The biggest drawback of Soul Craft is that there’s no way to control the created soul core. Since it has such high magic resistance that even my Corpse Explosion doesn’t work… It’s safe to say that controlling it with necromancy is impossible.’
In that sense, Soul Craft was a terrible form of necromancy. The grimoire didn’t mention any way to control the soul core.
‘Illyario. This madman had no intention of controlling the dolls he created through Soul Craft. He was just a pervert who was satisfied with just creating the dolls.’
The limbless guy was dying. The soul core didn’t have enough regenerative power to restore the severed limbs.
I waited a little longer, but he didn’t die. The magic stone’s mana kept him alive. Even though he had bled to a critical extent.
“I-Isn’t it enough now? Please, just kill me…”
“There’s still one more left.”
I took out a doll from my inventory. On the outside, it looked like an ordinary human, but the inside was filled with machinery. Inside, it had a mana power source that was far more sophisticated than any magic stone.
I inserted the soul core into the head of the mechanical doll.
“I-Is this a human body? I can hear the sound of machinery running inside me…”
“It’s a machine.”
“…But why do I feel sensations as if I’m alive?”
“That’s the function of the soul core.”
I flick my fingers. A blood-red blade appears and cuts off his arm.
“Kkuaaaaak!”
He clutched his severed arm in pain.
The mechanical doll didn’t have a function to feel pain. The feeling of pain was purely the power of the soul core.
‘A perfect doll. That means a human. Since the doll itself is an imitation of a human. Not only sensations and pain but probably even desires.’
Illyario didn’t think of Soul Craft as just a tool. His true purpose was to create souls.
‘That’s why he tried to copy the soul core to create a new soul core, to create something from nothing.’
But he failed.
The copied soul core was similar to the original. But it was a degraded version.
While I was lost in thought, he moved on his own.
Bang!
With his remaining hand, he smashed his own head.
Among the shattered pieces of machinery, I could see the broken soul core.
‘Once a soul core is broken, it can’t be made into a soul core again.’
Illyario also gave the doll the right to commit suicide.
‘I need to be careful when managing them. But it’s not like there’s no solution. It means that as long as I can defend the soul core, even if they try to commit suicide, it’s fine.’
If they are perfectly identical to humans, they will also have the desire to live. The reason he committed suicide was that he didn’t want to be a test subject and suffer.
‘If I persuade them or make a deal, it might work out somehow. If I use magical engineering well… I can create subordinates that I can control.’
Besides that, there were many other uses for Soul Craft.
• • •
Area X is so quiet that even rats don’t dare to roam around carelessly.
It’s where gangs gather, but there’s a certain order and rules. That doesn’t mean they’re not on guard.
And here.
There was a group quietly observing the changes in Area X.
Gang members with spiky hair, wearing punk-style clothes, and armed with guns and swords. They were looking at a certain spot through binoculars.
“Oh, shit. A high-circle mage is taking down those morons? Rose really sent a high-circle mage.”
“Rose is amazing when it comes to connections, if nothing else. I heard she even has a CEO of a major company in her network?”
“Eugene Meyer. He was a mercenary mage who worked with Rose. He was the lucky bastard who found a superconductor in the ruins. A lot of guys quit the gang and became explorers after him.”
“That mage… isn’t he the vampire mage who’s been working with Rose lately? He’s a black mage, but I heard he uses blood magic a lot too.”
“You idiot. Blood magic is a type of black magic.”
“But I heard blood magic doesn’t use black mana? It uses blood, so isn’t it blood magic?”
“Blood or black mana, it’s all creepy, so it’s black magic. Oh, shit. He’s even using necromancy. That’s fucking terrifying.”
“……I never thought I’d actually see necromancy. But why isn’t necromancy illegal? It’s so fucked up…”
“I don’t know, man. Anyway, that guy is someone you should never mess with. Even if you die, you won’t be able to die. If you cross him, you’ll become an undead and serve him for the rest of your life.”
“That’s terrifying.”
“…What’s even more terrifying is that it looks like that bastard just put a human soul into a goblin and a machine.”
“What? A soul in a machine? Is he crazy?! How can you put a human soul into a machine body? Even demons wouldn’t do that!”
“That’s just how mages are.”
Most of the guys who do weird and terrible things are either businessmen or mages.
After that day, the nickname “soul collector” was added to Eugene’s list of nicknames.
• • •
I need money.
In Neo London, a penniless noble is not a noble, and a wealthy commoner can live a life comparable to a noble.
LK Company, which supplies superconductors, is a company with a guaranteed future. But the company’s growth was slower than expected.
‘I need to expand the company. That way, I can make more money and have more influence.’
The problem was that expanding the company wasn’t just about having money.
What’s important is talent.
How many talented people are there in the company right now? I pondered and shook my head. I couldn’t think of anyone.
The person I trust the most and who is also capable is Yuria, but Yuria is currently at the Maid Academy.
‘Yuria is still giving me useful information even while she’s at the Maid Academy.’
But she couldn’t handle everything. There were many things to do. Company management, magic research, managing the Lemen Prison, investigating Alphatier, and so on.
‘…At least I need to make it so that the company and the Lemen Prison can run smoothly even without me.’
Just in time, I got my hands on the arcane magic, Soul Craft.
I went to find talent.
Those who had risen to the position of director in large corporations but had fallen due to political pressure, dirty tactics, or simply being too old.
I went to find them.
“I’m Eugene Meyer, the CEO of LK Company.”
“…Yes. I know. You’re famous enough to be on the news… What brings you to this humble place?”
“I’m offering you a second life. You won’t be human, but you’ll be able to act like one. Your salary will depend on how much you work. There’s only one condition. You must obey me. The body I’ll provide you with will have a spell on it that will kill you if you betray me.”
“…I was ready to die. There were times when I thought that. But now that I’m actually about to die… I want to live. Even if I have to do dirty things, I want to live…!”
“The deal is made. Let’s write a contract.”
“……Um, is the new body not a machine? I know machines are convenient, but still, becoming a machine is a bit…”
“Don’t worry. It’s a human body. You’ll have to insert a magic stone every so often, but… it’s not a difficult task.”
“I see! I will be loyal to you, CEO! And if possible, please make me handsome!”
“……Alright.”
I acquire talent and focus on investment.
Hiring guards for the Lemen Prison was even easier.
I prioritized motivation over ability.
Those who had a direct grudge against criminals. Those whose parents, wives, husbands, or children had been murdered, those who had lost everything to scammers, or those who were left in critical condition after being assaulted for no reason.
I approached those victims who had a strong desire for revenge. Those who were prepared to go to hell for revenge.
In a certain hospital room.
I looked at the patient lying on the bed.
“I heard you were hit in the head by drunk gang members on the street and became paralyzed? I’ll give you a new body and a chance to take revenge. Will you accept?”
Words appear on the magic notebook next to the patient.
-I’ll do anything! Please! Give me a chance for revenge!
“Don’t forget your answer now.”
Things were going well. But not everything went well.
There were those who refused my offer.
“…Is that necromancy? That’s truly demonic magic. It’s a magic that desecrates death. It’s not a magic that humans should use. If that magic spreads… this world will become hell. You’re trying to turn the world into hell.”
“…It will become hell. A hell for my enemies.”
“Do you think the transcendents will just stand by?”
“The transcendents won’t be interested in this. Soul Craft doesn’t work on souls with a high rank of 5th-circle or higher. To transcendents, beings below 4th-circle are no different from bugs. It’s just a dead bug that has become a resurrected bug.”
To be precise, at my current level, I could only use it on beings below 4th-circle.
“The transcendents who uphold order will punish you!”
“Well, they might. But not right now. I’ve made sure to kill those who refuse my offer. You’ll be the same.”
“…Karma will catch up to you.”
“If that were the case, this world would be a utopia where everyone is satisfied.”
The professor from the academy scoffed at me after seeing the Soul Craft grimoire I was holding.
“That’s a grimoire made by a demon. Yes. Normal magic can’t be that evil. I’ve seen many mages. The end of those who used a demon’s grimoire was always miserable. You will be the same.”
“Ha, well. That’s just your wishful thinking.”
I killed him and left.
As the number of talented people increased, the company began to grow rapidly and stabilize.
As I had more free time, I set my next goal.
Transcendence.
