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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Blood… Life…”
Looking at the chimera mumbling while lying on the floor, Kayla said,
“Whether it’s because it’s old or not, it’s definitely weaker than its appearance suggests. To the point where it can’t even handle its own body, are chimeras originally like this?”
“Who knows? There’s such a huge difference between individuals. This one was acknowledged as a failure even by the creator, so it’s unreasonable to compare it with other chimeras.”
Depending on the creator’s abilities, the quality of the materials, the combination of the materials, the level of completion, the purpose of creation, etc., there are so many different types of chimeras that it’s difficult to say definitively.
Just as not all humans are the same, it’s the same for monsters, so even if chimeras are created in the same way, their performance varies greatly.
Even if the combination is matched with the same species, rejection reactions can occur, resulting in failure, so chimeras are only called chimeras in name, but in reality, each individual has vastly different personalities and abilities, making the statement that chimeras are a certain way meaningless.
While we were talking, the chimera’s breath stopped.
“Other than the altar and that staff, nothing else is intact. Why does such a space even exist…”
“This was probably the main laboratory.”
“Is that so?”
“The chimera was likely created around that altar as well.”
There were numerous items around that had been there for so long that their shapes were unrecognizable.
They were probably things the Lich used in the past.
‘But there’s nothing usable.’
In the meantime, I approached the altar and looked at the staff.
The body appeared to be made of a wood-like material with a large black gem embedded in it.
The part where the gem was embedded was at the very top, decorated in a shape similar to a skull, and the impressive appearance of the gem being held in its mouth.
‘A smiling shape…’
The eye sockets were empty, giving it a very grotesque appearance.
When I touched the staff, I felt magical energy trying to penetrate my body.
‘This is the curse that Thea was afflicted with.’
The staff sensed that I wasn’t its owner and was cursing me.
However, there was no reason for me, who already knew a lot about curses, to fall for it.
It seemed that Thea had touched this staff…
‘The monsters at the entrance barely caught Thea, cursed her, and then threw her away?’
Something was strange.
The werewolf that was a chimera also attacked us, craving life force, but it didn’t harm Thea?
At that moment…
– Who are you?
A voice was heard from somewhere.
– A sacrifice? No, no. Denok is dead. An intruder?
‘…An ego weapon…’
I could immediately tell where the voice was coming from.
– I’ve reached my end as well. Haha. If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have struggled so disgracefully. Who would have thought my demise would be such a worthless Warlock?
“Who are you?”
“…Master?”
At my sudden words, Kayla called out to me as if puzzled.
However, I raised my hand to silence her and then continued speaking towards the staff.
“Who are you? An ego weapon? Don’t tell me it’s the Lich’s soul inhabiting it?”
– Oho. Did you come here knowing whose laboratory this is? It’s a secret place, yet you found it well.
“You still haven’t answered my question. Who are you?”
– My name is Kumar. I was once a subordinate of Lord Denok.
This Kumar referred to that chimera as Denok.
“Denok refers to the Denok when he was alive, not that chimera, right?”
– That’s right.
The Lycanthrope who was a general under the Demon Lord. His name was Denok.
It was information written in the research journal, and it was also written that the chimera’s individual name was named after that name, Denok.
“But why is a general’s subordinate trapped in a staff like this?”
– Khuhuhu. When Eloset betrayed Lord Denok and killed him, I was also captured. I should have died there…
He said he didn’t want to die yet, so he ended up submitting to the Lich Eloset.
He cooperated as an experimental subject, and as a result, his soul was sealed in the staff and became one of Lich Eloset’s weapons.
– Even in this state, I didn’t want to die. No, it was because I was in this state that I had to survive even more. That’s why I lured monsters and plundered their life force.
He said humans showed the highest efficiency.
– But perhaps due to the influence of the past wars with humans, if I kept humans close, Denok would devour them. So I had to curse humans with a plundering curse and drive them out of here.
“…A plundering curse? Wasn’t that curse supposed to weaken the target’s body itself and consume it? It could even transmit life force all the way here?”
Moreover, if it was such a curse, it didn’t make sense for the will embedded in the curse to be so weak.
To plunder life force and send it all the way here, it couldn’t be done with an ordinary curse.
‘No, in the first place, an ego weapon was involved, yet the level of will in the curse was like that?’
I suddenly felt something strange.
“You weren’t a magician.”
– That’s right. I’m also a Lycanthrope. I know almost nothing about black magic. That’s why I had no choice but to use the security built into the staff itself.
‘…The Lich’s level was beyond imagination.’
I roughly understood.
Kumar’s words were probably true.
‘No wonder I was able to track the location of this cave as soon as I absorbed it…’
Despite having a weakened will, it seemed he had hidden the last function of the curse until the end to partially block information.
In the first place, being absorbed by me was to block some information.
To have such high-level magic prepared just for the security of a staff…
‘It seems he intended to turn it into a cursed weapon?’
The creation intent was glimpsed.
The staff’s performance would probably be tremendous. However, the more it was used, the more life force would be secretly plundered, and in the end, the user would meet their demise.
The life force consumed in that way would be used to maintain Kumar’s consciousness and simultaneously strengthen the magic placed on the staff.
The research journal was filled with research on chimeras, but it seemed he was also conducting research on artifacts along with chimera research.
‘The research data recording that has been lost. What a pity.’
“So, the reason you’re answering my questions so obediently is because you want me to spare your life, right?”
“You called me a worthless Warlock earlier?”
– I realized it belatedly. You have received the blessing of magical energy, haven’t you? You even absorbed some of the curses I had placed on other humans. Let me correct myself. You are not an ordinary Warlock. You are a human with the talent to become a high-ranking Warlock in the future.
“And?”
– If you spare my life and provide a steady supply of life force to sustain my existence, I will arrange a contract with the Demon Lord I served.
– Judging by your magical energy, you haven’t contracted with any demon yet. I commend your prudent decision. Indeed, rather than contracting with some mediocre demon and becoming a slave, contract with the Demon Lord and receive his protection. If you do well, you may even be reborn as a demon…
“…Shut up.”
Listening to him, there was nothing he couldn’t say.
– Wha, what? Is that what you just said to me?
“Then who else would I say such nonsense to? What? Contract with a Demon Lord?”
In the last round, I had contracted with a Demon Lord and suffered so much, and I was being so careful not to contract with a demon, yet he was saying such things.
– …It’s true that contracts with demons are often unfair. But if I mediate and with the generosity of the one I served, you can make a relatively fair contract. He will definitely value you…
“What’s his name?”
– It’s Demon Lord Carion.
“Nonsense. I know that name too. If that bastard finds out about my existence, he’ll immediately try to capture me and make me his avatar? Yeah, he’ll really value me then.”
Woong.
I immediately drew up magical energy and began to take control of the artifact.
Originally, I thought it wouldn’t be easy since there was security in place, but as Kumar himself acknowledged, his magical abilities were miserable, and on top of that, the security had weakened considerably due to the severe consumption of magical energy while he was awake, so I was able to easily infiltrate magical energy into the staff.
– Wa, wait! What are you doing!
“Getting rid of you. Your remaining magical energy is faint too. You were mostly asleep normally, right? I can see why you called yourself disgraceful. You wanted to live even in this way, huh?”
– Stop, stop it!
Breaking through the staff’s security, I quickly reached the place where his soul was sealed.
He tried to resist, but with only his soul remaining without a body and his remaining power being at a pitiful level, it was nothing more than a meaningless struggle.
– Sp, spare me. I will definitely be useful…!
“I told you. Shut up.”
It seemed he had intended to sell my existence to the Demon Lord and somehow try to make a comeback, but I wasn’t an idiot to fall for such a shallow trick.
I immediately took control of the place where his soul was sealed and began attacking his soul directly.
– No, no! No way! How could I have…!
Even if he endured, it was too much for him to handle. His soul continued to be damaged by my magical energy, and in the end, unable to withstand it, his soul was torn to shreds.
– Aaaaaargh!
Screaming in the terrible pain of his soul being torn apart, Kumar was ultimately annihilated.
The moment his soul was completely annihilated, I completely took control of the staff.
I completely removed the security placed on the staff itself and destroyed the function of recognizing its owner.
It could be considered the process of completely erasing the traces of the previous owner.
Ting, tick tick…
As his soul was annihilated, a gray bead fell from the staff’s empty eyes.
‘He must have been strong when he was alive. To leave a trace of his soul.’
It is also called the shadow of the soul, and it is used to create specters, a type of undead.
It can also be called the corpse of the soul, and it was something relatively rare to see.
‘This is fortunate.’
I took it and examined the staff I had obtained.
A staff used for magic, if it’s long, it’s usually called a staff, and if it’s short, it’s called a wand.
Based on the length, it was a staff.
‘It looks like wood on the outside, but it’s not actually wood. Is it bone? It seems to be made from a monster’s corpse…’
And above all, the large black orb held in the mouth of the skull-shaped decoration at the top caught my attention.
‘Is it a type of gem?’
If it was a gem from the demon realm, I could understand. Unlike the gems of the middle realm, if it contained magical energy, there was no need to go through the trouble of contaminating it.
However, this staff must have been made in the middle realm…
‘No, wait a minute. Gem?’
I poured all the remaining magical energy into the staff and thoroughly examined the inside.
“Oh my, crazy!”
I couldn’t hide my astonishment.
‘A dragon heart! This is a dragon heart!’
Moreover, the body also seemed to be made from a part of a dragon’s body.
Just to create a single cursed weapon, they used this much of a dragon’s corpse…
‘No, no. Come to think of it…’
Kumar had immediately noticed Denok’s death.
Moreover, Lich Eloset seemed to have had high expectations for Denok as a chimera.
‘I see. This staff was necessary not only as a cursed weapon but also to control Denok.’
Since the expectations for Denok were high, the staff’s performance was also made to be of the highest grade.
Despite that, Denok was born as a failure, and the staff had become half useless.
‘He could have at least recycled it… No, if it was a Lich of that level, he probably already had his main weapons?’
There was a high possibility that he had staffs of equal or perhaps even higher grade than this.
It had become a nuisance.
Come to think of it, I couldn’t ask Kumar about the Lich’s whereabouts.
The research journal also abruptly ended at some point after Denok’s failure.
‘Perhaps he was killed by the Demon Lord for being caught experimenting on his own kind?’
That was likely the case. Considering that this place had been neglected for a long time.
‘I should have studied some history.’
Before contracting with the Demon Lord, I had such a low life that there was no reason to learn about history, and after contracting with the Demon Lord, I had no time to learn history because I was busy learning magic to enhance my physical abilities.
Therefore, I couldn’t help but regret not knowing much about history.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter. I obtained the artifact I was aiming for.’
Whether the Lich survived or not was none of my business. It wasn’t particularly important either.
‘The staff is quite damaged. But with a dragon’s corpse and even a dragon heart embedded in it, as long as magical energy is supplied, it will slowly recover. Tsk. That Kumar was really an idiot. To not even be able to properly utilize this. He only controlled monsters… Ah, well, it’s difficult to obtain magical energy in the middle realm. Of course, even considering that…’
Perhaps because I had obtained an artifact far better than I had imagined, I was deeply lost in thought while holding the staff in my hand.
I was calculating how long it would take to restore this.
It was then.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Kayla was looking at me with a stiff face.
“Master, are you alright?”
At Kayla’s serious expression, I asked back as if it was strange.
“Of course I’m alright. Ah, I also properly took control of the artifact.”
“What was inside the staff?”
“Huh? Oh. A subordinate of a demon realm general was in there. He wasn’t that great.”
“Did you annihilate him?”
“Yeah. Thanks to that, I obtained the artifact. Originally, it would have been difficult right away, but things went well thanks to him.”
I thought I had fully grasped the curse, but there was a part I didn’t know about.
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