Melrum could not hide his horror.
[Could such a soul really exist?]
He murmured in admiration at the ultimate being before him.
A woman bound on his experiment table, every part of her body restrained.
Her legs and arms were tattered. A large hole gaped in her abdomen.
Her body was covered in traces of the experiments.
He had kidnapped her to his lab and had already spent an hour.
It may seem like a short time, but it was more than enough to thoroughly dissect her body.
‘How did those powers coexist…’
As any creature raised in this world brimming with mana, her original soul contained its unique mana.
So, even if another’s mana were to enter her body, it could only be borrowed; it could never be absorbed into herself.
Unless she completely emptied her soul.
However, this woman shattered that image violently.
How surprised he had been when he first saw her.
The mana of the dragon, called a natural disaster. The essence of a goddess. The soul of a monster, akin to the sun.
To receive even one of these wildly rampaging forces would be daunting.
But in this woman’s soul, the three powers coexisted as if they were guarding peace.
It was something he could never believe until he saw it with his own eyes.
By cutting open her body and investigating, he had barely discovered the answer.
[There’s no original mana,]
Even the smallest insect should inherently bear mana in its soul.
Yet, within this woman’s soul, there was absolutely no mana.
As if she had grown up without ever encountering mana.
However, existing in this world, such a thing was impossible.
He had barely found a reason for the coexistence of powers, but another unresolved question made Melrum’s head throb.
[…There’s no way to use her like this.]
Unless she were reborn and grew up in a mana-less place.
In his own state, deeply filled with mana, he could never fully receive anyone’s powers like this woman could.
‘Tch. To think I betrayed the Demon King for this subject.’
The current situation yielded no gains.
If things continued this way, he would have betrayed the Demon King for nothing.
[What should I do?]
Melrum began to tap on the experiment table with his skeletal fingers, pondering.
As he agonized for a while, a thought crossed his mind…
‘…Come to think of it.’
[She hasn’t screamed even once.]
No matter how deeply asleep one might be,
The pain of skin being torn and insides being excavated would surely be unbearable.
Yet this woman had not once let out a scream during such circumstances.
With a heart full of curiosity, Melrum shifted his gaze to the woman. He could not help but be astonished.
Her eyes, tightly shut until now, were wide open, glowing with a much grimmer shade of red.
[Ooh..! Is she awake!]
“…….”
The woman stared vacantly around her.
With a bright smile, Melrum spoke to her.
[I’ve dissected your body. You possess a rather unique soul.]
At his words, the woman continued to stare blankly at her own body.
Her form was tattered, devoid of any intact parts.
But the woman showed no change in expression; she merely gazed at her wounds with glazed eyes.
And then.
kki-ki-ki-
With a bizarre sound, the woman’s body began to morph,
Bones realigned, flesh regrew, restoring her inherent beauty.
[Indeed, is this the power of the Demon King?]
“You… who are you?”
The woman tilted her head, looking at him.
‘Has her mind broken?’
Well, that would certainly work to my advantage.
After a brief fluster at the atmosphere change in the woman, Melrum gazed at her with a deceitful smile.
[I am your ally in revenge.]
“My revenge?”
As the woman widened her eyes in surprise, Melrum approached his experiment table, starting to gather his thoughts.
‘This is quite a bad situation.’
He had betrayed the Demon King to obtain this subject, but he could gain nothing substantial from her.
There was no way a Lycan could thwart the Demon King. Soon, she’d probably come looking for him with fire in her eyes.
Initially, he had intended to take the subject to the secret lab he had prepared, but…
This woman was now utterly useless to him.
Thus, he had to lower the likelihood of the Demon King coming after him by using her.
Melrum approached his research materials, injecting mana into a carefully sealed box and opening its lid.
Inside lay a small vial of the ultimate poison he had meticulously crafted over a hundred years.
He picked up the vial and approached the woman again.
[Don’t you want to take revenge on the Demon King who did this to you?]
Mentioning the Demon King kindled a murderous intent in the woman’s eyes, which had previously appeared so vacant.
‘Fortunately, she isn’t completely broken.’
[Let me help you with that revenge.]
“How?”
As he gazed into her sparkling eyes, he felt something being drawn in.
Startled by this alien sensation, he instinctively pulled back.
‘What is this?’
It was a fleeting moment, but the bizarre feeling lingered uncomfortably.
Having devoted his body and mind to dark magic, all that remained for him were infinite urges for knowledge.
Those unexpected emotions should have vanished.
But the instant he looked into the woman’s eyes, he felt desires he thought had disappeared stirring deeply within him.
‘…This is dangerous.’
An instinctual aversion arose towards the girl, an enigma of uncertain origin but undeniably possessing strange and eerie energies.
But it was fine.
After all, this girl would be doomed to self-destruction before the Demon King.
If she could kill the Demon King, that would be even better.
[This is poison. The ultimate poison into which I have poured everything over a hundred years.]
“Poison?”
[Yes. A poison capable of stopping even the Demon King’s breath. Though, no one can get close to her, so it seems impossible… but maybe you can.]
The woman smiled brightly at the vial offered by Melrum.
She looked just like a child who had received a birthday gift.
“Okay. I like it.”
[Hehehe… I sincerely hope you succeed in your revenge.]
That way, the Demon King wouldn’t be able to find me.
Just as he thought he could finally leave with his words,
The woman clasped his hand.
[Hmm? Is there something still needed?]
“Yes.”
Feeling an ominous sensation from the girl’s words, Melrum stepped back.
The girl smiled widely, revealing sharp teeth.
“I’m hungry.”
And with that short phrase, she bit down hard on Melrum’s shoulder.
crack-
[What the hell!]
Feeling a sharp pain, Melrum tried to kick her away, but her body didn’t budge an inch.
“Yum… you taste like candy.”
With a grin, she chomped down on Melrum again.
Desperately, he extended his hand to unleash intense dark magic upon the woman’s arm.
But.
Blue, gold, black, white.
Fabulous colors mixed together like a shield, wrapping around the woman’s skin, protecting her.
[Wha… what is this?]
In his panic, he tried every dark magic he knew, but none could breach that overwhelming mana.
He found himself unable to interfere with her at all.
crack-
Once more, he felt his bones shred apart.
[It’s useless! This body is immortal! No matter how much you eat, I’ll just regenerate!]
As long as his mana remained, anyway.
Yet, only the Demon King knew that.
Most who witnessed his seemingly endless revival gave up in surprise.
Surely this woman would do the same—
“Really? That’s wonderful. I can keep eating.”
Melrum felt a primal fear at the woman’s beaming smile.
[Let go!]
“I’m hungry.”
He had to run.
He could instinctively sense it.
This girl was a monster.
A horrifying creature that should never have been born.
More dangerous than the Demon King.
And perhaps even more than the Demon God.
[Let… go!! I command you to stop, you fiend!!]
crack-
No matter what he tried, Melrum couldn’t pry himself from the woman’s grip.
[No… this can’t be happening!]
crack-
[My… my ambitions! My undying dark magic can’t end like this!!!!!]
A pitiful end.
The once feared being known as the immortal king, who had sustained his life for centuries,
experienced the slow pain of his bones being gnawed away.
Sinking into terror he had never felt before,
he met a miserable end to his life.
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