Chapter 279

Ophelia, humming a tune, sat in front of her neatly organized desk and skimmed through the results of her work so far.

On the desk, engraved with strange magical symbols, lay two gemstones.

One was Isabella’s soulstone, now tainted black, and the other was the fruit of Ophelia’s own research.

“Hmm.”

Every time the black light in the soulstone flickered, the emerald-colored magic stone beside it vibrated faintly in sync.

Ophelia smiled with satisfaction as she picked up the magic stone and examined it closely.

“Sensory synchronization seems possible… The rest is about enhancing the synchronization range and durability, and establishing a stable magic supply method… So far, so good.”

This magic stone was the very object she was currently developing.

A Phase Transition Sensory Synchronization Stone. Or, for short, a “Phase Stone.”

This green gemstone contained the essence of the soul-altering magic she had self-taught.

The soul-altering magic, which transforms a living being’s soul into a state similar to magic, was a technique that would get her burned at the stake if it were ever discovered… but Ophelia had no intention of misusing it in the first place.

When she established this technique, only one thing came to her mind.

“If I can transform a soul into a state similar to magic… then perhaps, inversely, I can use magic to mimic the soul itself.”

After repeated failures, she concluded that creating a perfect soul was impossible.

Attempts to imbue an artificial soul, created from magic, with self-awareness had failed.

Creation was the domain of the gods. Even she could not trespass into that realm.

However, there were still achievements.

By synchronizing a portion of the original soul with an artificial soul, both transformed into magic, it was possible to connect the original’s self-awareness to the artificial soul.

The experimental results were astonishing.

The moment the souls connected, the original body would fall into a sleep-like state, while the body containing the artificial soul would come to life and begin to act like the original.

No, it wasn’t just acting like the original.

It was as if the original’s self-awareness itself had taken residence in the artificially created body.

Moreover, when extreme pain was inflicted on the artificial body and the soul connection was severed, the original would wake up writhing in agony.

—

Because the pain and memories of death were transferred directly to the original, this “artificial clone” couldn’t be used as a spare life… but Ophelia was still very satisfied with the results.

By creating a slightly altered version of her “sister’s” body and synchronizing it with the soul of her sister, kept in a life-support device, she could create a “sister doll” that she could take anywhere.

Considering that her sister, Claire, couldn’t show her face in public due to her own crimes, there was no better alternative.

Ophelia couldn’t stay tied to this lab forever. Even now, she had to leave her sister behind to move around.

But with this method, she could always be with her “sister,” even if she left the lab!

Though the synchronization range was still limited to the size of a room… someday, it would be possible.

“Aren’t you looking forward to that day, sister?”

Ophelia lit a magic candle and smiled at Claire, who was submerged in a tank.

It wasn’t a soliloquy. She had woken Claire’s consciousness upon returning to the lab, though she hadn’t taken her out of the tank.

Claire’s eyes widened as she tried to shout something, but only bubbles escaped due to the liquid filling the tank.

“You’ll suffocate again, sister. I’ve connected a respirator, but it only provides enough air to keep you barely alive.”

Ophelia stroked the glass wall of the tank and looked up at Claire.

Seeing her sister thrashing around naked in the liquid… stirred up all sorts of emotions.

“Honestly, I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had time to play with you. You must have been bored, sister.”

Ophelia put down the magic candle and licked the tank’s glass wall.

Her crimson tongue left a glossy trail on the glass.

Claire, realizing what was about to happen, stopped thrashing and paled, but there was no stopping Ophelia now.

“How adorable. Just wait a little longer, I’ll take you out soon.”

Ophelia removed her dress and smiled seductively at Claire.

Claire shook her head frantically, but Ophelia couldn’t care less about her refusal.

It was time to reward herself, even if it meant putting her research on hold for a bit.

—

She hadn’t explained it in detail to Hasalleur, but the “little Isabella” she had mentioned was also based on this research.

Creating a little Isabella was as simple as embedding a soulstone into an artificial body.

However, if the little Isabella were to be tortured and the soulstone damaged, the witch’s soul they had worked so hard to capture would be freed and sent to the afterlife.

Thus, the plan was to embed a Phase Stone, synchronized with the soulstone, into the little Isabella instead.

If the artificial body with the Phase Stone were to die, the shock and pain would be transmitted to the original body, but since Isabella no longer had a body…

Even if the little Isabella were destroyed, the witch’s soul would only writhe in pain without damaging the soulstone itself.

There was nothing to do.

‘Perfect.’

Ophelia, lying diagonally on the bed, licked her glossy lips and let out a satisfied smile.

“Ha… ha… huuuu…”

Claire, completely exhausted, lay sprawled beside her, breathing heavily.

Her reddened skin was covered with marks from hands and lips, and her entire body was soaked in fluids and sweat, shining as if oiled.

“You crazy… bitch…”

The curse that slipped from her lips sounded like nothing more than a whimper to Ophelia.

“Looks like you still have some energy left to talk, huh? Sis.”

Ophelia smirked and climbed back on top of Claire. A dark shadow loomed over her trembling, naked body.

There was no strength left to resist. Even if there had been, her limbless body wouldn’t have been able to fight back.

For Claire, another long night had begun.

A sweet and horrifying nightmare that seemed like it would never see the dawn.

=====[ Underground Sewer ]=====

After Isabella, who had flown into the capital’s sky, fell and died, the underground sewer became the most sacred place in the capital. Not symbolically, but literally.

The priests remaining in the capital had to be mobilized to perform purification rituals to cleanse the scattered fragments of the witch, which were too numerous to count.

The purification took three full days, and during that time, the water supply from the sewer was halted.

The citizens of the empire were left in a state of confusion, experiencing water shortages for the first time in their lives.

While drinking water was sufficiently stocked, water for laundry, bathing, and even cooking became scarce.

Thanks to the priests’ tireless dedication, the purification was completed in just three days. If it had taken a week as initially predicted, the credit for defeating the witch might have been tarnished.

—-

The holy light that covered the entire sewer caused Isabella’s fragments to vanish without a trace.

The same happened to Ernst’s fragments, which had been floating around.

**Except for one.**

The last parasite that had been lodged in Ernst’s heart.

Leonor had failed to notice it, and it had survived until the very end.

Even as the magical energy depleted, the ‘nest’ disappeared, and the holy light swept through everything.

The reason it survived was simple. That parasite was the one Isabella had most carefully crafted to strengthen Ernst.

A parasite born from the heart of Matthias, a young priest of Carolus’s lineage.

Isabella had mocked Ernst, saying that if he cared so much for his younger brother, she would let them meet again, and then implanted the parasite into Ernst’s heart.

Perhaps it was because it was created using a priest’s heart, or because of Carolus’s bloodline.

The parasite endured countless waves of holy light and crawled toward its original purpose.

‘Wake Nidhogg.’

The ritual to awaken the dragon was already complete.

All that remained was the countless parasites to form the body and an organ to replace the heart.

For a single parasite to achieve the dragon’s resurrection was nearly impossible… but questioning orders was not in the parasite’s nature.

It gnawed through the dirt blocking the path to the dragon’s corpse, moving forward bit by bit.

If there weren’t enough parasites to form the body, it would reproduce. As for the organ to replace the heart, that was the parasite’s role from the start.

It would take an eternity to create enough parasites to cover the dragon’s remains… but someday, it would succeed.

Someday.

=====[ Has-hal-leur, Hospital Room ]=====

It had been a full day since I woke up in the hospital bed, but I still couldn’t get out of bed.

It would take at least two more days before I could move around.

The news of my awakening had spread, and people were clamoring to meet the hero who had defeated the witch. I had to refuse most visitors, except for a select few.

One of those few, Leonor, who had somehow become my knight, was grinning in front of me.

In her hand was a piece of paper that looked like a letter.

“So, what’s this?”

“A damage claim for the sewer collapse? It was sent directly from the imperial palace.”

…A claim?

That word made my eyes widen.