Chapter 358

In Ophelia’s hands, a bizarre creature was held once again.

A lump of flesh the size of a human head. Its silhouette was more like a doll than a living being, as if it were a toy.

“Is this… Isabella?”

“Yep. Though Claire kinda messed her up a bit.”

Ophelia looked down at the creature in her hands with an expression as if she were staring at filthy garbage.

“Ugh, gah, heeeh…”

The creature drooled blood and foam from its gaping mouth, letting out eerie groans.

As if it had forgotten human language.

…This seems a bit more than just “a little messed up.”

Have you ever seen the hands of children playing in the grass during autumn?

Chances are, they’d be holding an unfortunate dragonfly.

With wings and legs, sometimes even the tail, torn off by their curiosity and mischief.

Some kids might even rip off the tail and stick a twig in its place.

Isabella was in a similar state.

The only difference was that what was stuck in her wasn’t a twig.

A blood-red quill pierced through her groin, deep into her torso.

“Ah, heeeek, giiik…!”

Every time the quill swayed in the wind, Isabella convulsed like a seizure, crying out like an insect.

Purple blood dripped from her torn limbs.

“…She doesn’t look so good.”

Her state was indeed pitiful.

But the Isabella I fought could’ve endured wounds like these.

She’d complain about the pain, but not to the point of being unable to speak or having seizures…

“When I created the homunculus, I maximized her pain receptors. Basically, ’30 times the sensitivity.'”

…It’s a miracle she hasn’t died from shock.

—

We headed to the lab with the trembling Isabella.

Claire clung to Ophelia, whining to play with her, but after Ophelia gently told her to wait, she nodded and crawled back into the room.

Her severed wrist had been healed by Ophelia, but her ankles were still missing.

Back in the lab, Ophelia pulled the quill out of Isabella’s body.

“Ah, gyaaaah-!”

The blood-red quill was tangled with blood and organs.

The quill had been nearly 10cm deep, probably reaching near her neck.

“This is unusable now.”

“Couldn’t you still write in purple?”

Though it’d smell pretty bad.

“No, not the quill. This.”

Ah, she meant Isabella.

Ophelia shook Isabella, who was gasping for breath.

“Hieeeek…! Hieeeek…!”

She seems completely out of it.

Her half-flipped purple pupils trembled through her disheveled blonde hair.

Her gaze was completely unfocused, empty.

“Is she even conscious?”

“Barely? The core’s lifespan isn’t over yet. But with her body this damaged, we’ll have to discard and remake her.”

Ophelia picked up a glass tank from the shelf and placed it on the table.

A colorless liquid sloshed heavily inside.

“What’s that?”

“Dissolution fluid. It’s toxic, so don’t smell it.”

Ophelia skillfully manipulated magic to create an air barrier around the tank, then placed the nearly dead mini-Isabella inside and half-closed the lid.

– Sssssss!

The sound of sizzling flesh filled the air as thick smoke filled the barrier.

“Kyaaaaaaaah!”

Isabella let out a horrific scream.

Her gaping mouth split to her ears.

Bubbles rose from her body as she thrashed around in the tank like she was swimming.

Her bulging eyes looked like they’d pop out… Wait, they actually did.

Her eyeballs melted and sank to the bottom of the tank.

“Gyaaaaaah-!”

Isabella’s screams continued for a while.

Until she melted into a thick jelly, then finally into a murky liquid.

All that remained was slightly cloudy dissolution fluid and a small green gem.

“It’s over.”

Ophelia blew the blackened air bubble toward the ceiling vent, then carefully fished out the green gem with tweezers.

“…30 times the sensitivity, huh? And she didn’t go insane?”

“As long as the soul gem is intact, the soul sealed inside can’t easily go mad. If the homunculus is severely damaged or three days pass, the core’s magic resonance weakens, and the ego starts to fade… But if we make a new body, she’ll recover immediately. Though she curses me out every time. Something about me being the real witch.”

“……”

Isn’t that an objective and accurate assessment?

“So it’s a long road. We need to maintain her ego while removing her rebelliousness so we can interrogate or use her properly. As she is now, she’s just a stress-relief toy.”

“What are you planning to use her for?”

Using Isabella doesn’t seem like a great idea.

“Interrogate her about her allies, extract her knowledge of magic, things like that.”

Hmm… That could be useful.

If Isabella cooperates, that is.

If I were Isabella, I’d twist the spells to make the caster self-destruct.

But Ophelia probably knows that.

“Since her ego is maintained through soul resonance, not her brain, brainwashing won’t work… So we have to break her spirit through torture… It’s not easy. I’ve tried burning her alive, frying her in boiling oil, even grafting her with insects or animals, but her malice remains.”

How cruel.

30 times the sensitivity and she endured that? Hasn’t she become even more vicious?

“It’ll take some time. You handle that part. So… What did Claire do to end up like that? And what about her sister?”

“Well…”

Ophelia hesitated, then pulled out a long magic cigarette and lit it.

I also lit a cigarette.

“It was an unintended situation… No, more like an unforeseen accident. In short, her sister’s mind was much weaker than I thought. Instead of enduring the ‘happiness’ I gave her, she escaped into oblivion. Now, she remembers nothing. Not her past, not common sense, not even that she has a sister like me.”

Ophelia exhaled smoke while staring into the void.

“At first, she was practically an idiot. This is the result of my attempts to fix her. I restored her language skills and a childlike ego, but for some reason, she thinks of me as her older sister. I thought meeting you might change something… But I guess not.”

So, her mind collapsed, and she regressed to infancy.

“It’s a troublesome situation. I can’t punish her like this. Reward, maybe.”

Well. For Claire, either would’ve been punishment.

That’s why she ended up like this.

—

After that, we smoked and talked for a while.

About what happened in the north, how Damien and Milia became a master couple, and how I became the heir to a marquis family.

“By the way, if you’ve got nowhere to go, how about becoming my personal magician? You can’t stay here forever. Now that you’ve shed the witch stigma, there’s no need to hide.”

“Personal magician?”

Ophelia showed a hint of interest.

“Yeah. I’m planning to form an elite unit called ‘Épée du Ciel,’ composed only of master-level fighters. It’s called ‘Heaven’s Sword,’ but I’m not just recruiting knights. Having magical firepower would be good.”

“So you’re hiring me as a combat mage. Hmm… A combat mage. I do need some money…”

It was an enticing offer for her.

To continue her dark magic research, she’d need financial support, but few would fund Ophelia’s research.

Most would just drag her to the church’s interrogation room.

“Who else would hire you? Only people like Isabella would approach you.”

“…You’re not wrong.”

Exactly. Those who’d offer support would be far more dangerous.

Who’d fund a magician who toys with souls unless they were evil?

It’d be like diving headfirst into a pit of darkness.

“I’ve been granted Isabella’s mansion by Leopold. There’s probably a basement there. You could set up a lab and live there. Damien and Milia are staying there too.”

“…Is that okay? The famous ‘Radiant Knight’s’ mansion housing a soul manipulator’s den? Is that allowed?”

“As long as no one finds out. Don’t cross the line, though.”

If she starts experimenting on civilians or digging up graves to collect souls, I’ll have to cut her down myself.

“…I’ll consider it positively. It’ll take a while to pack up everything here, though.”

Ophelia nodded.

Great, that’s another capable ally.

[ …Are you seriously planning to accept this woman? This lunatic who’s like the embodiment of a soul manipulator? I don’t think it’s a good decision. ]

A lunatic soul manipulator… Honestly, she’s undeniably a lunatic.

But in this world, most talented powerhouses are lunatics.

Ophelia’s probably just average by those standards.

What a terrifying world.