Ch.279Dawn Never Comes

Ophelia, who had been humming a tune, sat down at her relatively tidy desk and reviewed her recent results.

On the desk, engraved with strange magical formulas, lay two gems.

Isabella’s soul stone, now stained black, and the fruit of Ophelia’s own research.

“Hmm.”

Each time the blackness within the soul stone rippled, the emerald mana stone beside it vibrated faintly as if in response.

Ophelia smiled with satisfaction as she picked up the mana stone and examined it from various angles.

‘Sensory synchronization seems possible… The rest involves strengthening the synchronization range and durability, and establishing a mana supply method… Everything’s going smoothly so far.’

This mana stone was the very item she was in the midst of developing.

Phase-transition sensory synchronization stone. In short, perhaps it could be called a “sync stone.”

This green gem contained the essence of the half-soul technique she had taught herself.

A half-soul technique that transforms a living being’s soul into a state similar to mana.

It was a technique that would earn her immediate burning at the stake if discovered… but Ophelia had no particular intention of misusing it.

When she established this technique, only one thought had occurred to her:

‘If a soul can be transformed into a state similar to mana… then conversely, couldn’t mana be used to imitate the soul itself?’

After repeated failures, she reached the conclusion that creating a perfect soul was impossible.

She failed to give consciousness to an artificial soul created with mana.

Creation was divine power. Even someone like her couldn’t trespass into that realm.

But there was progress.

By converting parts of both the original soul and the artificial soul into mana and synchronizing them, it was possible to connect the original’s consciousness to the artificial soul.

The experimental results were astonishing.

The moment the souls connected, the original body became still as if asleep, while the body containing the artificial soul came to life and began acting like the original.

No, it went beyond merely acting like the original.

It was as if the original consciousness itself had taken residence in the artificially created body.

Moreover, if extreme pain was inflicted on the artificial body before severing the soul connection, the awakened original would writhe in agony.

—-

Due to the fact that both pain and memories of death transferred to the original, this “artificial double” couldn’t be used as a spare life… but for Ophelia, it was a thoroughly satisfying result.

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

Considering that her sister, Claire, couldn’t show her face in public due to her own sins, there couldn’t be a better alternative.

Ophelia herself couldn’t remain tied to this laboratory forever. Even this time, she had to move without her sister.

But with this method, she could always be with her “sister” even when away from the lab!

Currently, the synchronization distance was too short—only about the size of a room—making it impossible… but someday it would be possible.

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

Ophelia lit a mana herb and smiled at Claire, who was submerged in a tank.

It wasn’t a soliloquy. Since she had returned to the lab, she had awakened Claire’s consciousness.

Though she hadn’t taken her out of the tank.

Claire’s eyes were wide open as she opened her mouth to shout something, but due to the liquid filling the tank, only bubbling air escaped.

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

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

Looking up at her naked form thrashing about with her legs kicking in the liquid… it was arousing in many ways.

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

Ophelia set down the mana herb she had been smoking and licked the tank lengthwise.

Her bright red tongue left a glistening mark on the glass wall.

Claire, guessing what was about to happen, stopped struggling, her face turning pale, but she couldn’t stop Ophelia who had already made up her mind.

“How cute. Wait just a moment, I’ll take you out soon.”

Ophelia removed the dress she was wearing and gave Claire a lewd smile.

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

It was time to put research aside and reward herself.

—-

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

Creating little Isabella itself was simple enough—just embedding the soul stone in an artificial body.

However, if the soul stone were damaged while torturing little Isabella, the witch’s soul, which she had finally captured, would be released and pass on to the afterlife.

That’s why she planned to embed little Isabella with a sync stone synchronized with the soul stone, rather than the soul stone itself.

When an artificial body embedded with a sync stone dies, the shock and pain are transmitted to the original body, but Isabella had no body left to begin with.

Even if little Isabella were destroyed, the witch’s soul would only writhe in agony without the soul stone itself being damaged.

‘Perfect.’

Ophelia, reclining on the bed, licked her glistening lips with a satisfied smile.

“Haa… haa… hnnng…”

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

Her reddened skin was covered with marks from hands and lips, and her entire body glistened with bodily fluids and sweat as if coated in oil.

“Crazy… bitch…”

The curse uttered in a slurred voice sounded like mere whimpering to Ophelia’s ears.

“You can still speak? I guess that wasn’t enough, sister?”

Ophelia grinned and mounted Claire again. A dark shadow fell over the trembling naked body.

There was no strength left to resist. Even if there had been, a body without hands and feet couldn’t have resisted anyway.

Another excruciatingly long night descended upon Claire.

A sweet and terrible nightmare where dawn seemed like it would never come.

=====[ Underground Waterway ]=====

After Isabella, who had soared into the sky above the island, fell and perished, the underground waterway became the most sacred place on the island. Not in a symbolic sense, but literally.

To purify the witch’s fragments, which were scattered into pieces too numerous to count, priests remaining on the island had to be mobilized to perform purification rituals.

The purification took a full three days, during which the water supply from the underground waterway was suspended.

The citizens of the Empire experienced an unprecedented water shortage that left them extremely perplexed.

While drinking water reserves were sufficient, it was difficult to obtain water for laundry, bathing, or even cooking.

Thanks to the priests’ round-the-clock dedication, the purification ended in just three days; had it taken a week as initially predicted, even the achievement of vanquishing the witch might have been overshadowed.

—-

The holy light that covered the entire waterway caused Isabella’s fragments to vanish completely, leaving not even a speck of dust.

The same went for Ernst’s floating fragments.

Except for one.

The last worm that had been parasitizing Ernst’s heart.

This worm, which Leonore had failed to detect, had survived until the very end.

Even as the dark mana was depleted, the “nest” disappeared, the connection with its master was severed, and holy light swept through everything.

The reason it could endure was simple. This worm was the one Isabella had created with the most care to strengthen Ernst.

A worm born from the heart of Matthias, a young priest of Carlos the Great’s bloodline.

Isabella had mocked Ernst, saying if he cared so much for his brother, she would reunite them, and then embedded the worm in Ernst’s heart.

Was it because it was made from a priest’s heart, or because of Carlos the Great’s bloodline?

The worm withstood countless waves of holy light and crawled toward the original purpose of its creation.

‘Awaken Nidhogg.’

The ritual to awaken the dragon was already complete.

What remained were countless worms to form its body and an organ to replace the heart.

It was nearly impossible for a single worm to achieve the dragon’s resurrection… but the advantage of a worm is that it doesn’t question the orders given.

On the path to the dragon’s corpse, it dug through the mounds of dirt blocking the way with its teeth and head.

Advancing little by little, the worm contemplated only how to fulfill the command engraved in its instinct.

If there weren’t enough worms to form a body, it could multiply, and as for the organ to replace the heart—that was the role the worm itself was meant to play.

It would take an immeasurable amount of time to produce enough worms to cover the dragon’s remains… but someday it could be achieved.

Someday.

=====[ Haschal, Hospital Room ]=====

A full day had passed since I woke up in the hospital bed, but I was still confined to it.

Apparently, I needed to stay in bed for at least two more days before I could move around.

Since people who heard I had awakened were causing a commotion, wanting to meet the hero who defeated the witch, I had refused visitors except for a few individuals.

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

She held what appeared to be a letter in her hand.

“So, what is this?”

“A damage claim for the collapse of the underground waterway? It came directly from the Imperial Palace.”

…A claim?

That was an eye-opening word.