CH 35

After being enveloped in a deep crimson radiance, I thought I might lose consciousness, but surprisingly, my awareness was retained. Now, I was a white sphere floating in the crimson space. It felt like I was drifting in warm, lukewarm water, and I couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated at how pleasant it was.

Right now, I must have merged with the Reka race member. And when I wake up, I will have become a synthetic beast… Ugh, I don’t want that. What would happen if I merged with the human species? Maybe my limbs would turn into legs and my head would become like that of a Reka… I don’t want to imagine it.

(Hm? What’s that?)

As I drifted in the crimson space, imagining what my form would become, I noticed small white particles floating around. Instinctively, I approached the particles, and they were naturally drawn into me.

In that moment, multiple visions flooded into me. They were fragmented memories of a male Reka named Yaro who had been killed. He was born as the son of a prostitute in a small northern country. He grew up without knowing who his father was, and his mother passed away when he was young. From then on, he lived as a street child, stealing to survive.

After being caught stealing and enduring brutal beatings, Yaro somehow managed to survive. He eventually became involved in organized crime as a low-ranking member of a gang that controlled the slums. Most of his job involved collecting protection money, but he also occasionally kidnapped people.

While our paths in life were different, Yaro’s life was undoubtedly tough. He had no choice but to live that way, but there was no denying that he was a villain. However, despite his villainous nature, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him for being used as material to be synthesized with me.

(This is…)

As I learned about Yaro’s life from his fragmented memories, one memory stood out vividly. It was his memory of a female companion, a prostitute named Olivia. 

Yaro didn’t necessarily think she was exceptionally beautiful, but he was drawn to her comforting personality when she was by his side. He secretly saved money with the intention of marrying her and becoming a couple. Olivia had accepted his proposal, and they were waiting for enough money to be saved before getting married.

However, before that could happen, Yaro’s life came to an end at the hands of this mad spiritualist, who killed him. Perhaps that white particles was a fragment of Yaro’s soul or something similar. It remained as a residue in his freshly deceased body, but it was absorbed by me and disappeared.

The spiritualist had said that souls never truly merge, but the facts proved that I absorbed the residue. It seemed that while it was impossible for intact souls to merge, it was different when it came to the tiny remnants left in this world. Anyway, it could be said that the moment the residue was absorbed by me, Yaro died completely. His soul vanished, and his body merged with mine.

(He was undoubtedly a villain… Hm.)

The last vision that the fragment showed was what Yaro had been thinking in his final moments. It was about Olivia. He had regrets about not being able to become a couple with her, and more than that, he sincerely wished for her happiness.

Yaro had lived as a rogue, preying on others. Therefore, there were few who would sympathize with him, no matter how he met his end.

However, I, who witnessed Yaro’s final thoughts and took over his body, was different from others. Even though it was not my intention, I was the only one who knew his genuine thoughts.

(Yaro, rest assured that I will make it a priority to check on Olivia’s safety on your behalf in the future. However, it may take some time, as gaining freedom won’t be easy. So, please forgive me for the delay.)

I will likely be used as a synthetic beast under the command of the spiritualist. However, I have been kept in captivity without freedom ever since I was born, for just over two years, so I have grown accustomed to enduring.

I will continue to endure the humiliation, persevere through it, and keep enduring… until I find an opportunity to escape. If I can manage to kill that spiritualist, it would not only satisfy Yaro’s grudge, but it would also address my own anger at being turned into a synthetic beast against my will!

(Whoa!?… I see, so my body has finally been completed.)

I had intended to escape from the beginning, but once my purpose was fulfilled, I felt a strong pull towards something. I instinctively understood that it was my completed body, the vessel, calling out to my soul. The sensation of floating gently was pleasant, yet strangely nostalgic, so it was bittersweet… I couldn’t resist.

As I was pulled, I came into contact with something soft, and I sank into it with a squelching sensation. It felt like sinking into mud, but as I sank, my soul seemed to dissolve and spread throughout the mud. My soul permeated the entirety of the mud, becoming one with it. At the same time, a sudden wave of drowsiness washed over me, and I lost consciousness.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

In the room where Orvo, the spiritualist of the secret society “The Seventh Pillar,” used to create synthetic beasts, his masterpiece, which could be called the culmination of his research, was nearing completion. A sphere of light emitted from the center of the room through the spiritual circuit, where the materials were fused together.

As he gazed at it, Orvo’s face was filled with delight and excitement, with no trace of anxiety about the possibility of failure. He had absolute confidence in himself and the theory he had constructed.

After a while, the spiritual circuit inscribed throughout the room, which had been emitting a deep crimson light, gradually dimmed. The synthesis process was nearing its completion.

“The physical composition is perfect, and the soul integration is proceeding smoothly… It was worth repeating experiments and improving the circuit,” Orvo said.

He had identified that the soul was the root cause of the problems in creating synthetic beasts. However, in reality, it had been more challenging than he had anticipated.

The use of corpses as materials for synthetic beasts was impossible, as the bodies would decay and die. Therefore, it was necessary to create a contradictory existence of “living beings without souls.”

So, Orvo sought advice once again from the colleague who had previously told him that the unification of souls was impossible. The secret society “The Seventh Pillar” was not an organization with ambitions per se. While they sometimes engaged in wrongful acts for financial gain or research purposes, their original purpose was to be a mutual aid organization for researchers in various fields to conduct unrestricted research without being bound by common sense or ethics. Seeking advice from experts was a natural part of their practices.

In reply to Orvo’s query, the expert expressed their lack of knowledge about the existence in question, which left Orvo disappointed. However, Orvo viewed it as an intriguing research topic, and the expert, seeing the potential, eagerly engaged in collaborative research. Together, they eventually succeeded in developing a method for creating “living beings without souls.”

From there, Orvo repeated experiments relentlessly, and finally established a method for creating synthetic beasts that matched the design. Previously, the instability was due to the souls, but now with only one soul, it became possible to control the appearance of the synthetic beast as desired.

“There were some failures along the way, but eventually, I was able to adjust them as I wanted. I was truly moved when they finally turned out to be exactly the same shape… well, that much is possible if you’re lucky. If this is successful, it will make one thing that was once considered impossible possible!”

However, creating synthetic beasts with the same shape could be achieved through repeated attempts. Therefore, this alone cannot be considered the culmination of synthetic beast research. What he was trying to achieve was the creation of a combat-ready synthetic beast using the “human” species, something that was considered impossible by all synthetic beast experts.

There was one issue about synthetic beast creation that he did not mention to the Hades Scorpion. It was the fact that using the human species as materials always resulted in failures. The cause had been unknown until now, but Orvo and his collaborators concluded that “intelligent human species have a strong sense of self in their souls, which causes an excessive rejection reaction against the souls of other organisms.”

It was not only about successfully creating synthetic beasts using the human species, which was considered impossible, but also about refining them into combat-ready individuals. That was one of the ultimate goals of Orvo’s research on synthetic beasts.

“But this time, I will only be using the physical body of the human species. The soul is a separate entity, and moreover, it possesses an incredibly strong spiritual power, even more so than the human species. Spiritual power is the force emitted by the soul… it might even subdue the physical body instead of causing rejection reactions,” Orvo chuckled as he pondered his upcoming research.

The soul he was currently using as a material was not from the human species, but rather from the Hades Scorpion. The latter did not possess the same level of rejection reaction as the souls of the human species.

The next step in research would be to conduct experiments to implant the souls of the human species into other creatures’ physical bodies. Even if one truth were uncovered, there were still countless things to explore. This is what Orvo found so exciting.

“Oh”

The radiance of the spiritual circuit faded completely, and the glowing sphere of light dimmed down. Then, a sound of something falling echoed throughout the room. The source of the sound was a naked man lying in the center of the room.

The young member of the Reka race, Yaro, had a well-built physique, just like the material that was used for his back armor. However, his arms from the elbows down and legs from the knees down were encased in an exoskeleton-like black armor, and a thick tail, as large as the torso wrapped in exoskeleton, protruded from the base of his waist.

“Good, good! The adjustments to retain the humanoid shape and incorporate the scorpion’s weapons were successful… Huh?”

Orvo, who was satisfied with the outcome of his design, was suddenly taken aback by an unexpected turn of events. It was because on either side of the third eye on his forehead, a pair of compound eyes resembling red gemstones were present, just like the distinctive feature of the Reka race.

In disbelief, he turned his body onto his back and looked upwards. And there he saw the lower jaw encased in exoskeleton, and small pincers stored in his cheeks.

Driven by curiosity, Orvo pinched the cheek pincers and pulled, causing them to spread widely. Behind them, the teeth were all human-like, but the cheek pincers were unmistakably identical to those of a scorpion.

“Oh, right! I didn’t specify the conditions for the eyes and mouth! I forgot! Ahahaha!”

The mouth and eyes of the completed synthetic beast had turned out to be a mix of scorpion and humanoid features. Upon recollection, Orvo realized that he had only focused on adjusting the shape of the limbs, the presence of a tail, and the humanoid skeletal structure. He had completely overlooked the finer details such as the ears, eyes, and nose.

Realizing his own mistake, Orvo burst into laughter. He found it amusing that he had been so absorbed in designing the overall shape that he had neglected the face, despite now having the capability to fine-tune the details.

“Well, this might actually add some character to it, right? And a scarier face like this could intimidate enemies more… Yeah, I might even like it better this way. I’ll be more careful next time… Wait a minute? The design for the eyes… Let me double-check.”

Orvo lifted the eyelids of the sleeping synthetic beast. To his surprise, all three eyes underneath were compound eyes. Upon seeing this, Orvo began laughing again, clearly amused by the discovery.