Soul Venerable (Re-written)

“Lord Inquisitor, I believe you are well.” Inquisitor Irae, the woman with a mechanical skull mask, expressed her worries. 

Mordred quickly scanned her entourage. Most of them are the Inquisitorial Troops of Hartina Kingdom’s Secret Division, but some of them are eye-catching in a sense that they are not part of Inquisitorial Troops. Nevertheless, defensive methods are being used on them to handle the cold environment of this plane, an obvious clue for being prepared to descend into a micro-plane that endured a terraforming-class killer move. Though, this was normal.

Investigation methods across dimensions are typically used before descending into lower planes, but they typically can only give a rough estimation on the environmental condition of the plane. Most of them wouldn’t allow them to peer to the smallest details unless one is a space-path expert with deep knowledge in dimensional geometry.

The previous spatial fluctuations were investigative methods. Naturally, Mordred is immune to that, so he started to lower his counterintelligence method so that he is no longer invisible from most investigative methods, matching Lord Erebus’ profile in all conceivable metrics.

‘Larissa and Ishihara are here. That guy… if I recall correctly, he must be Lord Mage Mitsubachi… ’ Mordred shook his head, disappointment literally radiating from his body. “For a disciple that I’ve personally picked up and raised, you were a disappointment for taking too long.”

The woman seemed to receive mental damage from that simple reply. From a figure who raised her since she was little, seeing him disappointed in her utterly pains her heart. She wanted to apologize and elaborate the reason, but Erebus did not let her.

Mordred took out a magic crystal, an artifact prepared by yours truly, Ymir. He passed it to Irae’s hand. “Use it.” he ordered.

The Inquisitor asked permission with her gaze from the young man next to her, Lord Mage Mitsubachi, for security reasons. The man quickly nodded in response. She interacted with the crystal with her spiritual force and channeled her mana to activate the mechanism engraved within it. “A medium-casting method? Lord Inquisitor, you’ve finally-”

“Don’t spout so much crap. I told you to activate it.” Mordred cut her off. In truth, the reason why he wanted Irae to activate it for him is because he has yet to refine Mana Aperture from Erebus’ mana pool. If he wanted to activate the artifact, he must use mana siphoned from mana crystal coins, but such actions wouldn’t be undetectable in the eyes of rank 2 Lords like Mitsubachi, especially since this mortal shell has yet to completely adapted for accommodating his rank 2 truesoul.

Irae turned silent. This serious woman who’s quite overbearing to Larissa and Ishihara seemed like a docile pet in front of Erebus. 

Only Mordred knows why as he had devoured Erebus’ soul and digested his memories.

‘Irae is no disciple of Erebus. He’s literally his own daughter, genetically engineered to take on her mother’s race, which was human, to infiltrate Hartina Kingdom’s higher ups. This guy was trying to use bloodline to enslave his own daughter…’ Mordred mentally shook his head. It was quite similar to the methods that he used to influence Murasaki clansmen, but the principle is different. Though, Erebus’ methods have limited effectiveness.

That being said, since his current Mortal Shell is made out of original Erebus’ corpse which was preserved and resurrected well, Mordred could sense the bloodline resonance between him and Irae. Mordred knew that Irae was brought here so that Mitsubachi could ensure whether or not Erebus is the real Erebus.

‘Hahah. Rank 2 Lords are not to be underestimated either. This must be the arrangement of the Tower Master.’ He felt like his playing field was getting higher, with more difficult and competent opponents. Either he has to keep up the pace, or be swept away by the current of the world. He couldn’t choose to stay silent in some corner of the world either as his negative karmic luck wouldn’t let him, it was better to be aggressive and take the initiative. It was a good decision to accelerate his cultivation.

In any case, the ‘blood magic’ which was information-path methods disguised as one stored in the magic crystal is now showing a scene of slaughter. 

“The assassin is an infernal puppet…” Mordred elaborated as everyone watched the scene with great interest.

A 2-meter tall humanoid puppet is trotting through the toxic red world. With every step, the ground is burning even though it was literally non-flammable soil. The overbearing heat of the puppet burns the photons around it, turning the area around itself rather obscure. Unless one uses a rank 2 investigative method, nobody can get a glimpse of its true visage.

Then, swarms of vampiric beasts began attacking the infernal figure. Demonplague Chaos Dragon Flames rage around the battlefield, burning and mutating biologicals, converting any vampire into a demonic version of their former selves. Although Erebus had an overwhelming number advantage, it was soon taken away by the demonic creatures that had been corrupted under the demonic flames. In the first place, vampirism is a type of undead disease, they were easily overwritten by a far more powerful method which was the chaos flames.

As the master of this micro-plane, Erebus tried various tactics and trump cards to save his skin and domain, but none of them worked. 

After being pushed back multiple times and his vampires absolutely steamrolled by the assassin, with a heavy heart, Erebus activated a rank 3 single-use treasure that he had kept years ago during his travel to the Seas of Eternal Winters. It contains a terraforming-class killer move that would absolutely counter the infernal puppet, but also inadvertently killed all of his vampire underlings except a select few.

Just as he had expected, the infernal puppet has been successfully dispatched, but it also terraforms the micro-plane from a blood-path one into an ice and snow-path one. Naturally, Erebus is also wounded in the process as the killer move did not differentiate between ally and foe. After that, the magic stopped showing any more scenes as the method of recording has been broken by the said terraforming-class killer move. 

“Although I have the artifact for long, I have never deciphered the profundity of the ice.” Mordred candidly admits his lack of knowledge. “I barely survived the encounter…” Mordred added as he revealed his ‘shaky’ rank 2 radiation for a brief second before suppressing his ‘wounds’ back.

“So this is how you dealt with the infiltrator. Understood.” Lord Mage Mitsubachi nodded after taking in Erebus’ debriefing about his situation. “Lord Inquisitor Erebus, can I inspect the puppet’s wreckage?”

Mordred waved his hand, taking out pieces of what used to be Lupusrazor from his dimensional storage. They were broken, melted, frozen, and treated with Ymir’s information-path methods beforehand. There’s little to no information that can be extracted from them even if the Hartina Kingdom used psychometry on that pile of crap. “It was burning in demonic flames, and frozen by this ice. Although I have a master-level attainment in ice and snow-path, I can’t make sense of this.”

“Lord, if I may.” A police officer suddenly interrupted their talks. Inquisitor Irae quickly realized what happened and allowed her to speak freely.

“The infernal puppet’s flame is called Demonplague Chaos Dragon Flame. We might not be able to get anything from the wreckage even if we used time-path methods to investigate, since it contains the properties of chaos and all. Instead, it is better for us to completely dispose of it rather than allowing the remnant demonic radiation to profiltrate.” Ishihara voiced Larissa’s knowledge that she shared a while back.

“Hmm. I do feel the need to isolate it in my dimensional storage. Lord Mage Mitsubachi, I leave it at your discretion…” Mordred asked, and the man simply tossed it into the ground and took out a bottle.

He then poured whatever the content of the bottle was and the wreckage started to burn in bright orange flames. The ash that remains can no longer contaminate the environment, it was a safe disposal of demonic articles.

“Now, onto the next matter, here’s a written version of the report. You can take it to the Tower Master.” Mordred passed a file that he took out from dimensional storage to Lord Mage Mitsubachi. The man gracefully accepted and began reading. “It’ll take some time for me to repair this world… I’ll have to requisite support from headquarters. Tsk, the Grand Inquisitor wouldn’t like this.”

“Fath-” Inquisitor Irae faked a cough to correct her words. “Lord Inquisitor, I might be of your assistance.”

“Speak.”

“Sergeant Ishihara is a member of the Military Police who has employed a Hunter of the Association. She is an ice and snow-path expert, she might be able to offer her expertise.” She pointed towards a person behind Ishihara.

There was a woman donned in swimsuit-like apparel, a translucent cape or a robe draped on her shoulder. On her hand, there was a chainsword ready for immediate battle. Nobody would blame her for that though, as the inquisitorial troops behind her still raised their guard up. 

“Lord Inquisitor Erebus, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Larissa introduced herself.

In exchange, Mordred sniffed at her general direction. “The stench of the divines.” He switched his gaze at Irae. 

Irae instantly recognized that gaze. She knew her father absolutely hated those that have relations with the divines, considering he’s an undead and all. Yet, before Irae could elaborate, the woman had already struck a conversation.

“Lord Inquisitor Erebus… do you recall saving a little girl in the seas of eternal winters sixteen years, four months and three days ago?” Larissa inquired.

“The fuck? That’s oddly specific.” Erebus shook his head. “This is the property of the Secret Division, are you sure she’s qualified to be here?” He inquired Irae once more. 

“Fret not, Lord Inquisitor. She has signed a non-disclosure agreement with us. No words about the Secret Division would be out, even her Patron Deity agreed with our request.”

“Really now?” ‘Erebus’ looked at Larissa in amazement. 

“I have made a deal with my patron deity, the Goddess of Shallow Waters. She approved of the soul contract personally.” Larissa explained.

Mordred glanced at Lord Mage Mitsubachi who’s reading his report and nodded at his inquisitive gaze. “Hmm. I see. Very well then, to answer your question. Yes. I do remember that I saved someone sixteen years, four month and three days ago in Main World’s time, if my math does not fail me. It was an old man on the brink of death, why do you ask?” 

Smiles bloom from the pink erotic lips of the battlepriestess. “There’s no mistaking it… you are the benefactor of my father…” Tears of happiness began to flow from her eyes.

“I am confused. Please elaborate.” ‘Erebus’ reveals an expression of confusion. Obviously, nobody would believe it if someone suddenly did that.

“I’ve been searching far and wide, looking for the vampire who has saved my father from certain death. I believe you are the one I’m looking for… Thank you!” Larissa bowed, her tears of happiness still flowing. They did not make her look ugly though, instead, it made her look more expressive and approachable.

“Lord Inquisitor, do you recognize this ice?” After Larissa wiped the tears and cleaned her face, she conjured a crystalline ice atop of her palm.

In that instant, ‘Erebus’ revealed a shocked expression. “The elemental radiation is quite similar.” He took out a piece of ice from his dimensional storage and compared it, only to see it was perfectly similar.

“You’re the descendant of that old man? Shouldn’t you be younger?” ‘Erebus’ asked, not fully believing Larissa’s identity.

“Sixteen years in the main world, Lord Inquisitor. In micro-planes like where we are currently, time flows at a different rate.” Larissa argued, gratitude still radiated from her eyes. “According to the knowledge I inherited from my father, this is called Temporal Crystal Ice. An ice radix so cold that it would slow time itself.”

“Hahah, it all makes sense now. Your service, I’ll pay you double for working for me.” ‘Erebus’ looked at Ishihara. “Sergeant, would that be okay?”

The Lord Inquisitor is addressing her, so naturally she’ll have to respond. In the first place, Larissa was offering her service in exchange for Ishihara’s assistance to search for her benefactor. Getting tangled up in the assassination attempt of the Lord Inquisitor is not something that she had planned. Thus, the only reason why she was here was due to the manpower she had and the manpower she could provide. Seeing that Lord Erebus is alive and relatively well, her service was no longer required.

“You saved my father from an orca beast sixteen years ago, allowing my father to return home with the medicine for my sick mother. Without it, I wouldn’t be in this world in the first place. Lord Inquisitor, I will serve you for twenty years of the main world’s time to repay my father’s debt. If you pay me, I’ll take that as an insult.” Larissa muttered in one breath.

“But your father already gave me a treasure in exchange for saving him, probably your family heirloom or something.” She pointed at the general direction of this whole plane. “Without his treasure, I would’ve fallen under the hands of the infernal puppet. We are even.” ‘Erebus’ replied.

“No, that’s no family heirloom, that's just a fraction of his power. My father is a Legend, he was wounded from his battles with his foes when you saved him.” Larissa persisted with her offering. “Nevertheless, your assistance still allowed me to be born safely without complications. Please, let me repay your kindness…”

“People from the Union are so loyal and all. Can’t say I’m not jealous, Lord Inquisitor.” Mitsubachi closed the file. He was done reading it even though it was less than a few minutes since he began. The spiritual force of this rank 2 Lord is truly deep, allowing his computation power near-equivalent to a supercomputer. “If you don’t want her service, you can let her serve me instead.” He joked.

Lord Inquisitor Erebus and Lord Mage Mitsubachi have no boundaries on making such jokes as they are on the same level.

“Hahah. I just wanted to make sure if her terms are okay with the kingdom, Lord Mitsubachi?” Mordred asked. Lord ‘Erebus’ is employed under the Kingdom’s Secret Division, after all.

“It’s fine.” Mitsubachi waved his arms like it wasn’t a big deal. “The Goddess of Shallow Waters herself, Blednyy Okhotnik¹Бледный Oхотник, no, what was it in the common tongue… Ah, Pale Hunter? She has acted as a guarantor.”

“You mean she has sent a clone during the contract’s signing? Fine, let’s discuss the specifics later. It just so happens that I really need an ice and snow-path expert to repair this plane.” He then shifted his attention towards Mitsubachi. “Lord Mage, would you be so kind as to lend me an ear.”

Mitsubachi nodded. With a nudge of his head, the inquisitorial troops disbanded themselves and left the micro-plane. Larissa, Ishihara and Inquisitor Irae stayed, though. They were left to discuss the details by conversing with Annalise and her replicant, who was the ‘survivor’ of the ordeal.

“Lord Mage Mitsubachi, how much do you know about Requiescat in Pace.” The façade that ‘Erebus’ showed when talking with Larissa and Irae is completely gone. This time, Mitsubachi understood that it was pure wrath contained within Erebus’ being.

Naturally, if Mitsubachi’s micro-plane had been reduced into this state, he also wanted to take revenge. “Last time I heard, weren’t you the one who has dealings with them? The kingdom does not restrict Inquisitors like you to commit certain crimes if necessary, even if that include colluding with necromancer organizations. What happened, Lord Inquisitor?”

“The undead started to play around with chaos.” Mordred stressed the underlying meaning behind his words. Undead does not mix with demons. When a necromancer organization has a connection with a demon, it means things are not normal. “Tell me, a person of your caliber couldn’t find something fishy about all these situations?”

The easygoing Lord Mage matches the seriousness of the Lord Inquisitor. “You’re absolutely correct. My master, Grand Strategist Sebastian, also informed me of his deduction lately. Even though the Sacred Alliance said the Devil King ‘Mordred’ has been felled, the proof said otherwise. There are clues indicating that next generation Braves are quickly maturing… Even now, the youth of our Hartina Kingdom are showing incredible talent and achievement, almost never seen before with the exception of during the last Calamity… Demon King Maximilian.”

There was a saying that stated ‘the heavens always leave a way out’. Since Morgen World has a World’s Will, then it was able to notice the impending doom. 

During the Calamity of Chaos (4th calamity), the inhabitants of Morgen World had difficulties in dealing with the otherworldly invader of that time, Demon King Maximillian. In response, the dimensional laws of the world changed, the karmic luck of the world is making advancement significantly easier than normal. 

And that happened less than three hundred years ago.

For long-lived races or cultivators who survived the Calamity of Chaos, then it was clear as if the day had turned night when the same phenomena happened once more.

“The cycle is getting closer and closer. This generation will be fighting against the fifth otherworldly invader, Devil King Mordred…” ‘Erebus’ muttered. “For now, we wouldn’t know where the devil king’s uprising will take place, but if the Kingdom is to face Him with our current state, would it be possible for us to emerge victorious? Those necromancers from the Requiescat In Pace are trampling us all over the place.”

“Indeed.” Mitsubachi nodded. “There was also an incident regarding the Requiescat In Pace a while ago with the students in the academy that I taught, they dared to make a move against the Kingdom’s allies, the Yukikaze clan. Perhaps, it is time for us to fight back and regain our supremacy.”

“No, no, no.” ‘Erebus’ quickly denied. “Let me hunt them from the face of the kingdom. What I need you to do is far more simple than that.” He gave him a piece of paper.

Mitsubachi opened it up and read the content within. “A list of resources of various paths. What do you need them for, Lord Inquisitor?”

“Rebuild this plane from scratch. My identity as a Vampire Lord is too eye-catching.” Mordred pointed towards the girls who were conversing with each other while being served immatures, semi-naked girls with the same appearance.

The Lord Mage was curious about why Erebus pointed towards his slaves, so he used an investigative method on those girls who looked similar. To his knowledge, Lord Erebus is a pervert who loves raping women, especially underaged ones. It isn’t strange for him to have some twins, triplets, or quintuplets who served him since he’s a Lord Inquisitor who has vast channels in his disposal. However, after Mitsubachi’s investigative methods swept through them, he was shocked to the core. “Replicants?”

“That’s right.” Mordred took out a scroll, containing some portion of his Human Refinement True Inheritance. Specifically, it was the portion that described the methods to refine rank 0 replicants. Mordred obviously knows what he’s doing, he’ll never give the method to refine rank 1 replicants unless the price is worth it. “I extracted the true inheritance from a girl that I bought from Requiescat in Pace a while ago. Now, the organization has used up its usefulness. I believe you know how much this is worth.”

Mitsubachi smiled. If he isn’t tied to the Kingdom’s military, he might be ignorant, but he is a high ranking military personnel, he was privy to certain secrets.

“One of the Seven True Inheritances of the Great Archmage, Human Refinement True Inheritance!” The Lord Mage quickly suppressed his excitement. “If you hand this over, the Yamato clan would grant you sufficient resources to ascend to rank 3! Perhaps, I should call you Grand Inquisitor soon…” He joked.

“No, I can’t advance, my foundation is cripled.” ‘Erebus’ denied. “Look at this world, where can I get blood-enslavement resources now that my own golden goose is broken like this.”

“Then, your plan is to switch your cultivation path?” Mitsubachi inquired, worriedly. “You’ve already reached the realm of Lords, you’ve already constructed your domain. If you choose to switch paths, wouldn’t that require you to alter or remade your domain from scratch?”

Unlike when one is still rank 0 ‘Apprentice’, rank 1 ‘Officials’ had difficulties in switching cultivation path. For Mages, they’d already engrave a permanent defensive force field onto their person. If one wanted to switch paths, they’d have to dismantle and re-engrave another permanent defensive force field back, otherwise, the conflict of paths would make their methods inefficient. However, doing so took much more resources and time. Furthermore, the chance of failure is extremely high. Permanent defensive force field is not like a tattoo that could, arguably, be removed easily. In the first place, the removal of a permanent defensive force field has the potential to kill the person.

The difficulties of switching ‘paths’ would be far more difficult for rank 2 ‘Lords’. All Lords have their own domain, and removing the said killer move from their person would be crippling. It’d be easier to throw away one’s rank 2 cultivation realm and start over from rank 1 instead.

“You don’t need to worry, I’ve deduced the method that I’ve been searching far and wide all these years.”

“Can’t it be?” Mitsubachi’s eyes gleam with expectation.

“That’s right, a method to cure vampirism.” ‘Erebus’ paused. “In other words, a blood-path resurrection method.”

Mitsubachi turns serious, he immediately started a telepathic link with Erebus to ensure the secrecy of their conversation.

 

…

 

Lord Mage Mitsubachi left hurriedly as he had something to report to the Kingdom’s higher ups. He left a rank 2 dimensional ring containing a myriad of resources, but most of them are wood-path resources that his Wasp Legion nurtures. At the very least, those resources can be used to breed more replicants as most wood-path materials are typically nutritious. Mordred can also genetically engineer the seed or seedlings so that they grow in this cold, inhospitable terrain.

Naturally, Irae also left with Mistubachi’s departure after briefly conversing with ‘Erebus’. She received some instructions from Mordred that’ll make her quite busy for some time.

“It’s all according to your arrangement, oh Lord Erebus.” Larissa said her tone contains boundless sarcasm. “Though, I’d have to admit. You are the best infiltrator that I’ve ever met in my thousands of years of life. For a second, I thought you’re a Sovereign of Shadows or something...”

Mordred shrugged his shoulders, not having his ego stroked by her compliment. “Don’t spout so much crap.” 

“I’ve heard your conversation before you switched telepathic. Did you give him a resurrection method?” Larissa wondered.

Mordred raised his eyebrows. Mitsubachi has silently erected a counterintelligence method just before they conversed, but Larissa was able to pierce that rank 2 method rather easily with her rank 1 cultivation base. Well, considering her foundation, it shouldn’t be unexpected. “Rank 2 Lords are relatively easier to fool, but the rank 3 Legendaries behind him wouldn’t, especially if they cultivate wisdom-path.”

“So you bought them with resurrection methods?”

“Something far more mundane than that, a bait. In Morgen World, taboo methods such as resurrection isn’t well received by the divines, so research regarding it is extremely slow. Besides, what I gave them is only effective on rank 2 vampire Lords and below. If they want to use it, they’ll have to find a method to turn their clansmen into a vampire… though I wouldn’t doubt the Yamato clan could easily deduce a method to bypass that restriction in the future, considering their bloodline abilities.” 

He then beckons Annalise to approach him. “In any case, with you around, we can start terraforming this place into a true ice and snow-path micro-plane. I projected we need around a year of this micro-plane’s time, which was roughly a month and a half in the main world. After that, the resources produced by this micro-plane will allow us to trade with resources of other paths.”

“What do you need of us, master.” Annalise and Ella kneeled, as if they were servants of Mordred.

“You don’t need to keep up appearances. She’s my subordinate.” Mordred explained.

Annalise was shocked to the core by that simple announcement. According to her observation, Larissa is a battlepriestess, having strong connection to the enemy of all undead: the divines. However, he was able to tame a battlepriestess? Him, an undead machinery, having a connection with the gods? Unbelievable! However, thinking back, Legends must have their own way.

“Your next mission is to follow her arrangement, no matter how ridiculous her requests are.” Mordred then looked Larissa in the eye. “I believe I don’t have to nag you about do’s and don’ts, yeah?”

“Hahaha.” Larissa merely chuckles at his question, ignoring the point. “You’re going to leave us?”

“I’ll need to earn some resources to fix my mortal shell as soon as possible, considering I’m officially a Lord Inquisitor and all. In any case, this plane’s timeflow is currently too fast, the mods in my body will crumble sooner or later.” Erebus replied, taking out a golden watch-like artifact from his original dimensional ring. 

Mordred inspected the artifact which was a golden compass. ‘My future selves from previous timelines used Xi Ling, a member of the Fate Guardian, to send the most important material to refine the [Heaven Prying Eyes]. It was obvious why they dared risking themselves to ensure this thing fell into my hand… ’ “This is the key for [Project: Wild Hunt].” Mordred smiled.