Although I had a vague idea, to be on the safe side I still left Kai and Satahia behind in the Mihri Ruins to keep collecting the black fragments dropped by demonized creatures.
I returned to the Demon King’s Castle myself.
In a few more days the Barenna Underground Fortress would open. Syl needed to handle Alwyn Empire matters for me, so she stayed in the workshop in Faerns City together with Triss.
Naturally the Demon King’s Castle felt much emptier with no one else around.
Except for a certain humanoid self-propelled erotica book.
The dome adorned with magic crystals cast bright light that illuminated the entire grand and magnificent library. The purple-haired girl seated at the desk beside the second-floor railing seemed to notice something. She set down the book in her hands and waved toward the figure approaching from not far away.
“Ah, why so friendly today?”
Though a bit puzzled I was about to reach out in response, but I quickly gave up on the idea of getting along amicably with her.
“Yo, weak pink-hair.”
“…At the very least I’m a Demon King. Can’t you use a more respectful title!”
“That is the respectful title, you know.”
Hearing that I suddenly grew curious. “Then what would be disrespectful?”
The purple-haired old hag calmly took a sip of tea. “Pretend I didn’t ask.”
Thinking about it the former was still better—at least it wouldn’t be overshadowed by pairs and bombs.
No, I didn’t come here to play Fight the Landlord with this guy.
Recalling my actual purpose I asked Kashalia, who was leisurely sipping red tea across from me, “Your library should have plenty of information on demonized creatures, right?”
As an ancient relic left from the old times the reason the Eternal Library could be called eternal was not only because of its long years of existence but also because of the vast number of books recorded within it. Even compared to the national libraries of various countries in the Bright Faction it was no less impressive—or perhaps even more so.
Although I knew that records of demonized creatures were scarce if it was the Eternal Library it should at least have preserved quite a few related materials.
But what I didn’t expect was for Kashalia to shake her head and quite decisively at that.
“Haven’t I told you? I’m now merely the remnant codex of the Eternal Library. All the books previously recorded have naturally been lost.”
“Not even a single one left behind?”
“None.” Kashalia crushed my last hope but the next moment she suddenly changed the subject. “Although I don’t have related materials the books you collected a while ago might.”
“Books?” I who had been clutching my head in frustration over the failed idea couldn’t help but look puzzled.
“The mage tower.” Kashalia had no interest in appreciating a loli’s dumbfounded expression and simply reminded me with a few words.
Lobranch’s mage tower?
Indeed I had recorded some books inside the mage tower earlier but why would Kashalia say there was information on demonized creatures in there?
My mind raced.
Enzo had discovered that the Radiant Chapter could dispel the curse in the Mihri Ruins and later handed it over to his close friend Lobranch likely intending to entrust him with researching the key to breaking the curse.
In that case Lobranch would naturally need to thoroughly investigate materials on the Mihri Ruins which should include aspects related to demonized creatures.
Once I figured out the connection my eyes lit up. “Where are those few books now?”
After Kashalia moved to the grand library due to her inherent characteristics she naturally took on the role of librarian. However I never imagined that this librarian would be so considerate.
“While I was talking to you earlier I already saved all their contents into my library. What would you like to know?” Kashalia set down her teacup.
“The method of birth for demonized creatures.”
Although the process differed from my initial thoughts I ultimately learned the key to demonization and gained a general idea which made my heart feel much lighter.
“Thanks.” I looked at Kashalia across from me. Even though this guy was usually a bit hard to get along with she was still quite reliable when it counted.
But the next moment I took back that assessment.
“If you want to thank me so much how about helping me persuade Miss Syl.”
“You still haven’t given up?!”
After returning from the Demon King’s Castle to the Mihri Ruins I immediately gathered Kai Satahia and the others together.
“Does Your Highness have an idea?”
Facing everyone’s puzzled looks I nodded and briefly explained the key points about demonization that I had learned.
It was somewhat different from what Satahia had mentioned earlier. Demonized creatures were less like living beings and more like containers—vessels infused with demonic power that destroyed their souls.
This also explained why they lost their sanity after demonization as it was simply the result of their instincts being controlled by demonic power.
But that wasn’t the key point. The key was that it meant creating demonized creatures was feasible and Lobranch’s research had proposed a method.
By injecting demonic power into a monster the instant it was killed one could largely avoid the failure of demonic power eroding the soul. Moreover theoretically the stronger the negative emotions the monster had in life the smoother the fusion process would be.
“Demonic power… So does that mean we need Your Highness or Miss Satahia’s power?” Kai asked. “But your strengths might not be sufficient.”
Kai was right. Fasitu was an upper-tier demon a being of over two hundred levels. Only the demonic aura he left behind could easily transform some of the undead in the Mihri Ruins into demonized creatures.
No matter how you looked at it it wasn’t something that someone under level twenty like me or Satahia around level twenty could achieve.
However I hadn’t considered that in the first place. “So don’t we still have other items in our possession that store demonic power?”
I took out the black fragments from my inventory. Originally I had simply thought of them as items needed to complete the contract. Now that I thought about it it didn’t seem entirely the case. As the item description itself stated they clearly contained powerful demonic power.
“As for negative emotions…” I thought for a moment. “The undead in the Mihri Ruins already harbor extremely deep resentment so there shouldn’t be any issues.”
It sounded easy but putting it into practice might be another story. After all this was using in-game concepts equivalent to bypassing the system’s framework. Whether such data logic even existed was still questionable.
After dealing with the monsters that Kai and the others had pulled I inexplicably felt a bit nervous.
Facts proved that I had truly underestimated Epoch’s freedom.
When I aimed the black fragment at the freshly killed skeleton an option to use it actually appeared. My eyes brightened and without hesitation I tore it apart.
As the fragment was destroyed a mass of pitch-black aura suddenly emerged. It lingered in midair for a moment before like a hunter spotting its prey it swiftly burrowed into the white bones before us.
Clack clack… The originally dead skeleton actually began to shake and the frequency grew higher and higher. Its bones which had been no different from those of ordinary undead also underwent a change gradually shifting from white to a metallic sheen as if dominated by some kind of power.
Kai and the others beside me immediately prepared for battle.
But what none of us expected was that in the next moment the skeleton’s movements suddenly stopped and all the changes on its body vanished as well.
“Did it fail?”
Everyone blinked at the skeleton frame that had “died” once more.
“The method should be correct; it’s just that the success rate isn’t necessarily one hundred percent.”
I thought about it. Since the previous process could be carried out smoothly it meant this method was actually viable.
The others nodded. One failure didn’t prove anything.
However no one expected that the next four attempts in a row would all end in failure.
“Your Highness I think there must be something wrong somewhere.”
After the red light in the fifth skeleton’s eyes faded Kai shook her head put away her shield and showed a serious expression.
Anyone could see that something was off after so many failures. Even if there was a chance of success the probability was probably extremely low.
I was also feeling a headache and let out a soul-searching question like a programmer. “But where exactly is the problem…”
Everyone looked at each other unsure how to answer. Although they all realized there was an issue identifying the problem and solving it were two different things.
Satahia held the back of her head and pursed her lips. “Why don’t we just go back to burning bones? These monsters don’t seem capable of bearing demonic power at all.”
“Wait Satahia what did you say?” I suddenly had a realization.
Though puzzled Satahia repeated what she had just said. But as soon as she finished she was startled by me.
“That’s it!” I clapped my hands in excitement. Seeing the confused looks from those around me I explained my thoughts.
“It’s actually similar to how the human body produces antibodies against viruses.”
“The curse in the Mihri Ruins has lasted for hundreds of years and the demonic power inside has probably been eroding the monsters inside every moment. If even after such accumulation they haven’t demonized doesn’t that mean these monsters are already the screened-out results?”
“And Satahia is right. Although the previous black fragments dropped from demonized creatures they are after all contract fragments imprisoning elites. Ordinary monsters probably can’t withstand it.”
While Satahia was still listening in a daze Kai and the others had already understood my meaning. “Your Highness means we need to target elite or higher monsters from outside the Mihri Ruins?”
“No. If it’s not inside the Mihri Ruins the demonic power isn’t sufficient and might not meet the conditions to demonize elite monsters.”
Having learned about the characteristics of demonization from Kashalia I shook my head.
In other words we needed to find elite monsters inside the Mihri Ruins that weren’t from the Mihri Ruins. How was that possible?
“Hmm how is it impossible?”
It was as if I knew exactly what they were thinking inside. I smiled slightly looking very confident. “Have you all forgotten my true identity?”
“Glutton?”
“Mascot?”
“Champion of the Proletarian Alliance’s First Flying Chess Tournament?”
“What the heck is that last one! Just how bad is your impression of me and that last one…”
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