Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Preliminary Preparations (1)
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Earth-side matters were wrapped up swiftly.
Hans intensified nighttime patrols to hunt down any lingering remnants of the Reverse Heaven Society, while Heinz made contact with the moderates to negotiate.
"I have no intention of issuing any unjust orders. All I want is to maintain peace and order, and to root out every last one connected to the 'Reverse Heaven Society.'"
"Don't you think those two goals contradict each other?"
"It depends on where you draw the line."
In his view, punishing evil was part of maintaining peace and order.
And it went without saying that power was necessary for that.
Aria, the leader of the Blood Alliance's moderate faction—the woman sitting across from Heinz—offered no real rebuttal to his words.
She simply sat there with her eyes closed, just as she had when they first met.
"Very well. We'll help you absorb the hardliners."
And she accepted their proposal far more readily than expected.
He had even prepared for some coercive show of force, so this turn of events left him slightly flustered.
"...Not that I should say this now, but what makes you accept without a second thought?"
"It's a conclusion I reached after careful deliberation. It benefits us both, so why refuse? And what do I trust...? Myself, of course."
Aria replied with a faint smile.
Her eyes remained closed.
"You'll need someone to act as a bridge if you're to get things done. Take Soran with you. I'll speak to her. And we'll check if anyone on our side wants to follow you."
There were limits to subjugating an entire organization single-handedly.
It wasn't impossible to build power gradually through force, but it would take time.
That wasn't what they wanted.
So he had planned to reveal their intentions with a hint of threat, but she proved more cooperative than anticipated.
She even offered to personally convince Jin Soran, a moderate faction executive.
'What ability does she have? Mind reading? Sensing dispositions? Surely not future sight...'
He wanted to force her submission just to find out what she was thinking, but as the leader of a faction, that wasn't feasible.
The "Purified Blood Essence" bound the will but didn't brainwash the mind.
She would obey orders, but it would show somehow—and that wouldn't help swallow up the Blood Alliance.
There was no reason to pick a fight when she was being so cooperative.
"Good. Leave spreading the word among the moderates to you. Now, shall we discuss plans to absorb the hardliner remnants?"
"Of course. For that, we'll first need to deal with the neutrals..."
The plan started with absorbing the hardliner remnants and becoming the leader of a new faction.
Thus, the Blood Alliance takeover proceeded smoothly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ To smoothly execute Operation "Home Theater: Demon King and Hero," the more capable pawns who moved at his will, the better.
The leads—Hans and Heinrich—along with the supporting role Heinz felt insufficient.
Thus, the biggest immediate issue was how to strengthen "Halli," who hadn't settled on a path yet, as quickly as possible.
[Ho, this is intriguing.]
And just now, he had found a promising method in the research data the Reverse Heaven Society's director had cherished.
Hans was in a remote location from his residence, pulling out their research materials and steadily absorbing the results.
Even if he couldn't use them directly, the concepts alone were helpful—and thanks to the director, the "in-progress" data was preserved from start to finish.
[Transplanting parts of otherworldly mine bodies into others? This is basically chimera surgery. It failed on normals, of course... and even Awakeners suffered severe side effects.]
Under the influence of "Path of the Sorcerer," Hans now showed keen insight in other fields too, but his specialty was inevitably black magic.
And "chimera research" was closely tied to black magic.
'In a way, it's a blessing in disguise. Even if he'd focused solely on "Forbidden Knowledge" in Outerica with his time advantage, he wouldn't have grown this fast.'
Quality over quantity.
By experiencing spells from various worlds and breaking his own mold, Hans laid the foundation to grow even faster.
[...But this isn't mere chimera research. Discarding flaws and endlessly pursuing evolution by incorporating superior traits... The ultimate goal is a perfect evolutionary being.]
As it was still ongoing research, not just documents but experimental body tissues were preserved too.
[Ho, dragon blood? It looks like melted jewels.]
Including the key ingredient, "dragon blood."
The purple liquid in the small vial scattered iridescent light as it swayed with the angle.
[Kuh... Mixing this data with my skill knowledge could yield something useful... Evolution through "Adaptation" to foreign tissues.]
Time suddenly felt precious.
He had reaped enough from Earth; now, he wanted leisure in Outerica to dive into research.
'But the Church is the problem...'
More precisely, the Saintess still tirelessly searching daily for the Immortal King's successor.
'Still, I did get some helpful clues.'
It took Hans about three weeks holed up in a mountain to complete "Contagious Familiar Spell Final_Revised_2nd_Final(3)_RealLast."
And the Church detected his presence around the same time, launching their search.
'They sensed Hans immediately, but all the concealment barriers prevented pinpointing his location. Even the Saintess's detection isn't perfect.'
Now, Hans was even better at hiding his identity, with achievements in magic plus "Path of the Sorcerer."
'If that's not enough, use Heinz's "Concealment" and "Blood Mystery" too.'
He could monitor the Church in real-time via Heinrich, so he was confident they could fool them.
Of course, only after Heinz's Blood Alliance takeover stabilized.
'But preliminary preparations can start now.'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Transfer to the Outerica dimension complete.
Once the transfer finished, Halli cautiously scanned his surroundings.
It was a dark corner of an alley adjacent to the main street, structurally hidden from light.
One of the cities Heinrich had passed through en route to the Holy Land—a major city in the Tulk Kingdom, western Ion Continent.
"Whoa! You scared me! When'd you get here, old man?"
As he stepped out from the corner, a shabby man squatting in the alley smoking a cigarette jumped in surprise.
Halli ignored the blinking man and headed to the main street.
'Northern Aonia Earldom of Tulk Kingdom, Tarak. Good, still daytime.'
The blazing sun meant no need to wait until tomorrow.
Tarak was a place Heinrich had noted favorably during his scouting.
Mercenaries armed and strolling the streets, occasional robed mages.
Merchants hauling goods on large carts.
It was fantasy world incarnate.
'It was always a fantasy world before... but this one's more textbook.'
As if embodying stereotypes, the city thrived on its mercenary industry due to diverse monsters from the northern mountains.
Near the kingdom's border yet prosperous enough for a temple.
The last stop before the "Steel Fortress" guarding the northwestern foothills of the vast Northern Mountains spanning the continent's north.
Mercenary guilds for monster hunts, merchant guilds for corpse transport, even a mage tower branch for research.
The city buzzed with all sorts.
'Busier trade than expected.'
Acquiring goods seemed no issue.
He'd hire escorts later for safety, of course.
Rare materials, monster byproducts with magical value, helpful magic tools for research.
He'd spend a fortune ahead.
'Money's no object now; time is priority. Packed the sub-space with plenty of precious metals, but will it suffice?'
Best head to the mage tower branch first for more sub-space magic tools.
"Welcome~! Rocapelli Mage Tower Tarak Branch Magic Tool Shop. Looking for something~?"
A merchant-like man rather than a mage manned the shop attached to the tower.
"Sub-space magic tool? You've come to the right place! Our Rocapelli products boast 20% better space efficiency than other towers—a premium item..."
"I see."
He chose a reputable tower since he'd use them long-term.
With the monster industry, mercenaries favored sub-space tools for hunts, trading various specs.
"And this one grants preservation effects to contents for longer-term..."
"That feature looks essential."
Of course, sky-high prices meant large mercenary bands or high-rank parties shared them.
"But that's not all! Special processing ensures it withstands extremes, no matter the elements..."
"Ooh, how much?"
Dazed by the shopkeep's silver tongue and endless nodding, his sub-space precious metals vanished, leaving only new magic tools in hand.
"Thanks for the great business~! Next time you need anything, visit Charlton at Rocapelli Mage Tower Tarak Branch Magic Tool Shop!"
Halli left the shop in a daze, the shopkeep bowing at ninety degrees behind him.
He felt possessed.
Large bag-shaped high-capacity ones, feature-packed sub-space tools.
Staring at his new purchases, he shrugged.
'Needed them anyway. Resell on Earth for multiples profit.'
Impulse buy, sure—but good value.
Cheaper here due to city specialties.
'More importantly, nearly broke now. Need another Earth trip to refill.'
Annoying to go back just for funds.
'Maybe trade between worlds to amass wealth. What sells here? Spices?'
New business idea born—satisfactory deal all around.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Crack—pop!
"Hup, haa..."
A sigh escaped Jin Soran's lips amid the sound of twisting bones.
The catalyst influx slowly evolved her vampiric factors.
Muscles grew tougher and more flexible, bones denser, senses sharper.
Blood magic quantity unchanged, but control and max output rose, stabilizing power.
'Feels like a new body! Reborn!'
As changes halted, Jin Soran admired her form in awe.
Power surged; combat strength felt multiplied.
"Hm, this level of 'Purified Blood Essence' hits the limit here. More dosage needed to gauge further evolution."
Of course, it was just a mood.
The dose given had no such effect.
"Discernment" showed only about 30% enhancement.
'Still, 30% boost to level 6 Jin Soran isn't trivial.'
Jin Soran gladly joined Heinz's command at Aria's suggestion.
Technically a dual role bridging moderates, but bound by "Purified Blood Essence."
Having experienced faction friction, she felt a mediator necessary.
'Convenient if she handles coordination. Restrictions prevent betrayal.'
Heinz waited for her adjustment, then spoke.
"Adapted? Let's move. Lots ahead."
"Yes! Understood, Lord!"
"...Lord?"
"Yes? Yes! Lord. You're basically the new clan's 'King.' Dislike the title?"
Right—her home dimension Nocternia ranked vampires by chess pieces.
Bound by blood, she treated Heinz as clan lord, bloodline progenitor.
"Hm... No, it's fine."
Not a bad feeling.
VIP treatment, even.
"Speaking of, Lord! This means a new Earth pedigree, right? Needs a fitting name. Any ideas?"
She beamed brightly.
Her personality unchanged despite the title.
"A name..."
Unexpected; no prepared name.
But for belonging and loyalty, something apt was good.
'Base it on a distinguishing trait.'
"Purified Blood Essence" strengthening mutated other vampires using Heinz's factors as catalyst.
Influenced by his fully evolved "hybrid" incorporating dominant genes from myriad worlds.
Mutation varied by quality and quantity, but always superior to before.
A fitting term came to mind.
"...Heterosis."
"Heterosis! Don't know the meaning, but sounds cool!"
Thus was born Heterosis, the Blood Alliance's elite combat unit.