Chapter 41
Chapter 41
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Jiangshi Spirit Kamalo
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thousand Brains Mind Division Spirit-Subjugating Gangsigong.
A Gangsigong technique that divided the mind like a thousand bolts of lightning and controlled souls.
Geon-woo amplified the spirit-subjugating effect among them and poured it into the Yultren soul specimen.
At once, he could sense the soul's presence within the large, jawbreaker-like orb.
‘Awaken!’
Geon-woo infused the preserved soul with his deep inner energy and poured his intent into it.
- …….
But the preserved soul showed no easy reaction.
It was utterly unresponsive, as if dead.
Even so, Geon-woo did not stop channeling his deep inner energy into the soul.
‘Awaken!’
Once more, Geon-woo’s intent struck the Yultren soul with a powerful resonance.
- …?!?
A faint twitch.
So subtle it felt like an illusion, but Geon-woo clearly sensed the soul’s movement.
= My lord, if you give me a chance, I could…
At that moment, Ilryeong spoke up impatiently to Geon-woo, but he shook his head.
‘Wait. Mishandling a fragile soul like this could shatter it.’
= Ah, yes. My lord.
Ilryeong’s control over souls was exceedingly powerful.
But her power lacked finesse.
Understanding Geon-woo’s will, Ilryeong stepped back.
Even as this happened, the energy of the Thousand Brains Mind Division Spirit-Subjugating Gangsigong continued to flow ceaselessly into the preserved Yultren soul.
- ??
And now, the soul’s will was unmistakably palpable.
For the Yultren soul to regain its senses so quickly was surprising even to Geon-woo.
‘Are you aware of your own existence?’
Geon-woo asked the soul as it began to assert its presence.
Right now, soul communed directly with soul, exchanging intents.
Thus, any difference in language was no barrier at all.
- I am Kamal, councilor of the Yultren Assembly. Or rather, I was Kamal.
‘It’s in the past tense, then.’
- What I am now is merely a remnant of Kamal. A withered soul can hardly be called Kamal.
‘But it’s still the same soul, isn’t it?’
- The degradation is far too severe to call it the same soul.
‘Fine. Then for now, I’ll call you Kamalo.’
- Kamalo—a new identity established. Very well. From this moment, I am Kamalo.
‘Then, how much do you know about your current state and situation?’
Geon-woo first probed Kamalo’s awareness of reality.
Only by grasping that could he establish a baseline for their conversation.
- The destruction of our Yultren race. Afterward, some of our kin were collected as soul specimens. I was one of them.
‘Is that so?’
- Preserved souls were never meant to be used again. But when a fragment of our dimension’s ruins was discovered, one of Balam’s lords pulled us from the collection.
‘You know everything relevant? Then you must also know that I killed a few of those demons and took you from them.’
- Everything from Balam’s lord retrieving us onward occurred within these ruins, which I can perceive. Naturally, I know all that you’ve done here as well.
‘Hmm? All of it?’
- This is a ruin created by us Yultren. It is naturally under Yultren control.
‘So you’re saying that you, Kamalo, can control this entire ruin?’
- Indeed. I am the only awakened Yultren here, so the ruin moves according to my will.
‘Wow, that’s impressive.’
- It’s nothing special. The core is shut down, so most functions of the ruin are halted.
‘You could reactivate that core, right?’
- Of course. If I can enter the core room, I can restart it.
‘Good.’
- But why should I?
‘What?’
The conversation, which had been going smoothly, slammed to a halt at Kamalo’s abrupt words.
- Our Yultren race is extinct anyway. In this situation, what reason is there to revive our legacy?
‘But if left as is, the demons could claim this ruin.’
- That doesn’t matter either. What will does an extinct race have left?
‘Surely there’s some anger or resentment toward the demons?’
- Kamal might have felt that. But I am Kamalo. What rage or grudge could a mere soul remnant harbor?
‘Interesting. So what’s your plan?’
- Nothing.
‘Nothing?’
- I’ll simply return to preservation and wither toward oblivion.
Kamalo’s presence had diminished far more than when it first awoke.
This wasn’t due to any lack of energy from Geon-woo.
Kamalo was crumbling under its own will.
‘You’re choosing simple oblivion?’
- The last survivor who witnessed our race’s fall—what do you expect from the dregs left in that survivor’s soul?
‘Is this guy an idiot?’
- Perhaps…
Geon-woo prodded its pride in irritation, but it didn’t even faze Kamalo.
‘You won’t regret it? You might pay a price for that choice.’
Geon-woo asked Kamalo.
- No matter what happens, my fate of dissolution is sealed.
So, it didn’t matter.
Geon-woo nodded.
‘Honestly, I wasn’t thrilled about pandering to you either way. This works out better.’
- What do you mean?
‘Better to raise a slave than deal with a prickly ally.’
- Wha…t?
Kamalo sensed something ominous in Geon-woo’s words, but it was already too late.
A torrent of Thousand Brains Mind Division Spirit-Subjugating Gangsigong energy poured into the orb imprisoning Kamalo’s soul, like a rushing river.
And at its core was the spirit-subjugating energy, which pressed down on Kamalo.
- Suppressing… my will… turning me into… a puppet…
Kamalo grasped what was happening to it to some extent, but understanding didn’t mean it could resist.
The spirit-subjugating energy Geon-woo implanted overwhelmed Kamalo completely.
‘Ilryeong! Turn Kamalo into a Jiangshi Spirit.’
Having subdued Kamalo, Geon-woo ordered Ilryeong to convert it into a Jiangshi Spirit.
Ilryeong immediately affixed a talisman to the orb and began the process.
During this, Geon-woo absorbed the memories of what Kamal had once possessed from the Yultren race.
In the end, he learned much about the Yultren ruins as well.
“What? What the hell just happened?”
Paeng couldn’t hold back and demanded an explanation from Geon-woo.
“Nothing much. I just figured out how to use this thing.”
Paeng couldn’t perceive Ilryeong or Kamalo.
He only knew that Geon-woo had done something invisible to the device he’d taken from the demons.
“You figured it out? How?”
Paeng asked.
“Of course it’s a trade secret. Can’t tell you everything.”
Geon-woo drew a line with Paeng.
He was offended that Paeng had noticed the Jiangshi.
It was only natural not to like someone digging into secrets you wanted hidden.
“I’m already bound to you anyway. Do you really have to keep it from me like this?”
“I’m not hiding anything you need to know. I just won’t indulge your curiosity.”
“Tch.”
Paeng clicked his tongue and turned away at Geon-woo’s words.
But regardless of Paeng, Geon-woo was busy recalling parts of Kamal’s memories that could aid in conquering the ruins.
And shortly after.
“Alright, let’s move.”
Geon-woo opened a dimensional space and stowed away the spoils left by the three demons and fifty-odd humanoid creatures.
He positioned the Jiangshi ahead and behind, then began walking somewhere.
“Where are we going?”
Paeng hurried to Geon-woo’s side.
“This place is a fragment left after the Yultren race’s world was destroyed. They call it a dimensional fragment.”
Geon-woo explained the ruins to Paeng as he walked.
“A fragment remaining after the Yultren dimension was destroyed?”
“Yeah. They fell to a demon invasion.”
“Then every dimension conquered by demons gets destroyed?”
“No, not that. Most conquests turn into colonies for exploitation.”
No one on Earth or Onbiroad knew demons as thoroughly as Geon-woo.
Paeng’s eyes sparkled at his words.
“But Yultren? Their dimension was destroyed?”
“It was the result of their final resistance. That means the Yultren dimension was a powerful one. For Earth? Who knows. Probably just nukes as a last gasp.”
“Yeah, that wouldn’t shatter a dimension. Earth would be nearly wiped out, though.”
Paeng shook his head, unable to fathom dimensional destruction.
It even crossed his mind briefly that humanity’s ultimate weapons were rather modest.
“From what I’ve learned, this device contains a fragment of a Yultren soul.”
“Not a complete soul?”
“Right. But even this incomplete soul is enough for Yultren cities.”
“Enough for what?”
“All the achievements of Yultren civilization were controlled by souls. So this can operate the Yultren ruins.”
“Ah, so that’s how the demons were opening and closing things here as they pleased.”
“Exactly.”
“But isn’t it just acting as a key?”
Paeng assessed the value of the soul specimen Geon-woo held that way.
“You’re not wrong. But the difference is that this can become a master key, not just any key.”
“Master key?”
“Yeah. A master key that opens everything. Plus, I’ve grasped quite a bit of info about the ruins through it.”
“So it’s a key that opens anything, plus a ruin map?”
“Exactly. So like this.”
In the short time talking with Paeng, Geon-woo reached his desired spot.
He immediately had Kamalo, now a Jiangshi Spirit, open a previously invisible door.
Fully converted into a Jiangshi Spirit, Kamalo obeyed Geon-woo’s command without resistance.
It simply projected soul power onto the ruins as ordered, opening the door.
Srrrrruk!
“Huh? What’s that?”
Paeng jumped in surprise as the wall slid open to reveal a new space, looking at Geon-woo.
“Get in for now.”
“Not going inside, but get in? You don’t mean…”
“Right. Elevator. One that goes to the top floor of these ruins.”
“There was something like that here?”
Paeng asked in shock at Geon-woo’s words.
“Hahaha. This is just a regular elevator. There are probably dozens in these ruins.”
“You said just now it’s an elevator to the top floor?”
“The type doesn’t matter. The limits on where it can go depend on who rides it.”
“Oh?”
“The demons who went up first probably reached about 80% of the way. We’re going straight to the top.”
“So if it’s 100 floors total, they got to the 80th? The demons?”
“Something like that. Actually, there are way more layers, with complex spatial expansions and twists.”
“But it depends on who rides to reach the top?”
“Yeah. Thanks to the Yultren soul fragment inside here.”
“That soul has high status or something?”
Paeng eyed the sleek metal device embedded with the orb in Geon-woo’s hand, surprised.
“Well, it originally had high status, but right now, it’s the only awakened Yultren soul in the ruins.”
“Huh? Didn’t the demons have several of those devices? At least three or four more.”
Paeng asked puzzled at the mention of only one awakened soul.
“Those have incomplete souls too, but they’re asleep—no, more like solidified. Frozen stiff. Whereas this one…”
Geon-woo shook the soul specimen.
“It’s awakened?”
“I woke it. So now it holds the highest authority in these ruins.”
“I get it. So we ride this to the top floor?”
“The ruins are a jumbled mess of spaces, so top or bottom is relative, but simply put, yeah. We’re heading to the most important place.”
“Got it. Then among them…”
“Enough chatter. Let’s go and talk there.”
Geon-woo cut off Paeng as he started another question with a hand gesture, then ordered Kamalo to head to the core room.
The door they’d entered through closed, forming a perfect cube space, and light flashed from all six sides.
Srrrrrrruk!
“Huh? Why’d the door open again?”
After the light faded and the door opened, Paeng’s eyes went wide.
“Why? We’ve arrived at the destination.”
Geon-woo passed the stunned Paeng, maintaining the Jiangshi formation as he stepped out the entrance.