“From someone’s soul?” Lady Ilse frowned. “I can only cast hexes on the physical body. I can’t interact with souls at my cultivation level.”
“Does that mean it’s impossible?” Red asked, still holding onto some hope.
She went quiet, her expression displaying deep contemplation.
“Who is this person that has been cursed with a soul hex?”
“It’s a mortal. That’s all I can say for now.”
“A mortal? Why would they use a soul hex on a- wait, unless… Could it be a bloodline curse?”
Red was surprised that she was able to arrive to the same conclusion as Aurelia so quickly. However, he didn’t respond.
Lady Ilse sighed at his silence. “Look, there are some things I could try. If I knew the structure of the hex and its effects, I could theoretically devise a way to break the curse. It might be difficult, but I believe it’s possible. The problem is, though…”
“You can’t interact with her soul.” Red finished her sentence.
“That’s right. My alchemy is also not at a high enough level to concoct a medicine that is capable of affecting the soul, and I have no other way to interact with it.”
“Then, if someone was capable of interacting with the soul, could you break the spell through them?”
“It’s not that simple… Wait, you know someone who can do that?” Her eyes showed some measure of alarm.
The implications behind Red’s statement were obvious. Souls were the realm of Spiritual Awakening cultivators, so if someone could interact with them, it meant one thing.
“I might, but it’s not what you’re thinking,” Red tried to correct the misunderstanding at once.
Lady Ilse still seemed suspicious, but she didn’t pursue the matter. “As I said, it’s not that simple. Even if you had someone like that, they would need to have some mastery over hexes and anti-curse magic, not to mention extremely precise control over Spiritual Energy so as not to harm the soul. In that sense, not even some sect cultivator might be able to do it.”
“Nonsense!” Aurelia, who had remained silent despite Red’s obvious plan, appeared beside Lady Ilse. She looked down at the younger woman with a sneer. “She thinks I can’t do something so simple? The only reason I didn’t cure that girl on the spot is because I can’t do the research on my own! Tell her I can definitely do it!”
“As long as you can devise a working plan, you don’t need to concern yourself with the execution,” Red said.
“Truly?” Lady Ilse seemed skeptical.
“It’s as I said. The only question is, can you do it?”
She seemed conflicted for a second. “I can’t possibly answer that without seeing the hex first.”
“What do you need, exactly?”
“I need to examine the victim myself and get an accurate depiction of the hex. I assume your… associate could provide me with that, correct?”
Red gazed over at Aurelia, who just snorted in response.
“They can do it.”
“Then I can only promise I will do everything within my power to help you.”
Red nodded, feeling a large weight lifted from his shoulder. “How much would that cost me?”
Lady Ilse looked at him with a strange expression. “Cost? There’s no need to pay me anything. This is just a favor for a friend.”
‘A friend?’
He frowned, but didn’t insist on offering payment. The truth was that her assistance was invaluable, and he didn’t know if he could find anything to repay her with.
“Can I bring them over here, then?” Red asked.
“Yes, but be aware that they might need to remain here for a long time so I can do my research. Will that be a problem?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
This was a problem. In fact, it was a big one.
Assuming Yrsa was being watched by imperial agents, what would they think if she suddenly disappeared? Would they suspect Red was behind it? He needed to be careful with how he approached this.
“Could you keep someone hidden in here?”
“It depends. Will someone be looking for them?”
“No, I’ll make sure they don’t.”
“Then it’s not an issue.”
Red nodded. “I’ll bring them here over the next few days. I need some time to prepare.”
Lady Ilse nodded back, and he turned around to leave. As he hopped onto the windowsill, though, he paused and looked back at her.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Thank you for your help.”
He didn’t wait for her response before soaring down to the streets below.
…
After arriving at his manor, Red once again confirmed surveillance around it hadn’t increased. Then he went over to the imp, who jumped at his sudden appearance.
“Master, you’re alive! N-Not that I had any doubts…” Emer looked around in embarrassment. “Did you do it? Did you kill him?”
Although he hadn’t shared the specifics with the imp, he had told of their assassination plan beforehand.
Red took off his mask and frowned as he looked around. “Did anyone come by? Why does the room look like this?”
Someone had swept all the dust and gathered from the ground.
“Ah!” The imp shivered. “I-I took the liberty of ordering the maid to clean your workshop, master… I-I swear I didn’t touch any of your tools!”
The soulless old maid was waiting by the corner of the room, carrying a broom and with a blank stare plastered across her face. She had always been so unobtrusive that he almost forgot she existed.
‘I’ll need to deal with her at some point.’
Red couldn’t bring her soul back, but he also wasn’t cruel enough to simply kill her. He hoped to turn her to the authorities at some point so she may be reunited with her family, but he couldn’t do this right now without the risk of exposing himself.
“It’s fine,” Putting the matter to the back of his mind, he looked back at the imp. “And no, we didn’t kill him.”
“Ah… T-That is extremely unfortunate.”
The imp’s disappointment was evident, but Red ignored it.
“I have a question for you. How did your cult disguise their demonic corruption?”
“Disguise it?” The demon was in thought for a bit. “We… I-I mean, they mostly avoided using demonic techniques in public.”
“So they never had to clean away the lingering corruption?”
“Oh, they did, but I wasn’t part of the process. From what I learned from my brother, though, it has something to do with their star symbol.”
‘The necklace?’
Red had almost forgotten about the symbol. He didn’t dare to investigate it back then, but he knew it could be used to communicate with other cult members, and it also allowed Emer to identify Red as a demonic cultivator. Now, he had learned it might also be capable of disguising demonic corruption.
“Is there anything else this necklace can do?” Red asked.
“It can also be used as a focus for rituals, and probably other things. I-I’m sorry, master, but I wasn’t privy to all its functions.”
“Do you know how they are made, or who makes them, for that matter?”
“Who makes them…?” The imp seemed at a loss. “N-No, now that you mention it, I have never seen them being made. Our superiors always gave them to new recruits, but I never saw where they got it from.”
‘So it might be some sort of Spiritual Artifact?’
Red knew that these symbols had some magical functions, but he always assumed their uniqueness came from a symbolic connection with the Infernal Emperor. Now, it seemed there was something special in their make, too.
He dismissed the imp to another room along with the maid and sat down to contemplate some matters.
“What do you make of this?” Red asked as Aurelia manifested across from him.
She sat cross-legged, unbothered by her long dress, if this was even possible for ghosts.
“The symbol?” She rubbed her chin in thought. “I’ve heard of similar devices before, but they emitted far more Spiritual Energy, like an artifact would. Those symbols they carried had no such energy, at least not the amount required to do something so difficult as cleansing corruption. So either the imp is mistaken or there has to be some way to activate it he is unaware of.”
‘If only we had them on hand, we could…’
Red cut this thought short. Even if he had them on hand, would he dare to investigate it?
He sighed and changed topics. “What do you make of Ilse’s story?”
“Bah! I still refuse to believe she got her hands on that technique, but… I couldn’t sense she was lying.”
“Has a core technique from a sect ever been leaked before?”
“They have. All disciples are kept under magical oath to not share the sect’s techniques, though, so such occurrences are extremely rare and quickly dealt with.”
“And the other sects, do they not take advantage of this to learn another sect’s techniques?”
“That’s a rogue cultivator’s outlook on things,” Aurelia looked at him as if he was a fool. “A sect is more than just their techniques, it’s also about spirit and doctrines. Even if they stole another sect’s technique, what use would it be for them if it conflicted with their teachings?”
“Still, they could study them for weaknesses and improve their own methods.”
“Indeed, but there’s no need to go so far as stealing. Sects constantly fought each other, so they knew how to deal with each other’s techniques better than anyone else. Of course, the reason such thefts didn’t happen was because there was little benefit while inviting too much risk on themselves, so it wasn’t worth it for them.”
“Then how could she come across that technique?”
“‘A Distant Dream’…” Aurelia seemed to be reminiscing. “It’s the standard divination technique of inner disciples of the Divine Dream Sect. Leaking it is tantamount to treason of the highest degree, and I assure you that their sect, above all other sects, has several means of ascertaining if one of their techniques is being practiced by a non-disciple.”
Red followed her logic to its natural conclusion. “So this means that either she is practicing a different technique, or she has the sect’s permission to use it.”
“The latter is even more absurd! Why would they grant permission to a non-disciple? If they feel she had potential as a recruit, then they would have recruited her to their sect a long time ago.”
He wasn’t able to offer a counter-argument to that. There might have been strange circumstances behind the matter that allowed this deal to come to pass, but he had no way to investigate it and neither did Lady Ilse, so he decided to explore the remaining option.
“Why would they give her a fake technique?” Red asked. “The effects still seem real and naming it that would only serve to invite danger to her.”
“How would I know?” Aurelia glared at him. “Stop pondering over useless matters. No matter the reason, there is something suspicious about her story, whether she knows it or not.”
Her implications were left unsaid, but Red knew what she meant with that gaze.
‘Don’t trust her.’
He still felt somewhat conflicted over the matter, but further discussion with Aurelia was pointless.
“What about Nikon? Do you have any insights into his ability?”
“Not beyond what you already know,” She shrugged and leaned back. “His technique consists of absorbing energy into reinforcing his body into becoming a sturdy metal. It is an ingenious combination of essence and bodily cultivation, but I’m not sure it is without its flaws.”
Red’s attention was piqued by her words. “You have figured out a flaw in the technique?”
“Not necessarily. However, you need to understand how strong this ability is for a Lesser Ring Realm cultivator. Only Spirit Core cultivators can do something similar by assimilating ambient Spirit Energy into their own techniques, so I sincerely doubt someone so much weaker can do the same with no limitations, regardless of being a demonic cultivator or not.”
‘So, there is a flaw involved?’
Red closed his eyes and thought back to their battle. Other than Nikon’s temper, he couldn’t recall anything that stood out as a weakness in his technique. Maybe there was a limit or a side-effect that would appear eventually, but he could only probe that the next time they fought.
‘The next time…’
For some reason, he assumed there would be a next time, as if it was a foregone conclusion. Perhaps now that he was actively resisting the cults, it was only a matter of time before he met up with Nikon again.
With most immediate concerns addressed, Red took out the disassembled mannequin from his bag. Aurelia’s eye twitched when she saw it.
Red started to assemble the puppet. “You said you wouldn’t do it, but-”
“Go to hell!”
Her figure vanished into thin air.