A week later.
Rhine Lab.
"Ifrit, it's time for your treatment..."
Entering from the door was a Liberi woman. Her looks were of the cute and sweet type, but her face was devoid of much expression, maintaining an incredibly serious demeanor. She wore a pair of round, black-rimmed glasses, and at first glance, she exuded the stuffy air exclusive to a 'straight-A student'.
Her upper body was clad in Rhine Lab's specialized work uniform, while her lower half was bare-legged. Though her legs weren't particularly long, they were incredibly fair and well-proportioned. Due to her Liberi racial traits, the girl had owl-like feathers on her head, and while one hand was a normal palm, the other resembled a bird's wing.
Silence hadn't finished speaking.
From behind her, several more white coats with stiff and cold expressions had already walked in.
Ifrit, who hadn't even had breakfast, saw these white coats and the most primal fear hidden in her heart was unleashed. She trembled all over, wanting to resist, but was forcefully dragged away by these people.
Seeing the rough actions of these white coats, Silence's originally calm expression tensed slightly with anger, her right hand clenching into a fist.
"Can't you be a little gentler!"
"We don't have time to coddle children, Researcher Silence..."
One of the white coats with an incredibly cold expression pushed up his glasses, a sharp glint flashing across the lenses.
"Ahem!"
Just then, a cough sounded from outside the door.
The researchers all looked towards the door, and their perpetually unchanging faces stiffened slightly.
A strong Vouivre woman was standing at the doorway, and the aura emanating from her made the scalps of these white coats tingle and their hearts pound.
"Director Saria!"
"Is this how you treat a child?!"
Saria's stern words made the researchers' hearts skip a beat.
"Waaah!! Saria!!"
Seeing her, Ifrit almost wanted to throw herself into Saria's arms.
"I don't want a shot! Saria! Ifrit doesn't want to go with these cold white coats!!"
Faced with Ifrit's crying.
A gentle smile, unique to a woman, appeared on Saria's calm face. She patted Ifrit's head.
"It's alright, this is just to treat your illness. Once you're all better, you won't need any more shots."
"When will I be better..."
"...."
"Very soon, very soon..."
With Saria's comfort, Ifrit finally calmed down a bit. As usual, she followed the white coats into the experimental area. After briefly chatting with Silence and turning her head, a shadow of gloom flashed across Saria's face.
As the leader of this project, Silence naturally followed them into the laboratory, while Saria was responsible for handling any potential accidents.
The cold operating room, the metallic operating table that seemed to continuously emit a chilling glint, was terrifying.
This familiar and horrifying space made Ifrit tremble uncontrollably. Her hands and feet were tightly bound to the metal operating table, unable to break free no matter how much she struggled. The thick smell of disinfectant that permeated the air made Ifrit feel nauseous.
"Silence! Silence! Saria... Ifrit is scared..."
Ifrit looked at Silence and Saria, who had also changed into white coats by the operating table, her voice trembling. There was even... a hint of pleading in it.
By instinct.
Ifrit had a very bad feeling that something was about to happen.
"Don't be afraid... Ifrit~ You're a good girl, we're not afraid..."
A rare, affable smile appeared on Silence's face. Her soft feathers gently stroked Ifrit's head. Although still scared, Ifrit finally quieted down a bit.
At the same time.
The researchers beside them were all busy.
Potions of various colors were drawn into sharp syringes.
Under Ifrit's terrified gaze, they were slowly pushed into her body.
The moment it was injected.
Ifrit suddenly screamed in pain, her whole body convulsing violently. This severe reaction instantly made Silence anxious, but Saria immediately held her back.
"It's okay..."
Soon.
The blood vessels under Ifrit's skin seemed to have been injected with magma. Crimson flame patterns crawled along her blood vessels, covering her entire body.
"Saria!! What is this!!"
Silence, standing by, couldn't sit still any longer. She didn't remember this experimental drug for treating Oripathy having such an effect. She wanted to step forward and stop it, but it seemed it was already too late.
Ifrit's skin was now cracking inch by inch, and flames continuously erupted from under her skin. Her pupils also turned crimson at this moment. The surrounding researchers were also startled and wanted to retreat.
But Saria had already stood up, ready to act at any moment.
"Ahhhh!!!"
A roar like that of a giant beast came from Ifrit's mouth, and scorching flames enveloped her entire body.
"Saria!! What is this?!! Saria, tell me!! Did you know something? What's wrong with Ifrit!!"
The extremely anxious Silence noticed that Saria's expression seemed to have already anticipated this situation, and her eyes widened in an instant.
"It's dangerous, Silence."
"You!!"
What neither of them noticed was that, in the pocket of Ifrit's lab coat, the bone necklace Magallan had given her was emitting a faint glow.
——————
Lucas had been ridiculously idle these past few days.
He was practically working in shifts, chatting with Jessica and Alina, a master of multitasking and time management.
And just today, Lucas, who had just been chatting with Jessica, felt a tremor deep in his soul. He was slightly surprised, then realized that his third soul fragment had awakened, and it seemed to be very, very close..
It was as if.... it was right next door!!
After a brief word with Jessica, he plunged into the third awakened soul fragment. Jessica didn't ask any questions, just smiled and nodded.
"Hmm?"
"Why is it so hot..."
Lucas was a bit confused. He didn't know where his third soul fragment was. It felt like he had entered a sauna; it was very hot. That's not right, can souls feel heat?
And when Lucas released his Spiritual Power to investigate his surroundings.
Only then did he discover.
He seemed to be in the body of a little girl, and this little girl was currently on an operating table, her body filled with a terrifyingly hot soul aura. If he wasn't mistaken, in about ten more seconds, the soul inside this little girl would completely suppress her own and take control.
"Help..."
A faint consciousness entered Lucas's soul.
A call for help?
Very weak...
"Someone... please save Ifrit..."
This little girl was crying for help!
Without a second thought, Lucas dived directly into the little girl's soul world.
As the surrounding darkness dissipated.
What Lucas saw upon entering was a world made entirely of fire. On the ground, scorching magma churned continuously. A giant flame demon was entrenched in this soul world, and within the flame demon's body, the little girl's soul was imprisoned. The girl's soul was trapped inside the flame demon, suffering the constant torment of fire, wailing in pain.
A soul?
No...
This aura...
Lucas took a deep breath.
The power of divinity!!
If Lucas's guess was correct.
Was this another god?
Lucas felt a bit annoyed.
But the divinity of this fire monster seemed very, very minuscule. Even if it was higher than his own, it wasn't by much, completely different from the Black Serpent.
"I am about to be free!! This world will tremble before the power of this god!!"
The flame giant laughed passionately, and it had already completely taken over the little girl's body.
"Hmm?!"
As the flame giant was laughing, it finally noticed that someone else had appeared in this soul world at some point.
"A tiny ant?"
The flame giant's massive soul body bent down slightly, looking at Lucas as if he were an ant. And Lucas's newly awakened soul was indeed terrifyingly weak. In theory, he was indeed as insignificant as an ant before this flame giant.
"Then you shall become this god's sacrifice!"
With that, the giant fire monster lunged forward, its hand made entirely of fire slamming down directly on top of Lucas's head.
However.
There was one thing the flame giant could never have imagined.
This was a spiritual world. In this world, Lucas could directly use the power of his main soul, and the spiritual power of Lucas's main body was far, far stronger than it...
Just as the flame demon's fiery hand was about to descend on Lucas's head.
Several sharp glints of cold light flashed past, and in the next moment, the flame demon's large hand that was about to strike Lucas instantly shattered into pieces!
The speed was simply too fast.
The flame demon's fiery face, which had been so arrogant just a moment ago, instantly froze. It had just arrogantly thought it could easily crush this tiny soul, but in the next second, its own hand had been inexplicably sliced apart.
The next moment.
Before the flame demon could react.
It only saw crimson flashes of lightning flicker around the soul world. Then, in the next second, a crimson ball of lightning passed through its body in an instant. With a crack, the massive flame demon's body was directly sliced in two by this one sword strike from Lucas. The upper half of the flame demon's body disintegrated into energy as it fell to the ground, while the flames of the lower half, which enveloped the little girl, reformed, creating a new flame demon body identical to the previous one, only half the size.
"Who are you!!!"
The flame demon was terrified.
It had never expected to fail before it even began. Just moments ago, it was fantasizing about escaping and taking control of this body, using its incredibly powerful strength to make the world tremble. It never thought that a random ant who had entered its soul world would directly chop it in half...
Lucas didn't waste words.
The longsword materialized from his Spiritual Power swung thousands of times in an instant.
Dense, sharp glints of light sliced into the flame demon's body, instantly dicing it into many, many small pieces. And these small pieces had no regenerative ability; after being cut off by Lucas, they lost their power and dissipated.
Soon.
The originally enormous flame demon was reduced to a tiny lump under Lucas's slicing.
But Lucas didn't continue cutting.
Because he had sensed from the very beginning.
This flame demon's soul was already completely fused with the little girl's soul. If he killed the flame demon, the little girl would one hundred percent die as well...
At this moment, this flame demon, who had been so arrogant before, completely broke down. Under the force of Lucas's thousand slashes in an instant, it completely collapsed. It had a feeling that if its soul hadn't already fused with this little girl's, it would have been a goner just now.
The flame demon was now small, cowering in a corner, shivering and not daring to say another word, not even daring to look Lucas in the eye.
At this time.
The little girl's soul, now freed from within the flame demon, was blinking her big eyes, curiously sizing up Lucas.
Just as Lucas was about to speak.
The cute little girl spoke first.
"Big Brother! Are you the one who came to save me because I made a wish?!!!"
The little girl's eyes shone, filled with admiration. Just now, Lucas's dashing figure as he wielded his sword had been completely witnessed by the little girl. It was so cool!!
And the little girl's lively appearance now was a far cry from her painful state inside the flame demon.
"Indeed."
Lucas said with a smile.
"That's great!! Big Sister Maggy didn't lie to me!! That necklace can really grant wishes!! Um, um!! Big Brother, can you take me to the amusement park! This is Ifrit's wish!!"
Ifrit's eyes were filled with starlight. Her cute face seemed to hold a plea as she blinked her watery, big eyes expectantly at Lucas.
Big Sister Maggy?
Who's that...
Lucas was stunned.
————————
Rhine Lab Laboratory
Watching Ifrit, whose body was constantly emitting scorching flames, whose expression was one of extreme pain, and whose mouth was letting out excited, wild laughter.
Silence's heart ached as she clenched her fists.
Saria had already taken off her white coat, revealing her professional Rhine Lab power suit. The Originium energy in her body was surging, ready to suppress the situation at any moment.
Suddenly.
The beast-like, wild laughter coming from Ifrit's mouth abruptly changed its tone.
"Haha, ant! Die!! Become this god's sacrifice!"
"Ahhhh! Stop cutting me!!"
"Stay away from me!!"
And then...
Under the somewhat confused gazes of the crowd, the voice disappeared. Even... Ifrit, who had been in extreme pain and whose body was burning with flames just a moment ago, was now lying quietly on the operating table as if nothing had happened.
Everyone could hardly believe their eyes. A few frantic researchers had already rushed to the surrounding instruments to retrieve and check the data.
Then.
Shocking news came from the mouths of these frantic researchers.
"Stable!!"
"It's stable!!"
"The power has reached an initial balance!!"
"It's a success!! The project is a success!!!"
Saria frowned slightly.
A term surfaced in her mind.
The Flame Demon Project..
Succeeded?