"What's your name, Big Brother?"
In the soul world, Ifrit blinked her big, watery eyes, sizing up Lucas's body with a face full of curiosity. There was no fear, no disbelief, no shattered worldview—only intense curiosity. For children like her, their worldview was not yet fully established.
Their thoughts were wild and imaginative.
Never mind a soul.
If an Ultraman appeared right now, Ifrit would fully believe that light existed in this world~
"Lucas Reeve."
"Lucas Reeve?"
Ifrit scratched her not-so-clever head, looking troubled.
"Big Brother, why is your name so weird? It's such a mouthful... Ifrit might not be able to remember it... not like Silence, Saria, Maggy, their names are so easy to remember...."
Aren't those harder to remember? Hey!
Lucas was screaming internally.
So, who on earth is this Maggy.
Wait a minute?
Saria?
That name sounded familiar.
Lucas had a good memory. When he heard the name, the image of a strong Vouivre woman appeared in his mind.
"Rhine Lab?"
"Little girl, is this Rhine Lab?"
Ifrit put her hands on her hips: "It's Ifrit."
"?"
"Ifrit, that's my name! Don't call me little girl, my name is Ifrit!"
Ifrit puffed out her flat chest.
"Oh~"
"Is that Rhine Lab then?"
"Of course!"
Rhine Lab, huh?
No wonder this soul fragment felt so close.
Maggy?
"Little Ifrit, Maggy... couldn't be Miss Magallan, could she?"
Lucas asked tentatively.
However, Ifrit tilted her head in confusion.
"Magallan? Who's that?"
"That's Maggy's real name, her real name? Big Sister Maggy's real name seems to be Dicos, I think... I remember..."
"?"
Lucas chose not to argue with Ifrit anymore about what Magallan's name was.
It was as if the name 'Magallan' was cursed with some mysterious power of invisibility and unmemorability, causing everyone to misremember her name by default.
"So, Ifrit, do you know what's up with that little fire monster over there?"
Lucas got straight to the point, pointing at the Flame Demon cowering in the corner, hugging its knees and trembling.
The Flame Demon's face instantly stiffened. It screeched, trying to defend its last shred of dignity in a timid voice.
"Mortal!! This god is called!!"
*Swish~*
A flash of sword light.
A small tuft of fiery hair on the Flame Demon's head was sliced off by Lucas, scaring it so much that the flames on its body faded considerably.
"Ooh~ This... this god is indeed called little fire monster..."
"Wow!!"
Looking at the timid Flame Demon cowering in the corner, the starlight in Ifrit's eyes shone brightly. She looked at Lucas with admiration.
"Big Brother Lucas, can Ifrit be as strong as you? If I were that strong, I could beat up those annoying white coats, escape Rhine Lab fair and square.... and go to the amusement park!!"
"Hey! You're not using my power! If you had accepted my power earlier, we would have escaped long ago. You can't imagine how powerful I am, little girl."
The Flame Demon seemed to be a bit of a chatterbox. Even while cowering in fear in the corner, it couldn't keep its mouth shut and kept rambling.
"Are you sure?"
Ifrit looked doubtfully at Lucas beside her.
Flame Demon: "That doesn't count!"
Through their brief exchange.
Lucas also got a general understanding.
This little girl named Ifrit claimed to be sick and was at Rhine Lab for treatment. Ifrit didn't understand, but how could Lucas not? Treatment was a lie, probably just an excuse the people around her made up to fool her. She was likely an experimental subject, and this Flame Demon was very likely a product of that experiment.
How cruel...
Lucas's impression of Rhine Lab worsened.
To actually use a child as an experimental subject...
If he hadn't appeared in time, Ifrit would probably have had her body taken over by this Flame Demon today.
"Big Brother Lucas, have you been to an amusement park? Will you take me, please~"
"I haven't...."
Lucas shook his head.
He really hadn't been.
In his past life, he was a single dog, why would he go to a place like that? Now that he was in Terra, he had turned into a soul, so he had even less of a chance.
"Big Brother Lucas, you're so pitiful too~"
"Hmm?"
"Big Brother Lucas, can't you get out either, just like Ifrit?" Ifrit asked again. This child looked to be only about ten years old, her mental age wasn't high, and she was completely different from the shy Jessica. This little girl even had a bit of a social butterfly feel to her.
"Theoretically, that's true.."
"How pitiful~ Big Brother, but Ifrit is the same, I can't get out at all. Every time I sneak out, those nasty white coats always catch me and lock me back in this small room..."
Lucas wanted to get more information from Ifrit.
But Ifrit seemed to know nothing, or rather, she believed from beginning to end that she was just a patient receiving treatment. And when he asked the Flame Demon cowering in the corner, Lucas finally learned a term from its mouth.
The Flame Demon Project..
As the Flame Demon, it actually knew the whole process.
Implanting fragments of the Flame Demon into Ifrit's body in an attempt to create a more powerful warrior.
This method felt somewhat familiar to Lucas.
The Emperor's Blades?
Patriot had mentioned to Lucas the principle behind the birth of the current Emperor's Blades.
Could Ifrit be one of Rhine Lab's attempts to create 'Emperor's Blades'? No wonder... who wouldn't covet a mass-producible artificial product? A legendary figure as strong as Patriot could be killed by just four Emperor's Blades, and held off by three. Emperor's Blades could be produced in small batches, but there was only one Patriot.
"Little Ifrit."
"Hmm?"
Ifrit blinked her eyes at Lucas.
"Do you have any wishes right now? I can grant you any wish you want~"
This time, Ifrit answered without even thinking.
"I want to go to the amusement park!"
"...Can we pick a bigger wish?"
Lucas was a bit speechless. Why was this little girl always thinking about amusement parks?
"I want the sickness in my body to be cured quickly..." Ifrit raised her hand again and stated her wish.
Lucas took one look—Oripathy... and coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem... Let's go to the amusement park..."
"This contract is signed, you know~"
"Yeah!!"
The hands of the big and the small touched, signifying the acceptance of the wish.
——————
Rhine Lab Laboratory.
One of Columbia's major corporate giants, its main business is research and development in the field of biological sciences. It owns Columbia's most famous Rhine Hospital, which is also currently the hospital with the best medical standards in Columbia, bar none.
Rhine Lab's hierarchical structure isn't too complicated.
It's divided into ten sections in total.
Headed by the Control Section, with five research sections and four administrative sections under it.
Each section has a director, and this director holds immense power, comparable to some of the general managers at Raythean Industries.
At this moment.
In the office of the Control Section.
Ten directors representing the highest authority in Rhine Lab were sitting at a large round table.
"Director-General! The Flame Demon Project has been initially completed. The power within the test subject has now reached a preliminary delicate balance. This is a great thing! The test subject, fused with the power of the Flame Demon, will become one of Rhine Lab's most terrifying secret weapons. Similarly, with this breakthrough, we can officially begin our cooperation with the military!"
Parvis, the Director of the Structural Section, who was in charge of the Flame Demon Project, spoke with immense excitement, gesturing with his hands as he spoke, seemingly already envisioning future success.
This Flame Demon Project had actually been in preparation for a very long time.
This project itself was the benchmark for Rhine Lab's true advance into the military sector.
Everyone knew how formidable the Ursus Emperor's Blades were.
No one hadn't heard of the Emperor's Blade.
And the Emperor's Blade was a product formed by fusing a human with a Demon Fragment.
This powerful, artificially created being's strength was already comparable to the most outstanding elite operators. For an elite operator to reach the level of an Emperor's Blade required not only effort but also talent and time, none of which could be lacking. But the Emperor's Blades directly shortened this tedious process, allowing for artificial creation and even small-scale mass production...
What did that mean?
There wasn't a single country that didn't covet it.
There wasn't a single country that didn't want to create this ultimate humanoid weapon.
And the Columbian military had given this task to Rhine Lab, Columbia's biotech research giant. Thus, the Flame Demon Project was born.
Now that the project was a success.
Rhine Lab might be able to officially connect with the Columbian military.
The Director-General nodded, her expression still calm, as if nothing in the world mattered to her.
"First, classify the test subject as a trainee combat operator and proceed to the second stage of potential and power testing. And remember, systematic checks must be conducted daily to prevent any accidents. If the tests are fully passed, then provide the relevant intelligence to the military."
"Yes!"
Beside the Director-General.
Saria's expression was somewhat grim. She had strongly opposed this experiment from the very beginning. If the Director-General hadn't given the final word, the Flame Demon Project would never have been launched. And now that the Flame Demon Project seemed to have succeeded, she had even less ground to say anything.
Furthermore.
After Silence found out that she had been hiding this from her for so long, she had a huge fight with Saria, threatening to take Ifrit and leave.
But...
If the experiment had failed...
Perhaps there would still have been a chance to leave together.
But now that the experiment had succeeded, perhaps even Silence, the former head of the project, no longer had the right to have contact with Ifrit.
Saria was actually incredibly relaxed.
From the fact that Silence, who was supposedly the head of the entire project, knew nothing, it was clear that this guy Parvis had only ever treated Silence as a tool...
——————
"Saria!! What is the meaning of this!!"
That afternoon.
When Saria returned to her office after the meeting with the Director-General, she saw a menacing woman standing at her office door.
Sigh..
Saria sighed.
Just this morning, the two of them were chatting quite happily, but this afternoon, Silence had nearly flipped out.
"Why can't I see Ifrit now! Tell me!! What plan have you all been hiding from me? Wasn't Ifrit's treatment supposed to be for her Oripathy?!!"
Although Saria really wanted to explain to Silence, Silence had a strong personality, and so did Saria.
Even though she knew in her heart that just saying sorry would be enough.
With Silence's personality, she definitely wouldn't blame her too much.
But Saria's personality made it impossible for her to say it. In the end, she just returned to her office without saying a word, and this action was enough to infuriate Silence.
"I am!! Immediately! Taking Ifrit and leaving!!!"
With that said.
Silence turned and left.
Saria sighed silently.
However.
As Silence resolutely rushed towards the laboratory, Saria gritted her teeth and immediately got up to follow.
"I'm sorry... Researcher Silence, you are not authorized to have contact with the test subject at this time."
In front of Ifrit's room, a white coat blocked Silence's path.
"What do you mean! I am the leader of the experiment, and I am Ifrit's de facto guardian. I must see Ifrit!!"
Silence was extremely emotional today. She tried to force her way in.
"What was, was. Under the director's orders just now, you are no longer..."
However.
From within the laboratory, a figure in black ran over and whispered a few words in the researcher's ear. The researcher's face instantly changed color.
"What!! The test subject is gone?!! How did she disappear!!"
The researcher was terrified. His purpose here was to supervise the test subject and record her subsequent data. What was he going to do now!!
Silence, at the side, was also startled.
"Ifrit is gone?!!"
She shoved aside the researcher blocking her way and forced her way in. Sure enough, the glass room where Ifrit had been living was completely empty.
On the other side.
Lucas took control of Ifrit's body, which was constantly emitting blazing flames. These flames acted like thrusters, propelling Ifrit forward. This fire came from the Flame Demon. After being thoroughly taught a lesson by Lucas, the Flame Demon had become much more obedient, voluntarily lending its remaining power for Ifrit to use. The overall boost from the Flame Demon's power also gave Ifrit's physical condition a significant improvement.
The only unfortunate thing was.
Lucas's previous attack had indeed been brutal...
It had forcefully erased more than half of the power the Flame Demon had built up over such a long time. The previous Flame Demon was truly a Flame Demon; the current one could only be called a Fire Demon.
However.
Even so.
With the enhancement from the Flame Demon's power, Ifrit's small and frail body, which was weaker than an average person's, had improved significantly.
Under Lucas's control.
'Ifrit' easily dodged all patrols.
The current Ifrit could no longer be described as one body with two souls; she was completely one body with three souls.
Ifrit herself, the Flame Demon, and Lucas's soul.