Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"I believe to know who would continue my work for the Scene. If my guess is right, the souls will start dying once the soul cluster's mana runs out and becomes unable to recover."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Mary asked suspiciously.

"Because it's what I would do if I wanted to make an army of immortal, but still controllable, soldiers. It's also a very easy thing to do when one already has the finished serum."

"If I understand you correctly, you are saying that hitting them hard enough will lead to them staying down, right? Why wouldn't that work on the "perfected" serum?" Seth asked for more details.

"Because I specifically got rid of that weakness by cultivating a strain that creates a connection between all souls of the cluster. That way, even if there is only a single cell left alive, it will anchor all the others on this plane of existence and allow the hive mind to regrow a body."

Mary stared ad the mad scientist with a horrified and confused expression as she had a hard time understanding what he was talking about. Seth on the other hand understood exactly what this meant, and what kind of a pain in the butt this was.

"Let me guess, you also researched the Zarkists?" Seth asked not amused.

This was exactly how the Zarkists as a whole had worked. The single follower gained immortality, by having their souls linked to their chosen of their god who acted as an anchor on the mortal plane. The interconnected soul cluster was the same, but on a microscopic scale and without a designated anchor.

"Yes exactly. How did you know?!" Cromwel exclaimed in surprise. "Not many people know about the details behind the Zarkist."

"I got rid of their chosen, I have to know."

Knowing this, Seth had to agree with Cromwell. Aside from things that could thoroughly retrain the biggest part of their bodies, or their consciousness it was virtually impossible to kill them. Complete incineration? Seth doubted even he could destroy a body down to the very last cell.

And what if they left a cut off finger lying around somewhere else? It didn't even need to be something deliberate. Seth imagines completely burning such an immortal, only for them to regenerate from the blood they spilt during the fight.

The blacksmith had read more than enough fantasy literature to know many ways of how to abuse that kind of power. With that in mind, the fact that they regenerated from the biggest part left of the body, was the biggest notable weakness. At least the only one they could exploit.

Seth couldn't help but sigh. This man had really done something worthy to call him a mad scientist. That being said, the idea of a cluster of interconnected individual souls was intriguing, even to the blacksmith.

Not to him, as a mortal human looking for eternal life, but him as a Spirit Blacksmith. It was similar but also distinctly different from the way he split a single soul to create a set of items. In the end, it was always something akin to a single soul residing in two bodies.

Trying to translate the soul cluster to items, or maybe even golems was tempting. Though it was less tempting when it came to golems. The golems he made by hand were already quasi-indestructible and could repair themselves thanks to his soul infusion.

As epic as the idea of an immortal golem army sounded, Seth was clear about the possible consequences. What if someone else took the control? What if he was not there to control them anymore? He wasn't Cromwel, and he didn't really have a reason to go that far.

However, using Soul Clusters to create items was an interesting concept. If he could, for example, use the golem ego as a hive mind, he could create a whole set of armor that could choose its owner. That way he could make even better Oath Armors, since the burden of restriction would fall onto a single soul with an ego, instead of a comprehensive set effect that took up enchantment space.

It didn't end there. He might even be able to extend the usability of an ego item, to the whole of the equipment, with a single ego soul. If the user wouldn't have to activate item skills themselves, but have the item cooperate with them, would majorly improve the efficiency in combat.

"You killed their chosen?" the doctor asked stumped after a moment of silence.

Seth looked up, letting go of his train of thought. He had just commented that in passing, but it was true that probably no one except for the members of Minas Mar and Leana knew about it.

"Yeah, It somehow happened," Seth shrugged.

The conversation came to an awkward silence. Unfortunately, it was soon interrupted by bad news.

"Seth, we have a problem!" Karina suddenly charged into the office."

---Mount Agra---

Pardo, Azul, and the other advance troops from Minas Mar exited from the Mana Gathering Array at the end of the maintenance tunnel to enter the mountains surrounding Mount Agra. Everyone drank a small stamina potion before continuing.

Although the golems had been sent immediately after they had gotten the news and were supposed to buy time, the chimeras and Faer had hurried over at top speed to join them as soon as possible. However, while they were resting a little, the scouts they had sent forwards returned with dismayed faces.

"What is going on?" Pardo asked, seeing the scouts that were gasping for air.

"We have to hurry! The barrier broke. Agra is being invaded."

Pardo asked him for more details, but nothing he could have said would have prepared him for the sight that came into view when they came over the ridge and their eyes fell on Mount Agra and the city that was nestled into the mountainside.

Attack magic was flying everywhere and many buildings were collapsing or in the process of collapsing. In the middle of the chaos were crowds of people, running around, crying, and shouting. Their screams could be heard even from far away.

The golden barrier most of them knew was nowhere to be seen and fights could be seen everywhere. Yet, what pulled all of their gazes were the lower districts towards the foot of the mountain.

This was where Agra's Hangingtree had been grown by Karina at Nas'korn's request. Usually, the massive tree would have been their biggest asset in such a battle, as it would have been able to snatch up and drain any attackers or monsters breaking through the barrier.

Now that massive plant, that even outgrew the high risers of the old city was, bound in a battle of titans. A giant statue that looked like it was made of polished shadows was struggling against the giant carnivorous plant.

It wasn't just the terrifying vines that strangled the giant fiend, but the massive branches and even its trunk were creaking and groaning as they bent like a constrictor to crush the terrible foe. But it wasn't a one-sided battle.

The statues were terrifyingly quick, strong, and agile. Tossing and turning, it managed to constantly rip vines and break vines in an attempt to free itself. On top of that, it seemed intelligent as it was able to use a kind of dark magic that made the wood rot under its hands.

The Hangingtree on the other hand was covered in a golden aura that helped it resist the terrifying rot. The chimeras recognized it as the power of Nas'Korn, although it was a weak, barely visible glow.

"Quick, we have to help the people," Azul was the first to break out of her stupor and state the obvious.

While the titans were bound in a tight struggle, the city itself was in chaos with fights happening everywhere and people losing their lives.

"Everyone, split into your teams and go help the civilians! Don't bother trying to kill the invaders. Subdue them and tie them up if you can," the ork-headed bear gave his instruction before the advance troops of Minas Mar joined the battle.

They had just started charging toward Agra when they heard an ear-shattering sound of destruction echo through the mountains.

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