Chapter 11: One-Man Army

Blood and Shadows (1)

The self-proclaimed princess's soul shouted for proper etiquette.

Comet scratched her cheek and subtly bowed her head toward the Soul orb.

"Hello, Princess. It's nice to meet you."

『Hmph. Though your manners lack basic etiquette, I shall overlook it, seeing as you are clearly uneducated. Consider it an honor.』

Comet gazed at the Soul orb and grinned.

"How did you die, Princess? Your willpower must be extraordinary to maintain your ego even in soul form."

『There is a profound reason. One that cannot be revealed to a commoner.』

"I see."

Comet readily agreed.

"Is there anything else you wish to say?"

『Though insufficient, you seem to respect this body. Look to your left.』

Comet did as she was told, and her eyes flickered upon noticing something. It was the corpse of a small jellyfish draped in fine cloth. Judging by the tire tracks, it seemed to have been run over by a car.

『I request the recovery of my body.』

"…Are you a jellyfish?"

『A jellyfish?! What is this ape saying?!』

Comet listened to the princess's fury and pondered for a moment. She briefly worried about whether it was safe to eat an unidentified piece of junk food. It would probably be fine.

Comet blew the dust off the Soul orb containing the princess and put it in her mouth.

『What? You wouldn't dare…!』

A crunching sound echoed as the orb was bitten. Small sparks flew. The orb, on the verge of shattering, resisted and began to repair itself.

『Kkyaaaak! You crazy bastard, stop it?!』

Comet focused her Spiritual Power and bit down, but gave up when the resistance grew stronger and her teeth began to ache. She probably needed to draw a magic circle to absorb it. As she spat out the orb and wiped her mouth, the princess gasped for breath.

『Ha! Daring to try and devour this noble body, know your place!』

"How would you like me to recover your body?"

Comet asked as she approached the small jellyfish corpse. The princess paused at the nonchalant question, then spoke after a moment.

『You'll do it…?』

"Yes. You asked me to, so I will."

『After what you just did?!』

"That's that, and this is this. If you don't want me to, I won't."

As Comet moved away from the corpse, the princess hurriedly spoke.

『Wait, wait. Water would be good. Considering you're a commoner who doesn't know etiquette, I'll tell you what to do step by step, so just follow along.』

Comet obediently followed the princess's instructions.

『First, wash this body's corpse with water.』

There was no suitable water nearby. Comet picked up the dead jellyfish and looked around before entering a ruined restaurant and turning on the faucet. She removed the clothes draped on the jellyfish and washed away the dirt and dust.

Comet felt strange washing a jellyfish in a restaurant.

『What is that look? Washing the naked body of royalty without a reverent heart! How dare you!』

"I haven't learned enough to be reverent."

『Hmph. Knowing is enough. Still, try your best.』

"I will."

She completely washed away the dirt and dust from the small jellyfish.

『Now, immerse this body's corpse in still water.』

Comet paused as she looked for a place to immerse it. She wondered if this was really the right thing to do. When the princess urged her on, Comet took out a pot and filled it with water. She placed the jellyfish inside.

Comet stared intently at the pot containing the jellyfish. She really wondered if this was the right thing to do.

『Your gaze is still irreverent. Are you truly trying to be reverent right now?』

"I'm sorry. It's difficult. I'm genuinely trying."

『It seems the level of commoners is lower than I thought.』

"…You're not going to tell me to boil the water in the pot next, are you?"

『Now, we wait. Do not rush me.』

Before long, the jellyfish in the pot dissolved into the water and disappeared. The princess's atmosphere turned somber. It must be a culturally significant aspect of jellyfish society.

『Carefully pour the water onto the roots of a plant.』

Comet picked up the pot, looked around, and spotted a roadside tree. She approached it.

"Will this do?"

『Yes.』

The water was carefully poured.

Comet grinned at the Soul orb containing the princess.

"Cheer up. Life always has an end, you just arrived early. It's just a fleeting moment in the vast universe and the flow of souls."

『Hmph. You dare to comfort me after trying to eat this body.』

"I was merely respecting your soul. Now that that's settled, let's move on. My soul collecting has been delayed because of you, Princess."

『Are you a Necromancer?』

"I am."

『You would do well to give up on eating this body.』

"Yes, yes."

Comet conversed with the princess while collecting souls, and returned to the National Assembly Building when the situation had calmed down somewhat.

#

Comet stretched.

"It's good to be back in my room. I should take a day off tomorrow."

『This has been a time to understand why the empire historically persecuted Necromancers.』

"I see. I'm glad I could be of help."

『You have a knack for interpreting other people's words in a way that suits you, don't you?』

Comet sat at her desk and picked up the Liquid Mana tumbler she had received from Chairwoman. She smeared Mana on her finger and sketched a magic circle on the desk.

『What are you drawing?』

"A magic circle."

Comet completed the magic circle. She placed the Soul orb containing the princess in the center.

『Wait…!』

The princess, realizing her intention, cried out urgently. Comet casually flicked her finger and tried to activate the magic circle. However, before she could, the fluorescent light went out.

"Huh?"

Darkness descended upon the assigned room. Comet looked up at the ceiling. It was a power outage.

The Soul orb containing the princess moved on its own and emitted a dark crimson aura. Shadows flickered.

『The price for insulting royalty shall be paid with your body!』

Surprised by the sudden attack, Comet quickly kicked back her chair and jumped up. Shadow tentacles rose up and wrapped around Comet. Comet slashed at the tentacles with her knife, but left one intact, wondering if her hunch was right. The tentacle touched Comet and burst with a spark.

『Kkyaaaak!』

The princess screamed and then fell silent. Comet wondered what she was doing.

Before long, the fluorescent light came on. The power outage seemed to be resolved.

"Were you perhaps trying to possess me?"

『Kugh, damn it.』

"Seriously? I'm a Necromancer. What soul tries to possess a Necromancer?"

『This crazy… How can you be so strong…?』

"If you were going to possess someone, you should have tried someone else."

『Do you think I would possess those commoners who lack talent in blood and shadows!』

"I see. I am quite talented."

Comet twirled a strand of hair beside her ear. The self-proclaimed princess of blood and shadows had used magic she had never seen before.

Comet pondered for a moment and then activated the magic circle she had drawn.

『Wait, wait! Let's make peace!』

Soul Restraint Circle activated.

Pressure was applied around the Soul orb.

Comet gripped her knife, holding it in a way that made it easy to strike down. Spiritual Power flowed into it, making the blade feel chillingly sharp.

『Don't you know peace?! Wait a moment!』

The princess babbled on, offering a truce. It was a meaningless gesture.

The knife pierced the Soul orb, and a massive spark erupted. The princess screamed, and the orb cracked as if it would shatter.

Comet watched the results, then tapped the handle of the knife as if hammering with an empty hand. Each time, screams and curses echoed, but the orb never broke.

Comet put down the knife.

"…Your mental fortitude is incredible."

『You goddamn commoner! Do you think you can devour royalty!』

Though exhausted, the princess had become arrogant.

"Why is your language so vulgar when you're a princess? And you use strange pronouns."

Comet roughly erased the magic circle.

『Hmph! None of your business!』

It seemed she would have to get a soul compactor from Chairwoman. Chairwoman must be incredibly busy right now, so it would take time to ask for it.

However, contrary to her expectations, it didn't take long for her to meet Chairwoman.

The next day, Chairwoman's aide visited.

『Chairwoman? Is that commoner also a Necromancer?』

"No. She's an Alchemist. She's been helping me in many ways."

Comet whispered so the aide wouldn't hear. Since she was a soul, she didn't need a loud voice to converse.

『Hoo, in that case, she might be able to create a body for this body.』

"Creating a Homunculus is impossible under the current circumstances. If you need a body to possess, should I get you a jellyfish?"

『A jellyfish?!』

Comet scratched her cheek. Wasn't she a jellyfish?

『Are you planning to possess an ape if you lose your body!』

"Now that I hear it, I understand. But isn't it better than being absorbed by me? I was saying it with good intentions."

『Hmph. That will never happen.』

"Yes, yes."

Chairwoman was not in her office, but in the situation room of the National Crisis Management Center. Her aides were tidying up the room nearby, as if they had just finished a meeting.

"Are you aware of the power outage yesterday?"

"Yes. Thanks to that, I had some trouble."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

"It's nothing much."

『This body is nothing much…?』

The princess said in a somewhat shocked voice. Comet pretended to fix her hair and whispered to the princess that it was.

Chairwoman tapped the armrest of her chair with her fingers.

"I'm glad it's nothing much. Anyway, there was a power outage yesterday. It wasn't an accident or a mistake. It was the result of a high-risk Monster occupying one of the power plants responsible for Seoul."

"Oh…"

"There are generators, but it's difficult to use them for long. How about it? Would you be willing to participate in a small, elite subjugation team?"

Comet scratched her cheek.

"It's hard to refuse. What's the composition of the small, elite team?"

"Officer Dan, and…"

Chairwoman mentioned a few people Comet didn't know. Comet twirled a strand of hair beside her ear and thought for a moment.

"In reality, you'll be the one catching it, and the rest will just be assisting."

"I don't think we'll need the others. Could I go alone with Officer Dan? People who haven't worked together before are just likely to be a hindrance anyway."

"You sound confident?"

"I have plenty of Souls right now. I haven't raised my Assimilation rate yet, but thanks to that, I actually have more than enough reserve power in case of an emergency."

It was a difference between temporarily using Spiritual Power beyond the maximum by consuming Souls, or increasing the maximum Spiritual Power. The results were different, but there wasn't a big difference in the method.

The method I used when catching the demon Monster at Dan Ga-yeon's request was a one-time use. Biting the Soul orb or slamming the knife down to absorb the princess was an act of using high-grade Souls to increase the Assimilation rate. The actions were the same, but the results were different.

Now, in this emergency situation where cracks have appeared in the multiverse, she was placing more importance on emergency reserves than on the Assimilation rate for the future.

Perhaps because she said she had recovered a lot of Souls, the Chairwoman smiled bitterly for a moment.

"Then I'll ask you to do it."

"Yes. Don't worry. Oh, by the way, do you have a Soul Compactor?"

"We don't have one, but I'll have one prepared."

『What? What is the intention?』

Even though you know already.

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