In the end, Damien still decided to use the elemental spirits. They were too important to his current goal.
The spirits created a network through which they could project the scene from within the room directly to Damien. This was the specific reason Damien chose the wind spirits.
But these particular spirits were better termed Air Spirits. Their capabilities far surpassed the wind.
The wind carried sound, and the air was a medium through which all else traveled. The only medium greater than it was space.
Therefore, these spirits could utilize their control to project both sight and hearing to Damien.
“Experiment #3758, failure.”
These were the first words Damien heard. Accompanying them was a small screen in front of his eyes depicting an aged man and a young girl standing around a contraption meant to chain down test subjects during experimentation.
On that device was a naked man. Half his skin was gone, the other half turning inky black in color. His face was morphed into an eternal expression of terror that held even after he fainted.
“But he didn’t die yet.” The little girl inadvertently finished Damien’s thought.
“It’s true that he didn’t die, but this rate of infection isn’t nearly enough. Besides, look at his body. We cannot call this even a portion of the “perfect soldier” we are trying to create.”
The little girl looked at the man’s body and harrumphed. “Even if it looks deplorable, don’t insult my creations like that. If it wasn’t for the last step, would things have gone so wrong? We created artificial superhumans, we just can’t conform them to the Lords’ species properly.”
The old man clicked his tongue and nodded. In reality, although this man’s body was perfectly shaped like a human, he was a combination of various different beasts.
The arms of an ape, the legs of a cheetah, each section of his body was portioned off as such. But still, even with all the power they stuffed into him, he couldn’t last the transfusion of Nox bloodline.
While the two researchers were lamenting, Damien was reeling in shock.
He wasn’t surprised by the experiments, nor by the cruel scene of torture within the room. He wasn’t surprised by the substance that was similar to the Death Seed Zara ate, nor was he surprised by the Nox’s “perfect being” plan.
What surprised him was…
‘Aren’t they trying to create…me?’
Evolving by incorporating the strengths of beasts into his body, this was one of the core functions of his Void Physique. Being able to assimilate Nox bloodline without any injury was the same.
Oddly enough, Damien found that their so-called “perfect being” resembled not him, but…
‘The Void Physique. They are trying to imitate the effects of the Void Physique.’
The second he realized it, his mind felt like bursting.
Until now, there wasn’t a single person who knew about his physique. It was an utter mystery and no matter how much he searched, he couldn’t find answers.
The only answers he had were the ones given to him by the physique itself.
This odd “being” that was like his other half, this physique that was his bane at the beginning, but his greatest helper from then on…
To think the first ones who held a clue about it were actually his fated enemies!
Damien almost wanted to curse his luck, but he knew his luck was far too good for him to resort to that.
‘What do I do with this information? For one, I need to work even harder to hide the Void Physique. I can’t become the Nox’s number one target before I grow into my strength.’
‘And after I finally have the strength I need…I can charge straight into their main world and ask them myself. At that time, who could possibly stop me?’
Damien recalled the wind spirits soon after. He had no need for their help anymore. The old man and little girl’s conversation didn’t take any interesting turns after that.
And so, Damien took his leave. Before the sun rose, he had four more assassinations to complete. He had no interest in delaying them and ruining his chances.
Evotech wasn’t stupid. If all four vanished at once, they would investigate fiercely under the assumption that they were kidnapped.
However, if they vanished over a period of time, Evotech would be given the opportunity to retaliate. Each assassination would become harder than the last, and Damien might not be able to hide the fact that the researchers were being killed by someone on the inside.
Therefore, tonight was the night to strike. Afterward, he would focus on his own plan.
***
After Damien left the underground laboratory, the old man looked down at the little girl, and then back to the door that separates them from the containment area.
“Is he finally gone?” The old man asked. His tone was actually far more servile than it had been moments prior.
“Mm.” The little girl responded coldly. “Though I still don’t understand why we have to do this.”
The old man smiled wryly. “You should already know, Young Miss. Although he hasn’t made any large mistakes yet, he is slowly losing cautiousness. Would you rather he experience tragedy before learning his lesson?”
The little girl harrumphed and turned her head to the side. “Still, why me? Second brother or sixth sister would’ve been better for this job. Don’t I look too out of place?”
“Pfft…!” The old man let out a chuckle. His young miss was still a child, after all. Only these small antics of hers would remind someone of this fact, considering her usually cold and uncaring personality.
“Did you forget? Currently, you are the only one able to reach this place. If the second young master could replace you, he would never have allowed you to come out alone.”
“But you’re here too, grandpa!”
“Aiii, am I truly here? Even I wonder about it sometimes.” The old man chuckled mysteriously, causing the little girl to mock gag.
After this small stunt, the little girl returned to venting. At the same time, she walked up to the experiment subject and placed her small hand on his chest.
Greenish-white light sprung up from their point of contact. The heart-wrenching pain the test subject was feeling calmed quite a bit.
Once she was finished with some light healing, she immediately plunged her hand into his chest, piercing his heart.
But in the end, this was her way of showing goodwill.
The test subject couldn’t move the muscles on his face, but the emotion in his eyes clearly revealed how relieved he felt to be dying.
While this took place, the old man gazed into the steel door. His gaze seemed to pierce reality itself as it searched for its target.
The old man sighed to himself. ‘Mm. Such is the flow of all things. If fate permits, we shall meet again. Until then, grow steadily and do not disappoint me.’
With this thought, the old man vanished, leaving the little girl alone. Although she pouted, she seemed to have already known this would happen, so she didn’t look too surprised.
As the little girl went back to casually playing on her personal device and Damien continued moving through his assassination missions, there seemed to be a small fact that they had forgotten.
In a quiet house that was empty despite being infested by guards, there was a bed where an individual once slept.
However, in their place, there only remained a small trace in the air.
A trace that only few could feel, and even fewer could pinpoint.
It was the infinitely small, yet still present, scent of the Void.