Chapter 191: An Experiment

  The group continued through the corridors, but as they passed the monster’s remains, the scenery began to change.

  No longer were the corridors pure white, giving the appearance of living quarters. Now, the surroundings were black, pitch black, making the light from Jinae’s ball feel uncomfortably small. The doors were reinforced, made of steel at least three inches thick, and the floor was rough, likely to prevent slipping.

  It was beginning to feel like a true laboratory.

  “This place feels like the entrance to the pits of hell,” Jinae muttered, looking around. “The mana is even more mucked up than before. And… the smell of death lingers everywhere.”

  “Hell?” John frowned. “You guys have that?”

  “You guys? What do you mean by that?” Jinae frowned.

  “Did I not- I’m from another world, remember?” John sighed. “You’d be surprised at how afterlives differ from world to world.”

  “I- I see,” Jinae said, stunned into silence. “Well, hell is not the location of the afterlife. It is commonly believed to be the place of origin of demons.”

  “The place… of origin?”

  “Essentially, where the Demon God resides.”

  John frowned.

  “This… I don’t think this is gonna be relevant to the [Plot],” he sighed. “Forget it.”

  Jinae just smiled. John felt a little relieved. Of everyone he’d met, this woman had pestered him the most about his knowledge, but somehow, she also felt the most considerate. She knew when to give up. She knew when it was appropriate to ask questions and when it wasn’t.

  Besides, the existence of hell was only present because of the [Author]. Based on Jinae’s hasty explanation, this was likely something that hadn’t been in the [Setting] to begin with… or maybe it had?

  No, this felt like a classic isekai. There wouldn’t be any invasion of the Demon God’s realm, no slaying of deities beyond mortal comprehension. In the first place…

  Well, Destiny’s blade could cut through anything, couldn’t it?

  “On second thought, tell me a bit more about this hell,” John said quietly.

  “Of course. See, Celeste is a physical existence. So are Solaris, Lunaris and Gaius. However, we believe that they exist on another plane of existence and cannot interfere with our world. Then, the Demon God likely exists in a similar plane of existence.”

  “Ah. I see where this is going,” John said. “If they existed in the same place… four gods should beat one, right?”

  “Exactly. So we hypothesized that they exist in separate realms. The realm of our gods, we call ‘heaven.’ The realm of the demons is known as ‘hell.’ Of course, this is all theory. No mortal or Mystic has ever proven the existence of such things.”

  “Hm…”

  John filed the information away for later. It might not come in handy, but it was still an interesting bit of trivia to know.

  They continued to progress through the lab, the area growing bigger, the walls opening up as the ceiling grew higher. Pieces of machinery were scattered everywhere, their purpose unclear. There were surgical tables with rusted blades stuck in them, dirty sinks, and tables with beakers full of unknown contents.

  The most unsettling aspect of the area, however, was the sheets covering what seemed to be corpses scattered everywhere. You couldn’t go anywhere without seeing one.

  “...makes sense,” John muttered.

  He wanted to split up, but that was far too risky a decision to be made. If they ran into another abomination that was only defeatable with [Deus Ex Machina] energy, they’d all be screwed. In this situation, the only thing they could do was stick together.

  “John,” Jinae said, summoning a second ball of light. “Over there.”

  There was a door that seemed to be broken open. The steel was dented, the lock broken somehow.

  Someone else had been here.

  “You can deal with whoever’s in there,” John said, confidently walking toward the door. “If it’s a person, they won’t be immune.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. The arc’s not ending this early.”

  Jinae looked a little confused, but once again, she held herself back from asking any questions. She simply followed John as he pushed through the door, sending an orb of light into the room.

  “...what the hell is this?”

  Inside was something somewhat unexpected. Instead of a laboratory-like setting, the room seemed like an office. There was a desk with sheafs of paper scattered all around, bookshelves lining the walls. John looked around slowly.

  This had to be important.

  “It seems to be… files and such,” Jinae murmured, looking around. “There doesn’t seem to be any form of protection magic on these. They should be safe to look at.”

  John looked at the bookshelves, trying to see if there was anything of importance. There wasn’t. Then again, he had to stop thinking in terms of [Story]. If Zero was right, the [Author] had removed any traces of stereotypical [Story] traits.

  He was looking for hints not as a [Reader], but as a [Character].

  “Fine,” he muttered, looking at the desk. “I’ll check here first.”

  He sifted through the paper, stumbling across a strange, tattered notebook.

  “...that was stupidly easy.”

  Was it really supposed to be this easy? Was he really supposed to just find this book like this?

  “Whatever.”

  He glanced up. Prota and Jinae were both standing guard, which seemed appropriate. Jinae was far more interested in the books than Prota was, but at least she was still paying attention. John cursed to himself. He shouldn’t be slacking off, either.

  But then again, what we he supposed to against monsters of this calibre? He hadn’t gotten any stronger. Hell, he didn’t even have an escape route. There was no railgun to bail him out this time.

  “Let’s see what’s here…”

  {Entry 1:

  I seem to have been placed in a strange new environment. I was brought here by a being who claimed to be something known as a Demon King. I do not know what this is.

  However, what this being said next intrigued me.

  There is a being in this world known as the “hero.” Such a being sounds like something out of a fantasy novel; however, I digress. How silly something might seem is of no importance to me. What matters is the being’s intent.

  I was called, not to fight, but to experiment. To create something capable of defeating a hero, to create an existence powerful enough to defy fate. I know not what this means, but that matters not. If there is science to be conducted, I will be there. If there is something to create, I shall create it.

  For now, the being has left me alone to adjust to this new world. I can hardly believe this is not some sort of illusion or dream, hence the journal. I shall record new entries upon discovering new things.

  And… I suppose it is important to retain my sense of self. Should I forget my identity, only one thing remains important:

  I am the Doctor. A man who stands above everyone else. My intellect sets me apart from those who proclaim to be human. I shall never forget this for as long as I live.}

  “Doctor,” John muttered.

  It was fascinating for such a man to be brought back up many years later, but… well, there was no point in questioning it.

  {Entry 2:

  This is a strange world indeed. Its structure is archaic in design, its governments like those of medival times. Modern technology isn’t even in the minds of these peasants. In that regard, they may be even lower than the subjects I once improved.

  However, all can be excused in the presence of magic.

  A strange, fascinating energy, one I can hardly comprehend myself. Such a things should not exist. It contradicts any laws of science I once knew. And yet… it is so very real.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  The Demon King has yet to approach me again, but this “magic” is something I must investigate further.}

  John grumbled to himself. This wasn’t useful. He wasn’t looking to see what Doctor did in the first few years of his time in this world.

  He wanted to know what this lab was all about.

  The third entry was useless, mostly detailing things about this world and how it worked, but the next entry was of interest.

  {Entry 4:

  I have discovered a species known as dragons. Proud, intelligent, but most of all, incredibly powerful. They retain the ability to absorb the mana of other beings. How fascinating. To forcibly take a universal energy from other living beings and claim it as their own.

  Soul Steal. I believe that is the name. This may be one of the strongest abilities in this world.

  Inherently, it must. Domination is what all-powerful beings crave. To take what belongs to another is the most pure form of power. No other race, no other beings can do such a thing. They can kill. They can rule. But they cannot take.

  I must study this more.}

  He still had no idea what was going on here. His purpose in this place to was find out what Prota’s origins were. The fact that Doctor was here wasn’t surprising, but he didn’t quite get what the man had to do with anything.

  Well. That was a lie. John did have a feeling that he knew what was going on.

  He just didn’t want to think about it.

  {Entry 6:

  The Demon King has introduced me to a strange energy known as “conceptual energy.” Apparently, it disobeys even the laws of magic. It is an illogical power that bends reality to its will.

  I was given some. Apparently, this “hero” has the ability to bend causality, albeit unconsciously. The world follows them and favours them. The Demon King supposedly needs a creature that can bypass this causality and defeat the hero.

  It must be strong. It must be powerful enough to hold its own in a fight, yet it must also bear this strange power.

  I have been given freedom to do what I wish. I know exactly what I will do.

  This will take years of experimentation. But that matters not. I will be given access to my own laboratory, my own test subjects and assistants, just like it was at the camp.

  Oh, how glorious my creation will be.}

  “John,” Jinae hissed, snapping him out of his reading session. “Something’s moving outside.”

  John put the notebook down, quietly walking toward the door. He peeked through the crack, then quickly moved back, trying his best not to make any noise.

  “...that’s not good,” he said quietly, looking up. “That’s… they look like zombies. I don’t think they’ll be particularly hard to deal with, but… they might be annoying.”

  “Do they bear your energy?” Jinae said, grabbing her staff.

  “No.”

  “Then we can deal with them.”

  Prota, too, grabbed her staff, preparing to head out.

  “...John,” she said quietly. “Stay safe.”

  “Of course. I’m not going out there,” he laughed. “Deal with them and get back in here, alright? Just make sure nothing goes wrong, and I’ll be fine.”

  The two nodded, heading out. Immediately, they were greeted with the sight of a dozen men and women stumbling toward them. They weren’t moving quickly or anything. In fact, they were shuffling forward, almost in the way Jinae did when she wasn’t fighting.

  Prota wasn’t sure what these enemies were. It seemed that many of the corpses under the sheets had moved, but did that make them undead?

  The strange thing was that they didn’t seem to show any signs of decay. There was no rotting, no visible bones, nothing of the sort. If not for their irregular, jerky movement and lifeless expressions, Prota might have assumed they were indeed undead.

  One of them stumbled close to her, swinging in a wide, open arc. Such an action was easily dodgeable, and she sidestepped it with ease.

  However, the swing wound up hitting a nearby machine, and the metal crumpled under its blow. The corpse had crushed the machinery as if it were made of paper.

  “Don’t get it,” Jinae warned, knocking one down with a giant boulder. “There is a strange mana surrounding these creatures. It seems demonic. Resurrection magic, perhaps, although such a thing is rare. I had not heard of a cultist wielding this power.”

  Prota nodded, making sure she didn’t get anywhere close to these strange people. A couple icicles and fireballs would do the trick.

  Unfortunately, things weren’t that simple.

  The icicles pierced through their heads, but instead of dying, they continued to shuffle forward. It was incredibly unsettling. There were no groans, no noise, just the sound of their feet moving along on the ground, slowly approaching.

  Instead of blood, a strange black liquid emerged from their bodies, spilling onto the ground. The corpses seemed to pay it no mind, stepping through the goop as they continued their advance.

  “Prota,” Jinae muttered. “I’m afraid you’ll have to burn them. Leave nothing.”

  Prota frowned ever so slightly, blue flames appearing before her. They flew forward, expanding into a fiery inferno as they made contact with the corpses, devouring them alive. For every enemy they destroyed, they left nothing but ash behind.

  In a few minutes, they were done with their job.

  “Good,” Jinae said, looking around. “How… odd. Those were abominations. Creatures that shouldn’t exist.”

  “...corpses not possible?” Prota asked, tilting her head in confusion.

  “I’m sorry. What do you mean?”

  “I… I saw zombies before. Zombie… orcs. Zombie people.”

  “Ah. Yes, there is magic that allows one to puppet bodies, but this wasn’t anything like that. There was no one to control these corpses. They were moving of their own will, as if someone’s will had been imprinted into their bodies. That strange black liquid was much like what we saw with that strange monster from earlier. I hope we don’t run into anything else…”

  Prota’s eyes widened.

  “Wait-” she started, but it was too late.

  Immediately, six more corpses came out from the darkness, but these ones were far more twisted. Their bodies were bent as if they were made of clay, limbs and neck twisting and snapping in irregular movements, skittering across the ground like giant human spiders.

  “Prota!” Jinae exclaimed, immediately throwing up a defensive barrier. “Quick!”

  Prota nodded, multiple arrows of blue flame flashing into existence. With a single movement of the hand, the spells shot forward, homing in on their targets.

  Then, to Prota’s surprise, the creatures used magic.

  It was somewhat weak. Just a few flimsy barriers of ice and earth. They didn’t quite stop the arrows, but it bought them time.

  “That’s- that shouldn’t be possible,” Jinae gasped. “Revived corpses cannot use magic. That is impossible.”

  Something clicked in Prota’s mind. She had a sinking feeling she knew what was going on, but just to check, she closed her eyes for a moment, searching for something.

  “...not corpses,” Prota said grimly. “Souls. Empty souls. Puppets.”

  “Puppets- are you familiar with these?”

  “Nn,” Prota nodded. “John explain.”

  With that, the two continued to fight. Prota tried to take away their mana in hopes of preventing them from using spells, only to find they had no mana. There was a soul with no soul. Mana cores with no mana.

  They were like broken versions of the slaves Doctor made. The way their bodies bent reminded Prota of the chimeras. These felt like prototypes. Failures. Incomplete versions of what she’d seen in the Town of Beginnings.

  Fear and rage welled within her, half a dozen Frozen Flames materializing above her head. She charged in, ignoring the fact that these creatures could fold metal with their bare hands.

  “Prota-” Jinae started, but it was too late.

  Prota had already leapt into the midst of the monsters, barely avoiding a hit. They swung clumsily, their attacks sounding out with a ringing boom as their fists made contact with the floor. A piece of machinery fell over, letting out a loud crash.

  However, it was already over. The Frozen Flames came crashing down, the petals freezing the creatures solid before the flames exploded, smashing the monsters to shards.

  “...I will not probe,” Jinae said quietly. “But if something happened to you, your brother would be rather upset, would he not?”

  “...sorry,” Prota muttered.

  “No. Your actions were fine. But, in the future, it is best to understand what you are getting into before leaping in. You did well, Prota,” Jinae smiled.

  She knelt down, picking up a piece of ice with flesh still inside.

  “Still, this is… quite curious,” she muttered. “What a strange energy. I suppose this is due to the power of conceptuality. Desire, perhaps… or maybe that of control. To command these corpses in such a manner…”

  Prota sat down as Jinae continued to examine the remains, trying to calm herself down. This wasn’t like her. To react so violently…

  Why? What was this place? Suddenly, she was getting an uneasy feeling. It wasn’t like she was expecting a new enemy or anything. She just felt like this place wasn’t meant to be explored. As if she was never meant to be here in the first place.

  Unfortunately, she wouldn’t have time to mull over it any longer.

  “Prota!” Jinae exclaimed, suddenly standing up.

  The goop on the group began to gather, the little blobs worming their way to each other, clumping and growing. They grew in little subgroups, then those groups began to merge together, ignoring anything in their way. There was a loud crash as they knocked over a table with plenty of tools on it.

  “You need to get John,” she said, staring at the gathering mass. “Now.”

  ~~~

  As soon as the two left, John went right back to the notebook. He wanted to skip forward, but doing so would risk losing important information. Most of the entries were about brainstorming, or acquiring “test subjects” and assistants, the building of the lab, so on and so forth.

  There were a few entries that were of use, of course.

  {Entry 13:

  I have successfully absorbed some of this “conceptual energy.” I am not fully aware of what I am capable of yet, but my body seems to have transformed as a result.

  Instead of flesh, I now seem to be comprised of some strange, viscous liquid. I can move it to my will. It seems to be apart of myself. Strangely enough, it does not drip, nor does it act like a liquid. Nay, it acts far more like a solid, merely bearing the properties of liquid.

  I have crafted a faux skin for myself, as to pass by others more easily.

  More investigation must be done.}

  “...what the hell?” John frowned.

  Suddenly, there was a loud crash from outside the door. John ignored it. If they needed help, they would ask.

  Right?

  He continued to read, trying to pick up the pace. There was an interesting entry about how Doctor came to understand the nature of his power, but it wasn’t anything relevant. He had to keep going.

  {Entry 22:

  I have succeeded in injecting a subject with “conceptual energy.” The subject immediately lost control of their body, the flesh melting into a strange, goo-like substance, similar to myself, less the sense of self.

  Some notes: I injected the energy using myself as a catalyst. I have saved about half the energy given to me, and it has been retrieved. Still, it seems that traces of the energy linger within the abomination I have created, as it cannot be harmed by mana. However, no more energy can be extracted, indicating that none is left. Quite peculiar, but unexplainable. It seems this will be a pattern with this new energy source.

  I shall try again once I understand more.}

  John frowned. That would explain the goo monster. A failed experiment, one that had used his energy as a catalyst. But why had it happened? Was it really just because Doctor had used himself as a catalyst?

  It didn’t make sense, logically speaking. If the monster were a branch of Doctor, its power should have been one surrounding the concept of “control.” However, John had sensed no such thing; it had simply been immune.

  Well, he wasn’t finished reading. It was simply a theory to file away for later.

  “...shaking?” he muttered.

  His hands were shaking as he held the notebook. Why? Was he scared of something? He tried to take a deep breath, intending to calm himself down, but he only felt his heart rate increase even more.

  “What…”

  He shook his head. Fearful or not, he had to keep reading.

  {Entry 34:

  Another three failures. These ones are more docile, but they, too, must be locked away.

  They have retained their human sense a bit more. The issue, it seems, was that I was injecting the body with the energy, rather than allowing the two to assimilate. I believe it was my own intelligence and sense of self that allowed me to stay conscious; else I would have turned into one of those creatures as well.

  The last test subject is almost fully human, still, but has no mind anymore. Still, it bears incredible power. Its strength, speed and agility are beyond those of a living being’s, even those with mana. I do not understand the science behind this, but it is incredibly useful to know.

  As before, I have taken the energy back. Traces of its effects remain; they are still mindless beasts with power that should not be theirs.

  I need to find something better. Something stronger.}

  There was another crash from outside the door, this time louder than before. He had to hurry up. It was possible that they needed his help. Maybe another of the creatures had found their way to them, and that meant he would have to supply [Infinity] to Prota once more.

  “Just one more,” he muttered, turning the page.

  He would end up regretting that decision.

  {Entry 35:

  I have been provided with the corpse of a young dragon.}