93 – Dark Magic Workshop – 2
The first thing that greeted us as we passed through the scorched and burnt hallways was the terrible smell. It was like the smell in my stomach that I smelled when I was eaten by a monster.
However, there was no such thing as my body and lungs melting as soon as I entered the studio as I feared. Rather, the scenery was much cleaner than I expected.
Although the ominous feeling unique to black blooded monsters crept up from all sides.
‘Well, if they started to contaminate the surroundings, they would have abandoned this place and escaped long ago, rather than just doing research like this.’
Charlotte can completely block contamination from black blood monsters, but on the other hand, it would also mean that only those with skills comparable to Charlotte can completely block the contamination with magic.
At least, even the Royal Wizards and the Mage Tower masters could not completely block the air and soil, which had become extremely toxic due to the black blood.
The longer they live and breathe and the thicker the dark blood is splattered, the more difficult it will be to endure them.
Not too long ago, an S-class adventurer accidentally got covered in black blood and died on the spot. The pollution was so bad that even the corpse could not be recovered.
Even though they were protected by wizards.
‘It’s not as dirty as I thought it would be. No, rather, because you have to research dangerous things, are you pursuing more safety? Anyway, they seem like people who only know that my life is precious.’
I took a look at the workshop as a whole, but there was nothing special about it. It was similar to the scenery lined with all sorts of experimental equipment that I had seen while being stuck in the Magic Tower for hundreds of years.
If there is a difference, it is only that the things inside the experimental equipment are materials that humans should never touch.
He picked up a small flask lying nearby. A drop of black liquid was contained inside the flask, which was tightly sealed by all kinds of complicatedly overlapping protective magic.
It was a viscous liquid.
The glass was tilted almost vertically, but the black liquid only slid slightly downward. There was no sign of dripping or anything.
“Charlotte, can you guess how many protection spells this flask has?”
“There are 11 of them. It’s like every protection magic you can think of has been stacked.”
“It’s 11… it doesn’t matter how many protection spells you put on it. Anyway, unless it’s the magic circle you created, Charlotte, it won’t last long before it breaks through.”
“No matter how smart a beast is, it’s just a beast. Don’t you know that it makes no sense to dare to compare it to a human being?
He waved the flask in his hand around.
To put all conceivable protection magic on top of each other, the black blood was melting the glass little by little even at this moment.
Right now, protection magic is delaying melting, but its limits are clear.
Rеаd at ոоbӏеmtӏ.соm
Judging by the rate at which glass corrodes, this flask will melt completely in three or four hours at most.
Charlotte came next to me and tapped the flask with her finger.
“Looking at them wrapped up like this, they’re quite brainy. It means that they at least knew about the dangers of the black blooded monsters.”
“They know the danger and do things like this?”
“So, isn’t that why you and I came here? It’s to annihilate those who do things like this according to your will.”
Charlotte said that and gave me a cold smile.
I put the flask in my hand down on the desk. The sound of the glass and the wooden desk touching was exceptionally loud.
“What were you trying to study?”
“That’s the question you should ask that magician bitch. The answer won’t come out if you think about it here alone.”
“Is that so…”
“However, it shouldn’t be too difficult to predict. Is there anything special? At most, it will be idiots who use black blood as a weapon or try to combine humans and monsters. A monster that is far more powerful than an ordinary monster has appeared. It must be a very appetizing experiment.”
“Are there still people studying Chimera?”
I asked in a surprised voice.
Combining humans and monsters to create hybrids with human intelligence and monster bodies was an experiment that was once carried out in secret throughout the kingdom.
Quite a few criminal organizations touched the Chimera experiment once in a while, and even rumors spread that they were secretly conducting research in the Mage Tower.
I couldn’t figure out why such a crazy experiment became popular. I didn’t want to know the psychology of criminal organizations.
One thing is for sure, the damage was so serious that the Royal Knights had to be mobilized to kill all the guys who were experimenting with the combination of humans and monsters.
However, this is a very old story now. A few years after that incident, the black blooded monster first appeared.
So, at one time, there was speculation among the Royal Magicians that the Chimeras, who had failed to identify black blooded monsters for a while, evolved and mutated on their own.
Of course, Charlotte, who had heard that I knew the origins of the black blooded monsters and dismissed my nonsense, denied it like a knife, so it was not mentioned further.
“It’s just a guess. However, it’s obvious that humans who do stupid things like this can think of it.”
It wasn’t entirely vain speculation.
If we can create an existence that has the characteristics of a black blooded monster and the intelligence of a human at the same time, the benefits to be gained from doing so will be beyond imagination.
Maybe they’ll have a stupid illusion that they can beat Charlotte or Serena by themselves.
I turned my eyes. Next to it was another bubbling flask, as if it had been experimenting with it until just before we came.
Even at first glance, it was a flask as thick as a knuckle.
The black liquid rose almost to the inlet, and an elongated bubble rose from the bottom and burst at the surface. The flask was placed on a wire mesh over a small furnace.
Rеаd at ոоbӏеmtӏ.соm
Judging by the charred center part of the wire net, it seemed to be an experiment tool that had been used for quite some time.
He brought his hand to the blazing flames that tumbled in the hearth. I immediately felt a burning pain in my palms as they touched the fire, and my skin melted away giving off the smell of burnt meat.
Even though it was a short time, about a second, when I brought my hand to the flame, the palm that touched the fire was so black that I could see the bones.
I pulled out my hand. The skin and flesh on his hands, which had turned to ashes, instantly returned to their original state. The contents of the flask were still bubbling and boiling.
‘The output seems to be much more powerful than a normal brazier. Distillation is the purpose?’
I remembered the black liquid in the flask I had picked up first. That black thing, with a viscosity close to that of a solid rather than a liquid.
If that something was made by boiling ordinary water in this beaker as if it were distilled, then the colossal viscosity was understandable.
“Charlotte.”
“You are listening.”
“Go and ask the wizard what experiments he did. Don’t kill him yet.”
I couldn’t even guess what the purpose of boiling and distilling black blood was. There was no way I could understand the minds of these crazy bastards.
The simplest way in this case is to just ask the person concerned.
“Is it okay if I don’t kill you?”
“……Leave enough brain to be able to communicate.”
“I understand.”
A blue light unique to a transfer gate shone from behind for a moment. Charlotte would be able to simply extract her memories, but she probably never would.
I’d rather torture and torture until I beg you to kill me.
I had no thoughts of pity. Because I had already abandoned the mercy to be given to the empty-headed bastards who study black blooded monsters.
‘This… … It must be a combination of magic.’
I picked up a handful of scrolls stacked haphazardly on the desk next to it and examined them.
Rеаd at ոоbӏеmtӏ.соm
Judging from the magic circle intricately intertwined with various geometric shapes and the magic formula written at the bottom as if to explain it, it seemed that he was trying to create a new magic circle.
Most of them were virtually unsuccessful combinations. Something like mana not being properly supplied, or something out of place.
I picked up another bunch of scrolls. It was the same too. There was also a magic ceremony that looked like it could work from time to time, but it literally only worked.
“What kind of magic circle is this… why…”
The tail of the horse gradually faded.
My gaze was fixed on a certain scroll.
I rubbed my eyes for a while. And looked at the scroll again. However, the shape of the magic circle drawn on it did not change.
It felt like all the strength in my body was draining. He groaned and put his hand on the desk. My fingertips trembled.
He moved his hand with difficulty and overturned everything else on the desk. Old books and other scraps of paper tumbled to the floor, making a loud noise.
I opened the scroll with my fingers trembling like an aspen tree. Then, I checked the magic circle drawn on the scroll again and again. Please hope I am wrong.
It wasn’t.
It wasn’t that I was wrong.
The magic circle drawn on the parchment was shining black.
