In the secret underground chamber of Duskfall Keep, the runes suppressing foreign mental energy were operating at full capacity.
Realizing that his soul anomaly had been discovered, and that the Demon King seemed to hold no malicious intent, Sigmund quickly analyzed the pros and cons and decisively sold out the Roommate's situation completely.
"Soul stitching, sharing a body—can a [Strange Dream] achieve such an effect?"
As far as the Demon King knew, the Abyss ritual [Strange Dream] could indeed connect two people's minds, but it was strictly limited to attacking each other.
As for soul fusion, let alone a [Strange Dream], it was completely unheard of.
Even in theory, this was unfeasible.
Souls couldn't be stitched together with a needle and thread like flesh and blood. Different souls were entirely distinct from one another. Even someone like Ah Huang, who devoured a massive amount of souls and crammed them together, wouldn't experience the so-called phenomenon of fusion.
"A special case? Interesting."
Everything left traces to follow. So-called special cases were merely instances where people had failed to figure out the truth behind them.
Therefore, in the Demon King's view, a special case represented unknown knowledge.
And with the knowledge he currently possessed, any bit of new information could intertwine with his vast existing knowledge to produce countless results!
The Demon King grew interested, yet he didn't forget to give a slight bow to Sigmund: "Sigmund, I hope you won't blame me for disrupting your original plans."
"I wouldn't dare. However, the effect of this room is merely suppression, right?" Sigmund looked at the bright runes around him, feeling somewhat helpless.
Based on his understanding of the Roommate, once the suppression was lifted, the trouble probably wouldn't be small.
His biggest worry was that the Roommate, who had little left but still held the advantage, would simply blow up and drag him down to die together.
The Demon King understood his meaning. He extended a finger, and a purple glow lit up at his fingertip: "Rest assured, I also have some research in various types of mental magic, as long as—you are willing to trust me."
Sigmund's eye twitched. Trusting or whatever—
However, at this point, he had no other choice.
After all, compared to the uncertain Demon King, the Roommate was guaranteed to go berserk.
Forcibly suppressing his instincts, Sigmund lowered his guard and allowed the Demon King to outline a small magic array on his forehead.
The instant it was completed, Sigmund's consciousness plunged into darkness.
Subsequently, the Demon King temporarily deactivated the room's runes and brought in some items needed for later.
Aside from various rare materials, there were, shockingly, three restrained Blood Guards.
The Demon King intended to conduct an in-depth exploration of Sigmund's "Roommate". Knowing that the other party's soul was rather massive, the purpose of these Blood Guards was similar to sacrifices in an Abyss ritual—they were meant to be used as mental energy shields.
These Blood Guards had their cognition permanently altered by Mortis. This could be considered the last bit of value for these poor souls.
After everything was prepared, the Demon King placed Sigmund on the newly arranged ritual circle. After checking safety and confirming there were no omissions, the Demon King activated the ritual and directed his mental energy into Sigmund's consciousness.
A dilapidated little wooden cabin, and three half-grown children catching fish and shrimp next to it.
Despite the massive difference in physique, the Demon King recognized Sigmund among them at a glance.
In the eyes of Sigmund as a child, there wasn't the kind of composed observation he had when meeting the Demon King. Although there was a hint of gloom at the bottom of his eyes, the look he gave the other two children was sincere.
"Gaining eternal life and power, yet the most precious memories remain in the past when they were human. The common failing of Vampires—" The Demon King sighed emotionally. He didn't intend to continue exploring Sigmund's memories and walked toward the magnificent giant city in the distance.
However, before leaving, his gaze lingered for an extra moment on the pink-haired girl bearing a slave mark.
As a Vampire giant city manifested from the extension of Sigmund's mental energy, it was originally supposed to be gloomy and full of oppression.
Yet as the Demon King walked along the way, he only felt it looked out of place and absurd.
Mushrooms grew in every corner of this giant city, and they were all emitting fluorescent light, casting patches of red and green all over the entire city.
Mushrooms.
Naturally, Sigmund had shared some of his guesses. He suspected that the thing that entered his head might not be a human or a Demon-kin, but a member of the Mushroom Race.
After all, the other party's appearance and many actions were related to Puchis.
In the very center of the giant city, the Demon King found the mental body of the foreign species—a Puchi with a cyan mushroom cap as huge as three houses.
At this moment, the Puchi was sprawled on the ground, motionless. It was clearly suppressed by the external magic array and was in an unconscious state.
The Demon King stepped forward, touching the massive fungal body with one hand, sensing the way it was connected to Sigmund.
He was somewhat amazed to discover that the connection point between this soul, which clearly didn't belong here, and Sigmund's soul was unusually stable. It didn't seem at all like what Sigmund had described—a forceful invasion and subsequent blending through a [Strange Dream].
As for Sigmund's guess that this foreign soul belonged to the Mushroom Race, the Demon King felt it was pretty close to the mark.
At a glance, this soul even bore some similarities to the Puchis he had studied earlier using instruments, as well as the blob of soul controlling Ah Huang. But upon closer inspection, he would find that they were not the same individual.
The most miraculous thing was still this mass of soul; it was so different from the rest!
This wasn't just referring to its volume, but to something deeper inside that was completely unlike a normal soul.
The Demon King's spirit couldn't help but rise.
Souls were the most important thing in this world. Any knowledge related to souls was a priceless treasure, not to mention this special soul right before him, full of unknowns!
He could hardly wait to begin his research!
Right at the moment the Demon King grew excited, the giant Puchi's originally limp tentacles suddenly lashed out all at once!
The Demon King was swatted away on the spot, flying like a cannonball and crashing through three entire streets before stopping.
At the same time, one of the three Blood Guards suddenly let out a short, miserable scream, and then his head exploded.
The giant Puchi's belly bulged and it bounced up, rolling toward the direction the Demon King was knocked away, in hot pursuit to beat him up.
And the Demon King, standing up from the ruins, finally realized where the problem lay.
The magic array outside that suppressed foreign mental energy was merely slightly strengthened beyond the norm. Against this "big guy" in front of him, it could achieve shielding at most; it could not completely suppress it.
"Tsk!" The Demon King's expression turned a bit ugly.
Not because he was sneak attacked, but because the inability to suppress meant the inability to research. He had to figure out a way to weaken it to a point where it could be suppressed.
The mental energy of the remaining two Blood Guards turned into quicksand around him, sweeping toward the massive Puchi rolling toward him.
A portion of the spherical Puchi was sliced off. It bounced on the street a few times and crashed into a large warehouse.
"Possessing a massive volume of soul, yet the methods of application are so crude—"
The Demon King's figure flickered, swift and agile, and his mental attacks followed one after another.
Sigmund woke up inside a bedroom.
"Roommate? Roommate?"
No response, and there was no abnormal sensation in his spirit either.
"The Demon King—he did it! Finally—finally I'm rid of that guy!"
Without a trace of nostalgia, Sigmund only felt that he had finally regained his freedom, and decided to start a grand weight loss plan once he got back!
On the other side, the Demon King, who was flipping through various tomes regarding souls in his study, was not very happy—that
massive soul, upon realizing it couldn't beat him, actually directly blew itself up! It died so decisively!
It didn't give him the chance to use the magic array to suppress it again. In order to protect Sigmund's soul from being damaged in the self-destruction, the Demon King even used up the remaining two Blood Guards.
However, the Demon King hadn't gained absolutely nothing; he had found a new direction.
"The soul of a Puchi, is it—I need more comprehensive preparations."
(End of Chapter)
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