The remains of the powerhouses began turning into pure energy nutrients.
They gushed toward the center of the Undead Puppet refining ritual. At the same time, the demon blood floating above also began descending slowly, merging into it. In an instant, a colossal, pressuring aura filled the entire treasury. Had it not been for the Seventh-Rank aura isolation array, all of Lucifiel City would have been affected by this aura.
Even the weather phenomena would have changed as a result.
Anyone unaware would have thought some powerhouse had broken through to the Eighth-Rank.
A dark red giant egg slowly materialized at the exact center of the ritual, with mysterious dark red lines flowing across its surface.
"A demon egg?" Roland rubbed his chin, pondering slightly. "It seems it still developed toward the demonic side. A single drop of essence blood from a Demigod-rank Demon Duke is just too strong—it even dragged the entire refining ritual in a fixed direction. Still, that's not necessarily a bad thing."
Roland stepped forward and touched this person-sized demon egg.
Starting from his palm, countless dense runes began spreading across the entire egg. At the same time, a terrifying gash split open in his palm, and bright red blood began to gush out, pouring completely over the demon egg under the guidance of power—transferring, absorbing, cycling continuously.
Until Roland's face began to grow pale.
"This should be about enough."
Roland let out a breath, his face slightly pale. The loss of blood made him feel a wave of weakness, but fortunately, with the trait 【Blood Scion】, mana could be directly converted into life energy to replenish his lost blood.
It took only a few dozen seconds.
Roland returned to normal.
"Next is the wait."
Waiting for this demon egg to hatch.
On ordinary days, Roland remained his usual lazy and easygoing self. No one knew that right beneath the Duke's Mansion, an Eighth-Rank demon was hatching.
As time passed.
Night fell on the 24th day of the Eternal Calendar.
Evil was quietly born.
Roland felt a sudden tremor in his heart.
The demon egg had long since established a connection with him; no matter what happened, he could feel it immediately. This time, Roland gently closed the magic theory book in his hand, placed it neatly back onto the bookshelf, and finally, unhurriedly took his last sip of tea.
Exuding complete composure.
"Looks like it's about time."
Arriving at the treasury, the Seventh-Rank isolation array was still operating normally.
As for the Undead Puppet refining array, its glow gradually dimmed until it stopped running entirely. The shell of the demon egg cracked bit by bit, and the runes Roland had left on it gradually faded away. At the same time, countless golden spatial ripples appeared around him, with 【Wedge · Chains of Heaven】 ready at a moment's notice.
There was a reason forbidden rituals were forbidden rituals.
It was because these rituals generally carried life-threatening risks.
Moreover, the probability was extremely high, with a mortality rate exceeding ninety percent.
The Undead Puppet was no exception—this thing had a high chance of turning on its master. Fortunately, he had already placed many restrictions on it beforehand.
This was further bolstered by Roland feeding it his own blood.
In short, he had a hundred ways to tame it.
"Hmm... This aura: death, demon, fire, ice... what other traits?" Roland looked with interest at the Undead Puppet as it gradually revealed its true form. "Hss... dark attribute too? I don't recall adding materials related to that. Has it mutated?"
A powerful aura hit him head-on.
An Eighth-Rank Undead Puppet was born.
In an instant, countless golden spatial ripples shot out endless chains, binding it in place. The entity did not struggle, letting 【Wedge · Chains of Heaven】 wrap around it layer upon layer. There was not a trace of emotional fluctuation in its crimson eyes; it merely stared at Roland, its throat moving as if trying to speak.
"Can't speak?"
Roland frowned slightly.
Generally speaking, the process of refining an Undead Puppet was essentially combining like terms to create a new life. Although it possessed undead traits, a soul should develop during the process. Why did this entity look so dumb? Logically speaking, it would be normal for an undead puppet to hold immense hostility toward its creator.
"What gibberish is it blabbering?"
Roland pinched his chin, thinking.
He didn't dare release it right now. After all, it was an Eighth-Rank powerhouse; if released, he really wouldn't be able to beat it. As of right now, no one in all of Lucifiel City could beat it. More than half of the Northern Territory's Marquises and Counts were at the front lines, and Thomas's father, Count O'Connor, was merely a Sixth-Rank Great Warrior.
He was completely incomparable to the Eighth-Rank Undead Puppet in front of him.
Moreover, even if someone could beat it, so what? Secretly using a forbidden ritual to refine a thing like this—an Eighth-Rank forbidden living creation, and one on the demonic side at that—if others found out, tsk tsk... Roland wouldn't be able to stay in the St. Romanvia Empire anymore, and even his Demigod father wouldn't be able to protect him.
"..."
Roland leaned in to observe.
Only to see the entity abruptly speak.
"Mas... Master."
"You can speak?"
"Not... flu... ent. Need... to learn."
"Then what gibberish were you blabbering just now?"
"Demon language... in... bloodline... inheritance."
It was likely a power inheritance carried in the essence blood of the Demigod Demon Duke. Roland hadn't learned Demonic; when communicating with Agares earlier, he had mainly relied on mind transmission. Unfortunately, the Duke's Mansion had no books related to Demonic, though there were quite a few on Elven.
"Mas... ter, great... King of... Pride, Creator... Please... release... your restraint... on me. I shall... forever... loyally... submit to... you," the Undead Puppet said slowly. The runes on its body flickered, suppressing most of its power so that it could not break free from the restraint of 【Wedge · Chains of Heaven】.
"..."
Roland did not reply, quietly thinking.
If he wanted to, he could lock it up here for a lifetime. But this method clearly wouldn't work; sooner or later, someone would discover it. What's more, he was reluctant to give up the assistance of an Eighth-Rank powerhouse. After all... this was a super enforcer he had spent countless rare materials to refine.
"How do you know I am the King of Pride?"
"My... bloodline inheritance... told me."
"Since your traits lean toward demonic," Roland's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he asked, "then you should have a true demon name, right?"
The entity shook its head.
"I am not a pure demon, so I have no true name."
Its speech gradually became fluent.
An Eighth-Rank lifeform had strong learning capabilities.
In just a few minutes, between its bloodline inheritance and Roland's vocal habits, it had begun to master human language proficiently.
Roland frowned slightly, then closed his eyes to carefully perceive it. "A hybrid existing between human, undead, and demon?"
"But you may grant me a true name."
As a hybrid lifeform synthesized from a forbidden ritual, the significance of a true name probably wouldn't bind it much, but Roland still gave it a name anyway. "One. From now on, you shall be called One."
"One. I am One, Master."
...
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