"Is that so? And why exactly do you think I'm being controlled by Niv?"
"What?"
Edwina stared in shock at Hel, who had slowly opened her eyes. She couldn't quite comprehend what Hel meant by that.
But before she could even react—
Seven pitch-black shadows surged out from every corner of the room.
The curved black blades in their hands gleamed as they struck, severing every single tube connected to the massive crystalline structure in just a blink.
Immediately after, waves of inky shadow energy spread across the room.
In mere moments, the entire chamber was swallowed in darkness.
Only then did Hel begin to move her body.
As she stretched, the golden operating platform restraining her shattered into fine dust.
"It's about time to end this."
Hel turned unhurriedly toward the massive crystalline structure behind her.
The transparent screen that had been displaying Edwina's image went dark the instant the first tube was cut.
At the same time, the speakers that had carried Edwina's shrill voice went silent.
Even her attempts to transmit signals outward were blocked—the dark energy sealed everything within.
Then, a moment later, a terrifying surge of mental power crashed toward Hel.
Along with it came a furious, hysterical voice echoing inside her mind.
"Damn you, A2-B5-001! How dare you attack me—how dare you betray the Empire!
I knew it! You filthy mongrels were never truly loyal!
We should've erased your consciousness when we created you—made you nothing more than dumb, obedient little furballs! You—"
"Alright, that's enough."
Hel released her own mental power, locking onto Edwina's with ease.
Her tone was flat, even a little impatient.
"First of all, I'm not one of your goblin empire's people. I come from the surface."
"The surface?!" Edwina's voice screeched even louder. "That bitch A2-B5-001 actually conspired with surface dwellers? I knew she was a treacherous little mutt!"
Hel ignored her ranting entirely and continued, her voice calm but cold:
"Second, she has a name."
"What?"
"She—Niv. The one you call A2-B5-001. Her name is Niv. She chose it herself—and I accepted it.
She's my family, the most important person to me. Not some tool for you relics of a dead age to command.
"And you—you dared to insult her just now. That makes me very unhappy.
So, no, I won't let you die an easy death."
"You wouldn't dare! If you harm me, the entire Goblin Empire will hunt you down!"
Her voice rose again, but Hel could hear the tremor beneath it. The fear.
"Doesn't matter. If they don't come looking for me, I'll go looking for them.
As the so-called fated protagonist of this era, I think it's only right—and within my ability—to help bury the last of your old-world scum. Permanently."
With that, Hel pulled out a Philosopher's Stone and began casting a spell she had long prepared.
[Ultimate Death Magic: Soul Extraction]
A massive hand made entirely of death energy materialized and reached toward Edwina.
She tried to resist, hastily sketching magic circles to summon elemental power—
but every time she did, one of the shadow knights shattered the formation with a burst of dark energy.
No matter how many times she tried, her spells were torn apart before completion.
All she could do was watch in horror as the deathly hand plunged into the crystal structure.
It stirred within—then emerged, clutching a huge, glowing blue sphere.
The sphere trembled violently at first, but under the corrosion of death energy, its struggles weakened until finally, it was torn free.
A second deathly hand appeared, seizing it and kneading it together like dough until it shrank to the size of a ball.
When it landed in Hel's hand, Edwina's soul was compressed to the size of a volleyball.
"One last thing," Hel murmured softly. "You should know—I'm a Death Witch.
And in the art of soul manipulation, if I claim second place, no one dares claim first."
[Ultimate Death Magic: True Spirit Annihilation]
A small but intricate magic circle unfolded in her palm, wrapping completely around Edwina's soul.
It didn't look like much.
But deep within Edwina's being, her hidden true spirit ignited—radiating searing heat.
Her soul felt as though it had been plunged into molten lava.
The agony tore through her essence, threatening to rip her apart.
What she didn't realize was that as her true spirit burned, vast amounts of pure soul energy were released, flooding outward and tempering her soul.
Given enough time, the energy might have strengthened her soul to rival even the Holy rank.
But now—now there was only agony. Endless, consuming pain.
No one knew how long it lasted.
Eventually, Edwina's final trace of true spirit burned away, and the released soul energy had grown tenfold in volume.
"Phew~"
Hel exhaled slowly.
No wonder even the most depraved necromancers considered this spell "evil."
It forced the true spirit into a fusion reaction, burning it to generate immense soul energy—
but the pain it inflicted was a thousand times worse than normal soul-burning.
Even just hearing Edwina's screams had made Hel's head ache.
To experience it firsthand… she could only imagine the horror.
"Yeah… best not to use that one too often. Bad for the karma," she muttered, rubbing her temple.
She could still faintly hear Edwina's dying screams echoing inside her mind.
Truly, whoever invented this spell was a genius—and a maniac.
The formation couldn't leave the caster's hand by more than a foot; otherwise, the death energy would destabilize and explode.
No wonder necromancers despised it.
"Let's see… ten times the energy output, huh."
Hel examined the dense soul energy she now held.
Then, with a casual motion, she stored it inside her Philosopher's Stone.
Even after casting two ultimate spells, she'd spent only a tenth of the energy she'd just harvested.
A very profitable exchange.
When she finally finished her work, two shadow knights escorted Niv into the room.