Taking the small box from Niv, Hel thought for a moment — and decided not to use it. Instead, she picked a third-tier Life Essence from among those carried by the mechanical octopi.
Since this was still an experiment in its theoretical stage, she didn't want to waste higher-quality materials.
Placing a third-tier elven corpse beside the Life Essence, Hel quietly began chanting the Resurrection of the Undead incantation.
This time, however, it was different from her usual necromantic rituals. She wasn't simply turning a corpse into a mindless undead — she had modified several runic symbols within the formation to better achieve her specific goal.
But when the spell was complete and the elf on the ground opened her eyes, all Hel got was a common zombie.
"Just a zombie? The bloodline still reads as Snow Elf, and the Life Essence hasn't dissipated… could it be a problem with the array?"
Hel frowned and recalibrated the formation several times. Yet every attempt only produced another zombie.
"By all logic, life and death should be able to merge. In theory, the ideal result should be something like the Shadow Knights — beings embodying two attributes at once.But there must be some kind of restriction, something preventing the two forces from fusing."
She sighed, eyes narrowing. "If normal methods won't work, then it's time to bend the rules a little."
Hel decided to use the Necromantic Rune to forcibly fuse the zombie with the Life Essence. The outcome? The zombie's skin merely looked a bit fuller — but its essence remained that of a corpse.
"Maybe the issue lies with the elemental crystal."
She tapped her chin in thought. The Shadow Knights were a fusion of Shadow and Death — their innate shadow attribute naturally resonated with death energy. But this elven corpse possessed a Water Elemental Crystal.
Even with the addition of a Life Essence, its inherent elemental nature couldn't be changed.
If that was the case…
Hel reached into her spatial ring and retrieved a Life-elemental Crystal. She carefully removed the Water Crystal from the elf's chest and replaced it with the Life Crystal.
A new array flared to life.
Moments later, the snow elf lying on the floor slowly opened her eyes.
[Name]: Death Elf
[Tier]: 3
[Traits]: Life–Death Magic Affinity (Blue), Death Elf (Blue)
[Description]: A unique undead created by a certain witch using an original spell. By precisely balancing necrotic corrosion with a Life-elemental core, the elf's body partially transitions into death while retaining life — forming a half-undead being.
Death Elf (Blue): Magic +50%, Charm +30. Daytime: manifests as a living being. Nighttime: transforms into a wraith-like spirit.
"Two forms?"
Hel studied the data with interest.
What surprised her most was that the talent trait wasn't [Reincarnation Magic Affinity].
"Wait — I thought life and death together would form Reincarnation. Why is this showing as Life–Death instead? Does it mean creating Reincarnation requires an additional condition?"
She pondered the information but couldn't quite make sense of it.
Still, this wasn't exactly the kind of fusion she wanted. Her supply of Life Crystals was limited — which explained why, after all this time, her own Life Magic had only reached Tier 3.
She needed a new approach.
So, she tried something different: merging the two existing talent traits — [Death Magic Affinity] and [Life Magic Affinity] — within the trait synthesis system.
The result succeeded. She obtained [Reincarnation Magic Affinity].
Next, she wanted to test whether a zombie elf with this new affinity could transform directly into a Death Elf.
After several rounds of experimentation, she finally managed to create Death Elves purely through traits, Life Essence, and corpses — without relying on elemental crystals.
"Phew~ that took more effort than I expected."
Hel let out a long sigh of relief. The pile of corpses beside her had noticeably shrunk.
"It really did," Niv agreed seriously, gesturing to the hundreds of zombie elves now filling the hall. "Master, if you keep experimenting, this place will be packed with zombies."
"All right, all right," Hel said with a small smile. "I've got the method down now — time to move on to refinement."
She began converting the failed specimens first, then the remaining corpses, tossing each newly completed Death Elf into her Undead Space to free up room.
By the end of the process — after several rounds of runic fusion — Hel had successfully created four Death Elves in total.
Each one was a half-step Saint-tier powerhouse.
Two, originally half-blood goblins, had become casters, while the other two, formerly snow elves, were now knight-type transcenders.
"Next up — distributing their traits."
Hel opened her trait library, her eyes lighting up at the sight of dozens of new entries. It felt like striking gold overnight.
After some synthesis, she ended up with around forty red-tier traits for each type.
But she wondered — could these be merged even further?
In theory, the elven race had once been a race of destiny, with bloodlines capable of reaching pink-tier quality. Their innate trait ceiling should also reach that tier — though she didn't know if it could go beyond.
Hel toyed with the system and soon produced a pink-tier talent trait:
[Life–Death Magic Affinity (Pink)]: Life–Death Magic Affinity +200. You are both the favored child of life and the chosen of death. Perhaps when you truly comprehend the essence of life and death, your gift will take its final step forward —Talent Limit: Demigod.
"Comprehend the essence of life and death? Could that mean… Reincarnation?"
Hel frowned at the description.
"Well, only one way to find out."
She had eight copies of the pink-tier trait — enough to attempt a higher synthesis.
And if that meant one unfortunate Death Elf would have to go without a talent trait for now… so be it.
She arranged five pink-tier traits into the synthesis slots and pressed the confirmation button without hesitation.
But just as she did, the system prompt appeared — exactly as she expected:
[This talent trait has reached the current domain's limit. To continue synthesizing, you must add one unit of Divine Power as an advancement material.]