Deadmeat Saga

In the evening-

In the Farrington Household-

The portraits of Hope and her parents returned to their rightful places. Meanwhile, Solenne's and Samuel's portraits were no longer there.

Hope stared at her kind father and graceful mother with melancholy, Laverne and a young Brown Mouse Kin man patiently standing beside her.

"Thank you for the assistance, Laverne," Hope said to the female Echo, her eyes fixed on the wall.

"Oh, it was nothing. Just controlling some weaklings and tweaking with a subpar magic matrix." Laverne smiled before glancing behind her. "But what will you do with them?"

Four individuals were kneeling there in fear- Lionel, Solenne, Samuel, and Didier.

"They are now given the Position of Slaves and shall remain so for their entire lives. They shall never know luxury again, and none shall give pity or mercy. After handing over all official matters relating to them, they shall be no more than objects. They would be lower than the lowest slave, and anyone who wishes to use them can use them, menially OR sexually. But violence shall never fall on them." Hope turned and gave them an apathetic look. "They shall never know happiness until they draw their last breath, a mercy almost too kind."

"Heh. Others in your shoes would either kill them or torture them, but you choose a lifetime of misery. You are pretty wicked, aren't you?" Laverne smirked.

"I merely choose not to lower myself to their level," Hope replied.

"And the unborn child in that woman's belly?" Laverne glanced at Solenne's still-flat stomach.

"After birth, it shall be adopted by a foster family and treated lawfully, never to associate with them again. I am not so petty as to target a harmless infant." Hope said before turning to the elderly Mouse Kin. "Fabrice."

"Young Miss." Fabrice lowered his head, a slight silvery glint in his eyes.

Hope had already walked through the city, finding old Fabrice and several other loyal servants who were still unemployed, and brought them back. Of course, she re-employed, converted, rejuvenated, and granted them several blessings. That was their reward for decades of loyal service.

"You have heard my will and know their sins. You shall be responsible for overseeing their punishment from now on." Hope said.

"It shall be done, Young Miss. They shall not have an easy life anymore." Fabrice courteously bowed.

Hope nodded before heading upstairs, with Laverne following her. Soon, they arrived at the study room, where they found Gerhart sitting on a couch, reading a book. There were also wet sounds under him. Upon a closer look, they saw he lacked pants, and Stella was servicing him. On the side were plates of food and drink to replenish him, with the now-freed beautiful Yellow Fox Kin, Tsusaki, feeding him while explaining some points in the book. On the side, Deadmeat Junior was also quietly reading through books, soaking information like a sponge.

"Reading so calmly while being milked and serviced by two top-tier beauties? Deplorable!" Laverne said. However, those who knew her would know she was complimenting him.

"It is the most efficient method to develop Stella's mutation toward her subsequent form." Hope explained.

"And enjoying himself," Laverne smirked.

"And that." Hope didn't deny it as she walked to Gerhart.

"Hope, is your business done?" Gerhart asked, not asking about the process. It was her revenge, and intervening would taint its purity.

"Yes. The past grudges are over. I won't distract myself again." Hope replied.

"Good. Tomorrow, we will head to the two Dungeon Cities, extract the energy, and stop at the last port city before returning to Crester." Gerhart said.

"Have you set your sights on the other continent?" Hope asked.

"Yes. I have been wondering what to do with my third split soul, and now, an opportunity presented itself. It shall travel incognito to the other continent with Tsusaki, conquering dungeons while spreading our influence. Should I and Primo fall, it shall also serve as my final backup." Gerhart explained.

There is an idiom- A crafty rabbit has three burrows. And Gerhart was a very crafty rabbit.

The first burrow was his current identity. As the Champion of an Echo, he was almost entirely safe while retaining his current identity. However, things could turn ugly once he took action against the Echos. Who knows what sort of detection methods those ancient freaks have? After detonating Deadmeat Junior and killing an Ancient Echo, the Echos might have the means to deduce him as the main body, sending waves of experts to drown him. Hence, this identity wasn't as safe as it seemed.

The second burrow was Primo. As a future group member of Himeko's Heroic Party, his safety was likely high due to the Universe Protection. However, the Universe might consider him a sacrificial piece in a desperate situation to save Himeko from danger. Also, if she somehow discovers his identity before he corrupts her- Things would get ugly. Getting targeted by a protagonist sounds like a death sentence.

And so, he wants to dig a third burrow. Should Gerhart and Primo die, a third body would be on the other continent, worry-free while growing more powerful. It would never be too late once he conquers all the dungeons, gets all the energy, and makes himself invincible.

Of course, the best option would be that none of them dies. Gerhart still didn't know if he could regrow any of his dead souls. He wished to test it. However, he wouldn't randomly do it on anyone.

Gerhart turned to Laverne, "Laverne, bring Samuel here. I want to test a theory."

"Yes, of course." Laverne nodded and left.

Two minutes later, Samuel was brought before them, shaking in fear on the floor. He didn't even dare lift his head. Tsusaki, his ex sex-slave, couldn't help but thank her luck for risking it and warning Hope.

"Thank the Divine Fox for my choice that day. Young Miss Hope recommended me to become Lord Gerhart's new concubine and companion. Although he has seemingly endless lust, at least he is dependable and kind, and I have bright prospects." Tsusaki thought, feeling relieved and excited about the future. She discarded Samuel, her incompetent previous master, in her mind. Not that she served him because she wanted to, unlike Gerhart, who she was more than willing to serve.

"Samuel, come here," Gerhart said, extending a hand.

"Y-Yes, master." Samuel meekly crawled over like a dog, carefully placing his head next to the outstretched arm.

Gerhart didn't care as he grabbed Samuel's head and blessed him with two unique talents- Division and Double Soul(A lesser version of Triple Soul).

Both talents were surprisingly inexpensive, costing 10 and 1 point respectively. The Double Soul talent is a tier 1 talent, while Triple Soul is a tier 2 talent. Every additional split soul was one tier above by this logic.

"Hm... I remember a monster called a Hydra, with a massive body and many heads. The more heads, the more powerful they are. A three-headed Hydra is a D-rank monster, while a nine-headed Hydra is a legendary SSS-rank monster. I am unsure about the details, but they can regenerate their heads if lost, with each head having different abilities but sharing the same body. Let's see what happens when a split soul dies in a separate body." Gerhart thought, not letting go of Samuel.

After several minutes, Samuel woke up, his eyes confused as he instinctively felt another ability added and a new soul forming in his body.

"Samuel, use Division while making your split soul possess it," Gerhart ordered.

"Yes, master." Samuel didn't understand his master's intentions but didn't question him for an iota.

A fleshy lump soon formed on Samuel's body, and Gerhart channeled some energy to make the process smoother. Minutes later, the lump fell on the floor, growing into a naked version of Samuel. However, it looked less handsome and was weaker.

Glancing at the clone, Gerhart felt it was also a Thrall, just like Samuel.

"Seems like being a Thrall can't be removed via soul-splitting." Gerhart thought as he removed his hand from Samuel.

He grabbed the clone and randomly gave it a tier 1 talent Samuel didn't have before looking at the shocked Tsusaki. "Tsusaki, he ordered you to die once, right?"

"H-Hah? Yes, my lord." Tsusaki instinctively nodded.

"Then I give you absolute authority over that clone. I intend to kill it anyways, but I give you the honors to order it to die." Gerhart said before looking at Samuel. "And Samuel, you may not shut off your pain receptors."

"Y-Yes, master..." Samuel shook in pure horror. He understood that he would now experience what it felt like to die.

"..." Tsusaki narrowed her eyes at Samuel, a chilly light in them.

She didn't forget that death order he gave her. Seeing her look, Samuel shook even more.

"I'm fucked." Samuel understood he wouldn't receive a swift death.

Sure enough-

"Samuel, choke your clone to death. Slowly." Tsusaki ordered.

Samuel was helpless as he grabbed his clone by the neck and began choking the life out of it. As he did, he felt the emotions of helplessness and pain in the clone as the light slowly left its eyes. After ten minutes, Samuel finally let go, sweat dripping on his forehead, the death of his clone deeply etched in his mind.

"Satisfied?" Gerhart asked Tsusaki.

"Yes. Thank you, my lord." Tsusaki smiled.

Gerhart nodded and then looked at Samuel. "Samuel, what is the state of your split soul?"

"My soul returned to me, but it is minorly damaged. However, it should recover after some rest." Samuel replied.

That eased Gerhart's expression. "Come here."

"Yes, master." Samuel approached Gerhart again.

Gerhart placed a hand on Samuel's head before healing him. He wanted to test if energy could heal the soul.

A minute later-

"Master, my split soul recovered," Samuel said.

"Hm." Gerhart nodded and analyzed Samuel.

After analyzing him, Gerhart found that the talent he gave the clone didn't return to Samuel.

"In other words, if the clone's body dies, I can recover a damaged soul, but if I can't recover the body, I lose the energy invested, hah?" Gerhart thought before turning to Hope. "Hope, get rid of the body."

Hope nodded and absorbed the energy from the clone, turning it into dust before cleaning it.

While she was cleaning it, Gerhart couldn't help but wonder. "If I absorbed all those bodies, did I also absorb their souls? Did the dungeon absorb Mylo and Hazel's souls, or did I? Can I retrieve and revive them?"

The moment he thought about that-

 

The soul retrieval and revival functions are locked. Complete Ascension Stage 3.

 

Gerhart widened his eyes in surprise and delight.

"I can! I can revive them!" Gerhart's eyes shone.

Gerhart then checked the number of converts he had.

 

Agents: 50

Envoys: 1,387

Thralls: 74,962

 

Gerhart narrowed his eyes with a satisfied grin. His efforts were not in vain, and his Agents were hardworking bees spreading the good word.

The Agents were spread in cities, towns, and villages, using their strength and miracles to convert the population. They methodically targeted the local lord before using him to gather the people. One Agent with ten Envoys was enough to cover a dozen adjacent villages or a small town. In other words, about 1,000 people.

Of course, there were some foolhardy and over-religious lords, knights, and priests, but they were quickly subdued and converted. But under strict orders, they avoided targeting the A-rank powerhouses and above for now. While they could handle them, he didn't view them as a threat. He would target them eventually.

"After my round trip to the dungeons, I will gather enough energy. I will have enough Thralls and energy for Stage 3 Ascension!" Gerhart was so pleased that he subconsciously grabbed Stella's bobbing head and made her service him faster.