After the battle in the spiritual world ended, Hans searched through the brain of an executive of the 'Abyssal Conclave' to extract information. The spiritual world was devastated by the aftermath of the battle, but the physical brain was not so damaged, making this possible. Of course, there were significant deficits due to so impact, but that was a risk worth taking.
'Hmm, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.'
The fight with the leadership of the 'Abyssal Conclave' in the spiritual world. Initially, Hans thought he could easily win with just the 'Mind Hub', but it turned out that he also had his own unique skills, making it not so easy to confront him. That explained why he could implant prohibitions in the minds of others and move around freely.
His ntal strength was trendous, but Hans, focusing the resources of the avatars, was no less formidable. However, every ti he allowed the enemy's attack, the 'Crystal Mirror of Clarity' would waver, and the amount of information assaulting the 'Mind Hub' would surge, which was problematic.
Even then, Hans had been running the 'Mind Hub' constantly to combat the continuous ntal corruption transmitted from 'Fragnts of the Immortal King.' In this situation, the enemy's attacks kept accumulating, and the blocked information was backflowing, leading to a dangerous situation.
'So I just let it go.'
Revolts breaking out internally during war and attacks from outside. Why suffer in the middle of all that? I simply opened the route for the enemy's invasion wide, leading him to the rebels, and concentrated forces on the opposite side to completely block the mainland direction. The unsuspecting enemy army rushed towards the rebels...
And the result was a resounding victory for the rebels. Even the Order called it 'ntal corruption that no being could overco.' The fragnt, a culmination of evil, was unaffected by their attacks. In the process, the spiritual world that beca the battlefield was devastated and left in tatters, but since he was dood anyway, it was none of my concern.
Yes, the very land where the war took place was originally a colony of the enemy.
'This trick was possible because it was soone else's spiritual world and I was in a spirit form.'
But if the result is good, isn't that all that matters? I casually watched the battle unfold... After the green spirit, filled with madness, rushed in and was torn apart by a black dog, barely escaping, I leisurely put the leash back on the lost fragnt."
'Still, it's a bit disappointing that I let him get away.'
Though the spirit body was so damaged that it certainly wouldn't be unscathed, I regretted not being able to finish it off completely. Besides, there was no particular benefit other than the information obtained through conversation, and instead, there was only damage to the mories that could be obtained from the executive's brain.
But it was a bit early to express such sentints.
[The individual has stolen karma from another and gained enlightennt. The skill 'Black Magic' evolves into the special skill 'Path of Sorcery.']
'Huh? Suddenly?'
Of course, I had been feeling like I was reaching so limit, but I thought it would take a bit more ti...
But soon I understood the cause.
'Oh, I see, I've absorbed the remnants of the spirit body scattered in the spiritual world. This is an unexpected gain.'
In the process of reading the executive's mories with black magic, fragnts of the green spirit body scattered in that spiritual world had co along. Along with all sorts of knowledge and enlightennt that ca with it. And the phrase about stealing karma ant that as much as I had grown, the level of the other party had been diminished.
'I was wondering if there might be a way to reuse it... But it's not a thod that can be commonly used.'
The fact that the opponent had been damaged in spirit form, and that the spiritual world where the remnants were scattered had beco desolate and lost its function like an inanimate object. And the fact that an undead, being a being of deficiency, was forcibly connected to the spiritual world through black magic, all of these factors played a complex role.
Of course, this too was a risky act that could lead to ntal corruption, but as always, it was none of my concern.
'The other conditions aside, I need a victim who can invade others' minds in spirit form... Such capable beings aren't common.'
The one who suffered at my hands this ti, if encountered again, would probably turn tail and run imdiately. This was a special case.
But thanks to that, I was able to overco the wall, so now I can celebrate. Thanks to 'Path of Sorcery', I can now extend my reach not only in black magic but also into other areas.
'Of course, there are things to deal with before that.'
Whoosh
In an instant, black magic surged, and Hans, shrouded in darkness, leaped through space. The destination was the place I learned about this ti. It was the Seoul branch of the 'Abyssal Conclave.'
***
While Heinz stayed at the villa managing the remnants, Hans was diligently on the move. Unfortunately, the coordinates extracted from the executive were damaged, so he couldn't go there directly, but he managed to locate their headquarters by searching the nearby area. The growth in magic due to the 'Path of Sorcery' was undoubtedly a great help during this process.
However, their response was even quicker.
'I headed straight here as soon as I read the mories, and I didn't even delay that long while searching the area...'
By the ti I arrived, they were already in the midst of clearing out their base and preparing to flee.
"Ugh... How did they find out so soon!"
"Ah, no!"
Fortunately, it wasn't too late. Hans was able to capture the distracted mbers trying to destroy docunts and read their mories.
[Has the order already been issued...?]
He realized that the higher-ups had already ordered a withdrawal, and the executives had imdiately gone into hiding. The branch mbers were left to destroy the docunts and then vanished. Since they all hid their tracks individually, there was no information to be obtained from those who were left.
'At least it's fortunate that I caught one of the executives. I was able to salvage so information.'
"Guh, guuuh...'"
Hans looked down at the middle-aged man struggling in his grip. He was the technical director of the Abyssal Conclave's Seoul branch. Unlike the other executives, in his greed to save as much research data as possible, he missed his chance to escape and was captured by Hans.
Thanks to this, most of the research data could be recovered intact, which was sothing to be grateful for. Of course, that's separate from a peaceful death.
"Ugh...ghk, kihiihik..."
Hans glanced at the executive who had beco undead and reviewed the remaining docunts. The most important things like the latest operational commands had already been dealt with separately, leaving mostly simple contents like past operational summaries.
These were results he managed to obtain only because he disrupted their attempt to destroy all the docunts at the last minute. The director, being solely interested in research, didnt know much beyond that, so he wasnt of much help in other areas.
'It seems the talk about them being active for a long ti is true.'
Files organized by year and the small USBs attached to them. However, based on the information sifted from their minds, it seems detailed content is reported to the higher-ups imdiately and then disposed of. The docunts stored here are rely outlines, as it turns out.
Hans promptly gathered the remaining items at the headquarters and returned to the villa where Heinz was waiting. There were still many remnants there from whom information could be extracted.
[I expected as much, but none of them were better than the first executive I read.]
It seed that the Abyssal Conclave was organized in a cellular structure, with no one having more information than the first executive I had read. Of course, in the anti, the individual skills and knowledge each had learned were helpful.
'Hmm, it seems things have sowhat concluded. We've dealt with the leaders of the blood alliance's hardline faction, and the Abyssal Conclave that was aiding them has also been dealt a blow.'
[Khekhekhe... From the executive's mories, it seems Alpha was half a mber of the Abyssal Conclave from before. After this incident, he completely disappeared.]
Heinz licked his lips in disappointnt. He was clearly regretful that they couldnt completely take down Alpha, the leader of the hardliners. Considering the level of the trap, if Alpha had been there, it's highly likely they would have failed to overco them and would have had to flee. In that sense, they were lucky.
Thanks to this, I could indulge to the point of feeling overfed. Of course, if it were the blood of soone more powerful, they would have forced themselves to swallow it, even if it ant regurgitating all the lower-quality blood.
"Now that the hardliners are shattered to this extent, he must know that coming back now would be futile. With nowhere to go, he'll likely fully turn to their side."
[It would have been better if we could have tracked him down imdiately and cut off his escape. A pity, indeed.]
"The Abyssal Conclave seems to be a larger force than we thought. From the information we have so far, it doesn't seem to be just a Korean organization."
[Now that you ntion it, there were docunts we gathered from their base. There might be so tricks in there, so we should check them again here.]
Hans and Heinz exchanged dialogue back and forth. Of course, it was more like a monologue as they organized their thoughts, but it didn't matter right now. After all, there was no one alive here other than Heinz.
Hans laid out all the docunts from the Abyssal Conclave's branch office that he had kept. Since he brought entire cabinets and bookshelves containing files through spatial storage, it wasn't difficult to review the organized files. Hans focused on examining the research journals, while Heinz worked through the operational summaries divided by year.
While checking the general content of the files without yet delving into the attached USBs.
"Huh?"
Heinz stopped in his tracks upon discovering a docunt. Hans, who was examining the materials, also froze like a robot that had been turned off. The docunt that caught Heinz's attention read:
It was a docunt with a date and place that Hansung Hyun could never forget.
***
"Ah! Mr. Heinz, have you arrived?"
At dawn, Heinz went to visit Jinsol to inform her of the outco of the previous night's fight and...
"What? The hardliners did what? And you want to et our leader again... Wait, just a mont. Could you please repeat that?"
"Last night, we dealt with most of the hardliner faction's executives, excluding Alpha. We missed a few Gammas dispatched to the provinces, but that won't significantly impact the overall situation. I would like to discuss this with the leader of the moderate faction."
Heinz repeated his chanically spoken words more calmly.
Perhaps shocked by the sudden news, Jinsol seed montarily confused, then carefully observed Heinz's reaction.
"Heinz... I will report this, but we need ti to verify the facts... and it's all so sudden"
"Jinsol."
Heinz's indifferent voice cut off her words. A sudden silence fell. Heinz quietly looked down at her.
"!"
An overwhelmingly dense aura of blood filled the air. The night before, after feasting on nurous vampires, the vampire factor surged, emitting a powerful blood magic. The oppressive atmosphere, almost like squeezing the heart, caused Jinsol to freeze and swallow hard.
'I knew Heinz was powerful, but to this extent...!'
It wasn't just the quantity of blood magic that overwheld. Sothing fundantally different was at play. It was a fear that seed to stimulate the deeper instincts, like a predator eyeing its prey.
She realized that she had been breathing heavily without noticing.
'At least level 7, maybe even higher... It's beyond my ability to judge.'
She quickly assessed the situation and shifted her stance accordingly.
"I will contact them right away and try to arrange a eting as soon as possible!"
The leader of the moderate faction was at level 7. She hadn't felt this way even when facing their leader, so Heinz must be stronger than that. She had heard rumors that Alpha of the hardliner faction had reached level 8, but that information was unconfird and she had never seen him personally, so it was irrelevant.
"Yes, let's also discuss ways to augnt the Blood Alliance's power at that ti. And the treatnt of the hardliner remnants."
"Yes, thats... wait, what?"
For Heinz, there was now a pressing need to grow his power as quickly as possible. The Blood Alliance was a suitable force for this purpose. Even though the hardliners had been decimated and their power reduced, the Alliance had a solid foundation due to its long existence. It was one of the most influential organizations in Korea's underworld in terms of secrecy, intelligence, and influence.
Now that I had gained the ability to leash them, I would use them as much as I could. It would probably be a good offer from the perspective of the moderate faction too. Depending on how they responded, they could steer the conversation in a direction beneficial for both parties.
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