Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 786: Might of Elite Souls [Bonus]

She obeyed immediately, with no hesitation whatsoever. Her ghostly fist collided with my outstretched palm, and I felt it: solid weight, dense power, and a proper form was behind the strike. She didnʼt just look stronger. She was stronger.

I flexed my fingers, letting the stinging sensation settle. ”I estimate her to be about level 30, stats-wise at least.”

The Codex moved back into my vision at my mental command. I willed it to display the data from the two batches Iʼd just used. It obeyed with a shimmer of blue light, presenting a refined breakdown.

[Codex Entry: Invested Warrior Souls – Eve]

Levels 2–4: 12,000 souls invested.

Levels 5–9: 8,000 souls invested.

Levels 10–14: 4,250 souls invested.

Total invested soul count: 24,250

Satisfied, I nodded to myself. All from the collection of lower-tier souls, as planned. It was a good baseline test.

Next, I selected another batch: 10,000 more warriors from the same tier. Low-level. Potency 15 average. I wanted to see if the returns were the same.

I cast [Soul Fusion] again.

The souls rose upward, swirling into another orb of light that merged cleanly into Eveʼs waiting body.

A moment later, the Codex delivered the new result:

[Fusion Progress: 0 → 200 / 2000]

My eyes narrowed.

Same potency. Same type. But… only half the progress.

Sensing a bad omen, I ventured to unearth what was going on. I had kept three low-potency civilian souls, saved for this moment exactly.

I offered them to Eve.

[ERROR: Level 1 Lesser souls cannot be used on Rank 2 or higher Elite Souls.]

… So that was it.

My heart felt heavy as the full meaning settled in.

This was no simple grind. The system wouldnʼt let me throw garbage into the forge and expect steel on the other end. Just like my own leveling journey, my soul armyʼs growth was tied to quality.

As the Codex had earlier decreed, a true necromancer wasnʼt a parasite feeding off the scraps of society. I wasnʼt supposed to pillage weak cities and cull civilians like some opportunistic warlock desperate for power. That wasnʼt how true necromancers worked.

I was meant to hunt worthy targets.

That was why, instead of 400 progress, Eve only gained 200.

That was why civilian souls didnʼt work at all.

”I get it now…”

Knowing the first three tiers of souls in my inventory faced lesser gains on a rank 2 Elite Soul, I elected to use the next three tiers instead.

First came 4,000 warriors between levels 15 and 19, averaging 30 Potency each.

Then, 2,000 warriors between levels 20 and 24, with an average Potency of 45.

And finally, 1,000 warriors between levels 25 and 29, each boasting around 70 Potency.

Once selected, the Codex lit up with spectral light, the names of the chosen offerings flickering and then fading as the souls were claimed.

[Fusion Progress: 200 → 946.20 / 2000]

Damn. Only 746 progress for offering so many souls that were of her type to boot! Soul upgrades were one costly investment, that was for sure. I invested all my warrior-type souls into Eve in this level range, earning her another 750 progress. ȒἁΝŎ𝐛Ɛ𝙨

I then filled the remaining bar of 300 progress with 1100 level 30-34, 100 potency souls.

[Fusion Progress: 2000 / 2000]

The moment Eveʼs progress bar hit full again, the transformation kicked in. This time, it was even more vivid than before.

Where before only fragments of her armor had materialized, those pieces now thickened, connected, and expanded with a wave of spectral reinforcement. A sheen of brilliant steel spread from her shoulders down her arms, encasing her in what now looked like fully-restored war gear. Her gauntlets gleamed from their polishing. The etchings across her breastplate pulsed with soul light. The long sword at her hip, which was half-transparent after her first rank-up, solidified into a pristine weapon.

But even with her arms and armor now fully restored, her skin remained that distinctive soul-blue. Still ethereal. Still otherworldly.

Her face, though… her face was no longer washed out. It was fully defined. A sharp jawline, high cheekbones, eyes that held a firm spectral glow. She looked like a soul brought back in her prime. Strong, imposing, undeniably elite.

Vex took a slow step forward, observing Eve from different angles with an arched brow, then turned her red eyes to me.

”Quin. Have her punch me instead of you,” she asked abruptly.

”…You sure?”

”Yes. Punch me. Not you. Letʼs see what she can do.”

I frowned. ”Is this about protecting me?”

Vex paused for a second before a troubled expression emerged on her delicate face. ”Youʼre a sharp one… I hoped you wouldnʼt realize.”

She then smirked, ”Please, swallow your manly ego for me, love. Iʼm almost two hundred years older than you. Thereʼs no shame in being a bit weaker than me. It should be me who feels insecure, after all, in few more years and youʼll make my past two centuries spent in the pursuit of personal strength look like a joke, the work of an amateur.”

She stepped up beside me and added, with a wink, ”Plus, it makes me feel warm inside to know that I protect my man.”

I had to grimace inwardly. I already felt weird about her ʼgiftʼ to me, the curse where she made it so she would suffer alongside me should I be in danger. But I knew Vex. She wasnʼt a fragile princess but a warrior woman. Just like I had an innate desire to protect my girls, she felt the same way about me. So I didnʼt have it in me to question or deny her gift, nor oppose her most recent statement.

Instead, I sighed defeatedly under my breath before nodding toward Eve. ”Punch her palm.”

Eve obeyed immediately.

Her armored fist shot forward and slammed into Vexʼs outstretched hand.

*Thwack!*

The impact sounded like a hammer striking metal. The air rippled. Dust kicked up at their feet.

Vexʼs arm trembled slightly from the impact. Her eyes narrowed in deliberation.

She flexed her fingers slowly and muttered, ”That one hurt... Not enough to leave a mark, but still…”

After she was done shaking her wrists, she looked back at me. ”Sheʼs strong. Very strong. Iʼd put her Strength stat somewhere around a level 45 to 50 warrior.”

A satisfied grin crept onto my lips.

”Then I didnʼt waste those thousands of souls after all.”

*Brrrt!* Vexʼs communication artifact rang all of a sudden. ”Damn it!” She cursed under her breath.

”Whatʼs up?” I asked, surprised at her reaction.

”I had this damn thing on what I like to call ʼFuck offʼ mode, or ʼDo Not Disturbʼ as the posh folks say. If it rang anyway, that means itʼs a real emergency.

”Oh.”

”Indeed…” she sighed before picking up. ”Big sis, Iʼm on my honeymoon, you know? We just came back from the mission, too! Whatʼs so important for you to disturb me?”

Oriannaʼs voice responded. She wasnʼt impressed. ”Your mission ended days ago. Staying in lionkin lands and playing soldier was your choice, on your own time. As for honeymoon… Congrats, Vex. From the bottom of my heart, Iʼm happy for you. But I canʼt let you enjoy it now.”

She finished her statement with a defeated sigh, sounding sincere about her words.

”Youʼll have to postpone it because the Greenvales have declared official war on us, and thanks to that loser Maelstrom suffering over 15,000 casualties during the beastkin outing, we went from feeling confident about this prospective conflict to being the clear underdogs. He lost over 50 Veil Walkers, for the Goddessʼ sake! If that wasnʼt bad enough, our newly acquired beastkin allies had suffered great casualties in the war, save for the wolfkin and dogkin. They wonʼt be able to rush to our rescue immediately. I need you to help me reorganize our defenses around the most valuable outposts.”

Vexʼs face went pale.

But she wasnʼt alone.

Mine had as well.

After all, this was solely my doing. And now I brought the Vesper Consortium into a war neither side wanted to fight. The mediator, the man seated in the highest position among the seven circle heads, wanted to avoid war. Alastair Greenvale and his advisors wanted to avoid the war.

It was I who wanted them to clash, because I needed a large-scale conflict so that I could flourish. To that end, I paused my sentence of the twins and let them stay the night at home to rile the duke up by begging to sleep in his room and pretending to have nightmares from the kidnapping attempt that I made them think the finance department head masterminded, when it was me who did it.

But Iʼd already gotten my large-scale clash in the lands of the Beastman Confederation. Now, I planned to lean back for a bit and focus on my upcoming Primordial Rank-Up mission while letting my girls get more familiar with their classes.

So… I just made the duke declare war on a weakened Consortium, while my Ascendants and I might not even participate in the whole thing if the primordial trial takes too long to complete.

Well, what can I say?

… Oopsie?