Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1416: Section 1417 The Distinction of the Soul

After the White Light Bullet left the barrel, trailing a long tail, it struck Princess Gumman again.

At that moment, Angel’s eyes were fixed solely on Princess Gumman, blocking out all external information, using his eyes to record every inch of change on her body.

Whenever he gained something, Angel also took out his notepad, swiftly jotting down the relevant information.

The surroundings were very quiet, aside from the rustling sound of Angel’s pen, there was only the painful moans of Princess Gumman as she struggled.

One shot, then another.

Whenever Princess Gumman’s energy approached imbalance, Angel would reload another bullet.

Each bullet dispersed the chaotic negative energy within Princess Gumman’s body. The black aura around her grew less and less, and by the fourth shot, she had almost returned to the state of a normal soul, her previously half-ferocious, half-calm state had vanished, and now she stood quietly inside the light shield, the very image of a noble lady.

Only the occasional flash of confusion and malice in her eyes made it clear that she had not fully reverted to a soul, with one foot still in the Abyss of Corruption.

In the beginning, Frost watched with interest the transformation of Princess Gumman induced by the Samsara Overture, but after a while, he understood the function of the White Light Bullets. His interest in the Samsara Overture diminished, and instead, he began to focus on Angel.

It was the first time he had seen a shadow of the same dazzling brilliance in an apprentice that he had once followed in an Alchemist.

If Angel could maintain this initial spirit, perhaps he would go far on the path of Alchemy in the future.

The only regret is that such a potential seed, if educated systematically in Alchemy in the Origin World, might have been better.

Frost seldom felt a sense of admiration for talent, planning to remind Angel after his experimentation was complete, as a kind of return for Angel agreeing to let him observe.

As Frost pondered, Angel had fired the last shot.

The fifth shot, also the sixth White Light Bullet in Princess Gumman.

When this White Light Bullet entered Princess Gumman’s body, the stubborn negative energy that had been entangling with her stable internal energy dissipated into smoke, wafting out from the top of Princess Gumman’s head.

The image of Princess Gumman changed completely.

Gone was the terrifying visage of an undead, she was now a completely ordinary soul, her spirit force bright and clean.

With her long hair draped over her shoulders, she simply stood there, radiating a bright and beautiful, calm and elegant aura.

In Angel’s eyes, all the negative energy in Princess Gumman’s body had dissipated. He let out a breath and exited the hyper-calculating state.

Angel noted down the last bit of insight in his notepad, and when he looked up, he found Princess Gumman watching him quietly with her eyes open.

Angel raised an eyebrow. Tullas had fallen into a coma right after being hit by six bullets and it took him a long time to wake up. But Princess Gumman seemed to have skipped that part.

What could be the reason?

“What is your name, do you remember?” Angel asked.

“The moment I became a slave, I lost my name,” said Princess Gumman quietly: “I once had a pet bird, named Mandhela, that’s the name of my mother’s favorite September flower. You can call me Mandhela.”

From Princess Gumman’s… Mandhela’s statement, Angel could basically discern that her memories from her life had not been lost.

But what was the reason for her quick awakening? Could it be—

“Is your special ability still present?” Angel asked. The difference between Mandhela and Tullas was that, although Tullas had been a special soul, his special ability was caused by a Mysterious Object, and it only existed in his undead state. Mandhela’s special soul, on the other hand, should have nothing to do with the Mysterious Object. Maybe she retained it after reverting back to a soul?

Mandhela looked up at Angel, silent for a long time, then suddenly curled her lips into a mocking smile: “Why should I tell you? I could have killed this group of witches, you ruined my plan, why would I tell you anything?”

Even though Mandhela had reverted to an ordinary soul, souls too have their own emotions.

Initially, whether in life or after death, Tullas had no significant interactions of love or hate with Angel, even attacking Angel when he was in an undead state. Later, when Tullas reverted to his soul, he actually felt guilt, and, due to his character, he followed Angel with this sense of guilt in tow.

But Mandhela was different; she not only retained her memories of her life, but from her current responses, it seemed even her memories as a semi-undead had not vanished.

Angel’s existence ran through all her memories. She was well aware of what Angel had done, and under this emotional influence, her anger toward Angel seemed natural.

“Her special ability is still intact.” Just then, Isabel’s voice suddenly reached Angel’s ears.

Mandhela looked at Isabella with resentful eyes.

Isabella, on the other hand, glanced at her indifferently. She was interested in “Semi-Undead” and the process of “undead transmutation into souls”. Now that Mandhela had turned back into a soul, her interest waned considerably.

Angel thanked Isabella. Since Mandhela’s abilities were still intact, he could reasonably guess that the reason she didn’t remain unconscious for long, like Tullas, was because her abilities hadn’t diminished.

Perhaps because Isabella had revealed some truths, Mandhela’s rhetoric suddenly changed, “If you release me, I can tell you more information. Aren’t you curious about my condition when I was a Semi-Undead? I can tell you all about it.”

“I can release you, but not now,” Angel looked at Mandhela. “If I release you now, you will only be annihilated or turned back into an undead. Do you dislike your current state or, perhaps, you prefer the state of being undead?”

Mandhela fell silent. When she was a Semi-Undead, she wasn’t curious about the state of a normal soul. But after she had transformed into a soul, she truly felt what it meant to be at ease; no more resentful whispers in her ears, no more emotional upheavals from time to time, and no more being driven by mysterious forces into frenzied killing…The feeling of being able to completely control oneself was incomparably good.

She did not wish to return to her former state.

But, she also didn’t want to be restrained by Angel.

Angel naturally knew of Mandhela’s inner complexity and conflict. However, he couldn’t possibly consider everyone’s thoughts and accommodate them all.

Angel no longer paid attention to Mandhela; although he was curious about some information regarding her, he was not in a hurry now.

Besides, there was another concern present.

An object of fear and vigilance for everyone present—Frost.

Angel looked towards Frost and bowed slightly, “This is the transmutation process. I wonder if Lord Frost has any advice?”

The gazes of the people, following Angel’s question, openly landed back on Frost.

Frost: “Advice, I have none, but this is the simplest, most convenient, and fastest experiment I’ve seen where an undead returns to being a soul.”

Frost’s words made everyone pause for a moment.

Angel: “Does Your Excellency mean to say there are other methods for an undead to revert to a soul?”

This was also what others wanted to ask. After so many years, the Southern Domain had never heard of a case where an undead turned back into a soul. But from what Frost indicated, not only had he heard of it, but he had also seen it?

Frost nodded: “Indeed, I have seen it once. That was when I was a follower. It was a very complicated and costly transmutation ceremony that took more than half a month, and in the end, an undead was successfully turned back into a soul. The final effect was not much different from that of the Samsara Overture, although the Samsara Overture is clearly much more convenient.”

Angel felt somewhat dazzled; he had not expected there to be other methods for an undead to revert to a soul.

He sighed: “Actually, using Samsara Overture isn’t convenient either. Each White Light Bullet in the Samsara Overture needs killing at least two thousand undead. If we measure value in terms of undead, one transmutation actually consumes a lot.”

Frost raised an eyebrow: “I see. In that light, it indeed costs quite a bit. No wonder you choose a place like Black Castle, where the undead gather, to perform the transmutation ceremony.”

Frost paused, a hint of regret in his eyes: “If the alchemist who crafted the Samsara Overture had succeeded in taking that step and elevated the Samsara Overture to the ranks of a Mysterious Object, probably it wouldn’t require so much material, and it might even be possible to transmute several undead at once.”

Speaking of this, Frost looked quite moved: “Many worlds have a need for converting undead back into souls, and some are willing to pay precious prices. If it were a true Mysterious Object, it would be such a lucrative creation.”

Frost’s words hit Isabella like an arrow to the side. Her expression visibly changed—had she not seized half of the Mysterious Spirit back then, the Samsara Overture might well have become a Mysterious Object.

“Even if Samsara Overture had truly become a Mysterious Object, the creator might not have been able to keep it,” Isabella retorted when she saw Isabella’s uneasy expression.

What she said was indeed true—if Samsara Overture had really become a Mysterious Object, Angel wouldn’t have been able to keep it, given his circumstances. Even if Isabella hadn’t seized it, Felicia, who was also present in Black Castle at the time, would have tried to take it.

But Frost merely sneered: “An alchemist ready to step into the Domain of Mystery would have made complete preparations—how could he possibly not keep it?”

The creator silently bowed his head.

Isabella: “The creator is right in front of you, take a look for yourself, can he keep a Mysterious Object?”

Now, it was Frost’s turn to be shocked.

The creator was right in front of him?

How was that possible?

As the attempt to step into the Domain of Mystery had failed, was he actually still alive? Could it be that the creator suffered neither backlash nor catastrophe?