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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 162
Seonghyun bought the Legendary rank items, and with his remaining kill count, he bought up every single Unique rank material item.
Thanks to the discount effect, he had more left over than expected and was able to buy quite a lot of items.
They weren't materials for Helena's body, but he felt he was a little short on materials to complete what he had planned.
After buying up every last Unique material item, he had used up most of his kill count.
Naturally, Beki seemed just as happy, bowing deeply to Seonghyun with a purring sound.
“Thank you for your purchase, nyan!!! P-Please call me again next time, nyaong!”
“I should be thanking you. I'll call for you again.”
“Nyaaang! Then I'll see you next time, nyaong!”
With that, Beki popped right back into the labyrinth wall from which he had emerged.
Seonghyun watched him go and smiled faintly at his cuteness.
He looked around.
He was in a safe zone within the labyrinth, but feeling a little concerned nonetheless, he opened the Gate of the Netherworld and summoned his familiars.
With Leonik still away for training, Balthar, Nocturnium, and Fiora appeared.
-Khahaha!!! Lord! Have you summoned us again! Is it for a hunt this time?
-Th-Thank you f-for summoning me, L-Lord.
“I will always answer your call.”
Balthar, Fiora, and Nocturnium appeared, greeting him in turn.
The ever-belligerent Balthar and the ever-timid Fiora.
And, of course, the ever-loyal and straightforward Nocturnium.
After summoning his very reliable familiars, Seonghyun spoke to them.
“This might take a while, so I need you to guard my surroundings.”
-Oho? When it comes to guard duty, we are indeed the perfect choice.
-O-Of course!
“I will follow your command.”
All three of them affirmed and began to guard Seonghyun's perimeter.
With Branch Manager Belmore also nearby, and being in a safe zone, he didn't think anything would happen.
But it was only natural to prepare for the unexpected, wasn't it?
While being guarded by his familiars, Seonghyun took out an item he had recently obtained: the High Alchemist's Cauldron.
It was an essential item for performing alchemy.
‘Time to add the ingredients, one by one.’
The first ingredient to go in was the Unique material item, Blood of Purity.
As he poured the blood in, the cauldron filled with liquid.
[The Unique Rank Material Item, 『Blood of Purity』, now fills the Legendary Item, 『High Alchemist's Cauldron』.]
[Conditions have been met, and the alchemy will now begin.]
[The Legendary Rank Skill, 『Melisia's Homunculus Alchemy』, has been activated.]
After reading the message that the skill had been activated, he added the other ingredients in order.
He put in the Pure Body and the Noble Heart.
These two items were the basic framework of the body that would serve as the foundation.
After adding those two, he put in the other material items he had acquired, one by one.
The Flower of the Underground Labyrinth and the Orb of Life.
The Brilliant Celestial Starlight and the Fallen Heart Fragment of the Abyss from the Lord's castle.
The Legendary material items he just obtained: the Source of Mana, the Fragment of the Red Moon, and the Breath of the King.
And finally, the various other material items he got from hunting.
However, he didn't put everything in.
A few Unique rank material items were left, but Seonghyun didn't add them.
And the last ingredient to be added was.
‘The Inner Core of Illusion goes in too.’
It was the source of the energy from which he had obtained the 'Lord of Illusion' keyword.
Seonghyun felt a little uneasy, but Helena had told him to add this as well, so there shouldn't be a problem.
With that, Seonghyun added it and stirred the cauldron.
Bubble, bubble.
As he added the ingredients in order according to Melisia's memories and stirred, the cauldron began to boil on its own and a reaction occurred.
[The 『High Alchemist's Cauldron』 begins its alchemy.]
[Synthesizing a Homunculus.]
[Time remaining until completion: 4 hours : 44 minutes : 44 seconds.]
[Set as the final ingredient: The Body.]
[Prepare a body to contain the materials at the end of the alchemy.]
‘It worked.’
This was a reaction that only appeared when the ingredients were added in the exact correct order.
Getting this far meant he was halfway to success.
Quite pleased, Seonghyun took out the body that would contain the materials from the Netherworld.
It was none other than Carmine's body.
Although she had been a hidden raid boss, she was ultimately an NPC.
This meant that, unlike other hidden raid bosses, she could be resurrected into the Death Legion immediately.
With her soul gone, even if he revived her now, her combat intelligence would be low.
While her body might be tough, it was highly likely that her overall combat effectiveness would be poor.
The reason he had specifically stored her in the Netherworld despite this was simple.
[Current list of targets available for Transcendent Death.]
『Corpse of Carmine, the Worst of Pentagrid』
‘It works.’
By putting her in the Netherworld, she became an eligible target for Transcendent Death.
Although it was a dead body, storing it in the Netherworld allowed him to use Transcendent Death on it, just as he had stored the bodies of Barpur and Anemor to see what effect it would have.
But he couldn't use Transcendent Death right now.
Doing so would prevent him from getting the result he wanted.
First, for now.
Seonghyun extended his hand.
A teal heart materialized in the air.
As the heart began to beat,
[Using 『Death Legion』.]
[『Carmine, the Worst of Pentagrid』, joins the 『Death Legion』.]
As he awakened Carmine into the Death Legion, a teal aura enveloped Carmine's dead body.
A death-like darkness wrapped around her body.
Enveloped in darkness, Carmine's body became whole, as if she were alive again, and rose to its feet.
It didn't have the same intensity she possessed in life.
After all, Carmine's strength had come from her skills and her spearmanship.
With the soul needed to wield them gone, this was a natural result.
However, the frightening physical power and overflowing mana radiating from Carmine's undead form were certainly more intense than those of his other undead.
And then, the message Seonghyun had been waiting for appeared.
[『Add More』 is activated.]
Add More activated, and Carmine's body—or more accurately, her undead—multiplied into two.
This was exactly what Seonghyun had wanted.
‘If I've succeeded up to this point, it should work.’
With that thought, Seonghyun slowly stirred the cauldron, biding his time.
The time remaining until the alchemy's completion steadily decreased.
His familiars stood guard around him, waiting endlessly.
Seonghyun's eyes flashed open.
[Time remaining until completion: 0 : 00 : 31]
Only 30 seconds remained.
As soon as he saw it, he called one of the Carmine undead and ordered it to lie down in front of the cauldron.
This next part was crucial.
He had to perform the alchemy without the slightest error.
Seonghyun pushed Melisia's memories to their absolute limit and used the Homunculus Alchemy skill.
The most important part.
[Alchemy complete!]
[Please pour the synthesized solution into the body!]
An urgent message.
However, Seonghyun pushed past the urgency and slowly poured the homunculus solution onto the Carmine that had been transformed into a Soldier of Death.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.
The solution slowly trickled down.
And it was gradually seeping into the Soldier of Death's body.
The solution in the cauldron slowly decreased.
Seonghyun concentrated so hard that beads of sweat formed on his forehead, focusing on pouring the solution in a perfectly steady stream as he used one more skill.
[Using the Legendary Rank Skill, 『Creation of Death』.]
[Combining the alchemical solution and the Soldier of Death into one, alongside the Legendary Rank Skill, 『Melisia's Homunculus Alchemy』.]
[Stability greatly increases.]
This was exactly what Seonghyun wanted.
With this, he could increase the stability even though it was his first time performing the alchemy.
Even with Melisia's memories, alchemy was a skill with many variables.
The Creation of Death skill served to minimize those variables.
Pushing both skills to their limits, Seonghyun continued to concentrate.
How much time had passed like that?
Just then, when over 90% of the solution was gone,
Seonghyun noticed a change and immediately stopped pouring from the cauldron.
The gurgling solution stopped pouring.
Just then, a light erupted from Carmine's undead body, triggered by Melisia's Homunculus Alchemy.
A divine and mysterious light, beautiful to behold.
Seeing it shine with a brilliant rainbow of colors that surpassed even orange, Seonghyun knew.
‘A Great Success!’
It was such an incredible success that even the usually stoic Seonghyun's face lit up with joy.
The materials had been exceptionally good, but beyond that, Seonghyun's concentration had truly shone.
Furthermore, the body that was to contain the solution was also magnificent.
As the Carmine undead radiated light and gradually transformed, it floated before Seonghyun's eyes, changed into a form with pure white skin and pure white hair, unthinkable for a Soldier of Death.
And then.
[Great Success!!!]
[『Melisia's Homunculus Alchemy』 is a Great Success!!!]
[The status of the Homunculus's body has been elevated beyond measure!]
[You can now customize the Homunculus's body.]
[Please design your desired avatar.]
Seeing that message, it truly sank in that he had achieved a great success.
But it wasn't over yet.
Because of the customization? No, that wasn't it.
The customization was simple enough.
He changed its appearance to look exactly like Helena.
He made it look just like Helena, with her black dress, red ribbon, black bonnet, and holding a parasol.
He just had to make it into Helena herself.
The customization was finished very quickly.
The important part started now.
[Current list of targets available for Transcendent Death.]
『Homunculus』
『Soldier of Death Carmine』
The two entities had entered the list for Transcendent Death.
After confirming this, Seonghyun did not end the Homunculus Alchemy.
Because in Melisia's memories, there had always been a way to utilize the solution when 10% remained.
Seonghyun began to add the Unique rank material items he hadn't used before.
Including the material item he had obtained from defeating Anemor.
He threw in every last one.
And also the good materials that Beki had just brought.
As he put them all in, the solution in the cauldron began to boil again, consuming all the ingredients.
[Using the remaining solution for alchemy!]
[Bonus alchemy is possible!]
[Please pour the synthesized solution into a body!]
Once again, an urgent message appeared.
Seeing it, Seonghyun called the other Carmine undead and had the solution infuse into it.
Likewise.
[Using the Legendary Rank Skill, 『Creation of Death』.]
[Combining the alchemical solution and the Soldier of Death into one, alongside the Legendary Rank Skill, 『Melisia's Homunculus Alchemy』.]
[Stability greatly increases.]
By using the two skills together for much greater stability, a powerful light signaling success erupted.
The newly synthesized form was created.
However, unlike Helena's body before it, this one did not shine with a rainbow of colors, but only emitted an orange light.
And a message appeared.
[Success!]
[『Melisia's Homunculus Alchemy』 is a Success!]
[The status of the Homunculus's body has been elevated beyond measure!]
[You can now customize the Homunculus's body.]
[Please design your desired avatar.]
This time, it was a regular Success, not a Great Success.
However, he wasn't disappointed at all.
It was a bonus alchemy, after all.
A result like this was still amazing.
It was all thanks to the Creation of Death skill doing more than its part.
‘In Melisia's memories, it was difficult to even succeed with the bonus.’
Considering that, this could practically be considered a great success.
With that thought, Seonghyun customized the newly completed body into the form of another woman.
It was none other than Serphina, the Witch of the Night.
He felt sorry for the old elf knight, Silvanor, but since he had started with a female base to create Helena's body, Serphina was the more suitable choice to make right now.
The solution itself was also focused on mana and magic.
After Seonghyun created the two entities, he brought up the final window to truly finish the process.
[Current list of targets available for Transcendent Death.]
『Homunculus, Entity Name - Helena』
『Homunculus, Entity Name - Serphina Nightbloom』
‘It's done!’
Everything went according to plan.
And finally, Seonghyun summoned the two souls: Serphina's, which had been resting in the Netherworld, and Helena's, which had been resting in his embrace.
The sleeping Helena awoke, and upon seeing the sight, she cried out in deep satisfaction, while Serphina seemed a little flustered by the sudden summons.
-Seonghyun! You finished it!
-Hmph~ What is all this~?!
Seonghyun smiled at the two of them.
In response to his smile, which seemed to ask if they trusted him.
-Of course. You're my heir, who else would I trust.
-Hmph~ If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have asked you to buy me, now would I~
Helena answered with firm belief.
And Serphina, despite her coy words, looked at him with unwavering eyes.
Looking at them both, Seonghyun nodded and used his power to have each soul inhabit its respective body.
As Seonghyun used his final finishing skill on the two soul-inhabited bodies,
[Using 『Transcendent Death』.]
[Your level has dropped by 1, becoming Level 134.]
[5 acquired additional stats will be extinguished.]
[Using 『Transcendent Death』.]
[Your level has dropped by 1, becoming Level 133.]
[5 acquired additional stats will be extinguished.]
[『Homunculus, Entity Name - Helena』 is reborn through 『Transcendent Death』.]
[『Homunculus, Entity Name - Serphina Nightbloom』 is reborn through 『Transcendent Death』.]
Along with an intense light, the entire underground labyrinth began to shake.
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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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