Gargoyle Supremacy-Chapter 67: I Don’t Think I’ll Work With Humans Ever Again

Blasting through Section A of the facility, Carn and Gawain arrived at an underground subway platform. However, the platform stood eerily empty. The last train had already departed.

The researchers and local soldiers had been swift in their retreat, evacuating the area while Carn and Gawain were preoccupied with dismantling bots and turrets. The duo arrived too late to intercept their quarry.

Frustrated but undeterred, Carn and Gawain ventured deeper into the facility, ransacking its maze corridors for any lingering personnel or clues.

After an hour of exploring, they stumbled upon a sterile test laboratory. Rows of glass capsules lined the walls, containing lifeless humanoid monsters in some kind of viscous fluid.

They paused, momentarily distracted from their pursuit.

Gawain approached one of the capsules and peered inside. His eyes widened in recognition.

"A mimic? My lord, isn’t this guy from the Mimic Corps?"

Carn’s gaze shifted to a nearby capsule housing a withered werewolf and another containing a humanoid slime. He realized that these were once his subordinates. Silently, he closed his eyes and offered a brief, solemn prayer for their souls.

The moment passed, and Carn’s focus returned. He moved toward a central console, where a haphazard stack of documents sat atop the control panel. The papers were filled with technical jargon, codes, and detailed procedural instructions. Picking up the stack, Carn skimmed through its contents.

It took Carn a moment to figure out the purpose of this lab.

"They were attempting to extract Aether from the bodies."

Gawain turned away from the mimic’s capsule, "Yeah, no wonder they’re collecting all doppelgangers’ corpses."

Carn flipped through more pages. The documents described grotesque experiments designed to siphon Aether and essence from living beings, converting these life forces into raw energy that could then be transferred into human hosts. Another stack described the methodical conversion of mimic flesh into a specialized medicine capable of enhancing an explorer’s or hunter’s mana reserves.

The research was disturbingly thorough. Notes meticulously cataloged countless failures and casualties, alongside detailed diagrams of the creatures’ dissected anatomies. One particularly chilling report outlined a potential application for Class-E and Class-F human subjects.

It claimed that 50 liters of blood from ordinary humans who had consumed the flesh of these monsters could be distilled into a mere 10cc of mana liquid. This highly concentrated substance could then generate a staggering 250,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Carn’s glowing crimson eyes narrowed as he read the implications. The notes made it clear that human experimentation had already begun, and the researchers were actively refining their techniques. The scale of the atrocities committed here and the number of victims could rival what the Nazis had done.

Carn was disgusted. He set the documents down.

"Typical human behavior. The Twin Tower Kingdom and Cyan Desert Empire did something similar in my time."

"What should we do with this place?"

Carn turned his gaze to the rows of lifeless former comrades in viscous liquid. "We burn it all. These souls deserve rest."

"My lord, may I use holy power here?"

"Suit yourself," Carn replied. "I’m running low on gold and silver marks anyway."

Gawain nodded solemnly. He raised his golden blade, channeling divine energy as waves of holy power radiated outward. A brilliant gold light engulfed the lab, producing searing heat and immense air pressure. Computers and machinery melted under the purifying flame, and the capsules shattered as the liquid inside fizzled and evaporated into harmless vapor. The bodies within were reduced to ash.

A portion of Aether manifested and gathered in front of Gawain. However, the knight directed it to Carn, who needed more Aether than him.

Carn nodded, welcoming free Aether. The strings of crimson light entered his body, increasing his silver marks by 300.

The two, being vessels of holy power themselves, walked unharmed through the walls of purification flame. Without a word, they exited the room. The holy fire erased any trace of the atrocities behind him, leaving only a charred room full of debris.

As they walked down the corridor, Gawain turned to Carn. "I think we should visit another lab."

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"There’s another one like this?!" Carn frowned.

"No. This one experiment with a holy artifact. They call it ECD-77."

Carn’s expression shifted at the mention of ECD-77. The name rang a bell, and his thoughts immediately turned to Jasmine’s old reports. His mother’s documents had mentioned something about that code name.

"What’s the artifact?"

"The Sacred Dragoon Chalice, the one originally made for the Church of the Mother Tree."

Carn stopped mid-step as he figured out the reason why they should acquire the artifact, "...That explains a lot."

The Sacred Dragoon Chalice was an artifact, tied to the Kirin Kingdom, the Mother Tree, and the revered Church of the Mother Tree.

The Church of the Mother Tree was a spiritual and political entity under the Human-Kirin Alliance Faction. It worshiped Aether and the Mother Tree, much like Carn himself. Renowned for its neutrality, the church refrained from taking sides during the frequent wars between humans and demons, acting instead as a stabilizing force in the region. The only exception was during the Anti-Lich King Coalition War, where their involvement was critical in quelling the undead menace.

The chalice was the cornerstone that kept the Church of the Mother Tree united and functioning as a singular entity. When it was infused with holy power, it produced "Blessed Water," a miraculous substance that turned ordinary people into paladins with divine strength and, on rare occasions, evolved selected saints or saintesses into holy spirits.

When diluted in freshwater, Blessed Water became an all-purpose panacea, capable of curing diseases, healing grievous injuries, and even acting as an elixir of youth. Its restorative properties and life-giving essence were unparalleled, solidifying the church’s role as a bastion of hope and healing.

With the Sacred Dragoon Chalice and its Blessed Water, the church flourished, attracting followers from all corners of the land. It was both a symbol of divine favor and a practical source of their enduring prosperity.

Over centuries, the church produced countless saints, saintesses, and paladins who upheld peace and justice, serving as beacons of hope in times of chaos. Yet, despite their noble intentions, cracks occasionally appeared in their unity and judgment. Some of their most devout members, intoxicated by greed or misinformation, defied church orders to confront Carn.

Carn, though a demon lord, was a devout worshiper of the Mother Tree. He lived within his father’s dungeon, never harming civilians or disrupting the balance of the world. Still, misguided saints and saintesses viewed him as a threat and launched invasions into his domain, but that was another story for another time.

An unease formed in Carn’s chest. "I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I doubt the clergies of the church would surrender the chalice to humans of this world so easily. I suspect there’s a traitor in the church."

Carn turned to Gawain. "Do you know anything about what the humans are doing with the chalice?"

Gawain recalled his brief collaboration with Jasmine during their pursuit of Lich King artifacts.

"My lord, before I and the detective confronted you, we caught a criminal related to the chalice. According to reports from ECD agents, the person stole the chalice from the facility and sold Blessed Water on the black market. The ECD managed to secure the chalice and some of the extracted water, but I don’t know if they’ve returned the artifact to containment or changed its location. I just want to check if they return it there yet."

"I see. That’s our next destination then. Let’s move."