Sword of Salvation-Chapter 66: - Ethereal Heart (3)

•••••••••• Hidden Laboratory ••••••••••

The man widely known as Doctor Lergen had one secret goal he didn’t share with anyone, not even his trusted assistant. It wasn’t because he feared disobedience; Lergen simply wanted to keep it to himself.

That goal wasn’t to extend human life as he often claimed. Nor was it to create a spectacular monster capable of rivaling the Primordial Demon. While he did plan to pursue both, they were merely side projects.

Lergen’s true goal was something no one would have expected. He wanted to become a perfect being: no need to eat, drink, or excrete, immune to death, and invincible. He wanted immortality in its purest form—not like gods or mythological beings that could still be killed.

For that grand purpose, Lergen had begun the "Etheral Heart" project more than five decades ago.

It was a long-term project with the ultimate goal of creating a divine or ether heart—Etheral Heart. This heart would rejuvenate and transcend every cell in Lergen’s body, making him immortal. His soul would also be safeguarded by the power of Gluttony King Beelzebub.

Yet even after more than five decades, Lergen had not perfected the Etheral Heart. He still needed many samples to complete the eternal heart. For the past decade, he had focused on creating hearts with different models and power levels.

So far, Lergen had created four series: B (Black), G (Green), R (Red), and W (White).

The B series focused on raw power. It was the most common heart model he had created. Object B-147 was the latest model. It was the heart Lergen used to turn King Maggio’s daughter into a half-demon. The raw power stored within the heart was almost equivalent to Primordial Demon Levia’s. However, due to its focus on raw strength and heavy modifications, the heart didn’t carry any Devil Curses.

The G series focused on regeneration. The R series emphasized physical strength. Meanwhile, the W series centered on Devil Curses. Among the three, the W series was the hardest to make and the most difficult to activate. Lergen had only completed five models for this series, none of which functioned properly.

This time, Lergen wanted to create a giant heart, the Gi (Giant) series.

The Gi series would combine the main aspects of the B, G, and R series. The primary subjects for this heart series were animals. Lergen planned to create monsters with this heart. If successful, he would move on to the final series: C (Complex). The C series would combine the core aspects of all four previous series. The final product of the C series would be what Lergen referred to as the Etheral Heart.

Late into the night, Lergen remained in his lab, surrounded by scattered heart fragments on the table. His hands skillfully sewed one piece to another. He had lost many experimental subjects when Iresvilea lab was destroyed. Reluctantly, the doctor had to work even harder.

Lergen was alone. His trusted assistant, Livera, had been sent away to have some rest. Despite everything, Lergen wasn’t a completely cruel man. He knew how to treat irreplaceable subordinates like Livera well.

Lergen’s hands suddenly froze when a bone-deep chill pierced him.

The air temperature hadn’t changed. The chill that made his bones shiver wasn’t literal cold—it was instinctual. This sensation often arose when the body detected an overwhelmingly dangerous threat.

A dark blue flower petal suddenly fell from the ceiling, drifting right in front of the doctor’s eyes. Lergen did nothing but watch it fall attentively.

The moment the petal touched the table, the room was flooded with identical flowers. They poured in through the open door and gathered two meters from Lergen’s table. The flowers fused, forming the upper body of a woman who floated defying gravity.

"Levia...."

Lergen hadn’t expected this. He never thought he would be confronted by the creature he considered the most dangerous. He knew that a demon’s body could function for days without rest. However, this late-night visit was too sudden. Lergen couldn’t recall doing anything that would prompt the demon to confront him directly.

"It’s been 11 years since we last met. You feel a little stronger, Doctor Lergen."

Lergen didn’t sense any malice from the demon before him. Still, he didn’t let down his guard. While Lergen had made his body highly resistant to poisons, Levia’s unique flowers were different. His resistance and enhancements might not be enough to withstand their effects.

"I thought I’d been careful not to disturb you. Heh, did I accidentally do something that troubled you enough to come here, Levia?"

Of the seven Primordial Demons (Lergen did not consider Lukhiel one of them because he was too weak), only three lacked territories. The other four ruled over the demons of the four continents.

Coincidentally, Levia ruled over the Western Continent. However, unlike Ignira, who ruled the Eastern Continent, Levia did not bother subjugating all demons. She hardly bothered with anything. Aside from Nessthanovla and two other Primordial Demons Lergen did not know, Levia was the most tolerant of them all.

And because of that, Lergen felt wary about her sudden appearance.

"No. You haven’t done anything wrong. There’s nothing to worry about. Besides, I didn’t trouble myself coming here. I’m not actually here. This is just a projection of myself using Levia flowers. If you bothered to clean your lab, you’d probably find a neat cluster of those flowers."

I need to eradicate those flowers, thought the doctor.

"I created this projection because there is something I want you to do. But before that, I have a question."

Lergen wanted to know what Levia intended, but he nodded and allowed the demon to continue.

"Are you still pretending to be a servant of Great Human Council?"

"Kukuku kuku kukukuku," Lergen’s unique laugh escaped his lips. "What makes you think I’m pretending, Levia?" he asked with a sly smile.

"I’ll take that as a ’yes’."

Lergen’s sly smile vanished. He would have preferred if Levia had entertained his question, but it seemed he could not expect such things from the demon.

"So, what do you want me to do?" asked the doctor.

"Sterminatore will pressure King Maggio into hunting you. Ultores will support that decision. Of all those who will pursue you, I want you to ignore everyone except two individuals."

Lergen didn’t need to ask who those two were; petals from Levia’s flowers appeared in the air and formed images of the two individuals.

"I want you to deploy all your experimental subjects to handle them. If you want to join in, great. If you just want to watch, that’s fine too. I want you to push them to their limits. You can do whatever you want, but make sure not to kill them."

"It seems I know the woman, but I don’t recognize the young man."

The half-masked woman was one of his successful experimental subjects. She had even resisted the suggestion and manipulation he had used. The mind-control techniques Lergen developed had failed to enslave her.

But wasn’t she under Rhemea’s control? Had she discovered the truth and left that old hag?

"I don’t care who you know and who you don’t. What matters is, will you do it or not?"

"Kukuku. I don’t mind doing it. I also need to speak to that woman. But, Levia, you know that what you’re asking will cost me all my experimental subjects, right? This is my best lab in the kingdom. If I sacrifice it, I’ll have to move to the lab in Moskvallha."

"If you do it, I’ll allow you to hunt any demon you want, whether they’re my loyal followers or not. I won’t stop you."

"Kukuku. You know demons can be eradicated if I’m too greedy, right?"

"If you want to destroy demons, you’ll have to make all humans immortal. But that’s not an issue. You’re free to do whatever you want, Doctor Lergen."

Eleven years ago, when Lergen personally captured demons, Levia approached him and warned him not to commit mass slaughter. That warning had made Lergen rely on others to obtain demon hearts. If Levia granted him total freedom, his experiments would progress much faster. He could create the Etheral Heart in a much shorter time.

"In that case, I’ll be happy to fulfill your request. But, Levia, I also have a question. If you answer it, I’ll devote everything to driving those two to despair."

Lergen had only ever met Levia and Ignira in person. However, he knew what the Primordial Demons ruling over the demons in the Southern and Northern Continents wanted. Ignira aimed to rule over both humans and demons, building a mutualistic system. However, Levia’s goals and thoughts remained a mystery.

Even Romero and other members of World Order were extremely cautious when dealing with anything that could disturb Levia. This female demon wasn’t the strongest, but she was far more dangerous than anyone else. Because of that, Lergen wanted to know.

"I will listen."

Levia said she would listen, but she didn’t promise to answer. Nonetheless, Lergen asked the question that had long been buried in his mind.

"What is your goal?"

"...I have no goals related to this continent, let alone this world. I become the ruler of the demons here only to fulfill Nessthanovla’s wishes. Nessthanovla desires a dystopian world where humans can become stronger than their predecessors, and I have no objections to supporting that wish."

"Kukuku. You didn’t answer my question."

"I consider that an answer. If you’re asking what I intend to do, I’ll say that I’ll make sure the war Great Human Council is inciting doesn’t reach the kingdom where I reside."

Another terrifying thing about Levia was her information network, which even surpassed Great Human Council’s. She knew what was happening in every nation and every continent. If she were paranoid, Lergen might have thought that there was no place in the world safe from Levia’s eyes and ears.

"Great Human Council wants the Western Continent divided into just three nations," Lergen explained. "Great Kingdom of Celtekhna. Empire of Moskvallha. And Kingdom of Urakhna. Those three nations will be all that remain. If you plan to stop them, that means you don’t reside in any of those three nations."

"If Gillea finds out I know their plans from you, he will hunt you. Aren’t you worried?"

"Kukuku. I admit Gillea is a troublesome opponent, but he’s no Romero. Besides, I’m sure you already knew that even without me saying anything, Levia."

"Do you have any more questions?" Levia asked. "Since you’re unsatisfied with my answer, I’ll answer one more question as compensation."

"...Where can I find Nessthanovla?"

The whereabouts of Nessthanovla were also a mystery. Some said he was in Babylon. Others claimed he never stayed in one place. Some even said he lived above the clouds. However, what Lergen could deduce was that the first demon to set foot in the upper world wasn’t in any of the four continents.

"You know where Great Human Council’s HQ is. You should also be able to guess where Nessthanovla is. Nessthanovla founded Anathema to oppose Great Human Council. Great Human Council founded Sterminatore to deal with Anathema. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Kukukukukuku."

Lergen had never thought finding Nessthanovla’s location would be easy. But now everything became clear. If the world was a coin, the two sides represented the locations of Nessthanovla and Great Human Council’s HQ. This meant he only needed to find coordinates opposite the Great Human Council’s HQ.

"I believe our conversation ends here. Farewell, Doctor Lergen."

Lergen was too busy laughing to respond to the demon’s farewell. And when his peculiar laughter subsided, the flowers that displayed half of the demon’s body had vanished. There were no Levia flowers left except for one petal that had fallen on the doctor’s table earlier.

That flower seemed to scream for him to pick it up, but Lergen preferred hearing his assistant’s complaints over taking the flower.