The Broken Possessors of the Infinite Regression Academy - Chapter 262
Chapter 262 – Side Story: Elder Lich? – 1
The commander of the Demon King’s 5th Legion, Elder Lich, was an undead with a skeletal body and a mantle and decorations that had been attached to it.
I was caught in a bluff and tried to move the life vessel, but the life vessel’s vitality caused me to regain my previous form and fight us. I took advantage of the gap and cast a magic spell to project my mind onto myself, but ended up becoming a wreck instead.
However, even in its ruined state, the Life Vessel’s vitality remained intact, and thanks to that vitality, it was able to continuously undergo biological experiments in the underground of the Magic Association based on its infinite regenerative abilities and broken mind.
That was the case until recently.
“What about the Life Vessel?”
“I tore everything off, leaving only the minimum size that could maintain the body. Since I completely removed it, it turned back into an undead. If it turned into an undead form, its powers might be exerted again, and above all, wouldn’t this form be better than the skeleton form, hehe.”
Baektapju smiled affectionately, stroking his long beard that reached down to his waist. It was true that the appearance of a demon was better than a skeleton, but that wasn’t what was important right now.
“Why are you bringing me to the Academy? There are students there. I don’t think Lady Erestica would have given permission.”
“You can rest assured, I have given you permission.”
“how?”
“There is no place safer than the palace, right here at Bellium Academy. Lady Mira is here, the warrior is here, and the dark dragon is here too. The palace security is just a few archmages and the royal guards. How can those humans be a match for Lady Mira?”
If the emperor had heard that, he would have been so shocked that he would have seriously considered whether to cut off that b*stard’s head or not. Baektapju, who had said those words calmly, took out a magic tool from his robe pocket and put it in my hand.
It was a magical tool with two small switches in the shape of a square, flat rectangle.
“We are not just going to throw the former Demon King’s Army commander into the crowd of students without thinking. It is a tool and safety device that can control him, so use it, Mira-sama.”
“Safety device? How does it work?”
“If you look, there are two switches, right? The moment you press the lower one, the extinction magic installed in various critical parts of the body will be activated, and it is a tool that allows you to completely finish the guy off. If the extinction magic disappears, becomes inoperable, or becomes corrupted, the color of the magic tool will change to blue, so you can judge by looking at that.”
“… … When should I use it?”
“I leave it entirely up to you, Mira. Well, you can press it right now. It’s a bit of a shame, but I have finished all the important experiments, so I have no regrets.”
Somehow, the forehead, neck, and limb joints glowed blue, and I wondered if it was because there was an extinction spell engraved inside.
“I understand. Then what’s the top switch?”
“It is a device that activates the ego injected into the surface consciousness. When pressed while in an activated state, it returns to a dormant state.”
“Hello? Dormant?”
“I will explain it to you one by one.”
Seeing my reaction, Baektapju smiled kindly as if he had expected me to react that way and began to explain.
“But before that, let’s go back and look at the reason why this guy’s mind collapsed. Didn’t the Elder Lich become a cripple because he looked into Mira’s mind and lost the duel?”
To put it more precisely, I was initially surprised by the strength of the monsters that existed in my original world, and then I went crazy out of fear at the sight of myself fighting them on equal terms.
Since he didn’t necessarily tell the truth, that’s how it was known to the magicians.
“After many attempts, our White Tower has succeeded in creating a magic that can extract the trapped spirit from the collapsed body, and even clone it. Our White Tower is the first to do so.”
The owner of Baektap, who had been emphasizing the word “our Baektap,” glanced at me as if trying to gauge my reaction. I stroked my beard with a surprised expression and a satisfied look.
Honestly, this surprised me as well.
“Is that really possible?”
“Of course. Didn’t our Baektap do it? How could we lie to Mira-sama in front of her? Rather than lie to Mira-sama, I would rather lie to His Majesty the Emperor.”
Baektapju, who calmly and confidently said something that even the Emperor would arrest him for treason, tapped the Elder Lich on the forehead.
“The ‘original’ of the extracted self has been injected into this guy’s surface consciousness. It is currently in a dormant state, but if it starts working, it will be able to move immediately. The trigger that will activate the self injected into the surface consciousness by waking it from that dormant state is the first switch that Mira-nim mentioned.”
“… … In the end, what do we gain by doing this?”
“If the experiment is successful, we plan to inject the extracted ego into a magic stone golem to create an autonomous magic stone golem. Didn’t you say earlier that you only left the bare minimum life vessel to sustain life in this guy’s body? The rest was disassembled and installed into the magic stone golem, and the magic stone efficiency was… … .”
When it was time to talk about the results of the experiment, Baektapju talked on for quite some time before I stopped him.
The only thing I could understand was that the effectiveness of the magic stone golem had been greatly increased due to the Life Vessel, and that it could even move on its own if it utilized the Elder Lich’s data.
For fully autonomous thinking, a priming word is needed, and while the ego is active, it will serve the person who said the priming word as its master.
“I understand, so let’s leave it at that. So, why the Academy? I can’t think of any other reason than it being safe.”
“That’s because it’s the first place it’ll be deployed once the verification is complete. Didn’t I offer it to you as a sparring partner once before as a test? But Mira-nim destroyed it.”
I coughed in vain, feeling a sting. I had deliberately broken it, fearing that it would run wild after being contaminated by the relic like in the original.
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Baektapju laughed heartily.
“No one wants to hold Mira responsible, so you can rest assured. Anyway, since the golem is going to be deployed to Bellium Academy, wouldn’t it be right to experiment on it there?”
“It’s not dangerous, is it?”
“In our experiments conducted within the Association and on the Magic Tower for a week, we have not seen any cases where the eyes suddenly turn upside down and attempt to kill humans. Of course, there is no such thing as 100% certainty, so we have provided safety measures.”
“Okay. Since Lady Erestica has given permission, I don’t really have anything to say. Go. I’ll keep you for three days and then return you.”
“Yes, Mira. I will be waiting.”
The White Pagoda Master, bowing deeply, returned to his pagoda with a greeting that he was truly looking forward to seeing them again later.
If all went as planned, Elder Lich was supposed to arrive tomorrow. He came to see me right after I asked him what was wrong. It didn’t go as planned, but it was a success because he surprised me no matter what the outcome was.
“Mind extraction… … .”
I stuck out my tongue. I never thought I would be able to pull off such a magic trick.
I stared at the Elder Lich, who was standing still like a mannequin. He had purple hair, eyes that were a mixture of purple and black, and peach-colored skin that resembled a human. Excluding the eyes, his appearance was much closer to a human than a demon.
I pressed the upper switch of the magic tool I was given. Then, the stiff posture of the Elder Lich relaxed a little. It went down from a mannequin or statue to a human-like posture that maintained a still posture.
“Is this okay?”
“Yes.”
I was talking to myself. I asked the guy a question.
“What should I call you?”
“Elder Lich is enough.”
“Yes, Elder Lich. What is your purpose and reason for coming here?”
“It is to experiment with the degree of autonomy that the self that is instilled in my surface consciousness and revealed to the outside has.”
“I know right.”
It seemed like it was time to fully activate my ego. I recited the slogan I had memorized while Baektapju was talking to himself earlier. Now, the real start was about to begin.
A long sentence flowed out of my mouth that would never be accidentally mentioned in everyday life unless I deliberately memorized and said it.
“… …May thoughts be in your head, flames in your heart, and will in your body.”
As soon as the ignition ended, Elder Lich’s body flinched and the stiffness disappeared. For a moment, he looked around with a “Huh?” expression, and then his eyes met mine, standing right next to him.
“You… … .”
The guy raised his arm reflexively.
But instead of the bony arm of the Demon King’s army commander who had controlled the legions of death while taking countless lives, all that was visible was a soft arm covered in frail skin and flesh like a human.
“… … It doesn’t work. That’s to be expected, considering the size of the Life Vessel has been greatly reduced.”
“You’re calmer than I thought?”
“Emotions don’t allow for objective thinking. If you get angry here, all you’ll do is forget the path you were trying to take.”
When I encountered him while moving the Life Vessel, I rolled my eyes at his remark that he resembled Erestica’s succubus, but this is a pretty rational statement for someone like him.
“Then we’ll have to see how rational you can be. You said you’ve put a restriction on absolutely obeying the orders of the person who recited the swear word… … Sit down.”
“Ha, do you think I would listen to such an order—huh?”
The Elder Lich, who had been snorting at my words, crouched down on the floor like a puppy. His face was stained with embarrassment and shame.
“What, what is it? Why is my body… … .”
“Stand up, turn around, sit back down. Roll.”
“What, what are you doing! Don’t do it! Don’t do it!”
The guy faithfully followed my words with his body, even though his expression was disgusted. A scream burst out of his mouth.
Finally, he reached out his hand. Elder Lich placed his left hand on my palm like a dog would place its paw on, with a face of shame. With his other hand, he stroked my head as if he were Priscilla.
“Good job. Good job.”
“Ugh, ughhh… … .”
The guy bit his lip and let out a scream. But the hand he had placed on me remained the same. His head dropped.
“Ugh, kill me… … .”
“You want to die? Okay.”
At my words, the guy lifted his head, which had been hanging down. Judging from the hope in his eyes, he seemed sincere.
“Try to be as cute and charming as you can think of. You know what? You might die of embarrassment.”
“What? What is that… … .”
The astonished Elder Lich cried out in an urgent voice as his body began to move slowly against his will.
“You don’t have to. I don’t want to die. So stop. It’s a lie that I want to die.”
The rebellion ended there. The guy followed my orders faithfully without finishing his sentence. Tears welled up in his eyes, which said that emotions only interfere with objective thinking.
Looking at his expression, it seemed like he could really die of shame if he did well.