Deep within his mansion, the air was still and heavy with the scent of blood, the warmth of magic, and the faint, haunting wail of agonizing spirits that seemed to vibrate within the very walls.
Leylin Farlier bent over a stone slab, his fingers shining with an eerie red light that acted as a sharp scalpel, tracing glowing lines upon the back of a blonde-haired, pale-faced Magus.
The man was alive, his eyes rolled back in a silent scream, but his body was pinned immovably to the stone by silver nails that hummed with restrictive energy.
Leylin wasn't torturing the man; he was composing a symphony of ancient annals. He was feverishly experimenting with the Branded Swordsman technique, attempting to weave its martial essence into a Magus's superior spiritual sea.
Although Leylin had used the Branded Swordsman manual to create his Saint Knight meditation techniques and rune imprints, he knew that, in the end, it was still a subclass of the Magi path.
Experimenting with Magi and their unique physiques was the key to reaching greater heights in his understanding.
Usually, such experiments were nearly impossible to conduct; Magi were a revered and protected class, and to use one as a living scroll was a slight against the entire Magus World.
But during this chaotic war, with a steady supply of "materials" from his subordinates, Leylin had no qualms. He worked with the cold precision of a jeweler, his crimson eyes reflecting the glowing runes.
The heavy doors groaned open. Steward Anna stepped in, her footsteps silent against the cold stone. She moved with grace before bending on one knee, her head lowered in a gesture of fealty.
"My Lord, the North Market was hit," Anna reported, her voice steady. "Ten Dark Magi initiated the assault. We have lost Harlen, a Three-Wings member, along with two knights and the usual toll of acolytes."
Leylin didn't look up, his fingers continuing their steady, glowing work. "And the outcome?"
"Eight Dark Magi dead. One was captured alive by Faisal. The last, a Peak Rank 1, attempted to flee, though not without wounding our finishing squad in his desperation."
"Reward the informant who tipped us off," Leylin said, his voice a cold vibration that seemed to chill the room. "Two Rank 1 spells matching his innate element and a defensive artifact. Loyalty is expensive, let's keep it well-funded."
A faint, cruel smirk touched his lips. "As for the fleeing Magus, let it be. I had already dispatched the Black Horrall Snake to lay in ambush along the most likely retreat path. It should be able to delay him enough for our reinforcement team to finish the capture."
"A Four-Wings commander has already led Dexter, Faisal, and two Three-Wings members to secure the perimeter," Anna added.
"That's more than enough. There shouldn't be any more surprises," Leylin remarked. "When he is caught, send him to the Acheron Oubliette. He will serve his purpose there."
"As you wish, My Lord."
"For now," Leylin straightened, the red light on his fingers fading. "Bring the dying knights to the throne room."
...
In The Grand Throne Room
The atmosphere was thick with the scent of charred flesh. Four Bloodline Knights lay on the cold floor, their bodies literally smoking from the secret techniques they had used to burn their life force into cinders.
These were the "Disposable" tier, men with only weeks of natural life remaining who had traded their final breaths for the glory of the Requiem.
Leylin sat upon his serpent throne, looking down at them not with pity, but with acknowledgement.
"You have served the Astral Requiem well," Leylin said. "The world now knows that to attack us is to lose a dozen Magi for a single one of ours. What are your final wishes?"
Two knights bowed their heads in silent unity. "To have served Your Highness is enough."
The third, a man whose armor had partially melted into his own skin, spoke hoarsely through cracked lips. "Please forgive the selfish wish of this slave Your Highness. Give my apprentice... a boy in the Rebel Hearts an opportunity, My Lord."
"He shall be promoted to a direct disciple's tier, a two-wings member." Leylin promised, his word an unbreakable law.
The last knight looked up, his eyes burning with an old and unquenchable hate. "The empire that enslaved me, Fabichio.... the men who slaughtered my kin... I ask for their end."
"Your enemies shall be added to Requiem's list of targets," Leylin replied. "Rest now."
Suddenly several spiked shadows rose from the floor like jagged teeth, piercing the four men simultaneously. Their deaths were instantaneous, a final, silent mercy from their Master.
"A.I. Chip. Activate Soulbound Devourer."
[Beep! Soulbound Devourer Initiated. Target: Four Saint Knight Soul Cores.]
Ghostly tendrils of dark energy erupted from Leylin, latching onto the escaping spirits of the knights. They were pulled into the grey, misty expanse of Leylin's Soulbound Space.
Chained by runic shackles, the souls thrashed in instinctive terror, but they were quickly suppressed and flattened by the massive, tangible weight of Leylin's solidified spiritual force.
[Beep! Soul Analysis Completed! Deceased Subjects..Calculating stats....]
[Knight 1 (Karlos): Str: 18.5, Agi: 17.1, Vit: 14.4. Bloodline: Earth Bear.]
[Knight 2 (Horen): Str: 17.9, Agi: 15.5, Vit: 13.1. Bloodline: Iron-Hide Rhino.]
[Knight 3 (Joran): Str: 18.2, Agi: 12.8, Vit: 12.6. Bloodline: Fire-Scale Serpent.]
[Knight 4 (Malik): Str: 17.1, Agi: 13.9, Vit: 14.0. Bloodline: Steel-Claw Hawk.]
Leylin had long planned for this. By killing the dying knights himself, he could extract the final bit of their utility, merging them into a singular, powerful summon.
He had already harvested three such souls previously. Now, he prepared to merge the current four, anchored by their identical meditation techniques.
With a thought, Leylin reached into their soul cores attempting to remove their bloodline. Unlike a Warlock, whose bloodline is fused into the very essence of their soul, a Bloodline Knight's power is more superficially instilled.
Leylin meticulously removed the beast-blood cores he had once implanted before undoing the bloodline transition runes one by one.
While the removal caused a decrease in strength, it drastically increased the soul compatibility for the final merge.
"A.I. Chip, merge the seven knight souls. Construct the Vanguard of the Requiem."
The grey mist in the soulbound space swirled violently as seven spectral figures were crushed together into a singular, towering knightly form clad in translucent, shadowy plate armor.
[Beep! Soul Merge Complete. New Summon: Vanguard of the Requiem. Strength: 28.2, Agility: 30.8, Vitality: 24.5, Spiritual Force: 34.2.]
Leylin leaned back against his throne, feeling the new weight of the summon in his consciousness. He pulled his own status window to view his progression.
[Leylin Farlier. Rank 2 Warlock (Elemental Imprint Stage) (Giant Kemoyin Serpent) / Saint Knight. Summons: Black Horrall Snake, Dragon Crown Nighthawk, Vanguard of the Requiem. Strength: 32.3, Agility: 27.5, Vitality: 36.4. Spiritual Force: 133.5, Magic Power: 133. (Synchronized)]
Satisfied, Leylin closed his eyes. His current stats are far superior to a Peak Rank 2 Elemental Authority magus, in fact they are even reaching a Rank 3 magus domain except for his spiritual force.
The war was providing everything he needed knowledge, resources, power, and the very souls of his enemies and allies alike.
'Advancing through Rank 2 is much easier for me, unlike normal Rank 2 magus that needs to go through Elemental Imprint, Obedience, Domain and Authority, I just need to devour more Magi, increase my spiritual force and strengthen my bloodline.'
According to the calculation of A.I.Chip and through the library of dozens of organisation Leylin servants has infiltrated despite their lack of reach to higher level knowledge, Leylin has formulated different levels of Rank 2 advancement.
The first is the Elemental Imprint, in this stage the solidified spiritual force of a magi leaves a permanent personal signature on elemental particles and start recognizing them as owners.
By repeated cycling of elemental energy through one's body until ≥90%, the element responds only to your will, creating a more devastating response to previous spells.
The second stage is Elemental Obedience where external ambient elements begin to obey commands without spell models.
And by forcefully command surrounding elements during high-output casting until passive response occurs.
The third stage is Elemental Domain Seed, it's a creation of a small influence field where your element is strengthened and others are suppressed.
A Magi of this stage can anchor imprinted energy into space itself usually via ritual, terrain affinity, or repeated field expansion attempts.
This is why Rank 2 magus don't usually leave their dwelling because they had already made a spiritual force fortress surroundings themselves with resonating elements and strengthening it multifold, even a more powerful rank 2 magus wouldn't want to fight in the Domain Seed of a weaker rank 2 magus.
The last stage is Elemental Authority where all controlled elements internal or external act as a single unified extension of your will.
When authority exceeds control capacity, energy is forcibly centralized, it collapses into true internal core propelling a magus into Rank 3 gas state.