"Damn it, this Genesis Essence is a complete scam. I need to make her pay, damn Cambela." The boy was frustrated and angry. He knew he couldn't really blame Cambela, but he didn't know what else to do. Someone had to take responsibility.
A few moments later, the smoke faded, and what was left on the ground was a simple pool of bright azure liquid with black streaks.
"What is this?!" Jeremy's eyes widened at the sight of the substance on the ground. It was different from what he had used before, as if it had mutated.
He gathered the liquid using mana and placed it in the vial he had emptied into the mouth of the now-dead Shaman Orc.
---
Genesis Essence
Once the liquid manifestation of the Genesis Catalyst concept, it has now mutated into something darker and indefinable.
---
"Oh?"
The name hadn't changed, but the description had.
That could only mean one thing: his experiment hadn't been in vain.
"Shaman Orc, I'll never forget you." Jeremy had calmed down a little and clutched the vial tightly. "Thanks to you, I know what to do."
He summoned another skeleton from the portal, this time a Kobold.
Then he did the same thing, giving it the liquid to drink and waiting for the effects.
The results were identical to the previous ones. The Kobold skeleton melted into a pool of liquid.
However, there was a slight difference. The initial crystalline azure color of the liquid was turning black.
According to Jeremy's estimates, it would take more than ninety skeletons to fully turn the liquid black.
"Alright, let's get to work."
---
Meanwhile, Cambela had returned to her room with her former right-hand man, Aliken.
"Hey buddy, how does it feel to be a puppet?"
The mockery in her tone was obvious, but the devil couldn't understand it.
"I feel fine."
His voice was monotone and devoid of any interest.
"Tsk, this is no fun. I need to develop another kind of Elixir… something like the inability to betray, but without losing one's thoughts and autonomy. Like a servant. Oh well, I'll think about it later. Right now, I have to take care of that thing."
Cambela's plan for this world was simple. She wanted only the strongest and most capable humans to survive—the ones who endured the massacre by the monsters from the mutated Gates—so she could use the Elixir of Control on them to turn them into puppets under her command.
She had foreseen Aliken's arrival, and in truth, she expected the arrival of many more devils and demons. But she was certain—they would come.
Fortunately, the world wouldn't withstand a power too great; EX Rank was the limit.
If a Stellar Rank were to appear, things would go very differently. For starters, the world wouldn't withstand its power and could implode, killing Cambela herself.
And none of the powerful entities wanted that. After all, the devil was vital to their conquest plans.
After a few minutes of walking, Cambela and Aliken reached a secret room.
In this place, the brain of the Mental Tyrant had been preserved. Its body was simply kept in Cambela's inventory—it wasn't very useful, as they had already studied it thoroughly.
At the center of the room stood a pedestal holding a massive brain mass, at least three meters wide.
Around it, numerous humans and devils, all under Cambela's control, were using the demon's brain cells and the Genetic Essence to create the Elixir of Control.
After all, she intended to bring many humans under her control.
But, of course, the demon's brain cells weren't infinite. After all, it was dead, so it couldn't use any potion or special Elixir to regenerate them.
"Aliken, your time to shine has come." Cambela patted the devil's shoulder. "All of you, take a step back. Stop the Elixir production for now."
The researchers stepped away from the pedestal and all the electronic equipment scattered around. After hearing the order, they didn't hesitate at all. They dropped everything they were doing and exited the room.
"Good, now that we're alone, we can proceed."
Cambela pulled the Mental Tyrant's body from her inventory. It was mostly intact, except the demon's head looked... empty.
After all, it no longer had a brain.
Cambela used mana to lift the demon's brain and reposition it inside the head of its corpse.
"Aliken, you remember the procedure, right?"
"Yes." The answer was as simple as always.
Aliken approached the demon's body. He raised a hand, and the concept behind his power—Essence Rewriting—activated.
A book appeared from nowhere in front of the devil, opened suddenly, and a flash of light swallowed the demon's body.
After a few moments, the carcass vanished.
The demon in its entirety had been captured within the Codex of the Essence.
"Good, now summon it," Cambela said, her eyes sparkling. Playing with dead cells wasn't exactly how her power worked.
Her concept was based on the evolution of life, not death.
That's why Jeremy had failed to achieve anything from the raw use of Genetic Essence. But that didn't mean anything. With the right method, anything could evolve. Maybe.
Following the woman's command, Aliken used his power to summon the incarnation of the demon he had absorbed just moments earlier.
The energy and power used by the devil for this summoning surpassed anything he had done before. After all, the previous summons used against Jeremy had been nothing more than conceptual attacks, not the actual creatures with that concept.
The power difference was obvious.
Drae'mon wouldn't have been able to face the attacks of two EX Rank devils without taking any damage. But the mere fact of blocking a conceptual attack already put him far above Rank S.
"Magnificent!" a whisper escaped Cambela's mouth. "This ability is insane in its own way. If only it weren't for the obvious flaw... but better than nothing."
The demon summoned by Aliken could be considered identical to the original. The only difference was its slightly translucent form.
But there was an obvious drawback.
Aliken's power could be considered equal to that of the Mental Tyrant—both were EX Rank. So maintaining this demon's form required a lot of conceptual power and energy from Aliken.
But it would be enough. After all, it wasn't meant for combat. It just had to stay still.
Cambela would take care of the rest.
The brain cells of a living being had much more power. Cambela could obtain a better Elixir of Control at a reduced cost.
Moreover, unlike the other creatures used to create potions and elixirs, the ones summoned by Aliken were harmless.
They could never betray them. And he could even summon the dead creatures and bring them back to life—sort of.
They weren't exactly alive, but it didn't matter. They behaved like living beings.
That's why Cambela and Aliken had teamed up in the past—before he betrayed her.
But that would no longer be the case.
"Alright, let's see the differences."
Cambela placed the demon on the pedestal. Then she brought all the puppet researchers back in.
"Proceed as before." Cambela's voice was a command they couldn't disobey.
They began inserting strange tubes into the Mental Tyrant's head, but the demon didn't scream at all.
Its body was massive, considering its brain alone was three meters wide. Its appearance was ambiguous.
The head had a pair of antennae ending in strange eyeball-like bulbs. It had no eyes, only a large cavity full of fangs and sharp teeth.
Its elongated body had no limbs—it floated in the air. However, it had numerous small pores on its surface.
Cambela patiently waited for the researchers to complete their work.