"Over half a million ordinary souls… that's about the equivalent of five Tier-Five souls. Not much, but better than nothing," Hel murmured.
She stored away the souls she'd collected over the past few days and descended to the lowest level of the Heim City underground shelter.
Now that peace had temporarily returned, the facility had resumed its original purpose — a factory for producing advanced puppets.
Inside one of the workshops lay several skeletons — the remains of the Judicator Knights.
There were thirty-one in total: one belonging to Pablo, who had reached the peak of Tier Six, and thirty from ordinary Tier-Five Judicators.
Aside from Pablo, who had transplanted the complete liver of the Justice Witch, the others had only grafted fragments of her flesh.
The complete organ-based traits were called Greater Saint Relics, classified as gold-quality. The flesh fragments, meanwhile, were Lesser Saint Relics, orange-quality.
"Now that I've reached Tier Six, I can use up to nearly two hundred points of essence energy," Hel mused, stroking her chin. "Maybe it's time to experiment with some high-tier syntheses."
Long ago, she had obtained a Greater Saint Relic of Restoration from the Eye of Recovery. She'd been thinking of creating a 'Restoration Witch' trait to pair with it.
So… could she use this Greater Saint Relic to trace its origin and create the corresponding Witch trait?
To avoid wasting energy, Hel first experimented using the Lesser Saint Relic fragments.
After a series of trials, she confirmed that Lesser Relics could indeed merge into Greater Relics. However, Greater Relics couldn't be synthesized into Witch traits.
Instead, what emerged was something entirely new — a red-tier trait.
[Divine Matter of Justice (Red)] – A special substance extracted from the Justice Witch. It can induce mutation within the user's organs or be used to forge holy artifacts. Loses all power upon the death of the Justice Witch.
"Divine Matter, huh…" Hel muttered, gazing at the glowing red inscription.
Now she understood — Saint Relics alone could never evolve into Witch traits.
And this new Divine Matter trait came with a major flaw: it was tethered to the Justice Witch's life.
No one could predict when the Justice Witch might die, and thus Hel had no way of knowing when this trait might lose its power.
Continuing to pour system energy into it recklessly would clearly be unwise.
Still… curiosity gnawed at her. What would happen if she pushed the Divine Matter trait even further?
"Maybe I should just… harvest one of my own kidneys?"
The idea sprang unbidden into her mind — and the longer she thought about it, the more tempting it became.
After all, she knew her own life and death. If she created a Relic from her own body, the investment would be completely safe.
But then she looked down at her small, still-growing body, and winced. Cutting out her own kidney would definitely hurt.
And since she was still in her growth phase, removing one organ would overload the other — risking anemia, weakness, or worse.
Sacrificing so much for a single trait was… a terrible deal.
But maybe… there was another option.
"Niv," Hel called softly.
"I'm here, Master," answered the little angel, fluttering down to her side.
"I need you to help me with a surgery."
"Understood, Master."
Fortunately, much of the goblin ruins' equipment had already been relocated to the shelter, giving them access to fully functional surgical instruments.
After a quick appendectomy, Hel obtained a piece of her own flesh — just enough for extraction.
From it, she produced a new golden trait:
[Hel's Greater Saint Relic (Gold)] – A divine organ excised from a bizarre witch who holds the combined authorities of Death, Fish, and Bird gods — yet miraculously hasn't exploded. Loses effect upon the death of Witch Hel.
Hel examined the faint, nearly colorless golden sigil, and nodded in satisfaction.
Then, spending five points of system energy, she successfully refined it into a red-tier trait.
Next, she noticed a loophole in the synthesis system — a bug she could exploit.
If she used the standard process to keep upgrading, it would cost 40 points of energy to reach pink-tier. However, if she copied the golden trait and fused those instead, the cost would drop by half — only 20 points.
Naturally, she chose the cheaper route.
Before long, a new pink-tier trait materialized before her eyes:
[Hel's Primordial Essence (Pink)] – A medium linking directly to a witch's authority. Can be used to create a false godspawn or a semi-divine artifact.
Hel's eyes widened slightly. "So… it's directly connected to my authority now? That means anyone who obtains this trait could channel part of my power."
She tilted her head thoughtfully. "But what could I actually do with it?"
Niv offered a suggestion. "Perhaps you could embed it in Morrigan's body, Master — let her become a true Witch."
"That feels wasteful," Hel replied, shaking her head. "Through the soul network, I can already use Morrigan's body to manifest my authority."
"Then… what about forging a semi-divine artifact? It could boost her combat power."
Again, Hel shook her head. After a moment of silent thought, she gathered Niv (the catgirl version) in her arms and headed deeper into the facility.
They stopped before a hidden door at the lowest level. After multiple layers of identity verification, they descended further via elevator — to the true bottom of the shelter.
It was a small, dimly lit chamber. At its center stood a massive crimson crystal tank, housing a gigantic dragon brain, surrounded by twenty-seven Saint-tier brains, all linked together in a computational matrix.
This was the core data processor that sustained the entire Soul Network.
"I've been thinking," Hel said quietly, gazing at the pulsing brain matter. She hugged the catgirl Niv a little tighter.
"This trait — how can I maximize its value?
If my path really is that of Reincarnation, then I'll need to guide souls and send them into new lives.
That's what reincarnation is — the cycle of death and rebirth.
Handling a few souls is easy enough…but what about millions?
What if, one day, I'm responsible for every soul on the continent?
That's far beyond what I could ever manage alone."
Her golden eyes reflected the faint red glow of the neural matrix.
"That's why," she continued softly, "I'll need a proper assistant — someone strong enough to help me build and maintain the reincarnation system itself.
And giving that being a fragment of my own authority…
That," Hel concluded, "would be the most efficient investment I could ever make."