บท 4: The Dark Genesis Project
Satan materialized in the heart of the great forest of Jura, leaving behind the menacing presence of Noir. The sudden transition did little to calm his turbulent mind, haunted by dark memories and fragments of his past.
Noir, a progenitor with a perverse sense of amusement, had relentlessly sent legions of demons after him, driven by a twisted curiosity to see how much he could grow under relentless pressure. Noir delighted in his rapid ascent from a lesser demon to a greater demon, comparing it to a newborn baby running and speaking fluently on its second day.
This fascination, though understandable to some, was a source of endless nightmares for Satan.
The forest was dense and alive with the sounds of nature, a stark contrast to the bleak silence of the underworld. The air was thick with the scent of pine and damp earth. Satan's crimson eyes scanned the surroundings, taking in the towering trees and the underbrush teeming with life.
Here, in the cardinal world, his priorities were different. As a demon, refining his magical knowledge was paramount. Unlike the beings of this world, who gained skills effortlessly, demons from the underworld had to master every nuance through rigorous practice and precise execution.
For instance, conjuring a simple fireball demanded intricate knowledge and flawless technique. In contrast, in the cardinal world, a single successful attempt could grant someone a skill that automated the magical process entirely. This disparity fueled the demons' deep-seated envy of the cardinal world, where time could erode even the most hard-earned magical expertise.
However, Satan was an anomaly. Part of him was always summoned by someone, a testament to the legend he had meticulously crafted over centuries.
It all began 300 years ago when Veldora's unbridled fury annihilated a large city. In their desperation, the people prayed fervently to their god, Luminous, but their cries for salvation went unanswered. Instead, their pleas were met by demons. Seventy-two demons, each with a distinct name, responded to the calls, offering favors to people of all classes and statuses. Whether rich or poor, powerful or weak, 'they' always answered.
These 72 demons, despite their formidable powers, always spoke of their lord, Satan. This was how his name became synonymous with legend. Demons could be partially summoned into the cardinal world, the extent of their manifestation dependent on the offerings or the summoner's strength. But Satan, in his cunning, allowed only 1% of his power to be summoned each time. Typically, demons did this to safeguard their existence; if defeated, they only lost the portion of their power that was summoned, remaining whole in the underworld.
But Satan's intentions were far more complex. He created a legend by partitioning 1% of his essence 72 times, bestowing upon them the names of the demons from Ars Goetia. This resulted in 72 distinct entities, yet all were part of the same whole. The remaining 28% of his essence he named Satan. It was a perilous gamble, but one that ultimately succeeded, capturing Noir's obsessive fascination.
Exhausted by Noir's relentless games, Satan resolved to abandon the underworld for good. However, finding a vessel capable of hosting 100% of his essence and that of the 72 demons was a rare feat, almost unheard of. Yet, he had a plan, one that had been meticulously brewing for centuries—a hypothesis transformed into a workable theory.
For centuries, Satan had conducted experiments in biological research, amassing a vast collection of specimens from across realms. He had studied and dissected countless creatures, searching for the key to his escape. His relentless pursuit of knowledge led him to one definitive conclusion: Hive Mind.
The concept of the Hive Mind had always fascinated him—a single consciousness spread across multiple entities, each acting as part of a unified whole. This was the perfect solution to his dilemma. By merging the power of 72 demons into a singular vessel with multiple bodies, he could create an unparalleled entity of immense strength and intellect. It was a risky and untested theory, but Satan had nothing to lose.
He had already died once, so the prospect of dying again didn't faze him. He might as well take this gamble. This world was filled with dangerously powerful beings capable of insanely destructive magic. As someone reincarnated, he often wondered if this was a fictional world he had no knowledge of. Regardless, this was his reality and had been for the last 299 years. Whatever the risk, it was no greater than the random chance of encountering someone insanely strong and getting killed.
Satan currently existed as a spiritual being. The body he inhabited was not capable of exerting even 1% of the power associated with his name. Every part of him was always one with him—Satan was him, and he was Satan. This confusing paradox only made sense in a hive-minded species, which is why he pursued the hive mind state so relentlessly.
His plan was inspired by a fictional character from his previous life's childhood—Orochimaru. Satan described Orochimaru as an unkillable cockroach. The character might not have been the strongest, but he was unkillable despite dying many times. This principle led Satan to split his existence into 73 pieces, each moving independently, unlike Voldemort's Horcruxes in Harry Potter, which were essentially 'extra lives.'
Reflecting on these thoughts, he felt a twinge of regret. If he had known he would be reincarnated in a magical world, he would have read and watched more Japanese Isekai fictions instead of working so hard.
Currently, the 72 demons were more like programmable drones, not fully independent. The main ego of Satan had to occasionally 'program' them, which had proven ineffective for many obvious reasons. Typically, even a partial part of someone's soul, once it obtained a name, would become a fully developed individual. But Satan was a special case; he was still technically one person.
That's why Satan formulated a plan to make his entire existence into a living being.
This would be achieved by combining various species using customized death magic he obtained from Noir and from observing its usage over the past three centuries since he was summoned. He had witnessed the former ruler of Jistav use it in despair when summoned before a hero. At that time, he was another Greater Demon, but due to the fight, he evolved into an Archdemon. Back then, he was still nameless.
Now, having accumulated a total of 73 names, the first step was already cemented. He had also collected various bodies that the demons and Satan would inhabit. As a conductor between each soon-to-be 'united independent soul part,' he would use monsters and animals that existed as hive minds. Ants and bees would be the main connectors, and slimes would act as adaptors between the sub-connectors of other monsters, Majin, humans, or anything else he wanted to add.
After checking everything, he smiled and erected a barrier to deter anyone who might have been curious about what the demon was about to do.
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