The soul. This was one of the things Otto had been chasing.
Well, accurately speaking, Otto was chasing Kallen Kaslana's soul.
But after Aaron acquired the Heroic Spirit Summoning Circle from Uryuu Ryuunosuke's ancestral secret manual, he discovered...
Actually, souls were everywhere in this world.
At least so far, he had seen three souls.
The first soul was Cecilia, whom he rolled during an experimental summon. Supposedly because she was attached to Abyss Flower... okay, that makes sense.
The second was Yae Rin, whom he rolled inside Yae Sakura and Higokumaru's Stigmata Space... okay, that's the original plot, so her appearance isn't strange either.
The third is Dr. Magi's granddaughter in front of him... okay, this is also original plot.
At the end of the Moon Shadow arc, before Dr. Magi died, his granddaughter accompanied him in an incredibly bizarre manner.
When Aaron saw that part of the Moon Shadow arc, he thought it was a flashback the old man saw before dying. Turns out, it really was his granddaughter's soul form.
*Hmm, I've encountered so many of these soul forms one after another, yet Otto searched for so long and couldn't find Kallen's soul.*
*He really was being targeted by the universe.*
[You can't really say that. These three situations actually all belong to the category of 'Soul having an anchor or a hosting location'.]
[Whether it's Abyss Flower, the shared Stigmata Space of the Herrscher of Corruption and the Pseudo-Herrscher, or the Gem of Serenity, essentially, they are all things related to 'Herrschers'.]
[With these things as anchors, it makes sense that the soul was preserved.]
[If Kallen hadn't died on the execution ground, but died on the battlefield wielding the Oath of Judah, things might have been different.]
*...Forget it, can't bring her back anyway.*
Looking at the helpless soul, Aaron sighed slightly, walked to Dr. Magi's side, and cut his fingertip with his nail.
Funny enough, although Fu Hua's skills were far from what they used to be, with the Godsbane Battlesuit, she still had combat power far exceeding an ordinary S-Rank Valkyrie.
If she had chosen to brawl in the real world, she wouldn't have been soloed by Aaron without him taking a scratch.
But because she was wary of the pressure Aaron gave her, she chose the safe routine of 'Fenghuang Down hard-control upon meeting'.
This actually gave Aaron, whose consciousness and soul strength far exceeded ordinary Honkai warriors, a battlefield much more suited to him.
The tactic that should have been safe led to a worse outcome...
Fu Hua's luck was indeed black enough.
"You, what do you want to do?"
"Oh, how do I put it... never mind, just ignore it."
Chanting the incantation he was incredibly familiar with, Aaron watched the soul that should have faded away gradually materialize before his eyes, just as expected.
But at the same time, inside the summoning circle, Dr. Magi felt his body gradually being eroded by Honkai Energy.
*Ah, my sinful life is finally coming to an end.*
*Just that at the end of my life... hah, looks like I'm really dying.*
"Grandpa?"
*I actually see Lin calling me... Lin, have you finally come to pick me up?*
"Grandpa! Pull yourself together!"
Lin, who had just been materialized by Aaron using the Heroic Spirit Summoning Circle, looked anxiously at Aaron seeing her grandfather about to be completely eroded by Honkai Energy.
"Please! Save my grandpa! As long as you can save him, I'll do anything—"
"Stop, stop. Why do I feel like I've seen this plot more than once?"
Interrupting the girl directly, Aaron placed his palm on Dr. Magi's face and urged the power of Magnetic Field Rotation.
Using Magnetic Field Rotation to perfectly assist Dr. Magi in resisting the Honkai Energy invading his body... naturally, he couldn't do that.
A master utilizing stronger Magnetic Field Rotation might achieve that effect, but Aaron's current Perfect Realm and Magnetic Field Rotation power weren't enough for him to perform that action perfectly.
His strike wasn't meant to 'save' the other party.
As the dual forces of Magnetic Field Rotation and Dominance hit Dr. Magi, he immediately felt a violent pain erupt from his body.
No, not just his body; even his soul felt a strange sensation at that moment.
"Grandpa!"
Lin, who thought this man was killing Dr. Magi, suddenly saw Dr. Magi's soul also completing materialization in the next instant.
"Hmm, because the soul strength isn't high enough, I don't need to draw another circle; I can materialize it using the residual power of this summoning circle... In a sense, it saved me some effort."
"I, I am..."
Dr. Magi, having lost his physical body, and the long-deceased Lin suddenly saw the scenery before their eyes change abruptly.
In a split second, they went from the lowest basement of the Empress Hotel to a bizarre place.
Before their eyes appeared that castle emitting an evil aura.
The moment they saw this castle, the grandfather and granddaughter simultaneously took a step back.
As soul forms, the two felt an instinctive fear toward the Demon Castle formed by the Power of Dominance.
This fear even made them feel a bit suffocat...
*Strange, why can we feel suffocation when we're dead?*
*What on earth is going on?*
After taking a deep breath, the calmed Dr. Magi discovered that although he had become a soul, he could still breathe normally like a regular person.
Although Dr. Magi was duped by Cocolia, as a senior researcher of the Schicksal Research Institute, how could he truly be an idiot?
If he was so obsessed with 'not staying in Schicksal' initially that he didn't realize how absurd his success in stealing the Gem of Serenity was, that was one thing.
Now that he had calmed down, Dr. Magi realized that Otto had actually been setting this up since he tempted Lin to participate in the Gem of Serenity experiment.
If Lin's experiment succeeded, Otto would control the power of the Herrscher of Death.
If Lin's experiment failed, Magi would inevitably harbor resentment because of it.
Of course, Otto probably wasn't certain Magi would rebel.
But that man left so many back-up plans; he likely analyzed the possibility of Magi rebelling and left a corresponding plan.
Following this conclusion down, Dr. Magi could determine one thing.
Compared to [Fire] and [Wind], Otto was more obsessed with the power of [Death].
And the man before him, currently able to make souls reappear to ordinary eyes in an almost substantial state—in a sense, he already possessed power close to the [Herrscher of Death].
A man with this power obviously couldn't be Otto's lackey—if Otto had such a lackey, why would he yearn for the [Authority of Death]?
He wasn't an idiot; there was no need to seek far and wide for what lay close at hand.
Considering the other party definitely wasn't Otto's lackey, and had even allowed his deceased granddaughter to partially 'resurrect', Dr. Magi's gaze toward Aaron turned incredibly convinced.
"Sir, words cannot express my gratitude."
"Why does this sentence look so familiar too?"
"This... senior?"
Not knowing how to address Aaron, Lin also bowed to Aaron alongside her grandfather and spoke.
"Thank you... but what state are Grandpa and I in now?"
*Strange. Why is it that the moment I see this Senior, I feel like... I should obey his instructions?*
*So weird. Although he is my savior, yes, why would I immediately have this thought upon meeting him?*
"How do I put it... anyway, you two are dead, but not dead—don't think this is nonsense. You two aren't the only ones maintaining this soul state right now."
[Cecilia? Cecilia? Do you copy?]
Via the special communication method between Servant and Master, Aaron initiated a call to Cecilia, who was still inside the Demon Castle.
[Ah, is it Mr. Aaron?]
[Come out for a moment, welcome some new guests.]
[This...]
*Did Mr. Aaron resurrect someone again?*
With this thought, Cecilia quickly came from inside the Demon Castle to the castle's exterior.
Then, upon seeing the woman appearing before him, Dr. Magi sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Cecilia Schariac?!"
"You are... Dr. Magi?"
*Th-th-this, didn't Cecilia die in battle during the Second Eruption fourteen years ago?!*
*Could it be...*
Looking at Aaron with utter shock, Dr. Magi felt his brain was a bit chaotic.
Although he was a soul himself, his brain hadn't quite turned the corner yet.
"You are acquaintances?"
"We met a few times... after all, Dr. Magi participated in the Holy Blood related projects back then."
Seeing that Dr. Magi seemed to be in the same state as herself, Cecilia suddenly asked her old acquaintance.
"Dr. Magi, you... were you also pitted by Overseer Otto?"
"...Also?"
Noticing this word he couldn't ignore, Dr. Magi's eyes became incredibly sharp.
"Those Honkai Fission Bombs back then... sure enough, you didn't ask to drop them, did you?"
"Naturally. Siegfried and I had already won. There was no need to make such a request to Schicksal..."
"Otto, that dog thief. Sure enough, sure enough..."
Among the three former Schicksal members here, aside from the A-Rank Valkyrie Lin, Cecilia and Dr. Magi were actually both important members of Schicksal.
Cecilia, the former Strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal with [Anomaly] level strength, didn't need mentioning. Loyal to Otto, she was arguably one of the strongest enforcers under his command back then.
And while Dr. Magi didn't have Cecilia's status, as a researcher, he was a genius acknowledged by Otto Apocalypse.
Even before Lin was tempted by Otto, Dr. Magi had already participated in the plan to improve the Holy Blood and achieved preliminary results.
Both were incredibly important to Schicksal, yet under these circumstances, Otto actively 'threw away' both of them.
Compared to the anger with nowhere to vent in their hearts, what the two saw in each other's eyes was more puzzlement.
Although Cecilia wouldn't have this thought—
Although Dr. Magi had begun reflecting on his past deeds—
But as long as the two calmed down and thought rationally, they would reach a conclusion.
Otto could have completely avoided 'Cecilia's death' and 'Dr. Magi's defection'.
Cecilia was loyal to Otto; keeping Cecilia would give Otto a powerful enforcer.
And for Dr. Magi's side, if Otto wanted to conduct experiments, he could have totally tempted other A-Rank Valkyries.
After all, Lin's adaptability was just mediocre... to put it bluntly, if her adaptability were strong enough, she would have been pitted to death by Otto long ago; she wouldn't have waited until last year.
They really couldn't understand why Otto did these things that seemed to have absolutely no benefit to him.
"Alright, since you're acquaintances, Cecilia, you take them to settle down in the Demon Castle first."
"Wait, Sir!"
Hearing Aaron's words, Dr. Magi, realizing the other party was leaving, asked with slight surprise.
"You saved Lin and me... do you really not need us to do anything?"
"Hmm, even if you say that, I can't think of anything you can do."
"No, you saved us not to demand something?"
"Look at you talking. Just testing my powers in passing."
Glancing at him grumpily, Aaron sneered and said.
"You think you're so important? Old man, just go retire properly."
Watching Aaron leave, Dr. Magi looked at Cecilia.
"This gentleman... really doesn't need us to do anything?"
"Hmm, about this, I chatted with Miss Yae Sakura. Last time when she asked Mr. Aaron, Mr. Aaron answered her saying 'what he needs are subordinates who can become his hands and feet'."
"But he didn't say that this time. He probably considered that you don't have much combat power, Dr. Magi, so he didn't ask for repayment from you and this young lady."
"Heh, so I'm being looked down upon."
With a light chuckle, Dr. Magi suddenly got energized.
"Fighting the Honkai... hmph, this old man has been full of crimes in his life, but regarding fighting the Honkai, this old man has some experience."
"If he has business, let him go be busy first. Next time we meet, this old man will let him know one thing."
"Fighting the Honkai isn't just about fists."
............................