Chapter 135: 135. Veil essence

William sat on the chair at the center of the main room, which was the same heavy-backed seat Grimlock had once occupied when this place still belonged to the cult.

His posture was relaxed, and one leg was crossed casually over the other over the wide table before him.

In front of him, four figures stood in a straight line.

Grimlock, Barash, Benson, and one newly enslaved cultist who had been caught by Benson and Barash.

They kept their heads lowered in front of him. None of them dared to speak unless spoken to or even shift their posture.

In William’s hand rested a glass capsule no longer than his palm, sealed tightly at both ends with metallic clasps etched with runes meant to prevent leakage or reaction.

Inside the capsule, a cyan-colored fluid was filled.

It glowed and was translucent. It did not swirl or respond to movement when William tilted the capsule slightly.

It was the Veil essence.

He narrowed his eyes and extended his spiritual perception toward the capsule, attempting to peer into the substance.

The moment his perception touched the glass, it slid off uselessly, as if repelled by an invisible barrier. There was no resistance felt in the usual sense, as though the fluid refused to be perceived at all.

William frowned faintly and tried again, carefully increasing the precision by carefully threading his perception through small gaps in the capsule’s metal clasps.

The result was the same.

He lowered the capsule slightly and looked up at Barash, who stood directly in front of him.

“Use your divine sense,” William said calmly.

Barash closed his eyes, his brow tightening as he activated the divine sense.

A faint pressure rippled outward from him, but after a few seconds, Barash opened his eyes again and shook his head slowly.

“I cannot see into it either, my lord,” he said, in a voice tinged with unease.

William let out a quiet breath through his nose and shifted his gaze to Grimlock.

“So you are telling me,” William said, lifting the capsule slightly, “that this is the blood of the creature behind the Veil?”

Grimlock nodded his head. “Yes, master.”

William’s fingers tightened briefly around the glass, not enough to crack it, but enough to show his focus had sharpened. Tell me everything you know about the veil.”

Grimlock straightened just enough to speak clearly. “The Veil is a separate realm, master. The cult leader found it somewhere one day, though the where, why, and how he found it are unknown to us. Even among the higher ranks of the cult, details are scarce.”

“The Veil essence comes from creatures that exist behind the Veil. The Veil itself is the name given to a spatial rift.

On the other side lies a realm that does not conform to the laws of Aris. It is a place where creatures straight out of nightmares prowl, beings that do not belong to this world.”

As Grimlock spoke, William’s gaze drifted to the capsule again.

“Thirteen years ago,” Grimlock continued, “the cult sent one of its elders into the Veil. He returned alive, but he was no longer the same. After his return, he was hunted relentlessly by those creatures, even after crossing back into Aris.”

Grimlock paused for a fraction of a second before continuing. “The elder eventually disappeared.

The creatures also vanished shortly after. However, some time later, a dead creature was discovered on the periphery of No Man’s Land.”

William’s eyes sharpened at that.

“The cult retrieved the corpse,” Grimlock said, “and extracted its blood. What you are holding now is that blood, master, heavily diluted for experimentation.”

William nodded slowly.

Memories from three years ago surfaced unbidden in his mind. He remembered leaving Oak Village, traveling alone through the forests to the Redstone town.

He remembered stumbling upon a cave hidden by thick foliage, and inside it, a skeleton of a cult elder.

With a flick of his wrist, William summoned an identification token into his hand. The metallic disc shimmered faintly before he tossed it toward Grimlock.

Grimlock caught it reflexively, then froze as his eyes focused on the markings. His breath caught.

“Master, this token is used among the higher echelons of the Clayman cult,” Grimlock said in an unsteady voice.

William smiled faintly. “And are you not part of the higher echelon?” he asked.

Grimlock’s expression remained flat as he replied,

“No, master. If I were an elder, I would not have been dumped so far south. The truth is that the cult is desperate to harness the power of whatever lies behind the Veil, but they are also afraid of it. That is why, despite their headquarters being in the far north, they established an experimentation facility here.”

William nodded, absorbing the information without comment.

“Have the men completed their work?” he asked next.

At this point, the whole base had been subdued. Barash had entered after Grimlock allowed them to, and with just his pressure of ascension rank, every low-ranked cultist had been suppressed.

Barash had made it clear that if anyone resisted the slave mark, they would be killed. Many having intelligence and survival instincts obeyed; the rest needed an example, so Barash made an example out of some, and the rest obeyed.

William was irritated that Barash, Benson, and Grimlock had resisted him, but then the system had added that the difference in ranks mattered.

Grimlock answered promptly. “Yes, master. The pumps have been removed.”

As if on cue, the doors to the room opened, and several cultists entered, pushing a stretcher forward. The figure lying atop it was skeletal, pale to the point of translucence.

Tubes and restraints had been removed, leaving her fragile body exposed.

It was Lia.

William’s eyes narrowed instantly, a flash of sharp frustration cutting through his composure. He turned his gaze toward Grimlock, who immediately began to sweat under the weight of that stare.

“What did you do?” William asked quietly.

Grimlock swallowed. “Master, she showed the highest adaptability with the Veil essence. She was special, and she had not awakened even after coming of age. I did what I was ordered to do.”

William did not raise his voice. “I know,” he said, his tone flat. “I simply do not understand how you do these things without a conscience.”

Grimlock hesitated before replying. “The world I was raised in taught me only the law of the jungle. You had to be the bigger beast to survive. Mercy was not a word I was familiar with.”

Barash stepped forward, fury flashing across his features. “How dare you try to reason with the lord?” he snapped.

“It’s fine,” William said, lifting a hand to silence him. “Leave the room. Distribute healing potions to those who need them.”

The slaves obeyed immediately, filing out until the room fell silent.

William stood alone beside Lia.

William looked at the closed eyes of Lia with pity. “I don’t know if the heavens are unfair or what, but I pity her fate truly.” With that, he brought his hands towards Lia and activated the Luminous Embrace spell.

A few minutes passed.

“Why the hell is it not working??”

[I think something inside her is resisting the effect of the healing spell]

“William picked the capsule from the table.” You think it is this thing?

[yes]

“Do you have any idea what this could be?”

[I am sure it is blood, but I am not sure why it’s cyan in color rather than red; it can only mean that the creature was not a native of Aris.]

[And I might be hiding many things, but this time I am serious; my curiosity and cluelessness match your level, host.]

“Oh, do you think this might be a new element?”

[Elements don’t run through blood, and blood is an element of its own; elements are not traits that affect your physicality.]

“I don’t get a thing of what you are saying.”

[You don’t need to know.]

“Sigh!!”

“I will have to inject myself to understand what this is, but Grimlock told me that people burst apart after they are injected with this.” William pouted.

[Yes, then I will be able to analyze it properly.]

William’s curiosity bugged him, and due to the effects of his physique and talent, he would be fine even if he made his body a trash dump; he would adapt, although pain isn’t negated, which was the only downside he had ever felt of that talent.

[Actually, your talent will negate pain if the pain becomes fatal to you, but that doesn’t happen normally.]

[Don’t worry, your talent will adapt and save you if things go south, and if you really burst apart, then your divine physique will save you. Just go inside the domain where the sun is overhead right now; outside is night.]

“Ok,” William nodded before disappearing into the domain of infinity with Lia.

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