Honest's face was dark as he tore into the steak in his hand with his sharp canine teeth.
"That damned old fool. He deserves to die."
"Budo..."
A trace of killing intent rose in Honest's heart. He felt threatened.
Most of Honest's power came from the Young Emperor's trust.
But Budo's family had served and protected the Imperial Family for generations. That reputation was simply too formidable.
Everyone shared the same belief: no matter who betrayed the Empire, Budo never would.
That was simply a given, and the Young Emperor believed so as well.
Framing others and smearing their names was one of Honest's favorite tactics. Beyond that, he relied on dispatching his subordinates for assassinations.
The Empire's assassination corps had no real experts. The only Teigu user, Kurome, had already been assigned to Esdeath.
The remaining riffraff posed no threat whatsoever to Budo or Chouri.
Esdeath was no longer willing to play Honest's assassination games. That simply was not her style.
Previously, she had reluctantly agreed only to lure out Night Raid, and it had cost her three subordinates.
Honest let out a long sigh and stuffed more food into his mouth.
"It's been so many years. I've almost forgotten the tricks of political struggle from my younger days."
After musing for a moment, Honest calmly ordered,
"Tell Nishinomiya to inform Syura to return immediately."
"Understood."
The subordinate beside him nodded and promptly left the room.
The setting sun shone through the window onto Honest's face as he chuckled.
"Until Syura returns, Chouri, let me have a little fun with you."
....
In the ruined rear garden, the pungent smell of blood filled the air.
A massive magic circle, drawn with Danger Beast blood mixed with mithril, covered the lawn.
The core of the Scarlet Remains Ritual revolved around the collection and processing of souls, involving extremely complex principles.
Another parchment contained the relevant knowledge.
Tools for storing and collecting Danger Beast souls, potions to suppress resentment and rejection reactions, and an energy core to power the process.
There was a whole pile of complicated requirements.
Fortunately, souls were not a problem for Uesugi Ryu. He had found some test material and decided to give it a try.
After completing the magic circle, Uesugi Ryu let out a long breath.
Dusting off his hands, he manipulated a stream of water and floated up into the air.
Using Five Views Omnipotent, he compared every detail of the circle. It looked about right.
"Whatever. This should work, at least in theory."
Landing in front of the circle, Uesugi Ryu took out a tiny soul essence from the Soul-Devouring Space.
"A Level Two Danger Beast, Loki Ape. They're both primates, so maybe the success rate will be higher."
"But what exactly counts as this thing's energy core? The heart?"
Muttering to himself, Uesugi Ryu gently placed the soul essence onto the circle with a stream of water.
Then he immediately retreated fifteen meters.
He had no idea what the true origin of this ritual was. Better to keep a safe distance.
If this experiment failed, he felt there would be no point investing further effort for now.
After all, it looked extremely advanced, and the construction of the magic circle was incredibly complicated.
What Uesugi Ryu was doing amounted to building a tower from flat ground.
Without the aid of Five Views Omnipotent, he doubted he could have reproduced the circle at all.
Staring at the dark night and the crimson ritual circle before him, Uesugi Ryu suddenly felt as though he were summoning a demon.
He rolled his sore neck and sighed.
"Hah. I feel like I'm becoming more and more evil."
The water clone stepped forward and placed an emerald-green Danger Beast core onto the outermost symbol of the circle.
Uesugi Ryu had roughly deciphered the meaning of these symbols. They seemed to be largely universal.
The two most important runes in the Scarlet Remains Ritual were Soul and Energy. The others likely served auxiliary functions.
The dark green core began to glow, and wisps of emerald mist rose from it.
The magic circle instantly lit up, casting a dark red glow across Uesugi Ryu's face.
Anticipation flashed in his eyes.
Accompanied by a pained shriek, the ritual finally calmed after a few moments.
A middle-aged man slowly emerged from the center of the circle.
The muscles in his limbs were exceptionally developed.
However, his proportions were slightly off, making him look somewhat strange.
"It worked?"
Uesugi Ryu stared in disbelief.
He had only been conducting a simple experiment.
He did not even know the complete ritual procedure, and he had skipped a whole host of requirements. Yet it had still succeeded.
The middle-aged man was a bandit Uesugi Ryu had captured earlier, a murderer responsible for countless atrocities.
Since the man had already been sentenced to death, Uesugi Ryu figured he might as well make good use of him.
Looking at the man approaching, he asked,
"How do you feel?"
The man clenched his fists, feeling the abundant power surging through his body.
He was at least three times stronger than before.
A trace of relief flashed across his eyes.
He had thought he was doomed, but instead had unexpectedly gained even greater power.
Even so, he did not dare act arrogantly in front of Uesugi Ryu. He respectfully replied,
"It's incredible. This power is simply..."
"Cut the nonsense. I asked how it felt."
Uesugi Ryu interrupted coldly.
The physical enhancement was obvious enough. After all, Loki Ape possessed no special abilities.
What interested him was the process itself.
"Ah... At first, I experienced some strange memories. My head hurt terribly."
"Then I felt a peculiar force flowing into my body, followed by unbearable pain."
As he spoke, the man swallowed nervously. Large beads of sweat rolled down his jaw.
Just recalling that agony, which seemed to seep into his bones, filled him with lingering fear.
Activating Five Views Omnipotent's X-ray vision, Uesugi Ryu carefully examined the man's skeletal structure and internal organs.
The bones had undergone some changes, and the internal organs had expanded slightly.
They now resembled a Loki Ape by roughly twenty percent.
"I was expecting a perfect fusion. What's missing?"
Uesugi Ryu frowned deeply.
If this was all the Scarlet Remains Ritual could accomplish, it was rather underwhelming.
The man grew nervous under Uesugi Ryu's gaze.
Uesugi Ryu then subjected him to a series of tests.
His strength and speed had both increased noticeably, roughly matching those of a Loki Ape.
As for whether his physical abilities would continue improving over time, that remained uncertain.
After ordering Gore to take the man away, Uesugi Ryu pulled out a ghoul's Kakuhou and began thinking.
"If Loki Ape works, then a ghoul should as well. Is it just a simple synthesis?"
Gore knocked the man unconscious and tied him up before dragging him toward the dungeon.
As bright moonlight poured down, black fur suddenly began growing across the exposed upper half of the man's body.