Wish Executor

Isolde withdrew her gaze and turned to instruct:

"Lia, prepare a room for Mr. Ullr."

Lia gave a slight nod. "Yes, Miss."

Ullr was somewhat surprised by the castle owner's thoughtfulness and quickly asked, "May I choose one myself?"

Isolde's tone was indifferent. "You may. But Big Goldie has quite a temper. It might throw you out the window tonight."

Ullr did not understand and tilted his head slightly. "Big Goldie is...?"

"The pet name of my castle."

Isolde said with a smile. Behind her, the massive castle seemed to respond to her words. The entire building shuddered, its bricks knocking together with sharp clacks.

Ullr looked at the enormous castle as though admiring some precious treasure and exclaimed happily:

"This castle is absolutely wonderful. I would very much like to look around inside. Please, Miss Maid, arrange it for me."

Lia made a welcoming gesture and turned to lead the way.

As Ullr passed Isolde, he lightly raised his top hat in thanks.

"May the Contract God bear witness. I hope our cooperation proves pleasant. Good night, honored Miss."

His voice drifted past Isolde's ear like a crisp, cool breeze.

Only after a few Faceless Attendants remained at her side did Isolde look toward the mangled holy beast corpse inside the coffin.

Icy mist flowed down along the coffin's edges, forming a layer of white cloud across the floor.

The blood beside the broken horn had already dried black. Its fur was tangled into hard clumps, while the cuts across its chest, abdomen, and limbs were painfully clear.

She raised a hand. Two Faceless Attendants immediately stepped forward, but they visibly hesitated for an instant and did not advance.

Even in death, the lingering sanctity on its body still made the undead aura around it recoil in fear.

Isolde noticed and had the Faceless Attendants seal the coffin before fetching a roll of soul-sealing cloth and wrapping it around the coffin layer by layer.

The soul-sealing cloth was quickly scorched with burn marks by holy light. Black runes lit up one after another, barely blocking off that oppressive presence.

Only then did the Faceless Attendants shoulder the coffin again and carry it deeper into the castle.

Wearing her fur cloak, Isolde walked at the front.

The underground laboratory doors slowly opened. Ghost flames along both walls lit up one by one, and the patterns of the alchemy array emerged from the darkness like a net waiting to feed.

The Faceless Attendants placed the coffin in the center of the magic array.

The lid was pushed open, and coldness immediately spread across the floor. An invisible ripple bloomed from the center.

The creatures soaked in glass jars actually began to blacken. Several bottles containing remnant souls shook violently, as though they had been frightened by something.

A legendary holy beast could still dominate the room even after death.

Not to mention its remaining value, which was frighteningly high.

Any random part of it used to modify Lia would certainly be far more effective than a Bone Blade Fragment.

Just as she was about to bring up possible modification paths, a gray light screen suddenly appeared before her.

[Special body detected: Moon-Crowned Unicorn]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Status: Dead]

[Warning: This creature retains a powerful Last Wish Echo]

[Before the Last Wish Echo is cleared, disassembly, smelting, devouring, stitching, and refinement are not recommended]

[The Last Wish Echo will gradually evolve into a curse over time]

[Curse target: All those who desecrate the remains]

Isolde clicked her tongue irritably. She knew legendary materials would not be that easy to obtain for free.

If she paid the remaining balance, dismantled it, and ended up suffering the curse's backlash herself, it would be a losing deal.

After some thought, Isolde decided to first figure out what exactly the Last Wish Echo was. Her fingertip lightly touched the unicorn's broken horn.

The powerful resentment burned her fingertip with pain, as though rejecting her power.

The body before her was too badly damaged to piece together a complete Last Wish Echo. It seemed she would have to start by restoring the body.

Isolde circled the magic array once. The knowledge left behind by the original owner gradually unfolded in her mind.

A Soul Stitcher was not merely someone who lured and killed enemies or played with corpses.

A truly high-ranking Soul Stitcher could summon back the souls of the dead and rewrite the laws of life and death.

Isolde skillfully took out silver thread, then Soul-Sealing Wax, moon salt, purified holy water, and an Obsidian Needle she had just found in the castle storeroom.

A grayish-blue glow gradually rose from deep within the unicorn's body. Its broken and torn wounds slowly closed under the pull of the silver thread.

The Faceless Attendants stood around the room with their featureless faces lowered, obediently passing Isolde whatever she needed.

Like a professional surgeon, she soon pieced the unicorn's damaged body back together completely.

Isolde raised her hand and tried to call back its soul.

A silvery-white Soul Thread extended from her fingertips and gently fell into the unicorn's brow.

The candle flames in the laboratory abruptly dimmed.

It felt as if something had violently struck her head. Countless images surged into her mind.

White-robed figures stepped through pools of blood, the hems of their robes glaringly clean.

A young unicorn was pinned to an icy stone platform, its four hooves pierced through by silver nails.

As it struggled, faint cries escaped its throat, but the people around it only murmured:

"Holy beasts should sacrifice themselves for the light."

"You were born as a blessing bestowed upon humanity by the gods."

"Your sacrifice is worthwhile. People will remember it forever."

In the next scene, an adult unicorn smashed through its cage, blood streaming from its broken horn.

It raced down a corridor, the path beneath its hooves paved with the corpses of its own kind.

At the center of the judgment platform, pure white holy light shone down. It illuminated nothing, only making the pools of blood appear redder.

Pain burrowed into Isolde's bones.

She heard wails, curses, and the sound of chains dragging across the floor.

Soon, those sounds blended with memories from her past life, flashing before her eyes like a chaotic slideshow.

For a moment, she could not tell whether she was the unicorn or Yu Lingye.

Those white-robed people said sacrifice was worthwhile. The players had also said, "If you're weak, you should obey."

Different words, same stench.

They all trampled other people's lives into the mud, then stood above them and declared the meaning of the victims' suffering.

The next instant, the entire world was swallowed by red.

Only two scarlet, glaring words remained in the air.

Revenge. Revenge. Revenge. Revenge. Revenge.

Isolde suddenly opened her eyes, staggered back, and slammed into the cold wall.

She gasped for breath. Cold sweat slid from her temple to her chin, and her cloak slipped halfway from her shoulders before she instinctively gripped it.

The laboratory fell quiet again, and the ghost flames relit.

The unicorn in the magic array remained deathly still, but the dark patterns beside its broken horn seemed to come alive for an instant, slowly flowing before returning to silence.

Isolde leaned against the wall and took a long time to recover.

She remembered Ullr and what he had told her.

Unicorn memories could be shared, and so could their emotions.

The fear, regret, and hatred before death would pass down through the bloodline layer by layer.

Then what was the last surviving one, if not a holy beast?

It was the final witness to an atrocity, a breathing graveyard.

Isolde raised a hand to wipe away the cold sweat at her temple. Her fingers were still trembling slightly.

If she followed the original owner's methods, she could naturally ignore everything, tear open the shackles of the last wish, cut out the most useful parts of the remnant soul, and stuff them into Puppets, weapons, or the castle's arrays.

Even if she failed, she could still obtain a batch of exceptionally precious sanctified materials.

Rationally speaking, that would maximize her gains.

If it were Valen, he would probably already be laughing so hard that his mountain of flesh shook, eager to split the unicorn's bones into three hundred pieces without wasting even its hooves.

But as Isolde looked at the unicorn on the alchemy table, she suddenly felt annoyed.

She did not want to be some kind of good person.

Nor did she intend to suddenly raise the banner of justice, stand in the light, and say pretty things.

But she knew what it felt like to be pinned to the ground and forced to "voluntarily sacrifice."

She could not ignore everything and continue dismantling this ruined body.

Just as, even after being reborn, she could not ignore the enormous trauma her past-life experiences had left upon her.

Besides, those self-righteous, high-and-mighty faces disgusted her.

Isolde returned to the magic array, crouched down, and pressed her palm against the unicorn's forehead again.

"I won't dismantle you. Nor will I force you to return."

"I'll fulfill your last wish and Pursue Old Debts from those extremists."

"They owe you their lives. I'll collect them for you, but the resources that drop belong to me."

"We each get what we need."

After saying that, she added:

"I'm neither your follower nor your enemy. You want revenge, and I want to grow stronger. If our goals align, we cooperate. If they don't, we part ways."

The unicorn did not respond. Only the faint crackling of ghost flames remained in the laboratory.

Isolde waited patiently. A moment later, the black patterns on the broken horn suddenly moved.

A strand of grayish-blue moonlight fell from the tip of the horn and coiled up her wrist like an icy chain, like some belated confirmation.

The moonlight fell into her palm, and a gray light screen appeared.

[Triggered: Moon-Crowned Unicorn Last Wish Echo]

[You have obtained the temporary identity: Wish Executor]

[You cannot command the Moon-Crowned Unicorn's remnant soul]

[You cannot forcibly command the Moon-Crowned Unicorn's body]

[Before the last wish is fulfilled, you may draw upon the sanctity remaining in its body]

[Current last wish: Pursue Old Debts]

[Warning: If you break the agreement, the last wish will devour your soul.]

Isolde lowered her head. The grayish-blue moonlight in her palm slowly sank into her skin and disappeared.

The magic array patterns on the floor slowly lit up.

Blue light flowed along the patterns like a layer of cold frost, covering the unicorn's shattered body.

The sanctified aura in the laboratory was suppressed somewhat. The remnant souls inside several glass jars shrank back to the bottoms of their bottles and finally quieted down.

Isolde raised her hand and extinguished the runes in the alchemy array used for dismantling.

"Don't worry."

She looked at the Moon-Crowned Unicorn's remains, her voice quieter.

"I won't forgive them for you. I'll only collect what they owe."