Chapter 187 Soul Archive

Edgar looked down at the scar-faced man.

“First, tell me about Lord Elwood Whitmore.” His expression remained calm. “Who exactly is he?”

The scar-faced man glared at him despite the pain spreading through his body. “You have no right to call our lord by his name.”

Edgar raised an eyebrow. He had expected some resistance, but the man’s loyalty was somewhat surprising considering the situation he was in.

Edgar nodded slowly. “I see.”

He glanced at the man’s injured legs before looking back into his eyes. “Do you want those to be your last words?”

The man’s expression changed slightly.

Before he could answer, another man lying several metres behind him suddenly shouted.

“Our lord will kill you if you even touch us!”

Edgar turned his head.

The man who had spoken was clutching his injured arm, his face twisted with pain and fear. Even so, there was still a strange confidence in his voice.

Edgar stared at him for a few seconds before his gaze shifted toward the nearest Soul Guardian.

He pointed at the man. “Kill him.”

The Soul Guardian moved immediately.

Its body blurred as it crossed the distance between them, leaving the others with barely enough time to react.

The injured man widened his eyes.

“Wait–!”

The Soul Guardian grabbed his head with one hand and pulled him upward before its sword flashed.

A clean strike ended his resistance. His body collapsed onto the ground, while the remaining men stared in horror.

Someone screamed. Another man instinctively tried to crawl backward, only to cry out when the movement pulled against his injured leg.

The forest became filled with frightened voices. Edgar didn’t react.

He simply looked back toward the scar-faced leader.

“Now.” His voice remained calm. “Do you want to tell me?”

The scar-faced man swallowed as his confidence had disappeared.

“Lord Elwood Whitmore…” He paused, breathing heavily. “He’s going to conquer this place sooner or later.”

Edgar’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The man continued. “You should just give us the slaves and surrender. If you cooperate now, perhaps our lord will spare you.”

Edgar almost laughed. “You came into my territory with a group of armed men, and you’re telling me to surrender?”

The scar-faced man remained silent.

Edgar shook his head.

“Forget it.” He turned his attention toward another man. “Is the church aware of what you’re doing?”

The question caused several of the men to exchange glances.

For a moment, nobody answered.

Then one of the injured men slowly raised his head.

“The church…” His voice was weak. “They’re the ones who ask for slaves.”

Edgar looked directly at him.”Why would the church need slaves?”

The man hesitated. He glanced at the other men before looking back at Edgar.

“I’ll tell you but only if you let all of us go.”

Edgar stared at him.

“No.”

The man’s expression immediately became frustrated. “Then I’m not telling you anything else.”

Edgar remained silent for a few seconds. He looked at the seven men lying across the ground.

None of them could fight anymore, but they were still dangerous in another way.

They had information about Elwood Whitmore, the slave trade, and possibly even the church.

Edgar had initially intended to interrogate them but their refusal had made things much simpler.

He slowly turned toward the Soul Guardians. “Kill them all.”

The men froze. The scar-faced leader’s eyes widened.

“Wait!”

The Soul Guardians moved.

The remaining traffickers desperately tried to crawl away, but their injuries made escape impossible.

One attempted to reach for his fallen weapon. A Soul Guardian stepped forward and ended his resistance.

Another man shouted that they would cooperate, but Edgar didn’t change his order.

Their voices gradually disappeared beneath the sounds of steel. The forest eventually became silent again.

Osric stood several metres away.

His face had gone pale.

He had witnessed the entire exchange without saying a word, and although he had seen death before, the coldness of the execution had clearly shaken him.

Edgar noticed. He walked toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to worry about them.”

Osric looked at him.

Edgar’s expression softened slightly. “I’ll make sure you and your people remain safe.”

Osric lowered his head.

“Thank you, Lord Edgar.” He bowed deeply. “I’m truly grateful.”

Edgar nodded before looking toward the Soul Guardians. “Bring the bodies to the main Fortress.”

The Soul Guardians immediately obeyed.

Three of them lifted the corpses while the others remained nearby.

Edgar looked at the bodies one last time. There were still many questions he hadn’t received answers to.

Edgar’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’ll find out eventually.’

He turned around and began walking away.

—

Several hours later, Edgar finally returned to the main Fortress.

The Eternal Night had already close to settling over the territory, covering the sky in its familiar darkness.

The lamps along the roads illuminated the paths as workers slowly returned to their homes.

Edgar walked through the main gate.

Several workers noticed him and immediately bowed.

“Lord Edgar.”

“Lord Edgar.”

Edgar simply nodded as he passed as his thoughts remained elsewhere.

The incident in the forest had given him another problem to deal with.

But before investigating Elwood Whitmore, there were other things he wanted to accomplish.

Edgar continued deeper into the Fortress.

Eventually, he reached the area where the Tower of Souls stood.

There were twelve Towers in total.

Eleven of them had been converted into defensive structures, while the remaining one was a normal Tower of Souls designed specifically for rapid refinement.

Edgar looked across the collection of towers.

The structures stood silently beneath the Eternal Night, their dark archways faintly glowing with the strange energy of refined souls.

‘This still isn’t enough.’

Edgar opened his system. He selected the construction menu and chose the Tower of Souls.

Nightmare Stones disappeared from his inventory. A few moments later, another Tower began forming beside the others.

Stone rose from the ground and gradually assembled itself into the familiar structure.

Once the construction finished, Edgar immediately selected the upgrade option.

A system notification appeared.

=======

Upgrade Level 1 ⟨Tower of Souls⟩

Cost: 100 Nightmare Stones.

=======

Choose the Upgrade Path:

Ⅰ. Soul Refinery:

⟨Increases the number of souls that can be refined simultaneously.⟩

⟨Current Capacity: 50 → 200⟩

⟨Refinement Speed: Greatly Increased.⟩

—

Ⅱ. Soul Archive:

⟨Stores refined souls and records information about every absorbed Nightmare.⟩

⟨Allows retrieval of biological data and compatible Builder materials.⟩

—

Ⅲ. Soul Sentinel:

⟨Transforms the Tower of Souls into a defensive Soul Structure.⟩

⟨Can temporarily manifest Soul Guardians using refined souls.⟩

⟨Consumes Soul Essence during combat.⟩

=======

Edgar stared at the three options. He already had enough defensive structures for the moment.

His gaze settled on the second option.

‘Soul Archive.’

This was exactly what he needed.

If the Tower could record information about every Nightmare it absorbed, then eventually he might be able to understand the creatures better.

And he also wanted to test them on humans.

Edgar selected the option. The hundred Nightmare Stones disappeared instantly.

The Tower began changing. The stone around its archway slowly expanded before becoming translucent.

Strange patterns appeared across its surface, resembling countless pages being written simultaneously.

The faint glow inside the Tower became stronger.

Edgar watched silently until the transformation finally stopped.

‘Completed.’ He looked upward.

The grey-black sky had become almost completely dark. The Eternal Night was beginning to take over once again.

Across the Fortress, workers were finishing their final tasks before returning to their homes.

One by one, the lights inside the houses began disappearing.

Edgar took a deep breath. “Come here.”

His voice carried through the Soul Network.

Several Soul Guardians immediately began moving toward him.

Three arrived carrying the bodies of the traffickers from the forest.

Edgar pointed toward the newly upgraded Tower. “Put them inside.”

The Soul Guardians walked forward. They threw the bodies into the translucent archway.

The moment the final body crossed the threshold, the entire structure suddenly illuminated.

A deep vibration spread through the ground.

Edgar watched with interest as the bodies disappeared into the Tower.

The strange light continued glowing for several minutes before gradually becoming stable.

Edgar remained nearby.

Finally, after nearly half an hour, the light inside the Tower suddenly became brighter.

Something emerged from the archway and landed gently on the ground.

Edgar raised an eyebrow. “A book?”

He walked toward it and picked it up.

The cover was dark and strangely smooth. There were no words written on it.

Edgar opened the first page.

The moment his fingers touched the paper, faint letters began appearing.

His eyes slowly narrowed. The book wasn’t a normal record.

It contained information about the people who had been absorbed.

Their names, physical characteristics, memories, connections and even fragments of information about the organization they had belonged to.

Edgar turned another page.

His expression gradually became more serious. At the top of the next page was a single name.

Elwood Whitmore.

For several seconds, he simply stared at the name. ‘Looks like I don’t have to go searching for him.’

He slowly turned the page.

Whatever secrets these men had been hiding were now inside his hands.