Chapter 252: The Architect of Defiance

Lisa settled on Shin's head. Her small wings shimmered and her body glowed, as she was using all of her power to make calculations.

An instant later, the succubus throne, and the Amazon's crown reacted, as if responding to her call.

"See this…?" Lisa asked, gesturing with one tiny hand toward the crown, then toward the throne. "They are fragments of the demonic core; every single time a succubus uses magic, her mana is processed by that thing."

As she spoke, a purple crystal with a shape that somehow resembled a woman's curves came off the throne. From the front of the throne, another crystal was dislodged, this one shaped like a club… or perhaps a sword?

"Probably, the human core is not much different from these things," Lisa said, then shrugged. "Unfortunately, I can't say I really know how this crystal works. I know they are somehow connected to all the mana in the world."

The small fairy explained in an unsure tone that the crystal could send and receive information from the mana instantaneously. She had no idea how it worked and couldn't detect the information being transferred.

But every time a Succubus thought about using her power, the thought was received by the purple crystal, which in turn gave the mana all the necessary instructions, turning the mana of the original Succubus into a magical power.

"I'm not sure if I get it," Shin admitted.

"Well, there's no point in wasting too much time explaining it to you when I'm not sure how it works either," Lisa admitted, clearly wanting to move on from the topic.

"So, how powerful is this thing compared to the human system core?" Shin asked.

"I have no idea, but it's definitely weaker. After all, I believe each of these cores is only about 1/14th the size of an actual full demon core."

Shin nodded, waiting to hear what else Lisa had to say.

"If I combine them, I believe I can create a new one under my power. I will make this one our stepping stone to get on the same level as that queen."

Shin raised a worried eyebrow, as he saw his wife's smile grow dangerously wide.

"I want to transfer the entire Lost Dimension into the Tower."

"You want to do what?" Shin stared at her for a long moment, processing what she had just said.

"The Lost Dimension," she said, showing a holographic image of the whole area of the lost dimension. "I want to anchor this entity to the Tower as a new floor."

Shin's mind immediately went to the game's mechanics. The Tower was a layered structure, each floor governed by its own rules. Some floors, like the Ice Wolf clan floor, gave special bonus to elements, like Ice, or fire. Other floors blocked certain powers.

Still, there was one rule permanent on all floors: demons lost most of their powers inside the Tower. But if what Lisa was suggesting was possible…

"You want to create an area where demons are stronger," Shin said, smiling. "Not weaker."

"Exactly." Lisa's wings fluttered with excitement. "That floor would operate under demonic law instead of Imperial or human law."

She landed on the armrest of the throne, her tiny form dwarfed by its scale.

"And more importantly, it would be a floor outside the Imperial Queen's domain. Outside the human power system entirely."

Shin's eyes narrowed. In the game, the Lost Dimension followed a fixed storyline arc. Eventually the Tower would begin to assimilate it. The Amazons and Succubi trapped inside would lose a lot of their power, their identities diluted until they became nothing more than another set of Tower inhabitants.

The player could still count on their support, but never as an army on the same level as the eight great clans.

Lisa spread her arms wide, her voice rising.

"With the route we are going on now, you would reach the top of the Tower, but would be eliminated by the Imperial Queen. To truly destroy her power, you need more."

"I agree, but we can't do it now," he said. It wasn't a question; doing something so drastic would immediately make the whole Tower his enemy.

"No." Lisa's excitement dimmed, replaced by the calculating coldness that Shin remembered very well. "Now, first you need to undermine her power, and get allies."

"So follow my original plan?" Shin smiled mockingly. "How much time do we have? Assimilation would normally happen in one year, right?"

"Yes, I can delay it, but at most for 2 years, so you better do your part in the meantime."

"You do know you are asking for something impossible, right?" Shin commented, smiling tiredly.

Lisa flew back toward Shin and landed on his shoulder, her voice dropping to a quieter register.

"You better do it, and there's one more thing; I need you to find the other fragments."

"Fine," Shin said with a sigh. "Now we should get moving, as we have only one week to deal with the details."

Lisa nodded, and they immediately left the place. With Carolina's help, it was easy to find the material to restore Myha.

The next step was going through the Trial of Lust, as Lisa awakened the queen. But this was a trial Shin already knew from the game, and he overcame it without even breaking a sweat.

Then, the small fairy transferred the runes engraved in his soul to Yasmin, allowing her to act as a holder for his powers.

Finally, there was the most complex operation. Lisa created a clone of herself and fused it with the two demonic cores.

Lisa 2.0 was then powerful enough to perform the transfer procedures. Fae agreed to risk her life to receive the system, and things went well, at least for now.

Finally, they encountered a problem. Shin simply couldn't control Myha properly as an extension of his body because she simply wasn't one.

But Lisa solved this problem by putting herself in the middle of the operation. It added an extra step, but the end result was much better.

The man would have liked to have had a better farewell for the Amazons and Succubi, but all he could manage was a final speech before he, Fae, Yasmin, Carolina, and Livia crossed the portal.