40. Fallen Demon Hunter vs. Esper 3

The changes brought about by the Seed of the Heart are not as simple as merely being able to transform into a goat-headed demon or manipulate the power of shadows.

According to the "Maker of Freaks," this is just the standard configuration for the Seed of the Heart. If the compatibility between the Seed and the host is high enough, the host will manifest their own unique ability.

However, he also mentioned that the hosts he personally selects are not chosen at random; they are individuals he believes have high enough compatibility to manifest unique abilities, so I am not particularly special in this regard.

Since he calls himself the "Maker of Freaks," it is only natural that those who bond with the Seed of the Heart are called "Freaks." As the name implies, they are those who have transformed into monsters.

As for my unique ability as a Freak, it is "Substitute."

I can temporarily transfer the Seed of the Heart out of my own body and turn another human into a Freak. During this period, all my power is transferred to this subject, and I temporarily lose my strength, as does my craving for souls.

The human I transform into a Freak through this method becomes my puppet. I can issue any command to them and remotely share their senses. When necessary, I can reclaim my power, and the craving for souls returns to me instantly. This process happens in a flash, so there is no need to worry about being unable to reclaim my power while my true self is in danger.

Freaks can evolve their power by hunting humans and consuming their souls, and my Substitute can do the same. Furthermore, when I reclaim my power, the growth progress of the Substitute’s strength is fed back to me. The price for this is the death of the Substitute.

Even though I had never used this ability before, I grasped its details perfectly. These facts surfaced in my mind like instinct; there was no chance of misunderstanding the nature of my ability.

When the Maker of Freaks came to check on me, he asked about my ability. Not knowing his true intentions, I could not choose to hide or lie, so I told him the truth. Upon hearing the details, he looked somewhat surprised.

"I didn't expect it to be this kind of ability," he remarked. "Among all the Freaks I have created so far, your ability might be the closest to the Original."

I immediately asked what the "Original" was, but he seemed to have said it offhandedly and had no intention of elaborating on the topic.

"More importantly, it seems you haven't consumed any souls yet," he looked at me meaningfully. "If you refuse to consume human souls, you will eventually lose control, driven by the impulse to kill, and become a target for Luo Shan's crusade, dying by the sword of some heartless executioner. Can you accept such an ending?"

"…I don't want to kill," I struggled to say. "Is it really necessary to kill and consume human souls? Can't I use animals—"

"No," he said. "Since you could think of such a method, you must have already tried it. The Seed of the Heart only accepts human souls."

"Then… can the Seed of the Heart be removed from my body?" I regretted saying it the moment the words left my lips.

"Are you sure? The Seed of the Heart has already bonded deeply with you. Unless you die, it cannot leave you."

"…" I fell silent.

He pondered for a moment before adding, "However, there is one situation in which the Seed of the Heart will leave you."

"What situation?" I asked.

"To prevent the Seed of the Heart from being captured by Luo Shan, if a Freak falls into a situation from which there is no escape, the Seed will automatically leave the host. Of course, in this case, the Freak will still die from the loss of the Seed," he said. "Regrettably, the Seed itself lacks the ability to judge the situation; it is you who must make that judgment. Therefore, when you feel genuine despair and resignation, concluding that there is no way to turn things around…"

"…I will die," I said.

"Exactly. So, hurry up and kill someone, Kong Da," he smiled. "Once you stop thinking and allow yourself to accept a future where you are hunted down by Luo Shan, the Seed of the Heart will leave you. You will return to your former self, capable of nothing, and die having achieved nothing."

-

After much struggle, I still chose the path of murder.

Because I do not want to lose my power, nor do I want to die.

To avoid being tracked by Luo Shan and official authorities, it cannot be me who kills; it must be my Substitute.

The quality and loyalty of the Substitute themselves do not matter; my ability will elevate them to a usable level, and they cannot resist any of my commands. I do not have any grand ambitions, nor do I intend to manipulate the powerful in society. As long as it is a human, it is fine; even a social outcast will suffice.

There is also a problem with manipulating the powerful: the subject I turn into a Substitute directly transforms into the form of a goat-headed demon, and they cannot revert after death. If I am a "human who can transform into a goat-headed demon," then the Substitute is physically altered by the strange power and becomes the goat-headed demon itself.

So, I found a destitute homeless man outside. No one would care if someone of his type disappeared from society. He was the safest option.

However, there was a small surprise. These days, even a homeless man cannot be underestimated. I had seen news online before about how some scavengers on the roadside were recognized by passersby as former multi-millionaires or other influential figures who had fallen on hard times after various misfortunes.

I thought such news was far removed from my reality, but after questioning, I discovered that the homeless man I had caught was actually a former leader of a feudal cult.

He used to lord over people in the countryside, living quite comfortably, but he never expected a high school folklore enthusiast to appear out of nowhere, expose all his tricks, and assist the authorities in liquidating his crimes. Having lost his support, he was nearly dragged out by angry believers to be burned alive. If he hadn't prepared a scapegoat—someone he had brainwashed and subjected to plastic surgery—he might have truly died there.

But the tides turned. He probably never imagined in his wildest dreams that after escaping death through a scapegoat, he would one day become my own.

Under the influence of my ability, his mind was quickly shattered.

My Substitute ability is not some absurd, unconditional power; not everyone can be converted into a Substitute. When I use this ability on a target, they are first imprisoned in an illusion before undergoing conversion.

The Maker of Freaks told me that a Freak's ability is closely related to their past life experiences and their heartfelt desires.

And the illusion I created is the very dead end that once filled me with terror and deep despair.

The more frightened and desperate the person trapped in the illusion is, the longer they are held. An ordinary person takes at least a few days to escape, but it only takes me a minute to convert a target into a puppet.

The "imprisonment" stage can still be resisted with magical power, but the "conversion" stage is a rule-based process that ignores gaps in strength. Once that minute passes, no matter how powerful the person trapped in the illusion is, they will be reduced to a puppet at my mercy.

After obtaining the Substitute, I began ordering him to kill.

Although the Substitute can take on the impulse to kill for me, if I let him accumulate that impulse, I would inherit all of it once the Seed of the Heart returns, which would not do.

However, I did not intend to let him kill ordinary people at random. Since I am already controlling a Substitute and have resolved to kill, I might as well cast aside all scruples and conscience to hunt down demon hunters.

Most demon hunters draw their power from their souls, and they often possess higher-quality souls. Even when the Seed of the Heart is not in my body, I am still a Freak and can sense whose soul is of higher quality.

By consuming those souls, I can gain even greater power, and because it takes longer to digest such souls, I do not have to kill frequently.

To be safe, I did not hunt down Luo Shan's demon hunters, but instead targeted civilian ones. Though called "demon hunters," they do not necessarily have experience or the desire to hunt demons; they are more accurately described as superpowered individuals.

While operating in the shadows, other dark clouds gathered in my heart.

—"Among all the Freaks I have created so far, your ability might be the closest to the Original."

These were the words of the Maker of Freaks, and I never dared to ignore or forget them.

The "Original"—it sounds as if it is the prototype of us Freaks, or perhaps the source.

When a Freak falls into true despair, the Seed of the Heart leaves them. Then… where does the departing Seed of the Heart go?

My ability is to transplant the Seed of the Heart into other humans, and after reclaiming it, I gain all the power of the Substitute puppet. Then… does the Original, possessing similar power, view us Freaks as his own Substitute puppets?

Perhaps at some moment, the Original will activate his ability and reclaim the Seeds of the Heart from all Freaks.

All Freaks will return to their former, powerless selves and die having achieved nothing.

The mere thought of that scenario terrifies me.

I must explore… explore the source of the Seed of the Heart and all related information. I must know how to prevent such a situation, or at the very least, ensure that if it does occur, I can survive.

Whenever the Maker of Freaks visits, I try to probe him indirectly.

I don't know if he is truly lacking in caution or if he feels that such information doesn't matter, but he brought it up during a casual chat.

"The technological prototype of the Seed of the Heart comes from a realm that completely overlaps with the real world in space."

"Completely overlaps with the real world… do you mean another time?" I was shocked.

In the occult knowledge I have encountered,異-dimensional spaces that "almost overlap" with the real world exist, but there is no異-dimensional space that "completely overlaps."

If I have to give an example, it can only be different times in the same space.

That is to say, the past, or… the future.