Chapter 80: Mirror Image Ritual

What was the reason for this? Ace fell into contemplation.

He activated the Magic Array several times until the blood crow was completely unconscious before stopping.

The influence of the Abyssal aura could be ruled out. No deep, chaotic, or evil aura was detected in any of the experiments. The problem must lie in the structure of the ritual. Perhaps this projection ritual was missing something.

Ace thought this as he rode the mechanical magic lift back to his residence. The experiment had reached an impasse. He decided to perform a few surgeries at the hospital to relax and refresh his mind.

For Ace, performing surgery was simpler than compounding medicine; it presented virtually no difficulty.

If a physician naturally possessed a high-magnification, ultra-clear ultrasound, and their mental and physical strength allowed for flawless operations, they would probably perform even better than Ace.

Of course, in the hospital, Dr. Ace’s surgery represented absolute success. The two average-looking resident physicians looked at Ace successfully suturing the muscle tendons of over a dozen patients’ fingers and completing several challenging valve replacement surgeries with immense respect.

“Director Ace, your medical skill is truly unparalleled. The thank-you ceramic jars sent by the patients have completely filled the display room.” One of the average-looking residents said.

“The Director’s medical skill cannot even be described as unparalleled. It is simply the skill of a favorite of the Goddess of Life. Legend says that the descendants of the Goddess of Life require massive amounts of sacrificial offerings to save a life. Our Director saves patients without any need for sacrifice, relying only on astonishing skill. It is truly…”

“You, stop there!”

The average-looking man’s flattery was cut short by Ace.

The average-looking man looked apprehensive. Did I boast too much? Did my flattery backfire? What should I do?

The other average-looking man looked delighted. Serves you right for being so good at flattery. You finally hit a wall! He completely forgot that just moments ago, he regretted his own inferior flattery skills.

“Repeat your last sentence,” Ace said thoughtfully.

“Saved the patient…” the average-looking man replied timidly.

“No, the sentence before that,” Ace said, somewhat sternly.

“Astonishing skill…” the average-looking man said, even more frightened, his voice barely audible.

“Still wrong. The sentence before that.”

The average-looking man felt immense mental pressure as Ace’s voice grew sterner, like being plunged into an ice cellar.

He asked hesitantly, “Without any sacrifice?”

“That’s the one! Without any sacrifice. Without any sacrifice! You have done well. This is my note. Take it to the accounting department and claim a bonus of 1 Gold Thales.”

Ace casually tore off a piece of parchment, wrote a few letters, tossed it to the average-looking man, and turned to leave.

The two average-looking men were left staring at each other, one regretful and the other ecstatic.

Ace returned to his residence and activated the Interference Rune Array, which causes anyone approaching to feel an inexplicable desire to leave.

He took the mechanical magic lift down to Sub-Level 3, the Projection Ritual Chamber.

“Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice!”

“The entire bizarre ritual is itself a grand sacrifice. I simply overlooked the necessity of the sacrifice itself. Perhaps the ritual is lacking the essential component of sacrifice. Let me redesign the ritual.”

Ace muttered to himself while clearing the entire Ritual Magic Array, modifying the array and the rites.

The so-called ritual rites must contain several elements: a sacred object, a sense of the sacred, a set of rites that are believed and adhered to, and a Magic Array.

In the projection ritual, Ace arranged a total of three Magic Arrays: the Essence Replication Magic Array, the Projection Manifestation Magic Array, and the Sacrifice Magic Array.

The sacrifice provides the flesh and soul essence for the projection’s composition. Ace replaced the wicked, chaotic Abyssal Sacrifice Rune with the Equivalent Exchange Rune.

The entire process was transformed into an equivalent exchange projection creation, completely unrelated to the mysterious Abyssal presence.

After a few adjustments, the blood crow in the Essence Replication Magic Array successfully produced a blood crow projection.

Ace tested it. The projection exhibited characteristics similar to the small Demon projections, and possessed the original host’s memory, emotions, and thought patterns, though its overall strength was reduced.

The blood crow was an ordinary low-level Monster. Its projection had lost the ability to manipulate blood and was similar to an ordinary strong crow.

Ace attempted to split the blood crow’s soul again to create another projection. The projection failed, and the blood crow host became very weak, its soul seemingly severely damaged.

Experimenting with a mutated blood crow yielded the same result.

“It seems that, at least before reaching the Hero level, one can only maintain one projection at a time.”

Just then, Ace discovered that the blood crow projection seemed hostile toward the host. After repeated experiments, the projection was found to betray the host at certain critical moments!

At this point, the projection ritual itself was resolved, but the critical issue of betrayal remained.

He earnestly consulted the acquired forbidden knowledge, discovering that the ritual contained a large number of contracts with unclear meaning. Some paragraphs seemed to pertain to a contract between the projection and the host.

Ace possessed extensive experience with covenant magic. Using the Comprehend Unknown and Deduction abilities, he gradually deciphered most of the forbidden knowledge regarding the projection’s covenant runes and redesigned them based on his own understanding.

The entire projection ritual was ultimately composed of four Magic Arrays: the Essence Replication Magic Array, the Projection Manifestation Magic Array, the Sacrifice Magic Array, and the Covenant Magic Array. These, combined with specific rites of intention, Incantation Language, and a witness, jointly formed the projection ritual.

After numerous experiments and successfully creating a projection that was fully obedient to the host blood crow’s will, Ace began the experiment on himself.

He stood in the Essence Replication Magic Array. In front of him were the prepared Monster flesh and the yet-to-dissolve soul essence.

He performed a set of mysterious magical movements. His lips trembled slightly with the movement. Accompanied by a strange cadence, a chant-like voice emanated from all directions.

The Magic Array representing the covenant raised a gigantic scale. One end pointed to Ace, and the other pointed to the vacant Projection Manifestation Magic Array. The Sacrifice Magic Array was located directly in front.

“The Scale of Justice, guard the Eternal Covenant.

Here, I shall swear an oath.

Let the Scale become a blade, dividing a portion of my soul.

I shall split my soul, creating a mirror image, sharing memory, emotion, thought, and ability with it.

The divided soul, forming the mirror image, shall be eternally loyal to the host and obedient to the host.

The mirror image, upon dissolution, shall return to the host, bringing back memory, emotion, thought, and ability.

We are inherently one. The division is for the purpose of exploring greater truth and growing stronger upon our return.

When the ritual is established, the being named Ace shall gain a higher life experience, becoming a being of plural individuals, no longer singular but a collective life.

Possessing plural memory, emotion, thought, and and ability, transitioning from one to many, from a singular life to a collective life. At a certain moment in the future, the many shall return to one, truly becoming wiser and stronger.”

The light from the Scale shone intensely, rising up and transforming into a scythe.

Ace’s spirit essence floated from his body and ascended.

The scythe, carrying the power of fundamental rules, sliced across it. A wound appeared on Ace’s spirit essence, and a substance like blood flowed out.

This substance floated above the scythe. Ace’s spirit essence fell back into his body. He opened his eyes, pale and exhausted. He clutched his stomach. Blood was profusely flowing from the wound.

Ace’s pale lips parted, and he said in a dry, tired voice: “Blood Float, Wound Heal!”

The streaming blood floated up toward the scythe. The wound on Ace’s stomach healed, but his face remained terrifyingly pale.

He endured the discomfort of soul separation, following the magical rhythm and moving his hands.

The scythe returned to the form of the Scale, shining golden. The blood of his soul and body merged, gradually forming a small figure. Its features were identical to Ace’s—a miniature version of himself.

The little figure fell into the Projection Manifestation Magic Array. The Sacrifice Magic Array immediately flashed. The sacrificed Monster flesh and fresh soul essence vanished without a trace. Mist rose around the little figure. It took a deep inhale, then ballooned into a massive sphere.

The sphere absorbed all the mist, underwent several transformations, and then poof! it burst open. A soaking wet, naked man identical to Ace stepped out.

The Scale transformed into chains, plunging into both of their foreheads. Ace felt a violent tremor in his soul. The world was utterly changed.

You can support the translator and get advanced chapter by join his patreon at https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair