A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 362: The episode with the most villainous potential

The believers, who were weeping bitterly in the cold wind, soon stopped crying, because the imperial army was adept at comforting people with cannons, muskets, and bayonets.

Imperial Army: I'm waiting for my ultimate move, what are you waiting for?

At this point, the Imperial Army's intentions were clear—it wanted to wage a war of annihilation without reservation, striving to destroy the Church's armed forces. Therefore, it did not launch an attack when the Church's cannon fodder and infantry phalanx pressed onto the battle line, nor when the paladins began to confront the Imperial cavalry. The Imperial Army's commander sacrificed his own "line-filling baby" in exchange for the greatest possible victory.

It appears that its scheme has been executed perfectly. Although it sacrificed infantry, it held out until the paladins were deployed, and then completed its efficient annihilation plan through the combination of anti-magic devices and cannons.

Around Rorschach's head lay the wounded and dead paladins, and fallen horses. Imperial cavalry once again brandished their sabers and charged back into the battlefield, beginning to clear out the remaining enemies.

The Holy Kingdom's church forces are wiped out, but it seems I'm not in a good position either. "Ninja Natsu" is currently clueless—only his head is still under the control of his soul.

They had to act quickly! This was the vacuum period following the "magic tsunami," and the magic in the environment was extremely thin. But for Turosha now, the transmutation dust within still contained a small amount of magic that could be controlled. This wisp of soul attempted to expand its "container," constantly spreading in an effort to restore its connection with its body.

Then he sensed a vague affinity, as if the flesh and soil nearby would respond to his call.

Are they living aquatic microorganisms? Rorschach was shocked. In addition to the underground, the piles of corpses and flowing blood all around also echoed this. Clearly, the unclaimed flesh and blood had been infected by microorganisms, which were happily multiplying.

The bad news is that these things are expanding in number and territory exponentially; the good news is that Rorschach's soul can not only sense them, but also seems to be able to establish a connection and exert simple control over them. Perhaps the blood dripped into his body during its creation has an effect. Rorschach's now extraordinary blood nourishes these microorganisms, creating an effect similar to a Familia, and possibly the smallest Familia ever.

This is giving you interest while I collect the principal! However, the influence of the body's blood is constantly being diluted as microorganisms multiply and divide. The current "Head Xia" must control it in time, otherwise the control over these little things will become weaker and weaker and more scattered.

It was too late to reshape his body, which was now mixed with mud. After assessing the situation, Rorschach took emergency evasive action:

An Imperial infantryman, who had fallen in close combat with the Church's army, was lying face down, his soul already returning to the infinite, ethereal realm. But suddenly his hand twitched, then his arm, and then his entire body, supported by his arm.

The pale-faced youth seemed to be recognizing himself for the first time. He struggled to his feet, moved his limbs, and then examined his wounds. Fortunately, his clothes were completely intact. The fatal wound was in his throat, where his trachea and esophagus had been severed. If he tried to move his lungs or contract his abdomen, he would make a "whoosh" sound.

The wound began to move, and some dark red and grayish-white mucus first sealed the surface, then it returned to skin that was slightly redder than the surrounding area. But it was just a layer of "skin" without a complete structure, after all, it was dead and did not need to really breathe.

But I do need to eat. For the first time, "Possessed Xia" experienced a body in this world without the ability to cast spells. If it weren't for the magical microorganisms that possessed and controlled it, this "stand-in" wouldn't be able to cast a single spell.

He had to find the source of the magic and create "intrinsic magic." So the young man rolled up his military uniform sleeves and began digging in the dirt and wolfing down his food.

Rorschach, the clone, ate the old body that was scattered in the ground. Because it contained transmutation dust, he judged the enrichment of transmutation dust in the soil based on the concentration of magic power, selected the high-energy ones, dug them out, compressed them, and then ate them into the young man's stomach.

With the presence of microorganisms, transmutation dust, and a wisp of Rorschach's soul, this body initially possessed the ability to cast simple spells.

Not enough! Not enough! Rorschach felt a hunger pang emanating from the microbes. His body had lost too much blood, and for the microbes to survive, they would have to erode other parts of the body. Driving the body through the connection and manipulation of fluids by the microbes was awkward and energy-consuming; his internal organs were almost gone, and continuing would only break down the muscles, causing symptoms similar to rhabdomyolysis.

There was still a lot of flesh and blood around. After struggling for a while, Rorschach chose to bend down and suck the blood from the other bodies.

Fortunately, his numb tongue couldn't taste anything. Soon, his face regained its color and he no longer looked like he had lost his life. Moreover, as the number of recovered microorganisms increased, the magical power accumulated in his body also increased.

Pollution, kinship, possession, and vampire—I can now smoothly play the villain. As if remembering something, Rorschach quickly pulled out the body's identification from the breast pocket of his uniform: Joseph Muller, Private Second Class, 22 years old. Belongs to the Imperial Northern Army, Marin's Fifth Legion, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment.

The other information was irrelevant, and Luo Xia breathed a sigh of relief: thankfully, there were no portraits of girls or letters from family members. There was nothing he could do; the villain Luo was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see such things.

He then collected all the identification tags of the nearby Imperial soldiers and found a few broken pieces of brown sugar. Given the current literacy rate, it was extremely unlikely that the lowest-ranking soldiers would carry letters from home, so this was all Rorschach found.

Joseph Rorschach looked around. The battle was over. The remaining Holy Kingdom army was struggling to regroup and retreat, while the Imperial army slowly crept up with guns at their ready. More importantly, magic was returning, and the environment was gradually filling up again.

In this way, Rorschach no longer needs to let the microorganisms in his body consume his flesh and blood and absorb the metamorphic dust without restraint, but can instead pump magic power from the outside to nourish them.

However, this also means that microorganisms scattered in other places will reproduce and spread more rapidly.

As the cavalry left the battlefield, the imperial infantry began clearing it. One soldier saw a fellow soldier still alive and standing among the dead, and called out to him as he approached.

Suddenly, a massive explosion, accompanied by flames, engulfed the wartime survivor, and the soldier felt the scorching heat wave rushing towards him. Just when he thought the survivor had died in the explosion, he saw the man miraculously tumbling along, half-pushed and half-carried to him by the aftershocks of the blast.

This was a pale and weak young man. The soldier quickly helped his lucky comrade up: "Are you alright? It must have been a shell. It started as a dud, and then it could explode at any moment." However, he was cautious because the entire continent spoke the Common Tongue, and the young man might be an enemy dressed in an Imperial uniform: "I am Ashim from the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment."

The young man gave a military salute: "Thank you, Private Joseph, 1st Infantry Regiment."

Asim was relieved to hear the Beijing accent. Actually, he noticed that Joseph's salute was not very standard, but since Joseph had survived a close call, now was not the time to test his skills.

Joseph pulled out a bunch of name tags and ID cards: "These are my comrades' name tags and ID cards. Please keep them safe. The one on top is mine."

Ashim was somewhat moved. The young man hadn't rushed to prove his merits, but instead focused on gathering identification information for his fallen comrades. However, he still had to criticize him: "You've proven your identity, and I believe you. But remember, sir, you must save your own life first. Lingering near the impact point is a violation of soldier's regulations."

As he spoke, Ashim took out his water bottle and handed it to Joseph Rorschach. Before Rorschach could refuse, a golden light suddenly streaked across the sky and headed straight for the airship.

The behemoth that had achieved such a glorious victory exploded instantly, its remaining parts spinning and falling toward the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)