Cecilia Lucas leaned in close to Bell.
She pulled an exquisite iron box from behind her back.
The lid was engraved with intricate patterns.
“These are cookies of love that Cecilia made for Brother~”
Her voice was cloyingly sweet.
Bell’s throat tightened abruptly.
A surge of bile instantly rushed up his throat.
He slapped a hand over his mouth.
He forced down the violent urge to vomit.
Images flashed through his mind.
It was from his past life.
That dark, damp basement.
Cecilia Lucas, wearing a blood-stained apron.
Smiling as she held out a plate of cookies.
“Try some, darling.”
“I made these using the woman you love most.”
“It took me a long time to carve her up.”
Bell had vomited for three straight days back then.
“Brother?”
Cecilia Lucas tilted her head.
A flicker of confusion passed through her eyes.
Bell took a deep breath.
He forced himself to show a smile.
“Thank you for the hard work, darling.”
He reached out.
He pulled Cecilia Lucas toward him.
The girl’s body crashed into his chest.
She let out a small, surprised gasp.
“Brother is doing a magic experiment.”
Bell’s voice was soft.
His hand rested on Cecilia Lucas’s shoulder.
His fingertips applied a slight pressure.
“A very important experiment.”
“I cannot be disturbed.”
Cecilia Lucas didn't speak.
She just lay quietly against Bell’s chest.
Then, she looked up.
Her gaze moved past Bell’s shoulder.
It landed on the crystal bottle on the desk.
The light orb inside the bottle had dimmed significantly.
Like a star on the verge of burning out.
“Is Brother doing a soul experiment?”
Cecilia Lucas’s voice suddenly became very calm.
Bell’s body stiffened.
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve done them too.”
Cecilia Lucas smiled.
She pulled away from Bell’s embrace.
She walked to the desk.
She reached out.
Her fingertips lightly touched the bottle.
“This is a shadow wolf soul, isn't it?”
“The purity is decent.”
“But your stripping technique was too crude.”
She turned her head.
She looked at Bell.
“What does Brother want to do with it?”
“Make an obedient soldier?”
“Or a toy that can protect you?”
Bell didn't answer.
Cecilia Lucas suddenly laughed.
She took a cookie from the iron box.
The cookie was cut into the shape of a heart.
The edges were dusted with powdered sugar.
“Brother.”
She brought the cookie to Bell’s lips.
“Eat it.”
“And I’ll help you complete your experiment.”
Bell’s throat felt tight.
He tilted his head away.
“But...”
“I’m not very hungry.”
Cecilia Lucas’s smile froze.
Her hand stopped in mid-air.
The edge of the cookie.
It pressed lightly against Bell’s lips.
“I said.”
Her voice suddenly became very soft.
Very slow.
“Eat it, darling.”
“Be a good boy.”
She pushed her hand forward.
The edge of the cookie pressed hard against Bell’s lips.
Crumbs tumbled down.
They scattered across the desk.
“Open your mouth.”
There was a hint of a command in Cecilia Lucas’s voice that brooked no refusal.
“Ah—”
Bell closed his eyes.
He opened his mouth.
Cecilia Lucas’s eyes lit up instantly.
She shoved the cookie.
She stuffed it into Bell’s mouth.
Bell’s throat convulsed violently.
He wanted to vomit.
But he couldn't.
After a long time...
Bell’s stomach was churning.
He forced himself to chew the cookie in his mouth.
It had a strange taste.
He couldn't describe it.
It was just... very strange.
“Does it taste good, darling?”
Cecilia Lucas opened her eyes.
“It...”
Bell’s voice was very dry.
“It tastes good.”
“Then eat more if it’s good.”
She took another cookie from the box.
She held it with those same two fingers.
She held it up to Bell’s lips.
Bell could only endure the nausea.
He bit down.
“Darling.”
Cecilia Lucas suddenly leaned in close.
“These are cookies made of our love.”
Bell’s body froze.
“What do you mean?”
Cecilia Lucas’s smile became even more brilliant.
Her cheeks were so red they looked like they might drip blood.
A sickly obsession flickered in her eyes.
He knew what she was saying.
Cecilia Lucas gently caressed his lips.
Bell’s mind went blank for an instant.
Cecilia Lucas’s words were like an ice pick, stabbing deep into his brain.
And then she fed it to him.
Bell’s throat surged violently.
He pushed Cecilia Lucas away.
He rushed to the window.
“Blegh!”
He leaned over the windowsill, dry-heaving frantically.
There was nothing in his stomach.
But he still vomited.
Only gastric juice and cookie crumbs came out.
Mixed with an indescribable flavor.
“Brother?”
Cecilia Lucas tilted her head.
She walked up behind Bell.
She reached out.
She gently patted his back.
“Is it too sweet?”
“I’ll use less sugar next time.”
Bell’s fingers gripped the window frame tightly.
His nails dug into the wood.
He wanted to throw up.
He wanted to turn his stomach inside out.
To vomit every last bit of it out.
But he couldn't.
He had already swallowed those cookies.
“Brother~”
Cecilia Lucas leaned toward his ear.
Her voice was very soft.
Very sweet.
He whipped around.
He grabbed Cecilia Lucas by the shoulders.
“You’re crazy!”
His voice was terrifyingly hoarse.
“You’re fucking insane!”
Cecilia Lucas didn't argue.
She just smiled.
She smiled until her eyes curved into crescents.
“Yes.”
“I’m crazy.”
“But Brother~”
She reached out.
Her fingertips lightly traced Bell’s lips.
“You ate them too.”
“You’ve gone crazy too.”
Bell let go of her.
He took a step back.
Then another.
Until his back hit the wall.
Cecilia Lucas didn't follow.
She just stood there.
She looked down at the iron box in her hands.
“There are still plenty left.”
She looked up.
A sickly anticipation sparkled in her eyes.
“Does Brother want to eat more tomorrow?”
“Get out.”
Bell’s voice was quiet.
But every word sounded like it was squeezed through his teeth.
“Get the hell out.”
Cecilia Lucas’s smile froze.
Her fingers tightened around the iron box.
The lid let out a faint “crack.”
“Brother.”
Her voice suddenly became very calm.
“Are you angry with me?”
Bell didn't answer.
He just stared at her.
His eyes were filled with disgust and fear.
Cecilia Lucas looked at his expression.
She suddenly laughed.
“It’s okay.”
“I know Brother is just being shy.”
She turned.
She walked to the door.
She pushed it open.
Then, she looked back.
“Brother.”
“Goodnight.”
“Have sweet dreams.”
“In your dreams...”
She licked her lips.
“Let them be filled with me.”
The door closed.
Bell slumped to the floor.
He shoved his fingers into his mouth.
He tried to gouge those things out.
But nothing would come up.
Only stomach acid.
Only that lingering, inescapable taste.
He lay on the floor.
He panted heavily.
His mind was filled with Cecilia Lucas’s smiling face.
And the words she had said.
He rushed to the desk.
He grabbed the crystal bottle.
The light orb inside had dimmed significantly.
He had to be fast.
He had to complete the soul reconstruction within three days.
He had to get stronger.
Strong enough to kill her.
Bell flipped through Soul Construction.
His fingers flew across the pages.
Searching for the chapter on constructing an Anchor.
He found it.
Chapter Three.
《The Essence and Construction of Anchors》.
Bell took a deep breath.
He began to read.
Line by line.
Word by word.
Time trickled away.
The sky outside the window gradually brightened.
Bell was still sitting at the desk.
His eyes were bloodshot.
But he didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
Finally.
The first ray of morning light spilled through the window.
Bell closed the book.
He stood up.
He picked up the crystal bottle.
The light orb inside was so dim it was almost invisible.
He had to start now.
Bell took a deep breath.
He reached out.
His palm hovered over the desk.
Mana began to condense in his palm.
A dull yellow glow.
Slowly spreading.
Slowly taking shape.
The outline of a figure.
Becoming clearer.
It was a dirt puppet.
But different from the previous ones.
This time.
Bell was going to infuse it with a soul.
He opened the crystal bottle.
That dim orb of light.
Slowly drifted out.
Bell’s fingers began to trace in the air.
Runes after runes.
Appearing in the air.
Then merging into the light orb.
The orb began to tremble violently.
It was resisting.
It didn't want to be bound.
Bell grit his teeth.
His mental energy surged out frantically.
Layer upon layer.
He suppressed the light orb ruthlessly.
“Get...”
“Inside!”
Bell let out a low growl.
He slammed the light orb into the dirt puppet’s chest.
The dirt puppet’s body jerked.
Then.
It moved.
Its fingers.
Twitched slightly.
Bell was stunned.
He succeeded?
He really succeeded?
Just then.
“Snap.”
The dirt puppet’s chest.
A crack split open.
Then.
“Boom!”
The entire dirt puppet.
Exploded into a pile of debris.
Bell stared blankly at the dust on the floor.
He failed.
He failed again.
He slumped into his chair.
His mind was a total blank.
Why?
Why did it fail?
The light orb clearly went in.
The dirt puppet clearly moved.
Why did it still collapse?
Bell stared at the fragments on the ground.
Suddenly.
He saw something.
Among the fragments.
There was a tiny clump.
Still glowing faintly.
It was soul fragments.
Bell reached out.
He picked it up carefully.
He placed it in his palm.
This glow.
It was very weak.
But it was still alive.
Bell suddenly understood.
It wasn't a problem with the Anchor.
It was a problem with the container.
The dirt puppet was too fragile.
It couldn't withstand the power of a soul.
He needed a sturdier core.
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