"Relax. We're just helping you deal with a small issue that's been parasitizing you."
Bound by golden chains, Talulah felt her consciousness grow heavy. In a daze, she saw the red-haired woman step in front of her and gently stroke her cheek.
"Idle Transfiguration."
Makima murmured softly, activating the most special ability she had obtained after dominating the Disaster Curses in the Jujutsu world.
An ability that allowed the user to directly touch and reshape souls—Idle Transfiguration.
From Makima's perspective, the moment the ability took effect, she successfully touched Talulah's soul… and another soul clinging to it like a bone-eating parasite, exuding a pitch-black aura.
There was no doubt about it.
This was the other consciousness that, in the original story, had survived being "killed" by Talulah and smoothly possessed her body afterward—
Kashchey, the immortal Black Snake of Ursus.
"This power… how is this possible?!"
Sensing imminent danger, the soul struggled violently. Unfortunately, suppressed by the chains of Conquest, Kashchey couldn't even escape Talulah's body. Before he could do anything, Makima seized his soul directly with Idle Transfiguration.
In an instant, the black-aura-wreathed soul was forcibly torn away from Talulah's own. Despite its desperate resistance, before the power that could touch and reshape souls, Kashchey's struggle was futile.
Accompanied by intense distortion, the soul was compressed and transformed in Makima's hand into a black ring engraved with serpent patterns.
"All done."
The golden chains dispersed.
Talulah dropped to one knee, panting. After a moment, she forced herself upright and stared at the black ring in Makima's hand.
"Was that… Kashchey's consciousness? You sealed it inside that ring?"
In truth, Talulah had always suspected that Kashchey hadn't truly died. After all, how could the Immortal Black Snake be killed so easily?
She just hadn't expected that, when facing Mebius and the others, Kashchey would be defeated so effortlessly—his consciousness ripped out of her body entirely.
In that case, no matter how cunning Kashchey was, there was probably nothing he could do anymore.
"It's not a seal," Makima explained calmly.
"More accurately, I turned his soul into this ring. This ring is Kashchey—the Immortal Black Snake's soul and consciousness."
As she spoke, Makima used the authority of the Control Devil to completely dominate the consciousness that had become the ring.
Thus, the legendary Ursus Grand Duke—an ancient existence that had loomed over this land for countless years—met his definitive end.
At the same time, Makima gained the same ability Kashchey once possessed: the power to implant her consciousness into others' bodies, occupy them, and assimilate them.
"Alright. Now it's time for you to give your answer, my dear little lab rat."
After resolving the parasite within Talulah, Mebius took the ring from Makima and looked back at Talulah.
"Will you continue clinging to your unrealistic ideals and sink into them… or will you, with our help, build a brand-new nation—one that is willing to abandon the oppression of the Infected?"
"If I build a new nation for you," Talulah asked slowly, "will you truly stop oppressing the Infected?"
To be honest, rebellion and founding a nation were concepts that had once been unimaginably distant to Talulah.
Even when she led Reunion in guerrilla warfare across the frozen tundra, she had never seriously entertained the idea of overthrowing Ursus and establishing a new country—it was simply too heretical, too far-fetched.
But now—
After Mebius's cold analysis of Reunion's bleak future, after witnessing how effortlessly they subdued Kashchey, and after seeing how casually they enhanced—and controlled—her, Patriot, and FrostNova…
Talulah admitted it.
She was tempted.
Even if, in the end, the nation she built would merely serve as a gift to these people—if that nation could truly stop oppressing the Infected, if it allowed the Infected and ordinary civilians to live peacefully on this land—then she was willing to become their vanguard.
Even if she had to offer everything in the end, she would have no regrets.
After all, without their help, she had never possessed the ability to do it in the first place.
"We have no interest in the inefficient act of oppressing the Infected," Mebius said calmly.
"As long as you obey us and cooperate willingly, the future you hope for will certainly arrive."
Facing the future Mebius laid out before her, Talulah took a deep breath—and made her decision.
"In that case, my answer is only one."
"I am willing to obey all of your commands and dedicate myself to a nation where the Infected and ordinary people no longer hate each other!"
There was nothing around her to break as a symbol of resolve, but the firmness in Talulah's voice made her determination unmistakable.
"Very good," Mebius nodded.
"Then have the Reunion members outside pack up. We'll be leaving early tomorrow morning."
"I understand," Talulah replied, then asked, "Where are we going after we leave?"
"Of course—to the territory of that Ursus Grand Duke. Kashchey's domain."
Mebius smiled as she casually tossed the ring formed from Kashchey's soul.
"After all, with such a useful tool in hand, it would be a shame not to make proper use of it."
"Also," she added, her tone turning serious, "while you're expected to obey all of our orders, remember this: there is only one person you truly need to obey."
"Our master."
"Master?"
Talulah turned in surprise, following Mebius's gaze—toward An Xora, who had been sitting quietly to the side the entire time without saying a single word.
"Him?"
Up until now, Mebius had been the one communicating with Talulah. Combined with her overwhelming presence and the ease with which she had defeated both Talulah and Patriot, Talulah had subconsciously assumed Mebius was the leader.
She never imagined that among these people, the one with the highest authority was this man who had remained silent from beginning to end, calmly leaving everything to Mebius.
What kind of person could inspire the loyalty of someone as dangerous as Mebius, and of a red-haired woman with such terrifying methods—both of whom addressed him as master?
Talulah didn't know.
And with her current understanding, she couldn't even begin to imagine it.
"All of us are extensions of the master's will," Mebius said solemnly.
"So in the future, no matter what happens, even if the master's orders conflict with our own decisions, you must prioritize obeying the master."
She spoke with absolute seriousness.
Although Talulah was not a clone, as the core piece of the game through which An Xora would thoroughly dominate Terra, she needed to understand this truth from the very beginning.
⭐ Want more future chapters are already ahead on Patreon → https://www.patreon.com/BlackDevil808
⭐ Advance chapters are finished—real readers aren't waiting, they're already reading.
BONUS CHAPTER SYSTEM
10 reviews → Bonus Chapter 100 Power Stones → Bonus Chapter
🔥 If you love to read, you don't wait. Your support keeps the chapters coming faster.