Sword God in a World of Magic

Over the next ten years, Shang continued experimenting with the Abominations while also absorbing them.

Surprisingly, being amongst other Abominations while he himself was influenced by an Abomination's will didn't make any difference.

Shang had expected that he would probably feel some kind of connection with the other Abominations while his mindset temporarily emulated all of them, but he didn't feel anything like that.

This told Shang that Abominations were not herd animals or something like that.

Yet, that was actually quite contradictory.

The mindset of an Abomination was filled with hate and the will to destroy. An Abomination wanted to destroy absolutely everything around it, even if it meant that it would die as well.

And yet, they didn't attack each other.

This would make sense if there were some kind of kinship between the Abominations, but there wasn't anything like that.

So, when there was no social connection between them, why didn't their will to destroy also include other Abominations?

In the end, Shang could only guess that the will to destroy everything was only targeted toward anything created with Mana.

Since other Abominations weren't made of Mana, an Abomination wouldn't feel a desire to destroy them, even when attacked by one.

Over the past ten years, Shang had tried many things on the Abominations.

He had tortured them, suppressed them, killed them, and so on.

And yet, no matter what he did, the Abominations never felt anything other than their typical desire to destroy.

That desire didn't even extend to the being that inflicted pain on them.

Shang could order one Abomination to kill another Abomination very slowly, and the other Abomination would continue attacking the wall as if nothing was happening.

Even Shang could attack an Abomination as much as he wanted. The Abomination would never defend itself or try to kill Shang.

It was like they were mindless, but they couldn't be completely mindless since they actually had a desire.

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When ten years were up, Shang exited his Isolation Barrier after closing the door of the Isolation Chamber behind him so that the Abominations couldn't escape.

“Welcome back,” Linay said from the top of the barrier. “In the past ten years, I have seen three Ancestral Mages, one Archmage, and four Mage Lords pass by.”

Linay handed a list to Shang, who read through it.

He saw nothing suspicious.

“Any progress on the ore or the negotiation?” Shang asked.

Linay nodded and summoned a Space Ring. “Here are all the ores below the Mage King Realm. The ore inside the Mage King Realm will probably take another 30 or so years, and I am uncertain about the Mage Emperor ore.”

Shang took the ring and looked inside.

There was quite a bit of ore in there.

Shang nodded. “I will return in 30 years then,” he said.

“Of course,” Linay answered.

Shang entered the Isolation Barrier again and went back into his Isolation Chamber.

Then, he continued learning about Abominations while also advancing his Realm.

Shang was quite certain that learning more about Abominations would help him comprehend the mysterious level five Concept of Entropy. After all, the Abominations were the very personification of that Affinity.

30 years later, Shang came out again, and Linay gave him another ring. “These are all the ores of the Mage King Realm you've requested. We have also made some progress on the Mage Emperor ores, but it's much more difficult to get those than expected. The Custodian even said that it was much harder than expected and that you've essentially gotten a great bargain.”

Shang took hold of the ring and looked inside.

The ore inside the ring felt so insanely hard and powerful that Shang had to take a deep breath.

But for now, these ores wouldn't be helpful.

Nevertheless, thanks to all of this, all of Shang's ore troubles up to the peak of the Eighth Realm had been solved.

In Area 23, it had been a huge issue for Shang to find powerful ore since only the most powerful organizations had control over it.

After that, this problem had essentially vanished, but Shang expected that the problem would return when he reached the Peak Seventh Realm or higher.

“And the negotiations?” Shang asked.

“We've made some progress, but the Land and Sky Empire is still making it difficult. We know that the Land and Sky Empire knows that this is for you, which is why they are making so much trouble. They don't want you to become more powerful.”

“The Custodian said that joining the frontlines again and causing as much chaos as possible would make it easier and quicker for you since the Land and Sky Empire would want you to leave. They would probably very quickly accept just so that you stop making trouble for them,” Linay explained.

“That won't happen,” Shang said.

This took Linay by surprise, and she raised her brows. “Curious. I was under the impression that you want to train with peak efficiency.”

“You're right,” Shang said. “Under normal circumstances, I would go to the frontlines right now and cause as much chaos as possible.”

“However, I am not joining the frontlines anymore for a specific reason.”

“Which is?” Linay asked.

“After I left the frontlines, the commanding Thunder down there wanted to force me to join the frontline against my will, and after I declined, she sent a Mage Lord to forcefully pull me to the frontlines,” Shang explained.

Linay furrowed her brows. “I can understand why that is an issue. Naturally, the Thunder's actions are beyond reproachable, and I will make sure that everything has been properly reported and dealt with.”

“No,” Shang said.

“No?” Linay asked.

“I don't want this to be properly dealt with.”

“I want them dead.”

“I want them to die.”

“Both of them.”

“I don't care if you reprimand them, confiscate their wealth, fire them from their positions, physically punish them, or imprison them.”

“I want them dead.”

“Unless those two are dead, I will not be joining the war again.”

Linay just looked with an awkward expression at Shang.

That was…

Childish.

Unreasonable.

Too far.

Disproportional.

Vindictive.

“I am going to come out in another 30 years,” Shang said. “Keep track of everyone that you see with your Spirit Sense, including the Mage Kings.”

Linay shook her head to regain her wits. “Wait!”

However, Shang had already entered the Isolation Barrier.

Linay could only take a deep breath.

And then, she contacted a Thunder in the Administration Department.