Reincarnated as a random race, of course I got goblin.

Chapter 133 - Soul Prism

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" Thorn Cutter angrily pokes my side with her beak, breaking me out of my stupor. 

"I'm telling you, you have to be more careful! What would happen to us if you died doing something stupid like that?! Huh? Did you even consider that?" Her beak is clacking angrily, small scrapes forming on the tip of it from the repeated pecks she's giving me. 

"Thorn, that's enough." Norori puts their bulky body between me and Thorn Cutter, not-so-gently manoeuvring the angry monster out of pecking range.

I look up from the shard of Paradoxium in my hands, staring blankly ahead.

I'm too weary to explain my reasonings for not Teleporting away alongside Thorn Cutter. Besides, there's precious little time. The sudden appearance of the Cryptic Chimera set us back hours since I now have to wait for my MP to recover before I can restore the Divine Spring. 

The living weapon goes quiet as I ignore her, hanging her head in contemplation. 

Moving my attention to the carcass, it's rapidly discolouring, its mottled brownish-green hide gaining splotches of a sickly black. For whatever reason, it's decomposing at an alarming rate. 

However, there are no fumes or discharge, as if the World is erasing this thing that shouldn't have been. 

I suppose that since Malice wasn't used to make it, it's safe to handle it this way. I get to work detaching the metal bands in order to set them aside. If I'm correct, most of the metal augments contain Paradoxium, a precious resource to me at the moment. 

"What's the plan with it?" 

If the description is correct, then I might be able to solve one of the main problems with our plan. 

"The transport of our brother..."

Indeed. Teleporting might work, but I've yet to test how a Dungeon Heart might behave when exposed to Space Element like that. Worst case scenario, it explodes...

"Then, I suppose this might somehow let us 'trap' the Heart?"

You know, I get the suspicion that there was some Paradoxium in that armor the Hero was wearing. The chance the Aurelium somehow made an armour Tsukumogami without the Great Death King Skill is next to zero. It also somehow used Malice without infecting the armor with it, indicating that there was a barrier between the Soul and the rest of the armor. 

"So then, if we're lucky, the Paradoxium can be used to make a soul core or something similar..."

I stop what I'm doing to pick up the Origin Soul Core resting between the horns atop my head. It's grown since Shadow first made it, yet it remains light and poses no hindrance to me even when fighting. 

Part of the reason for it remaining secure atop my head is that it's grown to envelop my horns, becoming more like a crown than anything. The other part of the reason might be that it counts as part of my body. 

But it's because it's a part of my body that I can't use it to entrap Blue. After all, for the Labyrinth to work it's purifying magic, the entity that's being purified needs to be placed within the centre of it. Much like a lizards tail can only flail a bit before going limp once dropped, the Origin Soul Core would stop functioning and become destroyed if I left it behind in the Labyrinth. 

If that happened, all the Hitodama would come fleeing back to me... I shudder at the thought and replace the Soul Core atop my head. 

By now the Cryptic Chimera is naught but bones, and even those are being eroded away by the World. A glint of light reflecting off something within its ribcage catches my eye. 

Moving closer, I get a full view of the mystery item. Still caked in gore, it seems whatever it is is somehow resisting the erasing effect put upon the soft tissues of the Chimera. 

I get a sense of apprehension when looking at it, not quite as bad as the Malice, but there's still a sort of forbidden aura to it. Somehow, I just know this is the key to saving Blue. 

Picking it up and cleaning away the gore reveals a long, slender crystal spire that comfortably fits in my grasp. The colour of it is difficult to pinpoint, as it swirls in a rainbow of colours, never settling long enough for it to be readily discerned what each one is. I feel myself becoming nauseous if I stare at it for too long. 

*Soul Prism*
*The result of years of research. Why its maker saw a need for something like this will perhaps never be known for certain. This unique item is capable of removing a Soul from the Cycle and at the same time keeping it from becoming an Other Will. Installed into an empty Vessel, it will quickly form a Bond that is somehow stronger than a natural one, resulting in abnormal longevity when placed in a Humanoid Vessel. All things are Blessed by Death; even so, leaving the Prism inside the corpse will allow it to reanimate it in defiance of the Divine.*
*Contains the Soul of Cormac*

*The Skill: Great Death King can extract the current Soul housed in the Soul Prism, letting it return to the Cycle. Do you wish to proceed?*

I hesitate. World Knowledge seems rather insistent, the prompt appearing the moment I'm done taking in the information of the Soul Prism. However, this confirms that it is possible to trap a Soul like this. Although I doubt this item would be able to contain an entire Dungeon Heart as well...

*Soul Prism can be augmented once empty. Additionally, it is possible to acquire the Will of Cormac once extracted from the Soul Prism. Do you wish to proceed with extraction?*

"Let's just do it."

Shadow seems to share my hesitation, yet I'm unable to pinpoint exactly why we're feeling this way. This sense of unease keeps building as I stare at the source of it. I take a deep breath.

Yes- Extract the Soul.

At the moment of me confirming the procedure, several things happen at the same time. 

My legs give out under me as all strength drains from them.

The Soul Prism rips itself free from my grasp, hovering mid-air before me.

Behind me, I hear the startled cries of the other monsters cut off as they too fall to the ground.

I struggle to get back up, but there no success. My consciousness grows faint as a nebulous white cloud surrounds the Prism. Even as I'm on the verge of falling unconscious, this cloud floats up, coalescing at the tip of the Prism, seeming to gain solidity with each passing moment.

In the same moment the cloud condenses into a perfect, pearl-like sphere, I faint, the last thing I hear being:

*Extraction Success.*

*Dominion over Grand Will: Cormac gained.*

*Skill: Awareness (Lesser) has mutated into Soul Seer (True)*