Lord of the Magical Beasts

Chapter 118: Soul Control

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Under the combined aerial and land assault of the Magical Beast army, the Ogres soon fell one by one. A tally after the battle showed that even without those who died on the spot or were missing a limb and had lost their value as workers, there were still about four hundred able-bodied Ogres left.

The four hundred strong, muscular Ogres could form a highly effective team of loggers or initiate a small scale development of a crystal mine. They could also be formed into a vanguard and used to charge into enemy lines…

After the situation was under control, Yang Ling ordered the group to tie up the Ogre captives and apply bandages to stop their bleeding. He then walked quickly in front of the Twin-headed Ogre who had been electrocuted to a crisp.

Despite being heavily injured and barely able to breathe, the Twin-headed Ogre still stared at Yang Ling in anger, clenching his teeth, as if he was trying his best to stand up. But the creature was rendered immobile by the Withered Tree Warriors who held all four of its limbs.

Good grief, this thing is powerful!

Looking at the Twin-headed Ogre glaring at him, Yang Ling had to admire his perseverance. An average Magical Beast would have died after receiving the full power of the Unicorn’s attacks. To think that this creature was still breathing despite being electrocuted to a crisp.

Why not just tame him with my blood?

After a moment’s surprise, an evil thought popped into Yang Ling’s head as he looked at the nearby Ogres.

Blood Essence that harbored Wizard Powers could tame Magical Beasts, but he had never tried it on intelligent, humanoid creatures. If he could successfully tame the Twin-headed Ogre, it would open the door to a whole new realm of possibilities.

After a moment’s deliberation, he clenched his teeth and decided to take the gamble.

Ogres were naturally violent. It would take a while for them to become honest laborers even if he found a way to tame them. But if he was able to subdue this powerful Twin-headed Ogre with his blood and order the Ogre captives through him, it would definitely be more effective and convenient.

Furthermore, the Twin-headed Ogre was on the precipice of death, the weakest it would ever be. Taming the creature with his blood now would greatly decrease the amount of Wizard Power and Blood Essence he had to use. If it did not work, Yang Ling believed that he could keep himself from being devoured instead if he stopped in time.

Sitting cross-legged, Yang Ling took a deep breath. He then slowly pressed his blood-covered index finger onto the Twin-headed Ogre’s forehead. Its expression was fearful.

Roar!

The Twin-headed Ogre trembled the moment it came into contact with Yang Ling’s Blood Essence, letting out a pained roar. Then, its bloodthirsty red eyes gradually became dull, turning a strange dark green. Its muscles started trembling.

In its great pain, the Twin-headed Ogre started struggling intensely, its strength increasing. It screamed as it thrashed about, as if it was turning insane. Its voice was deep and raspy, as if the noise was coming from its bones and soul instead of its throat.

Could it be that Yang Ling was unable to tame an intelligent being?

Yang Ling creased his brows as he looked at the struggling Twin-headed Ogre. He recalled the time when he had forcefully tried to increase the level of the Evil Eye Tyrant, and he suddenly had an idea. He clenched his teeth as he started injecting Wizard Power and life force into the Ogre at the same time, gradually increasing its intensity.

Unlike an average person, the Twin-headed Ogre not only had two brains, it also had two almost identical hearts. After exploring for a moment, Yang Ling found that the creature also had two identical pituitary glands in its two brains.

The Wizard Power would activate the Essence Crystal, while the life force would activate the pituitary gland!

Despite searching for some time, Yang Ling was unable to find any Essence Crystals in the body of the Twin-headed Ogre. He considered for a moment, then guided the blood red Wizard Power into two separate paths, attacking both of its hearts. At the same time, the green life force also split into two streams, agitating the Twin-headed Ogre’s pituitary glands.

Indeed, after Yang Ling had grasped the technique, the Twin-headed Ogre immediately stopped struggling. It gradually calmed down as Yang Ling adjusted the ratio of Wizard Power and life force. Slowly, it even started actively absorbing the energy from Yang Ling’s body.

This was basically what had happened in Valenia Valley!

As the breathing of the Twin-headed Ogre become more and more stable, Yang Ling heaved a sigh of relief. But just as he was about to begin injecting a higher volume of energy, the Twin-headed Ogre began to murmur quietly. Following which, a bolt of red light flashed past Yang Ling. A strange blood red ring of light appeared suddenly around them and the breathing of the Ogres became faster.

Bloodthirsty frenzy?

Bathed by the red light, Yang Ling felt his muscles expanding uncontrollably, his body filling up with explosive power. At the same time, his thoughts became dull, his consciousness hazy.

Roar!

Letting out a roar, the Twin-headed Ogre’s muscles swelled. Its two heads shook uncontrollably, its hearts beating intensely. Its pituitary glands released waves of messy ripples as it devoured the Wizard Power and life force within Yang Ling’s body. Its four limbs struggled intensely.

Not good!

Seeing the dire turn that events had taken, Yang Ling was shocked that the situation had gone out of his control so quickly. He instinctively tried to pull back his index finger. Unexpectedly, he was unable to retract his finger no matter what he did. It was stuck to the head of the Twin-headed Ogre. His consciousness became increasingly hazy as his Wizard Power and life force welled out of his body.

The Twin-headed Ogre howled loudly in pain and began struggling, and Yang Ling’s face became more and more pale. Argus started to panic, pacing around like an ant in a hot pan. He could not find a solution even after discussing it with the Gnome Elder.

“A curse, it is the curse of the Demon God of Hell!”

“That’s right, that is the curse of the Demon God of Hell, a curse that makes one’s life worse than death. Run quick!”

…

Hearing the Twin-headed Ogre’s pathetic cry delivered straight from its soul and seeing Yang Ling turn pale in an instant, the naturally cowardly Gnomes started shivering incessantly. They fled after letting out a few cries, running away faster than rabbits. Even the Gnome Elder could not stop them.

…

“Leader, I’ll return immediately to the tribe and to get our priest!”

“No, our tribe is too far away. Take the Unicorn and bring Sir Goode over here!”

Seeing the dire situation, the elf archers were overcome with worry. They were helpless when faced with such a strange situation, unless they brought the elder or their priests over.

“Alright, I’ll rush back to Wissen Town immediately. Form a defensive formation around him, and do not leave this place on your own accord!” After a moment’s hesitation, Argus gave a decisive order before leaping onto the Unicorn and leaving clouds of dust behind him.

Ordinarily, the proud Unicorn would never allow anyone else to ride it. But as a high level Magical Beast with a certain level of intelligence, it understood that Yang Ling was in critical condition, and thus rendered its full cooperation to Argus’s plan.

The people became more nervous when Argus left. The elf archers clutched their bows uneasily, and the barbarians rubbed their tire-sized axes repeatedly. The naturally cowardly Gnomes were even more fearful. They might have scattered if not for the orders of their elder.

A cold wind blew. The snowflakes became bigger and the temperature fell!

Some time later, just as Yang Ling felt his eyelids become heavy, the Wizard Power and life force in his body almost depleted, the pagoda-shaped mark between his brows began to throb intensely. It continuously released a massive rush of chaotic power. The energy circulated along a mysterious path in his body. One round after the next, repeating in a cycle.

Under the stimulus that was the massive amounts of energy, the Soul Ring on Yang Ling’s finger also released a bolt of ice cold energy, circling in his body together with the chaotic energy. Wherever it passed, the massively expanded muscles contracted rapidly, dispelling the influence of the bloodthirsty frenzy. Yang Ling’s consciousness also slowly became clearer.

After taking in a deep breath, Yang Ling instinctively injected the chaotic energy in his body into the Ogre. Soon, the Twin-headed Ogre, its throat bleeding from its own roaring, started to calm down. The blood red ring of light it released became dull, and its overly-expanded muscles also slowly started to contract.

With the injection of a large amount of chaotic energy, the mud on the Twin-headed Ogre’s body began to crumble and fall away. It slowly started to grow a layer of closely knitted scales. Looking closely, there were faint signs of a pattern, like a complicated map or the image of a ferocious Magical Beast. It was incredibly strange.

After letting out another roar, the Twin-headed Ogre took advantage of the Withered Tree Warriors’ distraction and forced itself out of their restraints. It was powerful, its strength having increased several times.

“Braska pays his respects to his master!”

Just as Yang Ling raised his guard, expecting the taming process to have failed, the Twin-headed Ogre got on its knees and grovelled before him.

His efforts had paid off!

Looking at the Twin-headed Ogre bowing before him, Yang Ling was incredibly excited. Sitting cross-legged and absorbing the chaotic energy released by the Wizard’s Pagoda, his body became filled with a raging Wizard Power. He could clearly capture the thoughts of the Twin-headed Ogre.

Unlike the Tarantula King and Evil Eye Tyrant, Ogres were intelligent, humanoid creatures, even though they were a little dull. When Yang Ling communicated with the Evil Eye Tyrant and Tarantula King, they could only release strange ripples. The Twin-headed Ogre, on the other hand, could quickly understand orders and even voice its own thoughts and opinions.

This was the power of a Wizard’s blood!

Seeing the once raging Twin-headed Ogre listening to his every order, Yang Ling understood that he had taken another successful gamble. Observing the Ogre’s soul and memories closely, Yang Ling slowly understood that the Ogres possessed many secrets.

The Ogres had a secret ability. Before a tribe leader died, they could pass on their memories and the method of developing the Bloodthirsty Battle Energy to the next tribe leader. When the Bloodthirsty Battle Energy was cultivated to a certain degree, the new tribe leader would evolve and grow two heads.

After gaining two heads and two hearts, the evolved Ogre would receive a great boost in power. Their speed and power would increase, and they would also gain the ability to induce a Bloodthirsty Frenzy. After cultivating the ability to a great degree, they could even regenerate endlessly if they did not receive a fatal blow on both of their hearts or heads at the same time, just like the legends suggested. They were unparalleled in close combat.

After evolving and growing a second head, the Twin-headed Ogre would also gain a fatal weakness despite its powerful abilities.

A painful lump of meat would grow between the two heads, becoming larger as the Ogre became more powerful. Their thought processes would also become messier. When the affliction became serious, the two heads would hurt like they had been stabbed by a knife. Every tribe leader who had successfully evolved eventually killed themselves, unable to bear with the pain.

After being tamed by Yang Ling, the Twin-headed Ogre Braska discovered that the lump of meat between its heads had vanished. The troubling thoughts that had bothered it for many years had also vanished. In its elation, it fully accepted Yang Ling as its master, despite knowing that its soul would forever be under Yang Ling’s control.

“Master, thank you for dealing with the demon in my head!”

After confirming that the lump of meat had vanished from between its heads, Braska was elated. It grovelled respectfully before Yang Ling.

Demon in its head?

After a moment’s surprise, Yang Ling understood that the demon that Braska was talking about was the large tumor between its heads. Yang Ling had considered that the tumor might have been a mutated strain of cancer.

After searching through the Ogre’s memories, Yang Ling made some deductions.

After the Ogre evolved, its troubled thoughts might have been caused by the two heads fighting for control over the body, and this would lead to brain cancer as time went by, creating frequent, regular headaches. Serious cases might even lead to the development of split personalities or mental illnesses.

To think that using his blood could have such unexpected effects!

Feeling the clear thoughts of the Twin-headed Ogre Braska, then comparing those to its messy memories of the past, even Yang Ling was shocked beyond words. According to the explanation of the stele, a wizard would gradually learn to wield the ability to control souls, and through that, the wizard would eventually come into contact with the true source of power in this world.

It looked like he still had a long way to go. He was only beginning to cultivate the Wizard Techniques, despite having advanced to the level of Spirit Wizard.

While Yang Ling was lost in thought, the Twin-headed Ogre Braska was filled with anticipation for the future.

If it could continue developing the Bloodthirsty Battle Energy with Yang Ling’s help, it would not be long until the creature’s tribe became powerful. They would no longer have to worry about their depleting rations whenever winter came.