Frieren led Albedo back to Strax’s main mansion without explaining anything else along the way.
The two crossed the entrance hall, passed through the library, and continued into a corridor used mostly by the servants. Albedo knew that part of the mansion, but she had never noticed anything suggesting the existence of an underground passage. Frieren stopped in front of a wall covered by an old tapestry, pulled the fabric aside, and pressed three different points between the stones.
Runes appeared on the wall.
Albedo watched the formation recognize Frieren’s mana, confirm a second signature hidden inside the crystal she carried, and finally analyze her own demonic presence.
"How long has this existed?" she asked.
"Since shortly after the mansion was rebuilt."
"And no one noticed?"
"Monica knows."
"Naturally."
The wall slid aside, revealing a narrow staircase descending into darkness. Small crystals lit along the sides as soon as Frieren entered, illuminating stone steps reinforced with metal and several sequences of protective runes.
Albedo followed the elf.
The staircase descended much farther than she expected. They passed beneath the foundations, then through the maintenance galleries, and continued until they reached a region where the sounds of the city could no longer reach them. The deeper they went, the denser the concentration of mana became.
"Are we beneath the mansion?" Albedo asked.
"We are now beneath three blocks of the estate."
"Does Strax know about this?"
"He asked for it to be built."
Albedo looked at Frieren’s back. That information made everything more concerning. Strax did not usually request hidden laboratories beneath his own home merely out of scientific curiosity. When he ordered something on that scale to be constructed, he normally expected to need it.
The staircase ended before a large circular door.
Frieren placed her hand against the center, and several mechanisms began moving inside the structure. Metal locks retracted, runes were deactivated in sequence, and a layer of ice disappeared from the edges.
The door opened.
Albedo stopped on the first step.
The laboratory occupied an enormous chamber, tall enough to contain an entire building. Metal walkways crossed the space at different levels, connected by stairs, moving platforms, and suspended corridors. Research tables were covered with crystals, artificial organs, metal plates, and pages filled with formulas.
But none of that held her attention for long.
Dozens of tanks occupied the entire length of the room.
And there were bodies inside them.
Women floated motionlessly in liquids of different colors, connected to tubes feeding their lungs, hearts, and specific regions of their nervous systems. Some had pale skin and small horns; others possessed tails, incomplete wings, or black plates emerging over their arms and legs.
No two looked exactly alike.
Albedo slowly approached the first row. The demonic presence she had felt inside the box was far stronger there, although it remained incomplete. Each tank contained a core pulsing inside the preserved body’s chest, but there was no soul, consciousness, or will behind those closed eyes.
"You are creating an army?" she asked.
Frieren nodded.
"Yes."
The direct answer made Albedo look at her.
"You are not even going to pretend these are only research bodies?"
"I see no reason to."
Frieren walked to a central table and placed the metal box beside several records.
"Strax asked me to create warriors capable of following orders, killing, and eliminating any type of being."
"Any type?"
"Humans, demons, dragons, gods, spirits, creatures without physical bodies, and organisms capable of adaptation. He does not want soldiers limited by race or affinity."
Albedo looked at the tanks again.
"This is quite advanced."
"More advanced than it should be at this stage."
Frieren opened one of the books and showed diagrams of circulatory systems, mana cores, and overlapping spiritual channels.
"I used the same system developed to produce the draconic hearts used in the bodies of Ouroboros, Tiamat, and Kali. The basic structure was already complete. I only needed to reduce the draconic concentration and adapt the core to accept demonic energy."
Albedo remembered the reconstruction processes. Those hearts had not been simple artificial organs. They were structures capable of circulating different kinds of energy, sustaining abnormal bodies, and gradually adapting to the essence of whoever received them.
"Their hearts had souls guiding their growth," she observed.
"Exactly."
Frieren looked toward the motionless bodies.
"These do not."
"Then they are corpses."
"Empty bodies."
"That is practically the same thing."
"Corpses were once alive."
Albedo gave the elf an impatient look.
"You know what I mean."
Frieren did not argue.
Albedo approached one of the wider tanks. Its surface was covered by a thin layer of condensation, preventing her from clearly seeing the interior. She passed her palm over the glass and wiped away part of the moisture.
The body on the other side immediately caught her attention.
The woman had long dark hair floating around her face, small horns curved backward, and a well-defined physique. Her body was not excessively muscular, but every part looked prepared for combat. Firm shoulders, strong legs, a narrow waist, and visible muscles beneath the skin.
Albedo watched a little longer.
Frieren noticed.
"I created all the bodies based on Scarlet’s intentions. She is the oldest among you and also the one who has accumulated the most experience in prolonged battles. I asked her to imagine the ideal structure for a warrior capable of surviving different enemies."
Albedo wiped another section of the glass.
"Defined breasts, a narrow waist with strong abs, a firm ass," she listed. "This looks more like an army of prostitutes."
Frieren sighed.
"I wish you were less yourself and more accurate about things."
"I was quite accurate."
"Scarlet chose proportions that would not interfere with bodily balance."
"She chose the size of their breasts?"
"She did."
"Then I am right."
Frieren closed the book with slightly more force than necessary.
Albedo moved to the next tank. The woman inside had darker skin, white hair, and small wings folded against her back. The body was different, but preserved the same combination of beauty and physical capability.
She looked at the other containers.
All of them contained women.
"It is curious that you made only women."
Frieren showed no surprise at the observation.
"Strax already does not have male friends."
Albedo remained silent.
Frieren continued:
"Adding dozens of men to the mansion, the army, or his personal circle would create a strange dynamic. Especially if they were artificial beings conditioned to follow him."
"You are saying Strax would not know how to live with them."
"I am saying he would probably send them to some distant post and forget they exist."
Albedo considered the possibility.
"Other than the old blacksmith, Strax barely speaks to anyone who is not one of us."
"Exactly."
"He talks to some commanders."
"About work."
"And adventurers."
"When they need something."
Albedo crossed her arms.
"So your scientific decision was to create only women because Strax is socially incapable of maintaining male friendships."
"There is also greater compatibility among the matrices I already possess. Scarlet, Tiamat, Ouroboros, Kali, and you provided enough data to stabilize female bodies. Creating a male matrix would require more time."
"But the main reason was Strax."
"Yes."
Albedo released a short laugh and walked along the passage between the tanks. The more she observed, the more differences she found. Some warriors had been designed for speed, with light bodies and energy channels concentrated in their legs. Others were larger, prepared to withstand impacts or sustain heavy armor.
There were specialists in magic, physical combat, infiltration, and large-scale destruction.
"How many?" she asked.
"Thirty-six completed bodies. Twelve are still in development."
"And all of them can awaken?"
"Physically, yes."
"And mentally?"
Frieren remained silent for a moment.
"That is the problem."
Albedo looked back at her.
"You do not know how to create souls."
"I know how to attract fragments, reconstruct damaged identities, and transfer a soul between vessels. Creating one from nothing is different."
"Then you intend to place existing souls inside them?"
"That is one option."
"Whose souls?"
"Dead people who agree to return. Spirits incapable of manifesting a body. Conscious fragments found on battlefields."
Albedo did not like the last alternative.
"And if they do not agree?"
"They will not be used."
"Did Strax demand that?"
"No. That is my limitation."
Frieren touched the surface of one of the tanks.
"A soldier without will can follow orders, but cannot interpret a situation. If ordered to kill an enemy while a child stands between them, it will go through both. If commanded to protect Asgard, it may consider every visitor a threat."
"So you need people, not weapons."
"I need something between the two."
Albedo returned her attention to the sleeping woman before her. There was beauty, strength, and an almost perfect structure, but nothing inhabited that body. It was like staring at a statue prepared to breathe.
"You want my essence to complete the cores."
"A small amount."
"How much?"
"Less than you naturally lose in one day."
"And what will it do?"
"It will give the bodies a genuine demonic foundation. Instincts, regenerative ability, and initial adaptation. Not personality."
Albedo narrowed her eyes.
"Will they look like me?"
"No."
"Will they act like me?"
"I hope not."
Albedo slowly turned her head.
Frieren’s expression did not change.
"Was that another joke?"
"Perhaps."
"You are getting worse."
"I am practicing."
The demoness resumed walking through the laboratory. That explained why Frieren had searched for her so insistently. It also explained the excessive care taken with the box and why the laboratory remained hidden.
An artificial army beneath Strax’s main mansion was not the kind of information that should circulate freely.
"Speaking of that..." Frieren said. "Where is Strax?"
Albedo shrugged.
"No idea."
"You live in the same mansion."
"That has never helped anyone discover where he is."
Frieren considered the answer and nodded. Strax possessed the irritating habit of disappearing whenever no one watched him directly. Sometimes he was found training on some mountain. On other occasions, he appeared in another realm without any guard recording his departure.
Albedo looked at the tanks once more.
"When do you intend to tell him the bodies are ready?"
"When we solve the problem of the souls."
"Then it will still take time."
"Probably."
Neither of them imagined that, at that moment, Strax was not particularly far from the mansion.
He was hanging upside down from a tree.
One of the highest branches extended over the hillside behind the estate, offering a broad view of Asgard. Strax kept his legs hooked around the branch and his arms crossed over his chest, allowing his hair to fall toward the ground while he observed the city upside down.
The towers appeared to grow downward. The railway tracks cut through the districts like lines suspended in the sky, and small locomotives crossed the landscape carrying workers, adventurers, and goods.
He had remained in that position for almost half an hour.
He was not training.
He was not meditating either.
He was only thinking.
The desert was stable. Vex remained safe. Zi Bai had returned, the North was recovering, and Asgard continued functioning without requiring his presence in every decision. Monica would probably find some administrative crisis before the end of the day, but that was not enough reason to keep delaying what he needed to do.
Strax released a sigh.
"It is time."
He released his legs from the branch and fell.
His body turned in the air, corrected its position, and landed on the hillside without making any sound. Strax slowly stood and looked toward the horizon, in the direction of a region that could not be reached by roads, trains, or any ordinary route.
"Tartarus..."
The single word produced a subtle change in the space around him. The air grew colder, the shadows of the trees lengthened, and something very distant seemed to recognize that it had been called.
Strax placed one hand in his pocket.
"It is time to visit Hades."
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