Main Force Consolidation (1)
On the outskirts of Hyderabad, at a temporary branding facility.
Massive tents, makeshift buildings, and beneath them, hidden underground spaces.
Indian youths stood in line… on their arms, necks, and chests were faint traces of forced awakening through mana restriction already etched into their bodies.
“Next.”
A branding technician clad in an imperial robe extended his hand, and one young man stepped forward on trembling legs.
Above him, in midair, the symbol of the Empire appeared.
A pure white light.
“If I receive this… I’ll… really become strong, right…?”
The young man’s eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and anticipation.
At that moment…
BOOM
The tent ceiling was torn apart entirely as something crashed down.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!!
The entire underground structure shook violently.
Everyone inside the tent lost their balance and staggered.
“W-what is this–”
Before the technician could even finish shouting, a black shadow seeped in beside him.
Srrrk
“Uh?”
His vision flipped.
At some point, the floor became above him, the ceiling below.
It took him a few seconds to realize he was hanging upside down.
And beneath him, a sheet of plastic had been laid out.
“…What is this setup?”
“An interrogation set.”
When the technician turned his head, he saw Seon Yul standing behind him.
“Once you use it, it’s convenient enough that you keep using it.”
The technician instinctively tried to gather mana…
Snap.
The silver wire wrapped around his wrist tightened sharply.
“Don’t move. It’ll hurt if I stab you.”
Seon Yul casually drew out the Spear of Death.
Shuuuuk.
“W-what the hell is that–”
“Before that, I’ll ask one thing.”
Seon Yul lightly tapped the technician’s forehead with the tip of the spear.
“The branding. For irregular-class high-tier mana users, how long does it take before it’s fully engraved?”
The technician’s lips trembled.
“…Two weeks, or three. Until then, the authority hasn’t fully taken root… so… some external interference is possible…”
“Okay.”
Seon Yul nodded.
“Then, in other words, that means ‘a freshly applied brand still has room to be tampered with,’ right?”
The technician swallowed.
“W-what are you planning to do with that? His Majesty the Emperor’s authority–”
“This isn’t a place the Emperor is personally watching, so it’s fine.”
Seon Yul pushed the spear a little closer.
“So just relax and spill everything. The structure of the brand, the engraving sequence, depth, and how much of it can be reversed.”
What followed was a familiar procedure.
After making him experience the fear of death a few times with the cursed spear, the technician’s mouth opened more easily than expected.
“…The brand consists of a three-layer structure. The first is the surface engraving… amplification of power. The second is the deep engraving, removal of imperfections. The third is the abyss engraving… a link of loyalty and connection.”
“And which one gets embedded first?”
“The surface. Usually, right after the pure white branding ritual ends, only the surface stabilizes. The deep and abyss layers are completed gradually over time…”
“Nice.”
Seon Yul withdrew the spear and gave a faint smile.
“Then we just leave the surface and cut off the rest.”
“That’s absurd, how could that possibly–”
“I’ll test that myself.”
Seon Yul looked at the technician for a moment, then lowered his gaze to the plastic sheet.
“…What should we do with this one?”
Cheon Li Yu asked from behind.
Seon Yul answered briefly.
“This type, we hand over to the judicial side.”
The spear cut through the air once more.
Slash.
The magic technician’s scream was cut short.
On the outskirts of Delhi, in a secret detention facility.
“Five test subjects… should be enough.”
Seon Yul walked through each cell inside the facility.
The five gathered here were all high-tier mana users from pro-Empire factions, and all had received a verified imperial brand within the last three days.
Their minds were clear, but there was a cold white presence lingering somewhere in their eyes.
“I don’t know whether you’re unlucky or lucky.”
As Seon Yul said that, one of them clenched his teeth and shouted:
“What do you take us for?! We are bodies blessed by the Empire! How dare you—”
“Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m going to peel apart now.”
Seon Yul stepped into the cell and placed his hand on the first man’s forehead.
[Absolute Space – Structural Isolation Field Created.]
Ziiiiing
A thin transparent barrier formed around the man.
Inside it, the space stabilized like a small laboratory separated from reality.
“This is…?”
Cheon Li Yu raised her eyebrows.
“A new function. I applied structural modification to isolate a specific area.”
Seon Yul closed his eyes.
“From now on, this space lets me look only at the brand inside your body.”
Black mana seeped thinly from his fingertips.
At the same time, the cursed spear appeared in his other hand.
“Surface, deep, abyss…”
In Seon Yul’s vision, the man’s body appeared layered with magical circles.
The first layer: a pure white pattern responsible for amplifying power.
The second layer: the deep engraving that forcibly filled the instability of artificial awakening.
And the third layer: a thin yet disturbingly sticky abyss engraving responsible for ‘loyalty’ and ‘subjugation.’
‘…As expected, a three-layer structure.’
Seon Yul nodded as he examined the markings.
‘The surface is basically just a buff.
The deep layer is a patch that forcefully stabilizes artificial awakening.
The abyss is the real problem. Once that settles completely, they become the Emperor’s puppet.’
Seon Yul lightly placed the spear at the center of the man’s chest.
“Alright, now that I roughly understand the structure… let’s test how much I can cut out.”
“W-what are you trying to do…?!”
The man struggled desperately, but inside the isolation field, his body was already almost completely immobilized.
“This is good news for you.”
Seon Yul said calmly.
“If it succeeds, you’ll be downgraded from an imperial slave to just a ‘slightly ill-tempered mana user.’
If it fails…”
The tip of the spear slowly descended.
“You just die here.”
“….”
‘First, the abyss.’
Seon Yul drew out his mana like threads from the spear and carefully pushed it into the abyss engraving.
Instantly, an invisible repulsive force surged.
Cold, white, stubborn power.
The Emperor’s authority.
“…Persistent.”
Seon Yul frowned slightly.
‘If I clash head-on, this guy will probably explode and die here.’
So he changed his approach.
‘Not cutting off… but carving out.’
Black mana extended from the spear tip and seeped along the boundary between the abyss and deep engravings.
Like a surgeon precisely cutting between nerves and blood vessels.
Seon Yul took a deep breath.
‘Good. The abyss… is shallowly attached. But it embeds quickly.’
He began wrapping the abyss engraving with cursed mana, isolating it.
“Ghhhhh…!”
The man’s eyes rolled back.
The white whispers embedded in his mind were suddenly cut off as they were blocked by a black curtain.
—To His Majesty the Emperor…
—The Empire…
—Obey…
Silence.
“…Huh?”
The man stared blankly into space.
“My head… It’s quiet?”
“Looks like it worked.”
Seon Yul smirked.
“The abyss is gone. Now the deep layer remains.”
The deep engraving forcibly stabilized artificial awakening.
“If I remove it entirely… You might revert to your pre-awakening state. Or your mana circuits might collapse completely.”
Seon Yul thought for a moment.
“Hmm… let’s remove half for now.”
Cursed mana flowed again.
He shaved off half of the deep engraving and replaced it with the stable mana structure of Absolute Space.
“Ghh!”
The man’s body convulsed.
But… after some time, his breathing stabilized.
‘Temporary test successful.’
Seon Yul mentally organized the results.
[Target: Indian pro-Empire high-tier mana user / Brand age: 3 days]
[Result: Abyss engraving completely removed, deep engraving 50% removed, surface engraving maintained]
[Effect: Disconnection from imperial communication/control. Partial power amplification retained. 30% instability remains.]
‘…Not bad.’
Seon Yul nodded.
“You won’t hear the Emperor’s voice anymore. You’ll just have some annoying aftereffects left. That’s acceptable, right?”
The man stared blankly, then slowly looked down at himself.
“The… prayers of the Empire in my head… they’re all gone.”
His voice trembled, but it was clearly lighter.
“…I… I suddenly remember what I was doing.”
He covered his face and suppressed a sob.
“What I… did to my own people, my neighbors, people of my country…”
Seon Yul sighed.
“You can deal with guilt later.”
He stood up and dismissed the spear.
“What matters is what you do next.”
Seon Yul released Absolute Space and returned outside, where Mahavar and Cheon Li Yu were waiting.
“How is it?”
Cheon Li Yu asked.
“In theory, most ‘freshly applied brands’ can be severed. Especially for irregular-class or high-tier mana users.”
“Then… does that mean some of the pro-Empire upper ranks in India could return to our side?”
Mahavar asked in disbelief.
Seon Yul nodded.
“There are conditions.
The brand must not be too old.
And at least initially, they must have chosen the Empire of their own will.”
“Why is that…?”
“Those who’ve lived entirely under mana restriction plus brainwashing from the start have most of their personality embedded in the brand structure already. Those… honestly don’t have much left to restore.”
Mahavar nodded bitterly.
“Then… someone like Ashan?”
“That would be the perfect type to test this on.”
Seon Yul’s eyes gleamed coldly.
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