It was time to use his trump card.
Jack dived. Flying straight at the monster. At the moment of impact, he used his spectral intangibility nature to phase into the creature's body. And stayed within it.
For a split second, Jack Mystery and the Death Emissary were one. The sensation was revolting. As if he was covered in a blanket of cold hatred, endless hunger, and the gloomy stench of the grave.
It was just for a moment. But it was enough. Being inside the creature gave Jack partial 'ownership' of its physical space for a heartbeat.
He activated his [Mysterious Mirror World].
Instantly, the water on the floor didn't just reflect the room. It became a gateway. The surface tension of the puddle rippled violently. A suction force, silent and absolute, erupted from the reflection.
The Death Emissary, with Jack inside it, was yanked down. It was as if the floor had turned into a bottomless ocean. The monster struggled. Its four arms clawed at the air, but there was nothing to grab. It was being pulled into the 'reflection' of the room.
The transition was instantaneous. One moment they were in the stone chamber. The next, they were in a world where everything was reversed. The same room, but with terrifying pressure all over.
As soon as they crossed the threshold, Jack ejected himself. He surged out of the Emissary's chest like a ghost leaving a corpse.
The Emissary roared. Lunging for Jack. But Jack easily evaded the raging charge. He didn't bother being entangled with a fight against the monster again. Instead, he moved down quickly toward the water puddle.
Jack dived through the shaky, reflective water surface. The [Mysterious Mirror World] was activated once more. Instantly, he vanished from the Mirror World.
He emerged back in the real world's underground chamber. Splashing out of the puddle and floating into the air. The surface of the water puddle on the floor became normal again. Dull, wet, and mundane... water.
The chamber was silent. The only sound was the occasional drip of water from the ceiling. And the crackle of the nearly extinguished, fallen brazier.
The ash of the three dead members of the Undeath Sect was scattered all over. Cole Kane, or the thing he had become, was gone.
Rune floated down and landed on Jack's shoulder. Pulsing a soft, relieved green.
"Yeah, that was really done now, Girl!" Jack muttered. Adjusting his mask as if it needed to be adjusted.
Jack looked around the room. The Undeath Sect had tried to play a high-stakes game. They had nurtured the Undead Legion and sent a cursed statue to the city. And now, trying to summon a Death Emissary in the museum's basement.
Unfortunately for them, he was there every time. Always thwarting their plans.
Jack's gaze fell upon the fallen demonic brazier not far from him. He had used it to bash the Death Emissary previously. But it seemed perfectly fine. Now that Cole Kane and the other sect members were gone, the brazier had no more 'owner'. An ownerless artifact, ripe for the taking.
Jack floated closer. Activating his [Eyes of Judgement]. His vision blurred for a second. Then it recalibrated. Overlaying the physical world with a stream of glowing, data-rich information.
[Name: Undeath Brazier]
[Grade: Epic]
[Durability: Extremely Tough (97%)]
[Special Ability: Mark of Undeath, Death Refinement]
[Description: A ritualistic brazier forged in the heart of a hidden Necropolis and quenched in the tears of a thousand dying sacrifices. It is said to amplify unholy rituals and serve as a conduit for souls seeking eternal servitude or oblivion. The Mark of Undeath binds a portion of the caster's life force to the brazier, making it a potent tool for necromancy. Death Refinement allows for the manipulation of residual soul energy, but with a significant cost.]
Jack let out a low whistle. "Epic grade. Not bad for a bunch of cultists... or whatever they were."
He didn't want to leave it here. If the Church Faction found this thing, they'd either destroy it or lock it in their vault. It would do exactly zero good for him.
Besides, Jack was a firm believer in the 'finders keepers' rule. Especially when the 'finding' involved hard work... battling the near-immortal Death Emissary.
He focused his mind. Tapping into the telekinetic power of his [Mysterious Anomaly]. A formless, colorless aura surrounded the heavy bronze brazier. With a sharp jerk of his will, the artifact groaned and lifted off the floor. Floating steadily in the air. It was heavy. Denser than it looked. But his power could still hold it firmly.
Jack turned toward the puddle of water he had created earlier. It was still there. A dark, reflective pool on the uneven floor. He focused on the surface, activating [Mysterious Mirror World]. This time, the destination was not the dangerous Mirror World. Instead, it would be the safe Mirror Space.
With a mental shove, he guided the floating brazier through the surface of the water. The artifact didn't make the water splash. It simply sank into the reflection. Disappearing from the physical room.
Jack followed right after. His spectral body slipped through the threshold without any sign of ripples.
...
The Mirror Space was quiet. It was Jack's personal sanctuary. A dimension where he was the absolute master. He stood in the bright version of a workshop chamber. The Undeath Brazier sat safely on the floor beside him.
It was time to get to work. And his specter form wasn't the one required for that. He immediately activated his [Incarnation Shift].
The transformation was strange and swift. His translucent, elegant form collapsed inward. Replaced by a surge of heat and solid mass.
Bones were knitted together. Muscles swelled. And the ethereal mask melted into a rugged, human face. In less than a heartbeat, Jack Mystery was gone. Replaced by Jack Night, the human mercenary.
He was a large man now. Broad-shouldered and tall, with hands calloused by hard mechanical work. His eyes held the sharp, pragmatic spark of a Steamrune Engineer.
He wore dark, heavy leather trousers and a jacket made of the same material. A [Spatial Belt] full of weapons and tools were tight around his waist. This was his human form. The one he used when he needed to build devices, socialize, or... dealing with treasures.
As Jack Night the human mercenary, his secondary class was a Treasure Hunter. A role that gave him a supernatural ability for dealing with ownerless artifacts and valuable loot.
He crouched down beside the brazier. His large hands were hovering over the demonic looking object.
He didn't feel the repulsion a normal man might feel. To him, this wasn't an 'evil' object. It was just a valuable machine with a very specific, albeit gross, fuel source.
As his fingers brushed the cold metal, a card flashed in front of him. Appearing out of nowhere. The Treasure Hunter's special power had kicked in. Extracting the 'software' embedded in the 'hardware'.
The tarot-like card that hovered on air in front of him was mostly grey in color. It had a classic painting of a grey skull with flaming green eyes, on top of a demonic brazier.
[Spell Card: Death Refinement]
[Type: Necromancy]
[Effect: Turns a dead target's body into ash and its remaining soul into an energy wisp. The energy wisp can only last for ten minutes, but it can be used to permanently recharge an artifact, upgrade an item, or evolve a creature. For the last function, evolving a creature, failure might result in terrifying disaster. The success rate of wisp usage scales with caster's Mysticism.]
[Requirement: Caster must possess a minimum Mysticism of 50.]
[Cooldown: 3 hours per use.]
Jack stared at the card for a long moment.
"Necromancy." He grumbled. "Of course it is. It's never something simple like 'Healing Spell' or 'Object Summoning'. What else should I expect from Undeath Sect?"
He read the description again. The ability to upgrade items or evolve creatures using soul essence was actually quite useful. In a world where every scrap of power mattered, this was a goldmine. But the cost... the cost was the problem.
Jack wasn't a saint. He had killed plenty of people since his rebirth. And he'd likely kill plenty more. He was a harbinger of vengeance. He punished the guilty. He killed those he believed deserved to die.
But there was a line. He knew soul was a real, tangible thing now. He knew it was the spark that allowed for reincarnation or passage into whatever afterlife existed. To 'refine' a soul into a battery charge... that was a permanent kind of death.
"I can't just use this on anyone." He muttered to Rune.
She had followed him into the Mirror Space. And she was now inspecting the brazier with curious glows. She was now in her mechanical fairy form. Her form changed whenever Jack's form changed,
Jack continues. "This spell is dark, even for me. If I start using it to grind up every bandit or thief I come across, I'm no better than the trash cultists. My conscience is already a bit of a wreck. I don't need to add 'Soul-Grinder' to the list of my accomplishment."
He looked at the card and reminded himself again. He would only used the spell to the unforgivable.
The world was not lacking of these kinds of people. Men who sacrificed their own companions for a taste of power. Monsters who preyed on children. Or tyrants who burned villagers for sport.
Those creatures had forfeited their right to a peaceful transition. If their souls could be turned into something useful. Something that helped him protect the innocent people left in this godforsaken era... then, that would be a form of justice, too. For him, at least.
"Scumbags only." Jack muttered. "If you're evil enough to make me want to turn you inside out, you're good enough to be my fuel."
He turned his attention back to the [Undeath Brazier]. As a Steamrune Engineer, he saw the potential for a massive overhaul.
The artifact's current form was hideous. Skulls, screaming faces, obsidian spikes... It looked like the 'edgy teenager' phase of magical engineering. Its current functions were pretty much pointless for him. It was also... inefficient.
Jack could see that it was basically a runic object. The runes were hidden behind these creepy crafts. But, that hindered the efficiency of the runes.
"I can modify this." He contemplated. "I can remodel the decorations. I can strip out the necrotic focus by modifying the runes, or replace it with completely different rune circuits. The materials for the brazier is extraordinary. It's a waste to let it be covered by dust."
He began to pace around the artifact. His mind was racing through possible blueprints and rune sequences. He was considering the required additional materials for modification.
The brazier was a solid foundation. But it needed to be 'sanitized'. Not in the holy-sanctification sense. But in the functional sense. He wanted a utilizable power. Not the baggage of the Undeath Sect.
"Definitely not tonight." He finally sighed. "I need to plan this out. Mishandling this might cause great disaster."
He stood up. Stretching his big frame. His joints popped. A satisfyingly human sensation. One he could hardly do in the other incarnations.
Jack looked at the brazier one last time. It should be safe here in the Mirror Space.
"Come on, Rune. Let's get out of this hole."
He triggered the [Incarnation Shift] again. The weight of the physical body vanished. Replaced by the cool, weightless freedom of the specter. Jack Mystery returned.
Beside him, Rune had also transformed. Discarding her mechanical fairy form. Shifting back into her will-o'the-wisp form.
It was time to go home.