It likely began as a simple idea.
If a mortgaged soul inevitably falls into the hands of the creditor upon death, could binding the soul to the body perhaps grant a period of deferment?
Making the body itself live forever was probably impossible. Even with the help of divine power, considered the essence of life force, the limits of life were clear.
Hadn’t even the successive Holy Emperors, called the proxies of the Main God, and even the first Holy Emperor, referred to as a demigod, lasted only 300 years at most?
So, those who knew the mysteries of the world thought.
What if, then? What if, by using methods from another world that transcend the laws of this one, they could deceive the body, deceive the soul, and ultimately deceive even ‘death’? If, with a bit of trickery added to the forbidden arts, they could momentarily evade the eyes of those cruel creditors?
Could they not extend this wretched life, even just a little?
‘It was a natural thought, if you will, but also an extremely dangerous one.’
The consequences of a soul failing to leave a dead body in time were more horrific than one could imagine.
Perhaps if those who tested such forbidden arts had the ability to see souls, they would have witnessed their failures vividly on the spot.
The essence of humanity rotting away along with the body, the pitiful forms of those souls.
‘Father once said something similar, didn’t he? That the soul is constantly…