Deploying Soul Seed!]
[Passing Event Horizon!]
[Receiving Telemetry Data! Visuals: Negative. Audio: Negative. Survivability: Positive. Status: Okay!]
"It seems like I won't be getting out of this." Harry said dryly as the information he received over his AI chip appeared on the screen he was projecting over the Veil Room.
While he couldn't see what was on the other side of the Veil of Death they had reacreated, he could survive there.
Back on Skagos, he had spent a lot of time studying the Veil of Death; it was a fascinating artifact.
Even if he didn't have a powerful analytical tool like the AI chip back then. He had studied every nook and cranny, every rune, and every inscription and recorded them down in his old system, whose data had been absorbed by the chip.
Additionally, he had a lifetime of research belonging to Sirius and his descendants, the Stark line, who had studied the Veil themselves before they lost the ability to use magic and recorded all their insights in their family tomes.
With all that and his resarch and space travel, his Dimensional Store, and more, he had recreated a working Veil of Death.
"No, it doesn't look like it." Bessita muttered a bit put down, "Are you sure I can go with you? Maybe you could transfigure me and put me into your inventory."
"Absolutely not. My inventory is not impregnable; I learned that the hard way. I won't risk anyone ever again in such a way." He said it firmly.
His words put a blush on Bessita's cheeks as she hugged him firmly, her soft breasts pressing at his form, pulling him into a deep kiss.
With a heavy breath, they stopped, "I will miss you." She muttered quietly.
"I will too. All of you. The others have made their stance clear on this matter. But I won't take you with me, no matter what any of you say! I have that feeling that I have to do this alone." He said as his gaze once again was pulled to the Veil, which was calling for him.
"Yes, you have made matters very clear." Bessita said with disappointment, "I just fear we will lose you forever. Is it really worth it to leave us behind? We know each other for years by now. The people on the other side only knew you for a few months! Their lives went on without you!"
"Don't be scared. We have put every realizable measure into place that will allow me to find this place again. I even left a part of my own soul behind, powered by a philosopher stone, to find the coordinates of this world again. We will meet again." Harry said firmly, he had grown very close to them, "Sure, there are things that can go wrong, but we are prepared to make Dragon's Gate last. And in the future you will meet the rest of our family and will grow to love them like you do with Neela, Bicky, Celeste, Nyssa, me, and all the others."
It was the truth. Harry went through a lot of effort to secure the Twilight Zone and the Empire. The whole region was secluded from the rest of the Magus World, and every possible entrance was hidden and guarded. The Teleportation Formation was deactivated and controlled from this side.
The Empire was organized and controlled through the power of his contracts, which he left enough behind in the form of whole books where each page could be filled with signatures, which should last them for centuries.
And the very governmental system was based on constant improvement and advancement, which will strengthen the people important to him. With the production of Philosopher Stones, they secured a valuable resource that gives them an edge over everyone else while also producing experienced and hardened elites for the Empire.
Even without Harry here, his empire in the Twilight Zone would last and, in a few centuries, could even carve their own place out in the rest of the world.
Lastly, it wasn't like he was truly away; he had left behind a Philosopher Stone-based Horcrux that was fully functional, able to at least feel his status and synchronize with him if he created a connection, and had a fully functional AI chip in it.
The AI Chip would continue working and collect all the research of the Empire through the different versions of the Ring, which it could continue to produce. This time he was sure that everything would work out.
"It will be fine. I will leave tomorrow. Today all of us will enjoy our time together." He said as he patted her head, playing with her silky silvery white hair.
"Sigh, I will miss you, Harry."
"I will too. Come on, I heard Neela was planning a surprise for me." He said it with a bright smile.
And what a surprise it was!
———
Harry was alone in the Veil Room, a bit tired as he had spent the whole night saying goodbye to his family, but his draconic physiology had greatly helped in that matter.
The Veil Room was located in the most core region of his Magus Tower. It was the only region that was only under his control.
He was the only person who could access the room without triggering the defenses. And it would remain that way even if he left; he had no interest in someone entering the veil behind him.
It felt like his connection to the Veil was special. And no one else besides him could say the same thing.
Even without him here, his magus tower would be under his control.
Magus Towers are an expensive structure in the Magus World, empowering any Magus to fight beyond his levels in it's range, being a home, a fortress, a laboratory, a defense system, and a status symbol. It had many functionalities.
Usually one needed a Rank 4 magus to create a magus tower. For one simple reason, the Tower Genie. An artificially created spirit that would connect to the owner and take over control over all the systems inside the tower.
Sounds Familiar?
His AI chip was almost the same thing, just much superior. And as the control core of his magus tower, he didn't just use the AI chip, but his own soul. The core of this tower was his Horcrux, that he created with his own version of the Horcrux spell.
He would be always in control of the tower. To create it, he had magically split his own soul in half, which also effectively halved his magical power.
[Harry Potter, Rank 1 Magus (Dragon of Death)/Wizard (uncultivated), Strength: 43.1, Agility: 42.6, Vitality: 40.7, Spiritual Force: 43 (164), Magic Power: 207, Status: Healthy, Elemental Essence Conversion: 54%]
This had magically weakened him, but his body was still as strong as before. Even stronger after all, he hadn't remained idle. And he was on a good way to recover his lost strength too.
Although it was slower than before. He no longer could use regular souls that were easily accessible to him through human transmutation and philosopher stones; even the souls of Rank 1 Magi were almost doing nothing for him to strengthen himself.
While he could use them to recover the strength he had lost during a battle, they were almost completely useless in making him stronger.
The disadvantage of turning his own soul into a dragon soul was that the quality of souls available in mass were far too low to be useful for him.
To become a Rank 2 magus, he couldn't use the same method Leylin had used; after all, he had pretty much done that to become a Rank 1 magus already. Leylin had performed a similar ritual and sacrificed the lives of his foes to reach rank 2.
It had been a great inspiration for himself since the spells were recorded in the Legacy the Great Magus Serholm had left behind.
No, Harry had either to use the old school way of practicing over years; he already created the second level of his meditation technique thanks to the insights of the meditation techniques from the Twilight Zone, especially Dragon King's Mystic Might.
Or he would have to rely on quality souls or other methods, techniques, artifacts, and power sources. For example, pills, like Leylin had used, were an option too, but Harry preferred to minimize his usage of drugs since they left traces on his body over the long run.
He had no worries about how to advance in the future. His current strength was decent enough, even halved for a good amount of Worlds out there. If everything goes as he hopes, the multiverse would be once again open to him with its infinite possibilities.
And if not, he had still his Plan B. After all, he now possessed a fully functional Horcrux. If anything went wrong, it would feel it and could react accordingly.
All pieces belonging to a soul were permanently connected with each other. Especially since Harry hadn't used Voldemort's method of forcefully ripping his soul apart, which pretty much destroyed any connection, turning the Dark Lord into a monster.
That method was disgusting, and even for his own survival, he would never steep that low. There were limits he would never pass.
The original method of creating a Horcrux created by Herpo the Foul was never explored in depth in the Harry Potter books. But his AI Chip had found the knowledge left behind by Voldemort's Horcrux that had been once in his scar. It had been part of the old system too and has been absorbed with it.
While he had used that knowledge as a base, including Voldemort's Horcrux's own experiences during the process. He would never use the same method; just to give a hint, it involves annihilation.
Instead, he had developed a method that required a higher level of skill and control over souls and far more patience. By using meditation, he had firmly placed half of his soul inside the Magus Tower Core, as Spirit controlled it with the AI Chip.
This method hadn't ripped apart the connection between soul pieces, and even over worlds there would be a connection between him and his soul piece, like his and Tiamats.
Even if the same problem should remain, that he didn't feel a lot about his soul piece. At least they are able to feel the state of each other.
If things go wrong, his Horcrux could take over a new body and revive himself.
Harry had also the hope that he could use the connection between his soulpiece, himself, and Tiamat to navigate through the world behind the veil.
"There is no moment better than now, isn't there?" He said as he took a last look at the Veil Room, a good last feel at the Magus World and the People he was leaving behind, before stepping through the ethereal Veil, splitting the World of the Living and the Death.
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