The main antagonist is more a force than a real person. Kinda like the Lich from adventure time.

This force was created by a cult that believed individuality was a source of conflict and so sought to stop that by making a hivemind in the human race. So they created a soul that is capable of assimilating others into it. However the soul was not complete and had no real self basically, like the cult wanted. That made it feel empty and seek to fill that itself with others. Basically, it acts like a wild animal but still moves in line with what it was created for. It now seeks to assimilate any soul it comes across trying to create a self.

When it tries to assimilate people they turn into zombies but I call them ghouls. Kinda like the last of us type. Transferred through bites and swapping bodily fluids because this thing's magic energy lives in all aspects of its body and others who become infected.

For some they become intelligent ghouls. Leading the others and following the will of the soul that wishes to consume others. Kinda like really advanced puppets. The personality becomes warped this way and the mental torcher experienced by them and normal ghouls is tremendous as even the hivemind merge causes pain and they can feel the pain of others like them as well.

I'm wondering what you all think of this as an idea.