When Fernandez fell from Abel’s back, he was carefully gauging his direction while glaring at Yggdrasil.
The terrifying acceleration, the massive serpent’s body wrapped around the burning Yggdrasil, and the dense magic emanating from it… Fernandez slowly gripped the greatsword, the King’s Greatsword, measuring the distance between death and himself.
Not yet, it’s not as close as expected.
-Crackle!!
As the massive pillar of Yggdrasil shook, Fernandez swung the greatsword down. The sound of bones crushing echoed from his forearm. His body barely clung to the pillar after striking the exterior of Yggdrasil.
A long sword mark and bloodstains were visible. Fernandez gritted his teeth and drove the greatsword deeper. The sensation in his arms was already… gone.
The fight with Botan, followed by numerous battles, the injuries and contamination from breaking Sadarkelisa’s barrier—his arms had long lost their function.
If not for the assistance of the spell.
-The damage rate has exceeded 85%. At this point, it’s more like minced meat than arms.
‘Increase ventricular fibrillation by 15%.’
-The vascular load is already severe. I don’t want to see you die from ruptured blood vessels.
‘The blood vessels near the heart regenerate as they rupture. It’s still fine.’
Fernandez spoke to Faijashi, who was digging into his chest. Most of the calculations and spells were left to him, while Fernandez focused on maintaining his sanity.
The spectral arm digging into his chest roughly massaged his heart, reviving the slowly fading heartbeat. The heart is the organ most suited to contain magic and divinity, and it is the most crucial organ supplied with the Blood of Diemonica.
By directly compressing the heart, blood pressure is temporarily raised, and the Blood of Diemonica is dispersed as strongly as possible to repair the body and restore stamina. From a macroscopic view, it’s a crude method of suicide, but from a microscopic perspective, it’s an effective emergency measure.
In any case, the current situation is like walking a tightrope. The moment you stop, you fall into the abyss. Fernandez, with his shattered bones held together by magic, climbed up the pillar of Yggdrasil.
-This is practically… a golem.
‘Creating minions isn’t exactly my specialty.’
-Well. As long as the theory is solid, the conclusion is roughly the same.
Faijashi meticulously reconnected Fernandez’s arm, the torn muscle fibers, and bone fragments, chuckling. If the magic supply were cut off or the blood vessels weren’t repaired by the Blood of Diemonica, the body would crumble immediately.
Therefore, delicately. More meticulously than an imperial surgeon. Every dark mage is a master of human anatomy, and Faijashi is also a master of torture. And assembly is the reverse of disassembly…
-Well, an ordinary human wouldn’t have even dared.
It’s not a matter of mindset or will. The physical performance of Diemonica’s body and the state of his arms, thoroughly soaked in hellish magic, created this situation through a delicate balance.
-Crack!
When Fernandez drove the greatsword in again to take the next step, blood suddenly gushed from his heart. Faijashi began to slowly withdraw his hand, muttering bitterly.
-This is it. It can’t maintain function any longer.
‘You’ve worked hard.’
-What do you plan to do now? You didn’t fall to commit suicide, did you?
‘I needed a state of rest.’
Fernandez finally climbed onto the massive tree trunk. He collapsed onto the pillar, his body trembling. The heat made even breathing difficult, and he coughed repeatedly, feeling around for a flat surface.
After securing a place to lie down, he immediately sat cross-legged. One hand raised to the sky, the other to the ground. He assumed the posture often referred to as the [Mantra of Dual Intent] by the High Council of Aseas, and slowly exhaled a deep breath.
‘The Ascension of Gian-Kel. What’s the success rate of the spell?’
-Are you in your right mind?
‘What’s there to lose?’
-After maintaining it for eighty years like a dog, and now, after returning to the past, all you want is… just a lich? If that’s the case, why not start with magic from the beginning? To gain divinity, become a servant of a god, and fight by recklessly destroying your body?
‘To maintain humanity.’
Fernandez exhaled slowly.
‘To not abandon humanity. To not lose the heart of a father who wishes for his son’s future and happiness. To not let our purpose, our reason, be consumed…’
-It’s weak, foolish, and emotional.
‘That’s what makes us human, Faijashi. All beings with warm blood are like that. An organism that produces only predetermined results from given stimuli is not a human but a biological golem. Our regrets, our lamentations. The moment we faced our end, that was the only time we were truly human.’
-I don’t agree.
Faijashi clicked his tongue.
-But in terms of probability, it’s about 20%… That’s the best we can hope for. In this situation and under these conditions, copying the master’s lich transformation spell without a ritual or sacrifice, relying solely on the spell, has a success rate of less than 20%.
The three elements of modern magic are spell, ritual, and sacrifice. The fact that a grand spell can be completed by abandoning all other conditions is a testament to Faijashi’s abilities.
However, if the price of the gamble is life, one must think differently. After abandoning the divinity of Vaitas, even though it now holds a value that cannot be treated as expendable, if one must gamble with life as the stake, there must be a reward of greater value.
[If I help, you won’t need to go that far.]
Before his thoughts could conclude, Botan spoke from his waist. When Fernandez glanced at him, Botan chuckled.
[Becoming a lich, that is, an undead, isn’t necessary. If it’s about maintaining the living body while abandoning a few innate factors, that’s my area of expertise. There’s no need to become undead.]
“Success rate?”
[Fifty percent.]
Even by simple calculation, an expected value of over 30% is guaranteed. Abandoning innate factors while maintaining biological functions? That’s no different from Diemonica’s procedures.
Fernandez nodded briefly and took a deep breath.
“Let’s begin.”
[Long and comfortable, or short and painful. Which one do you prefer?]
“Do I need to answer?”
[Heh, you’re always entertaining.]
Botan clicked his tongue and laughed. Soon, a circular pattern formed around Fernandez, and lightning began to flicker. Rune Glyphs densely filled the gaps, and the spell activated like gears turning.
Beyond that, Botan’s voice echoed.
[You might want to bite down on something. It’s going to hurt. A lot.]
To cut to the chase, he was right.
*
Kirhas was running instinctively. Leaping over collapsing branches, occasionally springing up, down, and up again. Not stopping for a single moment.
[You vermin!]
Above her head, Sadarkelisa’s shout reverberated. The world was engulfed in flames, and the massive earthquake shaking the ground rattled Yggdrasil. But Kirhas paid no heed and kept running.
She once ran to…
