Chapter 136: Quite Timid for a god (2)

The moment Keter pierced Ryze’s abdomen, Henya had already half-drawn her sword. But the person who stopped her was none other than Curette, Ryze’s attending physician.

“Don’t touch him!”

“...!”

If it had been Katherine, who Keter brought along, Henya would not have stopped. But Curette was someone she had known for a long time, and she couldn’t simply ignore him.

Henya was about to ask why he was stopping her, but she didn’t need to.

Voosh...

The air began to tremble, and Henya’s red hair lifted toward the ceiling.

“What is this?!”

The vibrations caught Butler Forty-Two by surprise.

The source of the vibration was Ryze. The shaking, which began with him, was quickly spreading throughout the room.

Henya, calm yet urgent, said, “Forty-Two, leave. I won't be able to protect you too.”

“B-but...”

“I will protect Ryze.”

“Understood.”

As soon as the butler left, the vibration grew stronger. The whole room shook violently, and soon, the very space itself began to warp.

Keter, who was usually humorous, was still acting like his usual self, but the veins bulging on his arms and face showed how much he was concentrating. He officially began the Extreme Mana Overload Syndrome Alleviation and Transformation technique he had learned from Franken.

First, I’ll flush out all the mana in this kid’s body using the energy of the different elixirs that have been neutralized by the Eternal Snow Water.

Mana poured out of Ryze’s body like a tidal wave. The vibration throughout the room was a precursor to this.

Like a dam burst open, three hundred years’ worth of mana that had accumulated inside Ryze, was released into the world. In an instant, the room became an ocean of pure mana.

Curette, a professor of magical pathology, immediately understood what he had to do.

“The mucus of a sea troll! So that's why he needed it!”

Curette wanted to move, but the sheer pressure of the mana made it hard. And then he understood something else: the reason Keter had brought Katherine along.

“Young lady, apply the sea troll mucus over Ryze’s entire body! Cover him from head to toe!”

Because she was attuned to mana, Katherine could still move relatively freely. Without hesitation, she followed Curette’s instructions.

Squish, squish.

She applied the translucent green mucus across Ryze. The effect was immediate; the mana that had been flooding out of Ryze no longer tried to return to his body.

Extreme Mana Overload was a condition where mana naturally and uncontrollably accumulated in the body. It was like gravity pulling in objects without any external pressure. Sea troll mucus, being nearly zero percent conductive to mana, completely blocked its reabsorption when applied over the body.

However, it wasn’t safe. Sea troll mucus also dissolved proteins. They had at most ten minutes—if the procedure wasn’t finished by then, Ryze would literally melt away.

This isn’t surgery. This is transformation!

Curette trembled. He had prepared surgical tools, but none were needed. Keter’s methods were not human surgery. They were something beyond—a different dimension of medical art entirely.

“I... I really was just a frog in a well.”

It was self-deprecating, but Curette was laughing with joy. Though he was old, his passion remained youthful. He burned with the desire to learn as he witnessed such advanced techniques. To try to help, he wiped the sweat off Keter’s forehead even though he could barely move. There was no shame in his actions.

The excretion of mana started to weaken. It seemed like the three hundred years ’ worth of accumulated mana in Ryze had been expelled.

“Did it work?” Henya said, sensing that the mana that had tormented Ryze for so long had finally left.

But Curette shook his head.

“No. It’s only like draining the poison. If we stop now, Ryze will die. His body still remembers the mana. Once we take off the sea troll mucus, it will draw mana back in like a sponge.”

“Katherine. Two White Flower Pills.”

At Keter’s order, Katherine quickly handed him the elixirs. Keter swallowed them and put force on his arm again. The energy of the elixir flowed into Ryze from his arm.

Ryze was too dependent on mana right now, like humans were dependent on blood. In a way, Keter was giving him a transfusion of mana—not just any mana, but purified, stable mana to protect his body from within. As the White Flower Pill was known for recovery and protection, even someone as weak as Ryze could accept it without strain.

Curette wiped the sweat from Keter’s brow again as he performed the mana transfusion.

“Katherine. Mix three Dragon Essence Pellets with the Gray-Eyed Drake horn powder and knead it with half-elf blood. Then shape it into a bead using embodiment magic.”

Originally, Keter would have done it himself. But with Katherine trained in embodiment magic, he could focus fully on maintaining Ryze’s condition.

Meanwhile, Henya, feeling useless, cautiously asked, “Should I help?”

“No,” Katherine refused firmly.

Soon, steam rose from her body. The Dragon Essence Pellet, which could instantly melt metal into liquid, specialized in dissolving and excreting waste from the body. However, it was incredibly difficult to consume; eating it like any other elixir would melt the consumer from the inside. Kneading something like that with bare hands was impossible, even with mana, as it melted that, too.

That’s why he gave me the White Flower Pill first.

The White Flower Pill was protecting her, but only for a short while.

I need to work fast before the protection wears off and my hand melts.

Despite how calm they looked, Keter and Katherine were risking their lives. That was how dangerous and time-sensitive this surgery was. Only Curette realized it. Henya didn’t, but she didn’t interfere because she knew they were concentrating.

“I’m finished.”

“Give it to me.”

Katherine didn’t know what she had created, but Keter did. It was an artificial mana core, specifically, a Mana Magnet Core.

That was when...

Whoosh!

Keter pulled his hand from Ryze’s abdomen, and in it was a gray orb. It was the Mana Dissolution Core, something that could dissolve mana in the body, that Franken had implanted ten years ago. Its failure was what caused excessive mana buildup in Ryze’s body, leading to his coma.

Keter discarded the old core and inserted the new Mana Magnet Core he had created right below the heart.

Now for the final hurdle.

Keter had discarded all the mana in Ryze, but if he stopped the surgery now, the mana would build up again and ultimately kill Ryze. As such, he had to ensure mana didn’t accumulate again.

Fraken had solved this problem by implanting a Mana Dissolution Core, but it was inconvenient as it had to be replaced periodically. To solve this problem, Franken invented a new material, which he taught Keter.

I have to make a Monopolar Magnetic Mana Core.

What Keter was attempting was to transform the Mana Magnet Core Katherine had shaped into a core that only possessed repulsive force—a Monopolar Mana Core.

Ordinarily, a Mana Magnet Core inherently contained two poles: a repelling north pole and an attracting south pole. However, a Monopolar Mana Core only held only one of those properties. What Keter aimed to create now was one that possessed solely the repelling force.

Such a substance defied the laws of the world. Only a Prime, a being capable of interfering with the laws of reality, could create such a thing.

But Franken had once said,

“If you have at least two hundred years’ worth of mana and a willpower comparable to a Prime’s, it isn’t impossible.”

Anyone who didn’t understand what it meant to interfere with reality through sheer will would never comprehend Franken. Even if they tried hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of times, they would fail every time.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

But Keter was different. He had once reached the realm of Prime. He knew what it felt like to manifest willpower as interference with reality. The mana needed for this was nearby: the highly concentrated and pure three hundred years' worth of mana from Ryze. Still, that wasn’t enough. Keter squeezed out every last drop of aura and mana he possessed.

Vooosh!

The mana that filled the room began to converge around Ryze. But on closer inspection, it wasn’t simply flowing toward him; it was being drawn to Keter’s arm and channeled to Ryze through his fingertips.

The Mana Magnet Core Katherine made began to vibrate as its magnetic polarity started to shift.

Vrrrrrrrrrr!

For someone who hadn’t reached Prime to interfere with reality using willpower alone was a loophole, and the world hated such shortcuts.

Sure enough, the world violently rejected the process. The space around Keter twisted and warped. The backlash was far greater than he expected. If it continued like this, it would fail.

Tsk. I really didn’t want to use it, but...

Humans were made of body and mind. Heavenly Strength unlocked the limits of the physical body. As such...

If I can break the body’s limits, I can break the mind’s too.

Keter closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his irises were pitch black.

Mandala activated.

To Keter, the world had now fallen into a deep stillness, as though time had stopped. Normally, humans could perceive only about 0.5 to 0.9 seconds at a time. But now, Keter could sense 0.01 seconds. When others perceived one second, he perceived one hundred.

The strength of will was directly proportional to scale and time. What Keter lacked in this moment wasn’t willpower—it was time. And now, the Mandala gave him the time he needed.

The warped space, a reaction against his unlawful attempt to impose will upon the macrocosm, slowly stabilized. To the others in the room, only five seconds had passed. But to Keter, it had been eight minutes and twenty seconds of exerting pure will.

The Monopolar Mana Core was complete.

Keter quickly deactivated the Mandala. Then, time resumed its normal flow.

That was close.

The Mandala, unlike Heavenly Strength, wasn’t something created by humans. It wasn’t a skill that could be learned with effort or talent.

If he ever observes me while I’m using this... it won’t end with just death.

In his previous life, Keter had used the Mandala through a legitimate exchange. But now, in this life, he had neither paid the price nor made any deal. He had stolen it from a being that did not forgive.

Once probably won’t be enough for him to notice. But if I use it again, he’ll eventually catch on.

Keter erased all thought of the Mandala from his mind, as even thinking about it risked being observed by that being.

“Katherine. The liquor.”

“Yes.”

The reason why he had asked Butler Forty-Two to prepare alcohol was specifically for this moment. Erasing thoughts wasn’t enough—he needed a trigger to forcibly purge the Mandala from his consciousness.

Keter grabbed the bottle of thousand-year-old aged liquor and guzzled it straight from the bottle. He shook his head as the intoxication spread rapidly through his mind and body.

“Ahhh, perfect. That surgery was worth it.”

“Is... is it over?” Curette asked cautiously.

From his perspective, Keter’s operation had begun out of nowhere and ended just as suddenly.

Keter casually wiped the blood from his hands onto his pants.

“Wash off the sea troll mucus. I’ll leave the suturing of the hole to you, old man. You can handle it, right?”

“I-I can, but... may I ask what exactly you did to Lord Ryze?”

Keter was too tired, but since Curette had helped without complaint, he gave a rough explanation.

“I created a new characteristic for him to counter the Extreme Mana Overload Syndrome.”

“You added a characteristic? That’s possible through medicine?! H-how on earth?!”

“Figure that out on your own, old man.”

Curette gave him a pleading look like a cute kitten, but that wouldn’t stop Keter.

“Let’s go, Katherine.”

“Wait, Keter... Is Ryze really going to be okay? Will he be able to wake up again?”

There was real concern and hope in Henya’s voice.

Keter shrugged.

“Of course. Who do you think did the surgery?”

* * *

Ryze’s surgery had ended successfully, but Keter and Katherine were far from relaxed. They returned to their rooms, calmly but quickly.

“You’re back!”

The three Sefira brothers and the Galaxy Knights welcomed them, but neither Keter nor Katherine acknowledged their greetings. Instead, they immediately sat in a lotus position on the floor.

Voong...

Spiritual energy began to radiate from both Keter and Katherine. Seeing this, the Galaxy Knights quickly formed a defensive formation. It wasn’t the effect of the elixirs but the result of being steeped in three hundred years’ worth of highly concentrated mana. While Henya, whose body contained only aura, was unaffected, both Keter and Katherine possessed internal mana cores. A portion of the immense mana had been absorbed into them.

It was a miracle encounter—an extraordinary, indescribable stroke of fortune.

Originally, Katherine had barely held the equivalent of six years' worth of mana in her body, which was only thanks to the elixirs Keter had provided back in Sefira. But now, her body pulsed with a staggering thirty years’ worth of mana.

Keter, too, had received a blessing, but unlike Katherine, whose gain was a simple increase in mana, something far more dramatic happened to him. Something even Keter hadn’t anticipated: a transformation.

Crack. Craaaack...

As Keter sat, his skin began to crack open. From the cracks, dazzling light poured out.

The three Sefira brothers watched, stunned and speechless.

Myle, especially, stared at the radiant Keter shedding his outer shell, and murmured, “So metamorphosis truly does exist...!”

Myle, who had just witnessed a miracle that he had only read about in ancient texts, trembled in awe.