A Villain's Will to Survive novel Chapter 284

Chapter 284: Theory of Relativity (3)

In the process of unification, the most crucial stage was liquefying the Snowflower Stone. Since there was no way to implant it into my body in solid metal form, it had to be melted down into a liquid state—only then could the Spell of the Magicore be implanted into my heart.

“What? How are you even going to melt that?” Yeriel asked.

“It’s well within my reach,” I replied.

Yeriel frowned the moment the process began, but I moved without pause. As soon as I channeled my will into the Snowflower Stone, it liquefied and drew itself into a perfect white sphere the size of a baseball. Watching it take shape, Yeriel’s eyes grew as wide as the baseball itself.

“... Just what comes from making the effort,” I continued, chuckling.

Ninety-nine percent Comprehension meant we understood each other completely—both ways. That was why the Snowflower Stone, despite its dual nature of frost and flame, was now pushed to its extreme, blazing with concentrated flame.

“Keep your hands off—it’s searing.”

“... Yeah, I can see that. But wait—are you really going to put that in your body?” Yeriel replied, her hand halfway there before she flinched and pulled it away.

I nodded.

“What—are you trying to get yourself killed?” Yeriel asked, her face tightening.

“The coating is enough to shield me,” I replied.

The next stage was pushing the Snowflower Stone to manifest its frost just as intensely as it had shown its flame.

"To bind flame and frost in perfect counterpoise—each held in check by the other."

“Oh, I think I get what you mean. So you’re freezing just the surface of this liquid?” Yeriel asked.

“Indeed.”

The surface of the Snowflower Stone, in liquid form, froze cold, but that didn’t mean it had changed into a solid because it wasn’t like the simple relationship between water and ice.

However, the Snowflower Stone remained in its liquid state with only the very surface, thinner than a nanometer, cooled down, creating an impossible harmony of extremes—ultra-high temperature and ultra-low temperature in one.

No theory of science could define it because this was the contradictory characteristic of a magical metal, and now I was going to inject it into my body, carve the spell through my heart as the medium, and begin crafting the Magicore with the Snowflower Stone.

“But it will be too dangerous,” Yeriel said.

Of course it was going to be dangerous, and there was never any doubt about that.

“You know that, don’t you? But I guess it makes sense—with war approaching and an expedition to the Land of Destruction already underway, the desert will soon burn.

“Perhaps this path is wiser than charging weakly to the front as you are now, too weak to survive and destined to die on the battlefield. If you really do, what would we even tell the elders of the House?”

Before I could say a word, Yeriel had already come to terms with it on her own.

“Alright, then I understand what my role is,” Yeriel continued, her expression settling into something firm. “As you already know, in Decalane’s Study of Art Magic, everything begins with the environment.”

With those words, Yeriel released her mana, which moved around me and solidified into a strange, cylindrical barrier that looked like some kind of upright tank—narrow at the top, almost like a water dispenser.

“Of course, the mana in the air doesn’t affect most processes, but what you’re attempting isn’t exactly most, is it?”

After that, Yeriel’s cylinder activated.

Whoooosh—

The cylinder let out a sound like an air vent engaging as the mana inside rushed upward, pulled through the top, discharging all the mana remaining in the surrounding air.

— It’s a cylinder that filters out only mana. Inside, it’s a mana vacuum. What do you think? This is how I assist you.

Yeriel’s voice didn’t reach me from outside the cylinder, so with everything sealed off, I had no choice but to read her lips, catching as many words as I could.

— I knew I wouldn’t be much help directly, so I thought maybe this could be something. Oh, right—you can’t hear me in there. Smart me, Yeriel.

I gave a light chuckle.

— ... Anyway, good luck. It’s not like you’re going to die like some kind of dumbass or anything, right, brother?

Since Yeriel’s way of speaking was a bit rough, I furrowed my brow just slightly—and that alone made her flinch.

— ... Can you hear me? If you can, it means it failed. Say something—if you can hear this, it’s already too late.

“I hear nothing,” I replied, shaking my head.

— Wait, if you can’t hear me, how are you answering?

“Exactly as you're doing now."

— Alright, good luck, and...

Yeriel cleared her throat, then covered her mouth and mumbled something, making sure I couldn’t hear it.

As always, Yeriel reminded me of my younger sibling, Kim Woo-Jin’s sibling who was gone from Earth and, of course, never here in this world—someone I’d always hoped to meet, even if only once.

Of course, Yeriel wasn’t a replacement, as she never could be and never should be, for she was Yeriel—my younger sibling in her own right.

"Watch closely,” I replied with a smile.

Yeriel smiled and nodded at me, as if to say she understood.

I closed my eyes and opened my lips halfway as the Snowflower Stone extended like a fine thread and moved inward.

And...

The substance was freezing and burning, liquid and metal, and as it spread through every inch of my body, the first thing I felt was pain.

The next moment was pain too, and the moment after that still pain, with every second that followed being nothing but pain—the kind even an Iron Man attribute couldn’t withstand, as my thoughts, my body, and even my tongue were all drowned in that one word, pain.

It felt like a supernova of high heat exploding inside me while the cold of the universe swept in to freeze every part of my body, a blaze rising from my core, and I understood that if my mental strength were ever to break, it would be under pain like this.

— ... Brother.

My consciousness faded, my body felt as if it were burning to nothing while my reason froze over, and in the middle of it all, a voice slipped through—barely, but just enough to reach me.

— ... Brother.

As Yeriel’s voice reached me, it layered over a memory from long ago—something from the past.

“... Oh, come on, brother! Hey, Kim Woo-Jin!”

The shout that followed was loud and familiar, calling my name—my younger sibling, the one I still missed more than anything.

— ... Brother! Hey, Deculein!

On top of that memory, Yeriel’s voice returned, layering over it.

“... Not yet,” I muttered.

At that moment, I regained control of my fading consciousness and used every ounce of mental strength to restrain the Snowflower Stone within me, keeping it from spiraling out and killing me. I gripped its flow, corrected its course, and drew a magic circle around my heart, bearing a pain that stretched on like eternity as I reforged the heart of an Iron Man into a Magicore.

From the edge of death, a sentence rose into view, my vision a blur like my eyes had been burned and my brain liquefied, and in that empty darkness, I saw the system message.

[Assimilation Completed]

◆ The Snowflower Stone now inhabits every part of your being.

[New magic property obtained.]

◆ Ice property added.

At that moment, I opened my eyes, and without even knowing when I’d fallen, I pushed myself up, breathing hard, and slammed my fist through Yeriel’s cylinder with one swing.

Craaash—!

“Oh my god!” Yeriel screamed as the cylinder shattered, her eyes going wide as she looked at me. “I thought you were dead—wait, you’re not... are you?!”

I looked into the mirror without a word as Yeriel’s strange comment suddenly made perfect sense—my body was frozen in places and burned in others, frostbite and burn overlapping, heat and cold fighting for space—though at least my hair had made it through.

“... Hey—no, Brother, are you—are you alright?”

“No, I’m not alright,” I replied, shaking my head.

My reflection in the mirror was wrecked.

“Where are you not alright—”

I reached toward the mirror, straightened my loosened tie, ran a hand through my tangled hair, tugged my crumpled cuff back into place, and then, using Ductility, reformed the melted button of my two-button suit and fastened it, making the look whole again.

“... I’m alright now,” I said, giving a nod.

That was the end of it, and from that point on, everything went black and I remembered nothing.

***

“... Is he out of his mind?” Yeriel muttered.

When Deculein suddenly collapsed like that, Yeriel could only stare in disbelief, having no words.

“No, he is completely out of his mind.” freeweɓnovel-cøm

Even if he was her brother, the only thing Yeriel couldn’t stop herself from saying was that he was completely out of his mind, and to be fair, anyone who had just seen what happened would have said the same.

“Hey! Just because you survived from that, it doesn’t mean this won’t kill you!”

The process of unification with the Snowflower Stone might have felt different to Deculein, but in real time, it lasted six hours.

“I swear, he’s going to be the death of me.”

By the time night gave way to morning, his body had been pushed to its absolute limit, ravaged by mana and exhaustion alike; his circuits were raw and hypersensitive, so a single strain could’ve shattered him completely, and that’s when Deculein chose to cast a spell.

“Why the heck did you use magic? Oh, dang it!”

Who uses Ductility just to make a button because their buttons on their clothes melted down?!

“... No way,” Yeriel muttered, the thought hitting her like a bolt. “Did he really use Ductility to make the Snowflower Stone?”

If I can understand this theory, I’ll be able to take hold of my time—mold it, manage it, and make it my own, Epherene thought.

Bang, bang, bang, bang—!

Bang, bang, bang, bang—!

“Ugh, who is it?!” Epherene barked, her brow tightening as she walked toward and opened the door.

“Oof—why are you yelling all of a sudden...?”

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify