[What we want is a single warp gate. Yu IlHan, we want you to protect Miss Kang MiRae during the process.]
"That sounds very suspicious."
[Any more than this is too dangerous to discuss in a lower world.]
He didn't even expect the angel to be truthful with everything. She probably meant that they won't be able to escape once they heard the story. This basically meant that they had to do whatever the Heaven's Army requested if they wanted the two God-ranked artifacts... Yu IlHan pondered for a little while, but eventually nodded. Kang MiRae said she'd do it, so there was no reason for him to refuse either.
"Okay, then let's go get the prepayment."
[B, before that. I'll go report to the higher-ups.]
Titaera stood up, powerlessly, like a middle schooler who had failed to buy a game that had just been released, even though he had lined up from dawn for it.
Keduta was about to support her, but she gave a glare and shrank back. It was definitely a gaze that contained 'if you had just moved a little faster and procured Kang MiRae!' or something along those lines.
"Please select ones that fit us. One will be used by Miss MIRae, so one related to magic."
[...I understand.]
Titaera left like that. After sending her off, Yu IlHan sighed and loosened his shoulders.
"This has become a pain. I thought we wouldn't have to fight for quite a while."
"Then you could have just rejected their request. The one they wanted was me in the first place too..."
"But I can't trust them anymore. I can't send you alone, Miss MiRae."
"..."
Even though Yu IlHan had said that out of pure worry, it was an arrow to Kang MiRae's pink-colored heart. However, Yu IlHan ignored the fact that Kang MiRae was blushing and fidgeting, and stretched his body.
"There's not much time left, so I should make a trump card just in case. If I could only use the Hourglass of Eternity again, then I could have surpassed the limit of the Flying Fortress."
"A trump card?"
Liera tilted her head. Yu IlHan lightly nodded and added.
"I might need Paté's power."
"Paté's...? Don't tell me you?"
Liera's eyes trembled. What she thought of was the intact bodies of higher existences inside Yu IlHan's inventory.
"Are you going to try entering the field of necromancy? It would be hard if you don't get used to the class like Paté."
"No, rather than undead, it should be classified as a living doll... I want to do something about those annoying thought-souls."
[What do you mean by annoying?]
A fresh, lively voice replied to Yu IlHan's words. It was none other than the thought-soul of the Succubus Queen Helièna.
[I only want to tell my darling of my endlessly straight and pure love.]
"Not all 'straight' and 'pure' things are good; you know? Look at me. I was a 'straight' and 'pure' loner, but I don't think that's a good thing."
He replied to Helièna's thought-soul in a cold voice. Liera asked him with worried eyes.
"IlHan, is it fine to believe her?"
"The reason I did not accept her for one is that I couldn't trust her, but it was also because I could not accept her very existence. However, both of them have been completely solved right now."
When Liera tilted her head in confusion, Yu IlHan continued explaining.
"Both Helièna's thought-soul and her body are, in the end, the 'previous' Helièna. They're not the same being. And if it's a thought-soul, I can trust it however much I want."
[I did say this before, but you could have trusted me even when I was not a thought-soul, too!] Darling really likes to be reassured. What should I do? I love that part of you as well. Darling, can you feel my love?]
"Hmph."
Yu IlHan only replied with a snort at the thought-soul Helièna's proactive approach and looked around at his other companions before clapping his hands to gather attention.
"Dragon's Army, and the ones that still haven't acquired their 4th class will be left on Earth for this battle. This is too difficult for anyone under the 4th class. The rest of you, please prepare for battle in your respective positions. Oh, Erta, you help me out with Paté."
"Understood, I shall get Paté here then."
Kim YeSeul noticed that her son was about to do something amazing, and her eyes shone. Wasn't this the perfect moment to witness one of her son's countless abilities?
"That sounds very interesting. I want to watch too. Is it something secretive?"
"No, it's nothing like that. It's fine if you watch."
Yu IlHan allowed her to watch with a light heart. Like that, Yu IlHan, Yumir, Kang MiRae, Na YuNa, Kim YeSeul, Paté, Jirl, Mirey, Ericia, Liera and Erta – a total of eleven – gathered in Yu IlHan's workshop.
"Why!? I said go prepare!"
"Well, we are curious..."
Liera blurred the end of her lines. In fact, her true intention was to watch over Yu IlHan to see if he did something bad, but there was no way she could say that. Yu IlHan's gaze turned to others.
"Preparation for battle?"
"We're ready, Your Majesty!"
"I also want to watch, master."
"Ugh, this shouldn't be possible, but Miss YuNa. Can you cast an anti-charm barrier onto the group?"
"Okay. Lady Leytna. Pleaseeeee."
Only after checking that everyone was cast with the barrier did Yu IlHan start the work. What he first took out was the Cradle of Miracles. Inside, he poured Echjar's blood and took Helièna's body out of his inventory and let it float on it.
"Oh my..."
"Truly beautiful."
"How could His Majesty stab such a woman?"
"...Goddammit."
Although her skin had turned pale, she was completely intact, except for her heart that Yu IlHan stabbed and the skin. Nobody would be surprised even if she suddenly woke up and walked around. Seeing that, Paté made an expression of absolute despair and told Yu IlHan.
"Your Majesty, it is impossible with my current power to make such a powerful undead."
"I know. You just need to lead my imagination."
Yu IlHan's work was usually done through three processes.
First was the item crafting – blacksmithing. This was the one Yu IlHan had the most confidence in, and was also the foundation of the creation of countless artifacts.
The second was, of course, mana crafting. Yu IlHan also had talent for this field, and after absorbing the essence of magic engineering and handling all sorts of items, he could do it just as well as blacksmithing.
The third was soul enchant, the power of the deathgod he had acquired from Reta Kar'iha. In this field, he was confident as well, having grown as a Deathgod up to this point.
And this time, there was no need for the first process.
"This is a completed product in itself. It's not something I can touch."
[Oh my... you do have eyes for girls, darling.]
He ignored the thought-soul's voice and put his hand on Helièna's chest. It was the part where his spear had pierced.
"The materials for mana crafting are already within the remains."
"A 7th-class magic stone. That's an amazing material."
"And to add..."
Yu IlHan cut open his palm and drew out blood. The moment Yu IlHan's blood fell upon the punctured heart, the Cradle of Miracles reacted with a 'voon' sound. Echjar's blood, which had filled the cradle, began to resonate violently.
"Paté, grab my hand. And draw out your aura to the fullest."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Paté, who was more beautiful than most female elves (though strictly male), grabbed Yu IlHan's hand, blushing. He had to bring out all his power as an Archer of Destiny and transfer it to Yu IlHan!
Yu IlHan calmly accepted Paté's power, recorded it and analyzed it. Mana crafting had commenced from this moment.
'Paté's power that allows him to go against the laws and make the dead arise again and move them around to his wishes – what I need is only a portion of that. I only have to bring the body back to life again. I'm not making an undead. I'm making hardware.'
The 7th-class magic stone inside Helièna's body came into contact with Yu IlHan's blood. With blinding light, an enormous amount of mana burst forth like water from a broken dam, but Erta and Kim YeSeul, who were prepared for this, used their magic to channel it back into their bodies. Kang MiRae also helped out.
"It really is an amazing power...! Son, did you really fight against this individual!?"
"Well, I can't exactly call that a 'fight'... but yeah, you can take it that way."
Grasping a single strand of mana and making it circulate inside Helièna's body – once the flow of mana was controlled, regenerating wounds was a simple matter. What was important was to make the regenerated heart beat again. He had to erase any remaining will inside the body and make the body just an empty shell of a biological structure!
[Darling... amazing, you know me better than I do...? I'm so happy!]
Helièna's thought-soul exclaimed. Immediately after that, the mana exploding outwards receded as if time were being reversed. The body's pale skin seemed to glow for a little while before colour returned to her skin!
"Aah."
"Vitality is coming back!"
Echjar's blood, which supported the floating body, rippled; the ripple was very periodic – it was according to Helièna's heartbeat.
"Your Majesty!"
"It's not over yet!"
Rather, now that the mana was all concentrated, this was the more important moment. Any mistake would set the mana berserk, causing the body to explode along with the entire Flying fortress! Yu IlHan controlled the flow of mana while bringing out the concentration he used to pick lots for cleaning back in his middle school days.
And an unknown amount of time had passed since he had started. A single line of text appeared on Yu IlHan's retina, quietly.
[You have mastered Mana crafting. You possess the talent to imbue an item with mana, recreating it in a way no one can catch up to. Perhaps the end of that ability may be related to creation. The future path must be created by you.]
Echjar's blood, which resonated with her heartbeat, slowly began to be absorbed by her body. Vitality returned to her skin over time, and after a while, it even began to breathe mana. Perhaps some onlookers may think that she was really sleeping. Kim YeSeul and the others could only be left dumbstruck by the miracle.
"Fuuuu."
"IlHan!"
Liera wasn't too late in catching Yu IlHan from collapsing after all the work had been done.
"Fuu, there's still one process left. If we don't do it immediately, there will be a variable. A new consciousness may arise in a body without prior consciousness."
"If it's for a little, I can slow down the time that the body feels."
"Please, Mom."
He never knew his mom would be so heartwarming! With his mother's support, he regained a little breathing room and immediately moved on to the next process.
It was none other than the soul enchant process, as well as the one that had to precede it.
"I'm going to accept you as my subordinate now."
[So you're finally accepting my heart!]
"If I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have gone through such a troublesome process. You should know what I'm thinking. You are already someone completely different from 'Helièna', and I'm only using a loyal thought-soul and the remains of Helièna."
Yes, this was also why Yu IlHan did not hesitate to work on this. However, Helièna's thought-soul rejected him outright.
[However, darling should already know. Darling's power had long since broken through the limits, and as a result, I, now in your consciousness, have a very clear self-consciousness. I do not think I'm completely intact, but I do think it's at least 60%. So, darling has just split the soul in half by killing Helièna. Aah, I only pity the other half of my soul that had disappeared for eternity.]
"...Why are you telling me all this?"
At his words, Helièna spoke in a way that even left Yu IlHan dumbstruck.
[Because you might be disappointed after you learn of it later. I do not want to get hated by you, darling...]
"You...."
[As you already know, I cannot hide a single thing from you right now.] Do you get that you've made a mistake?]
Yu IlHan went silent; it was very difficult to receive such direct intent from the thought-soul.
"...Okay, then."
He bit his lips and spoke.
"Prove to me that I've made a mistake."
[My beloved, I was waiting for you to say that line.]
A thick tie that could not be severed by anything was connected. Yu IlHan's Rule skill activated.
[You have mastered the skill, Rule. You may evolve the skill once you fulfill the necessary requirements.]
"Your name..."
[I'm Helièna, darling. Like I always was, and like I always will be.]
"Yes, you're Helièna."
[You have accepted 'Helièna' as your subordinate.]
Yu IlHan decided to acknowledge her current form. Then he enchanted her into what was originally her body.
It was a very quiet process, with no exaggeration of mana's violence, unlike in mana crafting.
However, this was no different from the start of a huge incident that may shake the future of all factions.