After arranging Fia's body, Arthur set up layers of protective magic around her, preventing anyone from disturbing the nurturing process of the deathly power.
Once everything was done, Arthur left Deeproot Depths. His exploration of this place had officially come to an end.
He exited the Lands Between directly.
Back in reality, Arthur entered the Zen Garden. The first thing he did was release Fortissax's corpse.
The moment Ifrit in the garden saw the massive dragon body, her eyes lit up as she ran straight to Arthur.
Last time, Arthur had also stored Lannseax's corpse. After refining it, he fed the extracted dragon blood essence to Ifrit, strengthening her origin.
Now that Arthur had brought back yet another dragon corpse, Ifrit knew she was about to get another delicious treat.
She happily pounced into Arthur's arms, rubbing her head against his cheek. She didn't say a word—she just stared at him with eyes full of anticipation.
Arthur patted her head.
"Alright, I know you're craving it. I'll refine it for you now."
"Yay! Master is the best!" Ifrit cheered.
Arthur began refining the dragon blood essence, while Ifrit stood nearby watching intently.
"Master, why is this dragon black?" Ifrit asked.
"Because it was tainted by the power of death."
Ifrit nodded, half understanding, half confused.
Since Fortissax's corpse had been heavily corroded by death, Arthur first had to strip away the deathly power before refining it. He had no intention of letting Ifrit consume dragon blood mixed with death energy.
Unlike Arthur, Ifrit couldn't absorb special powers and make them her own. Death's corrosion was no joke—if she ended up growing black thorns, his little red dragon wouldn't be cute anymore.
Now that Arthur had mastered deathly power, peeling it away from the corpse was effortless. He quickly extracted every trace of death from Fortissax's body.
The extent of the corruption was even worse than Arthur had expected. Looking at the black-and-gold sphere of condensed energy in his hand, he estimated that if this were released into the outside world, it could easily turn a small city into a dead zone.
Arthur stored the energy away and began the actual refinement process—engraving magic arrays and extracting the essence from the dragon's flesh and blood.
Once the array activated, Arthur said, "Alright, now we just wait for it to finish."
Ifrit nodded obediently, staring at the working array without the slightest hint of boredom.
Arthur chuckled, shook his head, and walked away.
He arrived beneath the Erdtree in the Zen Garden, took out the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince, and placed it into the tree.
The earth churned. The Erdtree thickened, grew taller, and surged with vitality.
At the same time, a black-and-gold dewdrop condensed on the tree.
Arthur beckoned it over, and its information appeared before his eyes.
[Deathbed Maiden's Grace: Revives any life below the demigod level.
The gentle Deathbed Maiden possessed an unyielding will—she grants you a second life.]
Arthur was surprised. Despite originating from the Death-Prince's Rune, the dewdrop was clearly tied to Fia.
Still, this was a good outcome. He'd been worried the Erdtree might produce something useless—like a dewdrop that caused sudden death or turned the drinker into one of Those Who Live in Death.
Thankfully, the Erdtree delivered something truly powerful: a resurrection item. Even if Arthur had no one he needed to revive right now, having it in reserve was invaluable.
Ranni appeared silently at his side.
"It seems my king has gained another Great Rune's power~."
"Yeah," Arthur nodded.
This made the seventh Great Rune he had obtained. There were only three left scattered across the Lands Between.
The remaining ones were: Malenia's Great Rune, the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse, and the Mending Rune of Perfect Order.
Malenia needed no explanation—Miquella's sister, still waiting beneath the Haligtree.
The Fell Curse Rune required feeding five Seedbed Curses to the Dung Eater in the Leyndell sewers. Arthur already had three.
Though they were called "Seedbed Curses," the thought of feeding them to the Dung Eater inevitably led to… uncomfortable associations.
As for the Mending Rune of Perfect Order, that one was the most troublesome.
First, Arthur had to give the Golden Order Principia—obtained from the Erdtree Sanctuary—to Brother Corhyn at the Roundtable Hold. He also had to tell Corhyn where his teacher, Goldmask, was.
Arthur had already encountered Goldmask once on the Altus Plateau. The man was the very definition of performance art—silent, wordless, striking prayer poses at the Golden Order.
After reuniting master and disciple, the two would move to Leyndell, then later to the Mountaintops of the Giants, and finally… one would die, leaving behind the Rune.
Arthur had already reached the stage where he revealed that Radagon was Marika. His next destination was the Mountaintops.
Conveniently, Malenia and the remaining Seedbed Curses were also at the Haligtree. As for Corhyn and Goldmask, Arthur frankly couldn't be bothered with their philosophical disputes.
He didn't care about their beliefs. He just wanted the Rune.
As Arthur was lost in thought, Ranni suddenly spoke in a calm, quiet voice:
"My king… how was the Deathbed Maiden's embrace?"
Arthur answered instinctively, "Pretty nice. Warm."
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized he was doomed.
He forced an awkward smile. "Haha… so you were watching back then?"
Arthur had assumed that since Ranni's doll body hadn't moved, her consciousness wasn't present in the Lands Between. Turns out she'd been observing quietly—perhaps she'd picked up bad habits from Melina.
Ranni said nothing. She just stared at him.
This time, she was genuinely angry.
In the Lands Between, Deathbed Maidens were seen by some as shameful figures—women who asked for embraces from heroes upon first meeting. They were even called lowly prostitutes.
Ranni didn't share such views. Still, the thought of her king being held in another woman's arms—her scent lingering on him—made her deeply uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Arthur's emotional intelligence—and survival instinct—were both top-tier.
He leaned in and kissed Ranni lightly on the lips.
"I'm going to take a bath right now."
With that, Arthur fled at top speed.
Ranni hadn't expected the sudden attack. A faint blush bloomed across her face, and much of her anger dissipated.
After washing up, Arthur showered Ranni with sweet words until her mood fully recovered.
After this incident, Arthur completely abandoned the idea of using the new dewdrop to revive Fia. He hadn't harbored any special feelings for her—only a bit of regret.
Originally, he'd considered testing the dewdrop's effects on Fia. But since his wife had such strong opinions, he wisely dropped the idea.
Just then, the refinement of Fortissax's flesh finished. Arthur gained another dragon skeleton, along with scales and claws.
Ifrit happily trotted over, holding a blood-red crystal in her mouth.
"Master, can I eat it now?" she asked obediently.
The little one was incredibly well-behaved, always asking for permission.
Arthur adored children like this—polite, obedient, never spoiled. He doted on Ifrit, and she never abused that affection.
Unlike Draco's Hydra, which had apparently entered its rebellious phase. Fortunately, the rune contract kept it in line—barely.
That Hydra strutted around like it owned the world, spewing dragonfire at the slightest provocation. Only around Arthur and his companions did it restrain itself—because it knew everyone here could beat it senseless.
Arthur rubbed Ifrit's head fondly.
"Go ahead."
Ifrit immediately chewed through the dragon blood crystal and swallowed it. Afterward, she let out a satisfied burp, a few sparks of red lightning slipping from her mouth.
Seeing her adorable, goofy expression, Arthur couldn't resist scratching under her chin.
Ifrit squinted blissfully, then curled up in his arms and slowly fell asleep.
Arthur knew this meant she was entering deep slumber to rapidly digest the dragon blood essence she'd just consumed.
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