Chapter 225: You're Awake, Young Lady
If he were to let the blue-haired hero of a later age face the Demon King as she was now, with the power of the Godfall Land fused to her very being... could he win? In his mind's eye, he saw it now: the blue-haired hero, his face a mask of a grim and terrible resolve, shouting, "My victory is inevitable!" and then charging to his doom.
"Nah. I shouldn't screw him over like that."
The thought was an amusing one, but a fleeting one. The matter at hand was to save the girl.
"So how are you going to do it?" she asked, her own face now a mask of a deep and profound concern. The corrupting power within the girl... it was a thing that she herself would not have dared to touch.
"It's a little troublesome, but there's always a way," he said, and gently laid her on the ground. "There are two options. The first is to use the holy power of Org, or the power of faith from the 'Light of Ersten', to forcibly purge it. But to summon the swords here would be too much of a spectacle. It's not worth it, for such a small wound." His own voice was a calm and level sound, but with an undercurrent of an undeniable confidence.
"A 'small' wound?" she said, and gave him a look. "Then what do you propose?"
"Simple," he said, and knelt beside her, a gentle light now gathering in his palm. "I will transfer the corrupting power into my own body."
"What!?" her own face was now a mask of a pure and utter shock. "Are you mad? That's the corrosive divine power of the Godfall Land! To take it into yourself... it's too dangerous!"
"Relax," he said with a smile. "It's not like I haven't been exposed to it before. And such a small amount... it's not enough to corrupt me. I can suppress it. And then, once I have Org, I can deal with it."
It was an experiment. His own body was now a near-perfect vessel of life, a thing that would last for hundreds of years. And he now had Shurahat's own spell. This was a perfect opportunity to test it. But he would not tell her that. He didn't want her to worry.
But she knew. The risk... it was far greater than he was letting on. To have been born from the death of a god... it was a power that was not to be trifled with.
She opened her mouth to protest, but the look in his eyes, the calm and steady resolve of it... it silenced her. She knew him. He had already made up his mind. And he had a habit of achieving the impossible. "Hmph. Do as you wish. Just don't expect me to save you if something goes wrong," she said, and turned away, though the look in her own eyes betrayed her.
And a new and troubling thought came to her: Why is he so concerned with this strange, white-haired elven girl? Was he thinking of taking another apprentice? To foist another one on her?
His own hand was now on the wound, and a suction, a pulling, an invisible vortex of a magical energy now began to draw out the corrosive divine power that was at its very core, a wisp of a black and terrible energy that was now flowing into his own palm.
As the power left her, a bit of color returned to her own pale cheeks, and the frown that had been etched on her face now softened a little.
"How is it?" she asked, her own voice now a low and worried sound.
"Everything is fine. She should be waking up soon."
"That's not... Never mind," she said, and a new and different kind of an anger, a feeling of a helpless and frustrated concern, now washed over her. This man, she thought.
But the look on his face, the calm and steady look of it... it seemed that the corrosive power was not affecting him. She wasn't sure. "By the way," she said, changing the subject, "where did those two find the mana to cast a teleportation spell? The amount of power required... it's astronomical. Even with ten times their own mana, it would not have been enough."
"The spell was a hasty one," she said, her own brow now furrowed as she tried to recall the magical residue. "As if it was cast in some kind of an emergency. Do you think... they are in trouble?"
"I don't know. We'll have to ask her when she wakes up."
As if on cue, the girl's own eyelids began to flutter.
"...Mmm..."
She slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was a pair of unfamiliar faces.
"Well now, you're awake, young lady. Congratulations. You are now the mother of two," he said with a playful grin.
"???"
Serie gave him a punch and then turned to the girl. "What is your name?" she asked.
"Frieren," she said, and then her own memories came flooding back. Her village, the demons, and the two mages who had saved her, the red-haired human and the elf.
"Frieren. And where are Flamme and Ela?"
"Flamme and Ela?" The names were unfamiliar, but she had a feeling she knew who she was talking about.
"The red-haired human is Flamme, and the elf is Ela," he explained.
"Ah," she said, a look of a new and dawning understanding on her own face. "They... they saved my village." She tried to sit up, but a wave of a dizziness washed over her.
"Easy now," he said, and gently pushed her back down. "The power within you has been removed, but your body is still weak. Just lie down for now."
She did as she was told and looked from him, to the other, to the two strangers who had saved her life. "And you are?" she asked.
"I'm Rhodes," he said, "and she's Serie. We're their teachers."
~~~
Get early access to 20+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter