A Villain's Will to Survive

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.”

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?!

“Hey! Hey, hey! Hey, Deculein!”

No matter how many times Yeriel shouted, Deculein didn’t move and lay there facedown like a corpse left on the cold floor.

“I’m not even joking… it’s not even obsessive-compulsive disorder—it’s just complete madness,” Yeriel muttered, forcing herself to carry Deculein with both arms.

Though Deculein was broad with muscle and far from light, Yeriel had never neglected her physical training as she picked him up in a bridal carry, leaned her head to his chest, and thankfully found he was still breathing.

“… If you die from this, I swear.”

Yeriel grumbled under her breath and started to walk away but stopped short when a glint from Deculein’s suit caught her attention because it was the button that was recently crafted and now perfectly set in place.

“Wait, this button…”

The button gleamed in an odd shade of white and blue just like the Snowflower Stone, and Yeriel blinked before reaching out to brush her fingers over its icy surface.

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

***

At the very same hour, in Epherene’s office on the 10th floor of the Mage Tower of the Empire.

“… Theory of Relativity.”

Epherene didn’t care about the world’s matters or the flow of time, and whatever happened outside her walls didn’t matter to her.

“Theory of Relativity.”

Epherene was completely immersed in the Theory of Relativity, a theory tied to time itself that didn’t just broaden her perspective but shattered all the knowledge she thought she had and shook her brain as if it had her by the collar.

And…

“Quantum mechanics.”

It was called quantum mechanics, a kind of physics she’d never even heard of before that dealt with particles smaller than atoms and stranger than anything in her textbooks.

“This… this is revolutionary,” Epherene muttered.

Ever since getting her hands on the new release, Epherene hadn’t slept—not even for a second—and hadn’t taken her eyes off the book for longer than ten seconds, so now, with dark circles under her eyes, she mumbled to herself and gripped her pen.

“With this…”

Epherene was certain.

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—!

At that moment, a knock came at the door, and of all possible times, it had to be now.

Bang, bang, bang, bang—!

No, it wasn’t a knock—it was more like someone pounding on the door with their fist.

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

“It’s Relin,” Relin replied.

“Sorry?”

Outside the door stood a surprising number of people—Professor Relin, Professor Siare, Mage Ihelm, Professor Louina, and even Chairwoman Adrienne, presently holding her title—and they were all key figures of the Mage Tower with every eye staring directly at Epherene.

“What… brings you here, Professor?” Epherene asked, blinking up at him.

“Do you need me to spell it out for you?!” Relin barked, nostrils flaring and eyes gleaming with contempt.

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

“You are such an embarrassment. Have you any idea how much damage you’ve done to the Mage Tower? If you’re going to entertain absurdities, keep them to yourself. But no—you had to submit it to Academia and drag us into humiliation!” Relin said as he pushed Epherene aside, walked into the office, pulled the book from her desk, and flipped it open.

Then Relin added, “The Theory of Relativity? What is this—another patchwork of nonsense sewn together from scraps best left rotting in the gutter…”

“No, it’s not something that’s scraps best left rotting in the gutter—”

“Assistant Professor Epherene! This is for you!” Adrienne said, holding out a slip of paper.

“What’s this?” Epherene asked, accepting the slip of paper.

“It’s a notice for the Personnel Committee!” Adrienne replied, beaming so brightly it was hard to tell if she was being serious or joking.

“For the… Personnel Committee?”

“Yes! The subject is Assistant Professor Epherene! The presenter is Head Professor Deculein! The reason behind this is your latest thesis because it was way too insulting!”

“… What did you just say?!” Epherene shouted, her face drained of all color.

“Ahem! We’ll go over the details then! Hehe! Oh, and if things go really wrong, the Personnel Committee might send it up to the Floating Island!” Adrienne said as she glanced at Epherene, her lips trembling now.

A little drama right before I leave—perfect~ Adrienne thought.

Adrienne walked out of the office with a stream of chatter while the professors left behind looked at Epherene, each with their own thoughts, and except for Louina, their expressions were all some mix of disapproval and contempt.

***

… It was around noon the next week, as the sun stood at its peak and the midday light bathed Yukline Mansion in a golden warmth, welcoming the guest Deculein had mentioned.

“… Ria, it’s been a while,” Yeriel said.

Ria was no stranger because Yeriel had seen her back at the Hadecaine mansion, but she couldn’t shake the awkwardness that always came with seeing that strange little adventurer.

“Yes, I’m here to learn,” Ria replied, smiling brightly at Yeriel as she lugged in her mountain of bags.

“Sure… but Deculein’s sleeping at the moment,” Yeriel said, shrugging.

“He’s still in bed?”

“Yes, not something you see every day, and he’s achieved some sort of magical achievement now,” Yeriel replied, giving an exaggerated shrug.

At those words, Ria’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Come on in. Everything’s ready for you,” Yeriel continued, waving her inside with a chuckle.

“Okay.”

Ria stepped forward without hesitation, caught up to Yeriel, and the two walked down the corridor together.

“You’ll be staying in a private suite—three bedrooms, a lounge, and a bath. It’s more luxurious than most grand mansions you will ever find.”

“Oh—okay. Thank you so much.”

“By the way—got a boyfriend?” Yeriel asked.

It was a strange question from Yeriel—one that seemed to come out of nowhere.

“… No?” Ria replied, shaking her head.

“Yeah?”

Then, with a slight worry on her face, Yeriel muttered under her breath that Deculein wouldn’t go that far with a child and sighed, as if trying to convince herself.

“But how did you end up learning from Deculein? He is not the kind of person who would offer that for nothing.”

“Oh, he said I had talent…”

“Hmm. But your talent doesn’t really matter to me. Do you know what does matter? This next part—it’s the most important part,” Yeriel said.

Click, clack— Click, clack—

The rhythm of Yeriel’s heels clicked through the hallway, only to be joined a moment later by her voice breaking the silence.

“You look just like Deculein’s former fiancée.”

Ria remained silent.

“I’ll show you the photo first. It’s the only one left in his study. Deculein usually doesn’t let anyone near it, but he’s in too deep a sleep to notice right now,” Yeriel concluded.

“… Okay, but why are you showing it to me?” Ria asked, nibbing her lower lip.

“I just thought you should see it for yourself. You look so much like her that it’s hard to ignore,” Yeriel replied.

If Ria had only resembled her a little, it would’ve just been a neat coincidence, but the resemblance went far beyond that.

“Oh, don’t worry—of course, Deculein wouldn’t lay a finger on you, I swear. He’s a man who guards his dignity as if it’s worth more than his life. Besides, you haven’t even had your coming-of-age ceremony yet.”

Therefore, every time Yeriel looked at the child, an ache welled within her because of that woman who had nearly taken Deculein’s life and also because of her, he survived.

“But if Deculein’s ever too nice or too mean—that’ll be why,” Yeriel continued, her footsteps slowing to a stop.

Yeriel came to a stop before the doors of Deculein’s study while Ria stared up at the massive doors and swallowed hard, thinking that maybe, just maybe, this was where the story’s pace had progressed—a hint that would explain how Deculein came to know the Holy Language.

Click—

“You can leave whenever you like,” Yeriel concluded, unlocking the study door and turning back toward Ria. “Because she was someone… Deculein loved more than anyone else.”

Though a bit frightened, Ria couldn’t shake the feeling that she had walked into a dungeon of her own making, but she braced herself and nodded, choosing courage.

“It’s okay. I mean, there are tons of people in the world—someone’s going to look like someone else…” Ria replied.