Chapter 508
The Youth and the Young Man
Star Antimony Kingdom, Capital City, Lionheart City.
Aurora awoke from her dream, gradually becoming lucid.
She had endured pain to complete her advancement, reaching the Fourth Tier. Now, she had become a true “Calamity Stitcher.”
Feeling her body gradually stiffen and then soften… Aurora slowly rose, tilted her head, and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
Her hair was soft, platinum blonde, and she wore a pale purple nightgown. Her delicate, expressionless face had turned pale, lifeless like a doll. She reached out a hand and fumbled a few times, then felt something.
She touched her heart.
—Her heart had stopped beating. Or rather, her heartbeat had become so slow it was imperceptible.
So, Aurora tried cupping her head with both hands. With a gentle twist, she removed her own head.
She held her head carefully in her arms, yet no blood flowed from her neck. The cross-section was smooth as jade, shimmering with a soft, oily sheen like a slice of ham.
This was the special ability of a Calamity Stitcher—every part of their body could be freely removed, replaced, and upgraded, or even grafted onto other corpses. From this point on, they no longer possessed the weaknesses of traditional beings, making them difficult to kill through physical attacks.
Before she could even process her newfound gains, she heard a shrill scream.
Aurora’s heart tightened, and she immediately reattached her head to her neck.
She walked quickly to the door, opened it, and rushed towards the ritual room where their mentor was.
As Aurora reached the doorway, she stopped abruptly, unable to help but widen her eyes.
Their mentor, young Fernando, was engulfed in flames—
He rolled on the bed, his hands desperately scratching at his skin. He emitted continuous, shrill, hysterical screams.
Young Fernando’s body was covered in bloody wounds and torn flesh… Unending flames raged deep within his soul.
Albert stood by his mentor’s bed, chanting spells, hoping to give his teacher a moment’s respite.
But it was young Fernando’s soul that had ignited—this was a fatal injury carried over from the ascension ritual, and no matter how much Albert tried to dispel it, he couldn’t extinguish the flames. Albert had also tried various elixirs, but none had worked. His hands were already severely burned… but despite his best efforts, he could only pause the flames for a few seconds at most.
But he had done his best.
Without Albert’s efforts, young Fernando would have been burned to death in mere seconds, not lasting until Aurora arrived.
Aurora felt a pang of sympathy for her senior classmate who was desperately trying to save their mentor.
So, she strode forward and firmly pulled Albert aside, whispering, “…Let me try.”
Albert turned back, subconsciously murmuring, “Aurora…”
He was more skilled in necromancy and alchemy; his talent for petrification and preservation was far inferior to Aurora’s.
He trusted her and stepped back, beginning to treat his severely burned hands with an alchemical potion.
Aurora’s pupils, meanwhile, began to glow with a dim yellow light.
She clasped her hands together, and they transformed into stone.
“Teacher… don’t resist.”
She said softly.
Then, she reached out her hands to touch young Fernando’s body, all the while chanting lowly.
The petrification began to spread rapidly, encasing the struggling young Fernando entirely. His body was completely petrified, his pained expression frozen, forming a lifelike sculpture of agony. It could almost be titled “The Man Being Burned Alive.”
“…Let’s leave it like this for now.”
Aurora pursed her lips and said softly.
For now, she would petrify and preserve him, and figure out a solution later.
Then, she used the Preservation Technique to further solidify her teacher’s body. This was to prevent it from breaking or cracking accidentally during transport.
She looked down at young Fernando, her expression sorrowful.
In that moment, she thought of many things she wanted to say. But in the end, not a single word came out.
So, she could only close her eyes and cherish his memory in her heart.
“…Aurora.”
Albert looked at her and called out softly again.
“Teacher died for me.”
She said softly, with a hint of sadness.
“The mentor isn’t dead yet.”
Albert offered a weak consolation, “Perhaps we’ll find a way to save him later. We just need to extinguish his soul fire…”
Although even a Fifth Tier couldn’t do it… perhaps the legendary Sixth Tier could?
Then, the room fell into an awkward silence once more. After a while—a full minute of silence—Albert, unable to bear it, made conversation again, saying, “Do you remember what the teacher told us? Did you record it down with pen and paper?”
“…I just woke up.”
Aurora replied softly, “But I’ve been reciting it in my heart.”
She took out the pen and paper she had prepared in her nightgown pocket and began to write.
Albert had clearly woken up earlier than her.
He pulled out his already written notebook, having apparently jotted down all the important keywords.
“While you still remember, let’s exchange notes… Is there anything new you know that I don’t?”
“Yes.”
Aurora answered briefly, “Teacher said, ‘Don’t make an enemy of Eivass. He is blessed by the Twin.'”
“…All I remember is what the teacher told me. Eivass and Queen Isabel are not on the same side. If Spirit Tower is in danger, seek refuge with Eivass directly.”
Albert flipped through his notebook. “Also, thoroughly investigate the Shadow of Avalon ritual…”
“I’ve already seen the last one.”
Aurora added, “That ritual actually exists. Lancelot was indeed resurrected, and then he consumed Eivass. After that, he went mad… He was incredibly powerful when mad. But Eivass’s soul seems to be within him. I was probably saved by Eivass. Otherwise, I would have died too.”
She honestly recounted everything she remembered.
Although Pupu, who rarely spoke, had said so much at once, Albert still blinked with some confusion.
—To be honest, he didn’t understand.
Aurora was usually a quiet girl who didn’t talk much. She would often sit in a corner of the classroom, quietly flipping through her textbook. During the practical classes that other students most looked forward to—”Human Anatomy” and “Modification and Stitching”—she would always stand quietly at the edge of the crowd, not crowding forward, and never fighting with other students for the precious corpse materials.
Every time the corpses were divided, she was only left with the parts no one else wanted.
Later, after she displayed an exceptional talent for the Preservation Technique, the teacher took her on as an assistant. Her main role was to preserve corpses—whether it was keeping fresh corpses preserved or maintaining the integrity of already stitched abominations, an assistant skilled in preservation was needed. And Aurora’s talent in preservation was the best.
At the time, she and Albert were in the same laboratory. Albert was diligently stitching corpses, while she was either tucked away in a corner reading or standing far away, watching Albert stitch. She never spoke, nor did she disturb him.
Sometimes, Albert would think she had already left. But when he looked up, he found she was still there. Realizing his gaze, she would look up at him curiously.
…Quite cute.
Albert had thought at the time, and thus remembered this girl.
Later, as they grew closer, their mentor, young Fernando, also noticed this diligent and talented student. Recommended by Albert, he took her on as his student. Although Aurora couldn’t directly help the mentor with his research like Albert, whenever she was needed, she meticulously and earnestly fulfilled her duties as an assistant.
Unlike his strictness towards Albert, young Fernando was very concerned about Aurora.
Knowing that Aurora’s parents had passed away and she had little money. Not only did he bring her snacks and drinks, but he would also invite Albert and her out for meals together—Albert had never received such treatment when he was his student.
As Aurora became more familiar with them, she began to speak a little more. But really, it was only a little, and Albert could rarely understand what she said… although their mentor surprisingly could.
—It felt like he could tell she was trying her best to express herself, but it felt like she was leaving a lot out.
It was as if she said everything in her heart, but didn’t articulate it with her words.
…If it were the mentor, he would definitely understand what Aurora was trying to say, Albert felt dejected.
Now that the mentor was gone… I must take good care of Aurora.
Albert made up his mind.
After watching the final summary screen, he vaguely felt… that the mentor might have been deceived.
Because Albert saw the people on the ship, on the Grand Guardian’s Gryphon, in the final scene. Almost everyone who had gathered at Moriarty Manor was there.
In that moment, a new possibility occurred to Albert—
A simple process of elimination.
There were six settlement screens, and Pupu was not among them. If the knight who died fighting in the Silver and Tin Hall at the beginning of the settlement screen was the pirate… then the people who weren’t explicitly shown were Fox, Doctor, Lulu, and Cheese.
But “Fox” was the first person among everyone. Albert immediately ruled out the possibility of him being mocked and eliminated. The mentor had also said that Bishop Mathers was likely Fox… Considering Mathers’s retrograde actions at the time, the final explosion might have been him.
As for the remaining three, they were never seen from beginning to end, and the only empty screen was that flying ship. On it, there was someone whose contribution was second only to his own.
Albert could only think of one person.
That was “Lulu.” She was the third, and also followed the Path of Beauty. Princess Isabel also followed the Path of Beauty.
—Is there a possibility that the Princess Isabel was Lulu in disguise?
If so, it would explain why Bishop Mathers would say, “Eivass and Isabel are closely related.” This was information that only outsiders would know.
Furthermore, Albert thought of another thing.
When they entered, the little girl named Cheese, who appeared last, said something.
She said—
“Is that Sister Lulu? And Brother Fox—I’m Cheese, long time no see!”
In other words, Cheese had been in the same ascension ritual with Fox and Lulu at the same time.
It was unlikely to be such a coincidence that three people would be arranged consecutively. Therefore, it was highly probable that Fox and Lulu were together!
So, even though the three of them were together, they were robbed of the assembly point by Fox and Lulu. And if Fox and Lulu were together, the second-ranked “Pirate” must also have been with them. Considering that the pirate was highly likely someone from the Avalon Inspection Bureau or the Inspection Department, then Fox and Lulu must also have been Avalon people.
—Could it be that Eivass and Isabel were impersonating themselves?
Albert suddenly had this inspiration.
No, that was unlikely.
He dismissed this ridiculous conjecture.
If Lulu were indeed Her Majesty the Queen, how could the pirate dare to treat her that way? And if so, the people accompanying her ascension would be too weak… dying at the beginning.
Since it could be confirmed that “Isabel” was portrayed by an ascendant, the information obtained by the mentor was likely unreliable. Because it was highly probable that “Isabel” had long seen through him not being Sherlock and had improvises to mislead him.
…However.
The stranger pondered for a long time before choosing to keep this secret to himself.
If the information brought by the mentor was false, what was the worst-case scenario?
That the information was reversed—Eivass and Queen Isabel were allies, and one could not directly seek refuge with Eivass if Spirit Tower was in danger.
…But, he genuinely wanted to seek refuge with Eivass now.
Or rather, Eivass himself didn’t matter much…
But he had some admiration for that Grand Guardian.
【—There’s no why, because you are a commoner. Because I am a knight—I am a knight bestowed honor by Her Majesty the Queen, and I will guard her honor until death.】
【—It has nothing to do with your origin, nationality, or will. You did not participate in this war, so you are not a soldier. You are a commoner.】
【—Whether you are a Star Antimony person or an Iris person, as long as you are not a giant, I will protect you! I can protect you!】
…Recalling it brought tears to his eyes and filled him with yearning.
Hearty, tenacious, and straightforward—
This was a man! This was a knight!
The sentence “You did not participate in this war, so you are not a soldier” undoubtedly saved Albert from his depression. Even if he fled Star Antimony, the Armed Gargoyle might still be developed… but the outcome had nothing to do with his personal wishes.
Now, he himself wanted to go to Avalon. And the mentor’s “last words” were undoubtedly a powerful excuse to do so, allowing him to bring others along.
Although Star Antimony now valued and respected technical personnel far more than Avalon, that respect stemmed from profit. It was precisely because their achievements translated into profit that their intelligence had value. However, this profit came at the cost of harming others’ happiness.
For a moment, Albert couldn’t think of… any research that could definitely help others.
—He remembered that Lord Blackface had said a soul-stirring sentence to the students at the opening ceremony.
Necromancy, from the very beginning, was not created for the purpose of war or killing.
“It is the art of bringing the departed back to the mortal world, the miracle of reversing life and death, of forging eternity! It is for turning decay into immortality, for making the incomplete whole, for reuniting those who are separated, for allowing the people of the past to meet the people of the future—it is an art that exists to obtain infinite time within a finite destiny!”
Blackface’s speech instilled in Albert faith and pride in necromancy.
It had once caused Albert self-doubt, but now it had become his new goal.
“To turn decay into immortality, to make the incomplete whole, to reunite those who are separated, to allow the people of the past to reach the future…”
Albert murmured, and a dim yellow light slowly shone in his pupils.
His life was undoubtedly happy.
Unlike Aurora, he had no one he particularly wished to resurrect, nor any memories worth cherishing.
But now, looking at the petrified, frozen mentor, he felt pain and longing for the first time.
He seemed to understand Lord Blackface’s philosophy.
—For the people of the past to reach the future.
Calamity Stitchers had the potential to create complete bodies without souls, and Amber Artisans could place a person’s soul into another body. Combined, wasn’t that a form of resurrection?
New research would begin with… prosthetics.
“—First, let the incomplete be made whole.”
On this day, the innocent youth transformed into a young man with his own ideals.
(End of Chapter)
