678. Silicon Rot Removal

678. Silicon Rot Removal

Silicon Rot

< A disease that spites the living flesh and transforms it into silicon crystals. The shades of the crystals depict the experiences of an infected person’s life. Incurable >

The description of Gerina Aztra’s disease was eerily similar to the colors of the Black Dahlia’s flowers. Red and blue glowed faintly within the opaquely grey crystals, reflecting the woman’s physical trauma and mental turmoil as she shuddered in her sleep.

“One reflects sins, and the other reflects experiences...”

Nav. Do we know why colors relate to experiences? I’ve always been able to see the colors. But it didn’t matter to me as much until it became associated with Sins. And now experiences. It was intention back then.

Frost consulted the trusty voice in her head as she inspected Gerina’s right arm further. She had taken the woman to an abandoned fortress deep into the woods leading towards the Bellum Empire.

It was a rundown hold infested with all manners of giant eight-legged creatures. However, they scattered like roaches by the time Frost and Cer were able to place a foot through the rotting door. Arachnids of all kinds were territorial and prideful creatures at heart, but they knew better than to protest them.

Besides, they were only borrowing their fortress. They could have it back later. The spiders in question were not the violent type either but were giant jumping spiders that tended to hug people for warmth.

Nav spoke shortly after a momentary silence.

“It’s difficult to explain why colors can represent abstract things. The problem is that it’s not universal. Sins and experiences do go hand in hand, but blue means different things.”

Like how the blue flames I see means they have good intentions. Blue can also mean the Sin of Lust. The blue I’m seeing now in the crystal... what is that supposed to be? I can see a well of green inside of it as well. It’s like staring into a Looking Glass.

“Green would be Envy, no? It makes no sense that a dying person would feel envious. Not to the Memento Mori. She tried to escape them.”

Exactly. That might not belong to her at all. Envy... Is there an Affinity related to it?

Frost knew that this disease either belonged to a Corrupted or the Impuritas. It had changed her to a degree where Healers could not possibly bring her arm back without amputation. It was a rot that needed to be hacked off.

The term ‘rot’ lingered on the forefront of Frost’s mind. She knew something. It sat at the tip of her tongue, but she could not bring herself to say it. As a result, she unintentionally used Scrutiny on the woman, causing her body to freeze like a cadaver.

Shit...

“Ahem. Out of all the Affinities, Envy would be closely related to the Affinity of Attachment.”

Envy? With Attachment? How does that make sense?

“Infecta Rot are known to be a machine Impuritas linked to the Attachment Affinity. Artificial life at the bare minimum, which includes stuffed toys and inanimate objects. It could be that their hatred of the flesh stems from their envy of it.”

Nav spoke vehemently.

“Aright, you come do it.”

“I’m kidding.”

“Haaaah. I was a nurse, not a doctor. Let alone a surgeon. I was basically a foot soldier. We dealt with complex things, but we could never operate or prescribe anything. This is an experience for me.”

“... She must love hearing that it’s your first time doing this in her sleep. Why don’t you do the thing where you talk to the person like they’re awake?”

“I don’t think that applies to surgery. Not like this. What am I going to say? Hey, Gerina~ I’m just going to remove your circulatory system~! Oh wait, I can’t do that because your capillaries are affected too~”

She forced herself to speak in a bubbly, ditzy tone to annoy Cer. However, Cer’s tail wagged in response.

“So the better option is to –”

Frost’s voice deepened as she hacked her in half.

[Prolonged Stasis] would keep Gerina alive no matter what trauma she faced. This meant that Frost could regenerate her from the top down, effectively cleansing all impurities in the bottom half. Then once her lower body formed, she did it to the upper half.

“– Start with a clean slate!”

A Moon would not have survived a bisection.

Even a Moon would not have survived a complete transection of the lower half. In this case, it was a hemicorporectomy. But the power of a max-leveled [Prolonged Stasis] defied death. One had to wonder if the Memento Mori would reconsider their ways if they knew how powerful Healing magic was.

It took minutes to completely restore the woman’s body. Once done, Frost and Cer reclothed her.

Now they just had to wait for her to wake up. In the meantime, Frost received an exciting message.

< Corporeal Restoration III Has Gained a Level >

< Corporeal Restoration III Has Become Corporeal Restoration IV >

< ACTIVE: Corporeal Restoration IV >

< EFFECT: Heal mortal wounds instantaneously. HP does not recover. Blood will be automatically replenished into healed body parts >