CH 122

It’s hot.

It’s like the components I extracted from the parasitic mushroom and then inserted into my arm are roasting my body from the inside.

I also feel the diluted potion I drank beforehand reacting with it inside my blood vessels.

I lose the strength in my hand, and drop the knife.

“Master Rust!”

The three come running, but I raise my arm to stop them.

“Stop! It’s still all right. First, splash potion on the knife.”

I point to the knife on the ground.

Roa removes a potion from her belt, turns it upside down, and generously splashes it on the blade of the knife.

Black smoke rises from the knife, but quickly stops.

“Master Rust, why!? What are you doing?”

Says Ahri, sounding more flustered than ever before.

“Yes, I should’ve explained. Sorry. This is the alternate plan. When it comes to primordial magic, the thing that’s used the most, is blood.”

“What kind of plan is this!? You’re being infected! You have a wound on your arm!”

“My arm is fine. I drank that diluted potion. See, it stopped bleeding already.”

I show the part where I stabbed myself. The wound still looks fresh, but the effect of the potion is slowly closing it.

“So what is that alternate plan anyway?”

Asks Taula, also sounding worried.

“My first plan was to create a special transmuted beast that didn’t use a magic stone as a core. Every individual transmuted beast would be microscopic, to the point where they could snatch the components of the parasitic mushrooms and easily self-propagate.”

“Yes. To make a transmuted beast you need a magic stone dropped from a monster and without being processed. But there aren’t any magic stones that small…”

Whispers Ahri, seemingly calmer.

“But why? Would that help defeat a demon?”

Taula looks puzzled.

“These mushrooms have spread throughout the entire country, so we have no way of knowing if they’ll disappear even if we defeat the demon that created them, right?”

“Hm… Is that really so?”

“Maybe. But that’s why we need to be prepared.”

I say while slowly sitting down.

It’s getting kind of hard to stand, probably because of the heat.

“I see. Is that related to our conversation?”

“Yes. Your divination touched on something about logic. And so, now I’m doing this alternate plan.”

I activate more scrolls with trembling fingers.

I also take out an empty bottle and a different knife, both cleaned with perfectly pure water.

“Rust, don’t overdo it!”

Says Taula with a concerned expression, and I wave my hand in response.

“It’s fine. 《Purify》, 《Release》.”

I confirm the activation of the scrolls, and stab the same wound with the new knife.

Blood starts coming out of the wound again, and I use the 《Purify》 scroll to fix its state.

The blood dripping from my arm falls into the empty bottle floating near it.

“And… Done.”

I quickly close the bottle and carefully hold it up to check it.

The transparent bottle is half filled with blood.

I breathe a sigh of relief, before taking out a potion and drinking it. The mushroom components inside my body are quickly purified.