The Runic Alchemist

Chapter 498: The Creation of A Lifetime

[In the Middle of the Ocean, Unknown Planet – Damian's POV]

It had been too long. Over three days had passed for Lumi and Elias before he had arrived. Somehow, they had managed to survive. But..

Reize.. had been bedridden the entire time. And she was burning up with insanely high temperatures for a human body. Even though Lumi and Elias had skillfully cleaned her wounds, even disinfecting it with alcohol, it wasn't enough. The lingering foreign mana had seeped deep into her system, merging with her core and had already become a part of her.

"Maximus.. I am so sorry.. We tried.. We tried so much.." Lumi sobbed uncontrollably. Elias held his emotions better than she did, but the sorrow in his eyes was the same.

Damian patted both of their heads, smiling warmly. "You did good. You fought and survived—that's more than enough. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her."

They hugged him tightly, their tears flowing freely as they cried their hearts out. Damian consoled them before leaving them in the control room—one of the few rooms still in decent condition. The Highswords were gathered there too. The seating compartment, however, was in the worst state—reeked of death, corpses littered all around.

Elias couldn't stop flying the ship for more than a few minutes. If he did, it would crash into the sea. With a hole in the bottom, it would sink instantly. They had been flying nonstop for three days—Lumi guiding while Elias used his liquid mana as best as he could to keep them afloat. The boy was dead tired and fell asleep almost instantly after crying. So did Lumi.

Damian immediately took control of the ship, keeping it stable in the air.

Then, he entered the room he shared with Reize, accompanied by Lifewarden and Worldscribe—the only two who had experience healing others with their spells. They examined her sleeping form and shook their heads.

"I'm sorry, kid.." Lifewarden sighed. "It's mana poisoning at its worst.. There's no cure for it."

Worldscribe hesitated before saying. "If she were one of them, maybe.."

"No!" Damian's voice was resolute, his aura flaring. "Leave if you can't help."

Both nodded, lowering their heads as they left.

Maybe his voice had been too loud. Reize stirred, eyes opening sluggishly. She didn't recognize his changed form at first, but then realization dawned, and her eyes welled with tears. Her lips moved, whispering barely audible words.

"I.. Sorry.. Damian.. Forgive me.."

Damian held her hand immediately, wiping the tears from her heated face. "Don't worry.. I'm here. Nothing will happen to you."

She didn't hear him completely, falling unconscious once again. Damian's expression twisted with pain and deep concern. Mana poisoning truly had no cure—even Reize knew what was happening to her.

'Can you do something..?' Damian asked in his mind.

'The only way to save her is to remove all the mana from her body.. But her core will keep producing more tainted mana. The longer it goes on, the more the poison spreads,' the Prince replied.

'Is there really no way? Any stories? Myths? Rumors? Something..?' Damian's voice was barely holding together.

'I don't know if it'll help, but once, I visited a closed-off beastmen village. The sage there created a method to share his life energy with others, giving people a chance to fight off illnesses their bodies couldn't handle.'

'Life energy? How did the spell work?' Damian pressed.

'It's another way of saying soul fragments. Like enchantments, the sage used small pieces of his soul to attract and absorb the illness. It just worked—or so he claimed. He created the spell in a desperate attempt to heal his dying daughter.'

Pieces of soul.. Attracting illness..

Damian's mind raced at full speed, searching for a solution that resembled the sage's method. Mana poisoning was just foreign mana dominating weaker mana, wasn't it?

'Yes,' the Prince confirmed.

'I need to make the thing. Right now.'

'It didn't work for us, even after decades. What makes you think it will now?' the Prince questioned.

'It has to.' Damian's resolve was unshaken, his eyes burning with determination.

Without hesitation, he left Reize's side, taking Runefather and Lifewarden with him onto the ship's exterior. Standing on the flat surface atop the ship, he pulled out his runic forge and the high-quality metals he had gathered from noble students.

"Whatever you're making, use this." Runefather pulled out a massive chunk of metal—the same material as the colossal sword in the desert.

"Thank you," Damian said sincerely.

"You've saved us all, time and again. This is the least I can do," Runefather replied.

Damian nodded. "Runefather, use the forge to melt the metal and keep shaking it. Don't let it solidify."

Runefather nodded without question.

Then Damian turned to Lifewarden, summoning his black and red fiery spear. Without hesitation, he willingly authorized its use to him. Both third-rankers widened their eyes in shock, but they no longer questioned Damian's feats. Even among third-rankers, few possessed a soulbound weapon.

Placing the spear in Lifewarden's hands, Damian instructed, "Keep pouring your mana into it while maintaining the shape of the flames. Get it as hot as you can handle."

Lifewarden also nodded. Both of them knew Damian wouldn't ask for their help unless it was absolutely necessary, and both were eager to repay their debt to him.

With the continuously boiling, high-quality metal ready, Damian pushed himself to the absolute limit. He needed to imbue a spell into the liquid metal—something far beyond his usual capacity. But that was before—when he was a mere first-ranker, capable of using only 100 mana threads and maintaining a continuous 100,000 mana expenditure.

Now, his senses had expanded once again. His mind and body had grown far stronger.

Damian activated over 20 mana containers, weaving more than 300 mana threads. With unwavering focus, he began forging the creation that would one day become a Universal Treasure—a singular tool that could never be replicated. Not even by its own creator.

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