Chapter 43: Let's Look Again at Extinguished Embers
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 43: Let's Look Again at Extinguished Embers
The Undying's body was practically a corpse. Perhaps due to the nature of its race, no blood flowed, but with its limbs twisted at grotesque angles and its chest utterly still, it felt completely devoid of life.
His right arm was moving, but I had no idea why. Why were its muscles contracting on their own?
I muttered, looking at the corpse.
“I wonder if it'll get up if I splash some water on it?”
The vampire interjected.
“Don't bother. You're wasting your time. The life of an Earthener is different from yours. They may have infinite life when touching the earth, but for that very reason, they will never awaken here, separated from it.”
However, the Regressor believed this undying had witnessed what happened inside Tantalus. It couldn't have been a witness if it couldn't open its eyes.
Hmm. Should I try that method?
It would be pointless if its life force was completely drained. You can't light a fire without kindling, after all.
But the amount of beans the Undying had shoveled down over the past few days was enough to make the logistics division wonder if there was a hole in their inventory. If it was still short on life force after gorging itself on a level that suggested procurement fraud, then it wasn't life it was lacking, but a conscience.
I had a feeling it would get up, if I could just provide the spark.
“Alright, everyone. Today, I'm going to perform a little magic trick for you.”
“A magic trick?”
“Yes! The magic of heart resuscitation! I'm going to bring this person back to life!”
I spread my hands with a “Ta-da!”, but a scoff of disbelief came from the side. Looking over, I saw the vampire letting out a hollow laugh, as if she found the whole thing absurd.
“Nonsense.”
After a good laugh, the vampire dismissed my words curtly.
“Are you a god? Or is the heart your plaything? How do you propose to make a stopped heart beat again?”
“A mystery that can never be achieved by the limited imagination of ordinary people. That's what a magic trick is.”
“If that were possible, you could raise the dead with your tricks.”
As if there was no need to hear more, the vampire slung her parasol over her shoulder and straightened her back. It was a non-verbal expression that she was losing interest.
At the same time, I felt an unusual sense of unease.
It was a foreign feeling, like a bone caught in my throat. It wasn't my own sensation, but an emotion transmitted from the vampire.
A stabbing pain from within, accompanied by displeasure. Annoyance, and an irritation that was hard to simply ignore.
The vampire had been defensive when dealing with the Regressor earlier, but she'd still shown a degree of acceptance. But now she's showing hostility? Strange. Honestly, from the perspective of someone from 1200 years ago, isn't the idea of a man loving another man more shocking than a heart starting to beat again?
Times like these call for a little mind-reading. Let's see, what have we here.
I narrowed my eyes and focused on the vampire's thoughts.
‘A heart? Nonsense. If a heart could be restarted so easily, all vampires would have their own by now. Enough. No need to pay it any mind. It's impossible.’
An assertion of impossibility. What was this? Rigid thinking? The stubbornness of an old dog who can't learn new tricks?
Or was it sour grapes? A blind rage toward a fruit she had longed for but, after countless failures, had finally given up on?
‘Excluding the first two hundred years, I wandered for a millennium. I experienced countless lives, took in all the world had to see, unearthed the darkest secrets and noblest truths, and saw beings called gods and demons with my own two eyes. Yet, just as time cannot be turned back, none of it could grant new life to those who had passed.’
Or perhaps… was it the heart of a child who lost something precious too early, hating the parents who abandoned them yet still longing for them?
Hmm. This feeling was new.
Usually, when there's a single emotion, its background is clear. But perhaps because her life had been so long, this event and that were all tangled together, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact cause.
Then again, a tower built over twelve centuries wouldn't be made of just one or two stones. Thousands, tens of thousands of small stones and grains of sand must be sharing the load, great and small.
‘Revive a heart? Ridiculous. It's impossible. Absolutely. No one has ever found a way, and if by some twist of fate a great being had gifted such a method to humanity… it wouldn't have come so late. It couldn't possibly arrive this late, after all the good things have faded with time. It shouldn't.’
But one thing was certain.
The vampire wished for her own heart to beat again.
She prayed to reclaim the life she had lost when she was so young.
‘…I got worked up. What lingering attachments could a being who has lived for over a thousand years have? This is all worldly care, all greed.’
Greed… Can you really call it that? I couldn't agree.
The yearning for life is not called greed. It is instinct, or perhaps providence. A fundamental premise, a foundation. It is the categorical imperative that supports people from beneath everything else.
I had read enough of the vampire.
Perhaps because of that, a smile spread across my face.
Something denied for a thousand years, something believed to be absolutely impossible.
What kind of face would the vampire make if it actually happened? Right before her eyes, if an ordinary person like me actually performed that miracle? Faced with a single success that came like a coincidence, would a thousand years of failure bring her joy? Or despair?
I was curious. It was unbearably fun.
And so, I spread my arms wide and shouted.
“Excellent! To achieve what everyone thinks is impossible is the mark of a true magician! Trainee Tyrkanzyaka's forceful denial has filled me with energy! Very well, if that is the trainee's will, then I, as a magician, will do everything in my power to make it happen!”
Hearing my words, the Regressor narrowed her eyes.
“Magician?”
“Ah, haha! 'Magician' was my nickname in the Military State!”
“What did you do to earn a nickname like 'Magician'?”
“Political magic! The trick of turning government posts into cash! The persona just kind of slipped out!”
'Nonsense... probably?'
Oops, better be careful. If I got too carried away, I might arouse suspicion.
Ahem. Anyway.
“Now. First, anything that exists in this world, unless it just fell from the sky, has its own origins and history, right? I'll start explaining from the very beginning.”
I was about to take out a piece of chalk, but then I remembered I'd completely forgotten about it while teasing the Regressor earlier. No matter. The story was what's important.
I turned around and began my story.
“Lightning is the punishment of the Sky God, a pure power that descends from the heavens! However, after the famous lightning thief incident, the Sky God took pity on the human who returned the lightning to the sky and permitted them to use its power. And that is this.”
As I spoke, I gathered my mana and raised a finger. The gazes of the others landed on my finger, and beyond it, the corners of my mouth, which were turned up in a grin.
“Bolt.”
Crackle.
A yellow spark flashed. A highly volatile power, one that vanished in an instant but was just as intense, spread through the air.
I flicked my finger, scattering the remnants, and continued.
“The power to create electricity. From that point on, humans became able to wield it… though the power itself is so intense and brief that its applications are very limited. It's mainly used to light lamps, start various devices, or remove soot and rust from iron.”
As I said this, I slyly took out a skewer. Grasping the sharp skewer, I put on the gentlest expression I could muster to reassure everyone.
“…Or, perhaps, to give a little surprise to people with unnecessarily heavy lips, to knock on the door of their tightly shut mouths? Well, in the sense that it removes the soot from their hearts and makes them honest, it's quite similar, isn't it?”
Even though I'd phrased it as euphemistically as possible, the trainees, who had a knack for spotting malicious intent, understood my meaning.
‘Torture….’
The Regressor and the vampire both scowled at me. The vampire frowned lightly and lowered her parasol, while the Regressor gripped her desk so hard I could hear the steel plate buckle.
Whoa. I'd better move past this part quickly. I spoke rapidly.
“Ahem. During the course of the Military State's Public Safety division conducting electro-torture… I mean, peaceful interrogations with electricity on a few individuals, a very peculiar fact was discovered! When they applied an electric shock to someone whose heart had stopped, what do you know! They frequently found cases where the heart started beating again!”
I could feel disbelief from the vampire and pessimism from the Regressor. Well, that was fine. It was better than them feeling nothing at all.
Now then. I held the skewer in a reverse grip. Crouching down next to the Undying's still-cold body, I carefully aimed for its heart.
“I'll test that method on this undying. Here we go.”
And without a moment's hesitation, I plunged the skewer into the area around the Undying's heart.
Thunk. Is this what it feels like to stab a barrel full of cement? There was just a dull sound, and my skewer only managed to penetrate the Undying's chest by half a finger's joint.
This body was strange. Why was it like hardened concrete? With my strength, I couldn't even pierce its chest with this skewer.
I put the skewer in my pocket and held out my hand to the Regressor.
“…Ahem. Using the skewer might damage the body. Trainee Shei, could I perhaps borrow that sword you have floating by your head?”
“Chun-aeng?”
“Chun-aeng, what a pretty name. Yes, I'll use it carefully and give it right back.”
The Regressor narrowed her eyes, looking at me as if sizing me up.
‘That skewer must not be sharp. There's no way that man would ask to borrow a sword just because he can't pierce a bit of flesh.’
But it was sharp. I kept it well-honed so I could use it anytime.
‘He must be asking for my sword because he's afraid of shattering the Undying's body if he uses his full strength, right? In any case, it's in my best interest to know how it woke up.’
No, that was my full strength. Even stabbing with all my might, I only got half a joint deep.
Man, I couldn't even pretend to use my strength carelessly in front of the Regressor. One wrong move and I might shatter the illusion she had of me.
‘It might be foolish to hand my only weapon to a potential enemy… Hmph, but it would be just as ridiculous to refuse out of pointless caution. Besides, I'm the only one who can wield Chun-aeng anyway.’
The Regressor readily flicked her finger. The invisible sword flew like an arrow and embedded itself at my feet. Chun-aeng dug about three inches into the concrete floor and quivered.
“Right. Your skewer seems inadequate. Go on, try it.”
“Thanks. I'll put it to good use.”
The saving grace was that the Regressor's weapon, Chun-aeng, was outstanding enough to perform well even in the hands of someone like me. If I couldn't cut through with a sword like this, I would have been in big trouble.
“Now then. Scalpel.”
The blade sliced smoothly through the flesh. The Undying's blood was like a living slime; even when I cut open its chest, the blood didn't flow out. Instead, it seemed to retreat deeper into the body.
As I carefully pushed the flesh aside, I could see the heart deep inside the pitch-black ribcage. From here, instead of forcibly digging through the flesh, I inserted the skewer. All the way down until it touched the heart in the center.
“They didn't go this far during electro-torture, but since we're doing it anyway, it's better to be close to the heart. If I cast the spell on the outside of the body, the magic might dissipate. Anyway, like this, shall we apply some electricity to the stopped heart?”
Tossing Chun-aeng aside, I performed the somatics I had learned before. The Standard Magic that could forcibly draw out the mana within one's body, even without magical aptitude. One of the few practical inventions the Military State had ever produced.
“Set, Thema, Ket, Obeli.”
And its improved version.
I extended the magical power that I usually channeled through my fingertips. I stretched it so the mana would form at the tip of the steel skewer in my hand, an extension of my own limb. The mana field followed the tip of the skewer and burrowed into the Undying's body.
And when the mana reached the heart, I burned it and chanted the spell. A little stronger than usual.
“Bolt, Franklin.”
BZZZZT!
The Undying's body convulsed violently. The electrical magic, with its flowing properties, had coursed through its entire body and stimulated the muscles.
The backlash from the mana made my hand jump back. I felt a tingling shock. The spell itself was a success. Now, all that was left was to see the result.
And in the next moment.
“Gasp!”
The Undying's eyes shot open.