Body Heat

"…So, to sum up."

I cleared my throat and organized everything we'd discussed so far.

"The you standing here right now isn't Diana — it's 'Wiz.' Is that right?"

"Yes! That's correct!"

Wiz, wearing Diana's face, smiled softly.

I never imagined it would turn out like this.

Not only had Diana's soul been kept from collapsing further, but control of her body had passed completely to Wiz.

Until we found a way to fully repair her soul, things would have to stay this way.

Still.

It was far better than the alternative — Diana dying, or losing Wiz for good.

"But a minute ago you were exactly like Diana."

"I read the memories and habits engraved in the body and imitated her perfectly."

"Oh… you can even do that?"

"Ahem! Of course I can!"

Wiz puffed out her chest proudly and huffed.

"And that's not all I can do."

She spread her hand, and a silver radiance stirred to life.

FWOOOOM!

A mystery so beautiful it drew a gasp just from watching.

Diana's 'Moonlight'.

"You remember, don't you? When this woman duled against you, you ordered me to analyze this moonlight."

"Yeah, I did."

"Thanks to that, it seems I can manifest that power with this body."

On top of that, by 'learning' Diana's memories, she could apparently use Diana's Moonlight Magic in its entirety.

Hold on. Then that means…

Wiz, as she is now, is effectively the exact same fighting force as Diana?

In some respects, she was even superior to Diana.

Above all—

Wiz followed me.

Bound as we were through the Successor of Magic's Pinnacle, Wiz would never betray me.

And most of Wiz still resided inside me to begin with.

The world doesn't know Diana is Wiz.

Unless Wiz outright revealed her identity, no one would ever figure it out.

The kids outside hadn't noticed a thing, after all.

…This is way bigger than I thought, isn't it?

A flicker of guilt passed through me for Diana, asleep inside Wiz — but then I remembered the 'contract' I'd won from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our duel was still unclaimed.

I'll call it even with this.

She tried to take Horizon from me, so this much should balance the books, shouldn't it?

"Kikihik."

The picture was coming together.

A picture of exactly how to work this whole situation to my advantage.

"Hehe…"

After rolling the idea around in my head for a while, I noticed Wiz staring at me with a childlike expression.

"…What? Is there something on my face?"

"N-no! It's just… I'm happy. Getting to see you in the flesh, Master…"

Wiz flushed shyly.

"Even if it's someone else's body… having a physical form like this is so strange, and it makes me so happy."

"…"

"Ah! S-sorry…! Here I am in the middle of carrying out your orders, saying such childish things…"

"No, no, it's fine."

Call her the Pinnacle of Magic, the summit of sorcery — whatever the title —

Wiz was, in herself, a life. A soul.

Until now, she'd only ever existed as a soul, after all.

No wonder having a body made her giddy.

If anything, it would be stranger if she *didn't* react like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Uuu…"

Wiz wilted like a puppy that had accidentally bitten its owner.

Seeing that, a laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

"It's okay, Wiz."

I rested my hand on her head.

"Later — once Diana's soul has recovered — I'll build you a body of your own."

"Wha—?! R-really?!"

"It feels wrong to keep you living inside me forever."

"Th-that's actually fine with me… I mean…"

Muttering something half under her breath, Wiz pressed herself against me and buried her head in my chest.

"Th-thank you, Master…"

"Mmhm…"

Then again, wasn't she pressing in a little too close?

She looked like Diana on the outside right now, which made it just a touch uncomfortable.

"Alright — let's leave it there for now."

I gently peeled Wiz off me.

"Aw…!"

I did my best to ignore the way her head drooped in disappointment.

"First things first — you can still use 'Spell Creation' as-is, right?"

"Yes! That function can't be passed on to anyone but the Successor in the first place. Everything related to computation and creation remains entirely yours, Master."

That was welcome news.

Spell Creation had just gotten a big efficiency boost with the 2.0 upgrade.

And the newly added 'Reverse Calculation' function sounded like it'd be a lot of fun, too.

Mage-type enemies just got a whole lot easier to deal with.

I nodded with satisfaction.

Then I shifted the subject.

"Everyone except me still believes you're Diana, right?"

"Of course! My acting is flawless!"

Wiz closed her eyes — and her expression changed.

The innocent, puppy-like features sharpened, the muscles of her face shifting in minute adjustments, and the entire atmosphere flipped in an instant.

"Well? Pretty good, right?"

Even her tone of voice was a perfect copy of Diana's.

"…Damn. That's impressive."

"In this mode I can borrow a fair amount of her thought patterns as well. You could say it works on the principle of producing results 98% similar to the judgments Diana herself would have made, based on her data."

"Then stay like that for me."

"Fufu, whatever you wish."

Wiz-in-Diana-mode crossed her legs with a mischievous air.

"This incident involved me quite heavily, didn't it?"

"Yeah. Your name's already been circulating behind the scenes. Part of that I leaked deliberately, but word that Diana recently traveled to Korea specifically to meet you got out too, and expectations are climbing."

Wiz gave a knowing smile.

"Though no official announcement has been made yet."

"Nice work, Wiz."

The stage was beautifully set.

Wiz seizing Diana's body — unintentionally — had made the whole production that much easier to stage-manage.

As things stood now, it might actually be possible.

"Wiz."

"Yes? What is it?"

"The new Magic Tower headquarters. Let's build it in Korea."

In place of the British Magic Tower, which had all but lost its function —

we would make the Korean tower the 'headquarters'.

Hearing my words, Wiz tapped her own cheek thoughtfully before speaking.

"…It's possible. Diana would almost certainly have opposed it, but the me standing here is Wiz."

Wiz was not on the Magic Tower's side, nor on Diana's side.

She was on my side, and mine alone.

"It won't be easy. But for you, I can do anything."

"Th-thank you."

"Fufu. Then I really should be going."

"Already?"

"Believe me, I'd love to stay by your side… but there's still so much to be done."

Right now, Wiz was both Wiz and Diana.

There was plenty of tower business to clean up, and mountains of groundwork to lay for the goal I'd just set.

"Shame. I wanted to talk longer."

"…Heh."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

In that instant, Wiz's expression returned to normal.

Out of Diana mode, she folded herself gently into my arms.

Carefully, this time — so as not to hurt me.

"…You're so warm, Master. I never knew, before I had a body."

Her voice was thick with emotion, overflowing and overwhelming.

Before I knew it, I was softly patting her back.

"I'll work hard. Hard enough to satisfy you."

"You already do more than enough."

"Hehe… I'll do even better, then. I'll earn lots and lots of praise."

When she was helping me, she was more dependable than anyone — an absolute rock.

But seeing her like this, she was unmistakably a little kid.

I was savoring the small, warm glow rising in my chest when—

"Uh… uh… uuuuh…?"

A pair of small eyes appeared in the crack of the door.

That enormous pointed wizard's hat atop that tiny head — it could only be…

"Uh, um."

"Y-you two are hugging…? Miss Diana and Lee Tae-hyun are…?"

"Seo-ah. That's not— will you just listen to me for a second?"

"I-I didn't see anything! I didn't see ANYTHIIIIING!!"

Ah Seo-ah bolted like she'd seen a ghost.

"Ah."

Damn it.

* * *

After Wiz left the hospital room,

I slowly stretched out my heavy, leaden body.

"Ngh."

As expected, a faint wave of aching still pulsed through me from head to toe.

I'd been injured to the very edge of death — surviving with nothing more than this was a blessing in itself.

"Still, I can't stay in bed forever."

Things were about to get busy again.

Three days of lounging around was plenty.

"So first—"

I eyed the mountain of accumulated messages and licked my lips.

"Time to collect my rewards."

First, I claimed the rewards for killing Cardinal Marca, one by one.

"That's a lot."

In one sweep, the hospital bed was buried in loot.

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠examined them one at a time, in order.

First, the milky-white liquid sealed inside an ornate, Eastern-style flask.

"Th-this is really Heavenly Clear Stone Milk?"

I never dreamed this elixir would come as a reward.

What is 'Heavenly Clear Stone Milk', exactly?

Classed among the very highest of elixirs — the elixir of all elixirs, nearly impossible to obtain even with mountains of gold.

Before my regression, only two bottles were ever discovered.

And both had come exclusively from S-rank-or-higher Murim-type gates.

As a test, I uncorked it and breathed in the liquid's fragrance.

"Whoa…"

Merely inhaling the rising aroma made my blood feel as though it was being cleansed through my entire body.

Every fiber of me wanted to down it right then and there.

Not yet.

Drinking this could wait a little longer.

Setting the Heavenly Clear Stone Milk aside, I turned my gaze to the golden box beside it.

"A random box, huh. Been a while."

Unlike last time's 'low-grade', this one was a full 'top-grade' random box.

Even the low-grade one had given me something fairly useful.

"I wonder what I'll get this time?"

Harboring a flicker of anticipation—

"Open ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it."

I opened the random box.

FWOOOOM!

A brilliant cascade of light poured out, revealing its contents to the world.

A jewel the size of a palm.

Within it bloomed a shape as beautiful as if real flames had been etched into the stone itself.

Runic script was carved along its surface, and a faint warmth crept up through my palm.

"What… is this?"

I didn't fully understand it, but

the item's grade was SSS, of all things.

A rating like that meant it carried value to match.

"Higher dimensions…"

I narrowed my eyes at the words in the item's description.

It was the same with Behemoth last time, and with Marca this time.

Both times I brought them down, a certain message had surfaced in common.

The obvious inference was that it had something to do with the Monarchs.

At the very least, I knew it was a place I would someday reach. No — a place I had to reach.

When that day came, this item would surely prove its worth.

"Next up…"

「Heart of the Ancient Dragon」

「Wolf King's Sigil」

These two.

A necklace carved with the figure of a wolf, and a large, violet gem.

These two belonged to Rir and Moss.

"Items to use upon Awakening, huh."

Come to think of it, they'd said that once a spirit reached level 50, it went through a special process called 'Awakening'.

Once this business was wrapped up and I got home, I'd accelerate both of their growth even further.

-Woof!

-Grrrumble!

From within my shadow, I could just barely hear the two of them cheering.

"And now — the final special reward."

I carefully lifted the last reward.

「Fragment of a Soul Wandering the Dimensions」

A shard of something, carrying a distinctly ominous energy.

"This one…"

I felt it instinctively.

The 'Salvation' within me, stirring.