Chapter 79
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Sculpting Doctor
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Walter Argent treated demons not as experimental subjects, but as "material."
They had to stay alive, offer no resistance, and be available only when needed.
That's why he turned his one and only demon girl,
'Levi,'
into exactly that.
He mutilated her limbs so she couldn't escape, sealed her mouth so she couldn't make a sound, and blindfolded her so she wouldn't draw attention.
Then, whenever he needed her, he could open the safe door, extract only the "material" from inside her body, and shut it again.
A being kept alive, yet denied any semblance of life.
Levi had been consumed that way as Walter's test subject for years.
In the original story Vengeful Goddesses, Walter loses interest in human experimentation on demons and discards Levi—already broken beyond repair—along with his other failed creations.
On that day, the girl longed for death for the first time.
But fate was cruel, denying even that solace to such a girl.
Because Lucas Argent, who had been toying with Piel and Aira at the time and was hunting for fresh amusement, discovered that "discarded test subject."
For Levi, the time that followed wasn't escape from hell—it was merely a change of hells.
A time of being torn, shattered, and pummeled, surviving in yet another twisted way.
Eight years passed like that.
On the day Piel awakened to the hero's power and the Argent estate fell into chaos, Levi awakened too.
And as time flowed on, by the point of the original story, she became one of the demon kings of the demon realm.
'But in truth, she no longer wanted to live—and since she couldn't end her own life, she joined Hero Piel's party in exchange for someone killing her.'
...It might sound like an excuse, but I never imagined it would be this bad.
No, honestly, it was an excuse.
I knew.
I knew where Levi was, and what was being done to her.
Yet back then, I couldn't reach out.
And the same holds true now.
Pulling out even just Levi was a choice pushing the limits.
There were definitely more down there.
Test subjects broken before Levi, discarded before her.
I knew, but I couldn't bring them all out.
It wasn't a choice—it was simple "lack of ability."
'Walter probably thinks that underground lab is his secret hideaway that only he knows about... oblivious to the fact that he's the one being played.'
But this is the Argent estate.
And the lord of this land is the underworld's ruler, Agram Argent.
There's no way that man was unaware of what his third son was doing.
Human experimentation using demons and demonic beasts.
A taboo among taboos.
Yet the reason he turned a blind eye was obvious.
The ties to the Papal Court.
Thanks to Walter, relations between the Argent family and the Church had noticeably improved.
He had utility value.
So they pretended not to know, and let it slide just enough.
And even I, receiving special treatment right now, couldn't recklessly touch it.
If I stuck my neck out needlessly, I'd lose not only the other test subjects but even the hard-won chance at Levi.
So I held back.
But holding back doesn't mean forgetting.
As I told Walter, all lives are equal.
Right now, it's just a temporary concealment—hiding fangs that haven't fully grown.
I will return there.
And I will bring everyone left behind to my annex.
To me, they weren't failed experiments—they were "patients" I could save.
"Princess Evelyn! Cast the anesthetic spell right now. Block her consciousness first, then induce a deep sleep."
"B-but on a demon—"
"Race doesn't matter right now. Hurry!"
"Ugh... damn it, I can't live with you around!"
The moment I tried to lift her from the box, bleeding spread along the edges of the bandages caught my eye.
It wasn't surprising.
This wasn't treatment for hemostasis—it was closer to a temporary seal just to cover the amputation sites.
No compression, no fixation, and no signs of infection control.
A muffled groan, as if suppressing pain, leaked from Levi's gagged mouth.
Evelyn gritted her teeth at the sight and activated her magic.
"...It's on. She won't react to stimuli from now on."
Once the anesthesia stabilized, I carefully moved Levi onto the bed.
And the first thing I touched was the bandages covering where her limbs should have been.
Traces of them being wrapped long ago, never changed since.
Blood and exudate had hardened, gluing the bandages almost as one with her skin.
"This... won't peel off. It'll need separating."
I took a short breath, then unwound the bandages layer by layer, as if cutting them away.
When the inside was revealed, the condition was worse than expected.
The tissue around the amputation sites had lost its normal color, with blurred boundaries.
Necrotic tissue had already begun forming.
"The infection's progressed quite a bit."
This wasn't just a wound issue.
Left untreated after amputation, bacteria infiltrate rapidly along the open tissue.
The severed ends lose blood flow first, depriving tissue of oxygen—and the longer that goes, the more certain necrosis becomes.
And the toxins produced spread not just through the wound, but throughout the body.
Moreover, the problem wasn't one spot—all amputation sites on her limbs were in this state.
By this world's standards, she was as good as terminal.
With medieval medicine, death by fever after failed hemostasis was the norm.
Even in a modern medical setting, it wouldn't differ much.
Extensive infected amputation wounds.
Simultaneous necrosis across multiple sites.
In such cases, you'd need wide-margin excision to remove all dead tissue, combined with heavy antibiotics and intensive care.
But sepsis could still kill during surgery.
It was that dire.
Paradoxically, that let me feel a bit of "relief."
Because this wasn't plain medieval—it was a world with magic too.
And we had the ultimate antibiotic, capable of annihilating any toxin in one go.
The Water of Life.
"Master, do you need this?"
Piel approached from the corner, having vomited once and seeming somewhat composed now.
She carried the bucket of Water of Life I'd used earlier for the facial treatment.
"Piel, you okay now?"
"Yeah... honestly, I'm still a little scared."
Piel paused briefly, then added with a small smile,
"But still. When I first got dragged here, I was in just as much pain."
She glanced at Levi.
"People in the same boat... it's rude to look away just because it's hard."
She said that, but her complexion was still poor.
The shock clearly hadn't fully faded.
Even so, her eyes shone with clear resolve to save this girl.
I took the bucket and lightly stroked Piel's ear once more.
"Yeah."
And I said firmly,
"We'll save her together."
"...Yes!"
A short but spirited reply.
Now, finally, I felt ready to truly begin the surgery.
"First, Piel and Aira—apply the Water of Life to the amputation sites, but only in 'very small' amounts."
"Very small...?"
Piel blinked.
"Can't we just apply it directly?"
Aira nodded too.
"We're regrowing all her limbs anyway, so wouldn't using it all at once on her body be faster?"
"You could think that way."
I nodded briefly.
"But that's amateur thinking."
What I aimed to do wasn't erasing the damaged parts.
It was rebuilding new structures in the proper form, based on where they'd been lost.
Having seen Piel and Aira go from unable to walk to having fully intact limbs.
They knew my treatment method, so that's why they said it.
Of course, the Water of Life had the power to even regenerate lost body parts.
The issue was that its power was too strong.
"Reattaching what's severed is relatively simple."
I continued.
"There's an existing structure to follow for recovery."
But this was different.
Regrowing from nothing, without any guide.
"It would regenerate, sure."
I shook my head.
"But the shape would be ruined."
Aira seemed to grasp the meaning immediately, shuddering.
It was inevitable.
Her eyes and teeth right now were the result of me painstakingly shaping them, one by one, to avoid the dangers of uncontrolled regeneration.
"The Water of Life doesn't distinguish between 'necessary tissue' and 'unnecessary tissue.'"
For an eyeball, it might swell uncontrollably before forming, bursting the tissue; for teeth, they'd erupt haphazardly, ignoring the gums' confines.
"Limbs are even worse."
Bone, muscle, nerves, vessels.
They all have fixed sequences and axes.
Ignoring that in regeneration just creates something that looks like an arm but serves no function.
"That's why small amounts."
I pointed to the Water of Life.
"First, push out the infected tissue, up to the point where regeneration just begins."
No further.
Stop there, fully clear out remaining bacteria and necrotic tissue—
"From then on, I'll shape the form directly."
Not leaving it to regeneration, but guiding it.
"So for now, follow my instructions exactly."
Piel and Aira exchanged glances, then nodded.
"Got it!"
"We'll do as you say!"
I took a breath and recalled the next step.
From here on, it wasn't regeneration anymore.
It was sculpture.