Chapter 175
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Lesson 34. Free Servitude - 10
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—Hah, hahahahaha!
The moment he laid eyes on Lucelle, the Constellation burst into loud laughter.
—My foolish yet adorable bride, unable to wait for me, you've come to me yourself!
"Master!"
Whether already under the Constellation's influence or not, Lucelle rushed toward Ban Yu-won with a furrowed brow.
Her pink beast ears—somewhere between fox and wolf—and her plush tail were clearly visible.
Even as he watched her endearing approach, eyes fixed solely on him, Ban Yu-won couldn't help but frown.
—How foolish and lovable you are! My bride, coming straight into my arms... Do you hear the chains linking you and me?
"You shouldn't have come, Lucelle."
"No, I had to."
Lucelle's response was firm.
Now that the physical distance to the Constellation had shortened, the toxic mist it emitted was increasingly affecting her heart forge, yet she stood her ground steadfastly.
Ban Yu-won widened his eyes.
The moment she entered its domain, icy strands of magical power extended from the Constellation's avatar, connecting to her—visible even to his eyes.
This wasn't something formed in this instant; it had likely existed since before her birth.
It proved exactly why she had to be here now.
"To sever this damned curse's link, finding the origin is the fastest way."
—Sever it? You don't understand my power, bride. From the moment it was planted in you, we are one. Even if you've found a 'master,' that changes nothing. Feel it—the furnace of emotions boiling within you! That's your true master restoring its power!
Ban Yu-won gained a small realization.
Thinking about it, implanting a heart forge into a child not yet born was an act infinitely close to a curse.
He deeply understood the Constellation's nature as he faced it, while acknowledging that Lucelle had perfectly grasped her own situation.
There were two ways to dispel a curse.
The first was to overlay it with a superior curse, spell, or object.
Feeding his soul fragment to Mira dying from curse rebound, interfering with the solitude ritual to make a hand drill the curse's core, or becoming Lucelle's master to reset priorities amid her heart forge torment—all fell into this category.
The second was to kill the curse's caster or force them to lift it themselves.
Of course, they couldn't kill a Constellation, nor would it release Lucelle willingly.
But with the caster and target together now, Ban Yu-won might analyze and interfere with the curse's mechanism.
'Lucelle probably intuited that her implanted heart forge curse wouldn't resolve without confronting the Constellation directly.'
If becoming her master had fully resolved it, the concept would have vanished or transformed.
Yet the heart forge remained, useful as it was, fundamentally the Constellation's power.
Lucelle, wielding it herself, surely understood its special nature and lingering danger.
In a way, this moment—with the Constellation descended—was her greatest chance to break free.
"I reject you!"
Now by Ban Yu-won's side, Lucelle summoned lightning from her artifact to dissipate the approaching toxic mist, glaring at the ruler of the Constellation Forest.
"Vulgar transcendent forcing desires on your contractor, coveting his daughter... Controlling our tribe, manipulating my emotions and life... I'm sick of it all."
And she declared.
"I accepted nothing from you, so even if you force power upon me, I have nothing to return. The master of the fox and beast-kin heir is already decided."
She formally renounced the transcendent who had arbitrarily cursed her and tried to forge a false contract.
"The only one I serve is Ban Yu-won right here."
—Interesting, splendid. Yes, you qualify for such arrogance. But I can't let you cling to delusions forever.
"Tch!"
The instant power entered the Constellation's voice, Ban Yu-won scooped up Lucelle and leaped, stepping through the air.
As the Constellation advanced, the mist contracted and compressed, sprouting countless tendrils that soon became hundreds, thousands of whips lashing through the air.
But Ban Yu-won's movements—evading between the supersonic whips with 0.01-second precision read by his Origin Sword, via three-dimensional maneuvers—were utterly artistic and perfect.
"You okay, Lucelle?"
"Of course. More importantly, did that declaration work?"
Ban Yu-won nodded silently.
Visible only to his all-reading eyes: the line connecting Lucelle and the Constellation cracked the moment she declared renunciation.
Something impossible for the old Lucelle.
With Lucia's help awakening her fox blood, comprehending linguistic magic and infusing it with spells, it became possible.
—Even as an avatar, reading my movements and intent to keep dodging... You're quite unusual. But as I said, no one escapes my domain—and with my bride here herself, it's all over.
Ignoring her rejection, the Constellation's voice oozed smug arrogance.
Its authority grew stronger, pouring violent magical power into Lucelle despite the unstable link.
Forcing connection against her severance.
—Come to me, bride. Open your eyes and acknowledge your true master!
"Master... I'm ready."
Resisting the overwhelming magic, curse, will, and force trying to dominate her, Lucelle gritted her teeth and spoke.
"So, the rest is yours..."
"I have something in mind."
Ban Yu-won observed it—its eyes golden—with the mutated magic flows originating from it and their extensions.
Analyze how its authority operates, comprehend, and make it his.
"But no guarantee it'll work perfectly. It's wordplay, after all. That's the core of my authority."
"Then it will."
Grasping where to apply which concept.
Steel himself to interfere with Lucelle's internal concepts.
His past attempt to tamper with her emotions, causing rampage, now served as a good lesson.
"Hoo... Alright. Let's do it."
Ban Yu-won extended his hand, manifesting his authority.
He seized and severed the connection between Lucelle and the Constellation.
Snip.
The sound of scissors rang clearly in their ears.
As the curse was interfered with and broken, an absurdly profound curse struck Ban Yu-won, but Cellon—hoarding magic power for this moment—deployed a barrier.
—Trying to fart curse magic in front of a magic-specialist Constellation?
"Thanks."
—Just finish it quick.
The severed link was, regrettably, temporary.
The Constellation's authority remained intact within Lucelle; without addressing it, the connection would revive sooner or later.
Thus, Ban Yu-won now intended to directly tamper with her internal concepts.
Since connecting with her, he'd intuitively sensed it was possible.
—Foolish. The authority implanted in the bride isn't for mere humans to touch. Only a transcendent—master of curses and power—can control its endless crystallization!
"Why do so many Constellations love curses?"
—The stronger you get, the more situations raw force can't handle.
Agreeing with Cellon's utterly correct words, Ban Yu-won began the main work.
He placed his hand on Lucelle's smooth abdomen and directly manifested his authority.
Her heart forge, losing its master's link, began to rampage.
As the Constellation said, left alone, it might shatter her sanity and even damage her body severely.
But compared to her academy enrollment days, Lucelle—vastly grown—sweated profusely yet kept her eyes wide, enduring the impulse.
"Ngh, Mas-ter..."
"Focus, no naughty sounds."
...Or maybe just feeling his touch.
With the Constellation's relentless attacks to disrupt him, he couldn't afford distraction by her voice.
Ban Yu-won filtered external stimuli to only necessities, concentrating on his authority.
'Heart forge, found. Now... invert it.'
Heart forge meant "furnace of the heart."
Inverted, it became "reactor core"—a real dictionary word.
The reactor's heart: the part generating energy via fission.
Inverting wouldn't literally create a reactor in her body, of course.
[Converting the Heart Forge concept to Reactor Core. Perfectly extracting the stigma and transforming the concept.]
[Stigma depth has reached 35.]
—Wha——————!
But with his authority—completely reshaping its form and defining/reconstructing concepts as he willed—he could transform it into the "core of the furnace," an "energy production source."
He'd aimed merely to overwrite the Constellation's authority with his own, erasing its traces—
[Mutated authority performs a miracle. Mutation depth reaches 70!]
[Perfectly twisting and evolving Slave Lucelle's internal concept. Savagery and Reactor Core combine, birthing the authority: Savage Reactor Core.]
[Savage Reactor Core is an authority that burns the Savagery concept as fuel for explosive power. The more Savagery burned, the more the bearer's body, magic, and soul permanently grow—and temporary massive power is possible too.]
An authority consuming Savagery for permanent growth and on-demand bursts—
The perfect superior version of the heart forge was born.
—What...? You stole my authority?
The Forest Ruler, who seemed composed until the link snapped, now read the change in Lucelle and spoke in a trembling voice.
—Impossible. A mere human manipulating a Constellation's authority? Unthinkable.
Something his seniors had experienced first; Ban Yu-won silently agreed inwardly.
He was the most shocked by the change in Lucelle, too stunned to speak.
"Master."
Conversely, the instant her concept evolved, Lucelle was perfectly freed from the Constellation, instantly regaining vitality.
Nay, she seemed even more vigorous than before—naturally, having dumped all accumulated Savagery into her reactor core and burned it gloriously.
Ban Yu-won felt her core concept growing in real time.
"Master!"
"Lucelle, before that, something to confirm."
Stopping her emotional embrace, Ban Yu-won asked.
This was crucially important to him.
"I'm not your master anymore."
"Ah...?!"
The heart forge fully transformed, immune to Constellation interference or pain...
In truth, completing the Savage Reactor Core also severed her servitude concept.
Any internal concept he could touch, he'd erase servitude anytime—natural choice.
"Master, why...?"
"I want you free."
Of course, he wasn't fool enough to pretend ignorance of her feelings.
Still, he didn't want to see her swayed by circumstances around him anymore.
Ban Yu-won, swayed by others' wills since birth.
Now was the time to shed master and Constellation shackles, judging by her own will.
From now on, she could.
"Yes, I'm free."
Understanding his heart, Lucelle smiled brightly, reassuring his bitter smile.
Then, nestling into his arms, she whispered.
"And this is my choice, Master."
"...Ah."
Seeing servitude reborn in her—just erased—he clutched his forehead.
At depth 50, no less.
Proof of her deep feelings for him.
"No, we can just date normally without this!"
"Master!"
"Aaaaaah!"
Lucelle succeeded in shedding her shackles.
But Ban Yu-won ultimately failed.
That was all.