Chapter 627
"Ugh...ugh...ugh!"
"Ask for help."
"Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!"
-Creak!
In order to endure the pain, Ludwig bit into a gag and broke it. Louis Ancton watched this with wide eyes.
"It's going to hurt."
-Hisss!
As Christina poured an unidentified liquid onto Ludwig's shoulder, black smoke began to rise accompanied by a burning sound.
"Gulp! Cough...ugh!"
Ludwig's exposed right arm was boiling with dark shadows.
He tried to suppress his groans somehow, but his eyes were bloodshot with the stifled groans that continuously leaked out. Dead, black blood constantly flowed from the connection between his right arm and shoulder.
With a stern expression, Christina took some measures on Ludwig's arm, while Anna used magic to restrain his entire body to prevent him from struggling.
-Snap! Crack!
But the magic binding Ludwig was repeatedly destroyed and recast by the simple physical force emanating from his body.
Louis Ancton, who could not use magic directly, provided the necessary reagents, medicines, and scrolls to Christina and Anna in a timely manner.
"Huff...ugh...ugh!"
"Just a little more, it will be over soon."
It was unbearable pain for a human.
Even in a state where it was difficult for an ordinary person to react to pain due to a lethal dose of analgesics, Ludwig's mind was being driven to the extreme.
There would have been rejection even if he had received a normal, healthy arm.
However, it was not an ordinary human arm, but rather one that had been enhanced with dark magic, which, to be precise, had become a massive magical entity itself.
Ludwig had managed to survive the shock of receiving the arm only because his vitality was extraordinarily tenacious.
As if receiving the protection of some unfathomable power, Ludwig endured the agonizing rejection that would have killed an ordinary person hundreds of times over.
Once Ludwig's condition finally stabilized, Christina, Anna, and Ludwig, all drenched in cold sweat, could breathe a sigh of relief.
"Are you feeling a bit better now?"
Christina asked, looking at Ludwig, who was shirtless and drenched in sweat.
"Yeah...it's bearable now."
The three of them knew that his words were false.
The pain only subsided, but it never disappeared completely.
It was just that the pain was no longer at a level where he had no choice but to scream. Ludwig was in a situation where he could only constantly feel pain surpassing throbbing in the connection of his right arm.
Ludwig's dark right arm hardly looked like it belonged to a living person.
Moreover, all the blood vessels that sprouted between his right arm and shoulder were dyed pitch black.
It was as if the right arm was corroding the flesh.
In reality, the poison of the dark magic-enhanced right arm was eating into Ludwig's flesh.
The arm of the Grandmaster.
In exchange for obtaining it, Ludwig gained immense power.
After wiping Ludwig's wet body with a towel treated with medicine, Christina began dressing his right arm.
The bandage itself was no ordinary item.
Not only was it treated with special medicine, but it was also a long magical scroll.
The long magic scroll that Louis had created and Anna had realized was designed to control Ludwig's rejection reaction and prevent the dark magic energy from leaking out.
While there were issues with its appearance, the bandage itself played a role in protecting Ludwig's body.
Anna looked at Ludwig with a pitiful expression.
"Ludwig... the rejection reaction cycle is getting shorter."
"…There's always a price to pay for cheating."
The power he obtained was not earned through effort.
Therefore, Ludwig bitterly smiled, thinking that it was only natural for him to endure this much pain.
Ludwig had been the only living human who had participated in the battle of Grenosia on his own.
In that battle, not a single person had been sacrificed.
Wasn't that proof enough of his usefulness?
With that alone, he was no longer an insignificant person.
He had accomplished something.
So even if he died in vain, it wouldn't be a meaningless death.
But just a little more.
While his body still moved, just a little more.
He could still do something.
His body felt like it would break, but it wasn't broken until it was truly broken.
If they could end the war without anyone fighting like this, could it not be considered a life with some meaning?
The limit would come someday due to the rejection reaction, but it had not yet arrived.
Enduring the pain was not difficult.
Pain was but a fleeting moment.
He was just afraid of his body breaking apart.
Amidst the pain, Ludwig's eyes were bloodshot as he breathed heavily.
Being the commander of the Holy Knights was a very strange position.
By now, even though their power had weakened, they still possessed enough strength within the alliance to be considered in the top five, and among those, they were a group with the most important power on the battlefield – the power of healing.
There was no force within the alliance that could ignore the Holy Knights.
There was no one who could point out the commander's rudeness.
And rudeness did not matter much.
Trying to find out could lead to getting hurt.
Seriously hurt.
How did they think they had obtained the power that was on par with the main forces of the alliance?
It was clear that it was not an honest power since it was kept secret.
It was also clear that they could not easily give up on this very powerful force.
Just how wicked were the means involved to make such a thing possible?
No matter what they imagined, the fact that they should not find out about it did not change.
As the commander of the Holy Knights had said, they should be grateful that the emperor had kept it a secret thus far.
If they knew, they might have to bear joint responsibility.
That's why they realized they had to close their ears to the truth.
And another fact that everyone came to know.
The new commander of the Holy Knights was an extremely unpleasant person.
And, separately from that, she seemed to know the truth.
"It's rather annoying that someone like her is in that position."
"What can we do about it? It's the same for me and Reinhardt."
After the meeting, Bertus sarcastically smiled at Saviolin Turner, who looked very uncomfortable in his tent.
Although Bertus himself had little to say, Saviolin Turner was filled with the intention to cut off the new commander's neck immediately if an order were to be given, without caring for the consequences.
If Reinhardt had not appeared just in time, Rowan would have been the one who tried to turn the Imperial Capital into ashes.
It was difficult to bear the sight of such a person, acting as if nothing had happened, sitting in the position of the Holy Knight Commander with a calm expression on her face.
"Simply moving as I intended is enough. It's difficult to expect her attitude to be satisfactory as well."
In the end, regardless of the Holy Knight Commander's attitude, it was enough that she had managed to steer the situation so that people would no longer raise suspicions, according to Bertus's intention.
Moreover, rather than moving his chess pieces as he wished, it was a better situation when the opponent moved as he intended.
Rowan eventually spoke and moved as Bertus intended. Whether she spoke according to her own intentions or not, it was within the expected range.
Subduing Grenosia with only Immortals was bound to cause a great ripple in the allied forces.
Would they wage war without expending forces, causing noise instead? Bertus chose between saving Immortals for the decisive moment or causing a disturbance.
"By the way, what was the damage rate?"
"It was about 8 percent."
Since there couldn't be no casualties, there was no choice but for the Immortals to suffer a loss of power.
"It's an interesting army. Even if they're damaged like that, they just need to be repaired and sent back to the battlefield..."
Humans were modified into golems. That's why it's not death, but damage.
Immortals are a force that cannot die, but they are also an army that can be repaired even if damaged.
As long as the war can be carried out with only Immortals before the main force is needed, they would continue to wage war with only Immortals.
"It really seems like there's not much time left."
Turner knew what was running out of time.
However, was it really just the end of the Gate incident?
Saviolin Turner Turner looked at the emperor with a sad expression.
"Speaking of battle data... I wonder if this makes sense."
In the Grenosia campaign, only one human participated.
Excluding that one person, the rest were all Immortals.
Ludwig.
Bertus knew, of course, what had happened to Ludwig.
Ludwig had gained a power that far exceeded his original abilities.
"Is it possible to do this just by receiving one arm transplant?"
Bertus narrowed his eyes as he scanned Ludwig's body and combat data.
It was already too late when Bertus tried to stop it.
It was after Christina had performed the procedure on Ludwig.
"Strictly speaking, it's not an arm transplant, but rather an implantation of dark magic, they say."
The arm of a human who was strong even in life, strengthened further with dark magic. More powerful and robust magic circuits were embedded, of course, and alchemy was used to infuse even greater power.
It was not a concept of an arm transplant.
It was more like having received a massive magic itself.
"...Is that even possible?"
"It is said to be impossible."
"…What? So, they made something impossible possible?"
"No, Your Majesty."
Saviolin Turner Turner shook her head.
"They're just barely enduring something impossible."
They forced themselves to possess something they couldn't originally have.
Thus, they would soon be ruined.
However, Ludwig's problem was ultimately a personal one.
It wasn't a choice forced upon by someone else.
Ludwig had chosen this path for himself.
The real issue lay elsewhere.
The true problem of the Immortals.
At the moment, the Immortals belonged to the Emperor, but that could change at any time.
The true masters of the Immortals were the three mages who created them.
The Empire's mages couldn't manage the Immortals either, given the situation. There was no need, as the foundation was already complete.
The Immortals were a force for war.
Thus, they would be unnecessary once the war ended.
However, those who wielded the Immortals were already thinking about their use after the war.
How to deal with this.
Importantly, though the three mages who led the research had received knowledge from the Black Order, the Empire's mages had also taken part in the experiments.
It was impossible to wrest control of the Immortals, but they had learned what would happen if they carelessly interfered with the three mages.
The results of the Empire's mages' analysis lay before Bertholdus.
"Intuitive and obvious, but that makes it all the more difficult."
Although the contents were complex, the crucial information was brief.
Saviolin Turner's eyes widened at the Emperor's reaction.
"Is there a way to neutralize the Immortals?"
During the ongoing war, it was unfortunate that they had to search for a way to neutralize such an efficient weapon rather than admire its usefulness. But at that moment, it was of the utmost importance.
"No, if we try to neutralize them, even stranger things will happen."
"Stranger things, you say?"
"If Christina is killed, it seems that the Immortals will become indiscriminate slaughter weapons thereafter."
"What?!"
Christina had created a safety measure.
If someone tried to meddle with it, the Immortals would become slaughter weapons without any ally recognition.
Saviolin Turner clenched her teeth.
Who was this method for?
"Why would she do such a thing...?"
"She knows that we cannot interfere, and she probably allowed us to learn about it on purpose."
"..."
It wasn't to slaughter people.
"I can feel her intent, clear as day. 'Don't meddle in my affairs, and when everything is over, just quietly die.' That's what she wants."
She was doing this to save someone.
She was planning this for the sake of peace.
In the past, neither the Demon King nor the Emperor knew that the Gate incident would occur if they continued on this path.
That was why the Gate incident happened.
Christina knew about the events that befell the two of them.
So, she was showing them the right answer this time.
The Immortals would be the greatest threat after the Gate incident.
Killing a petty alchemist who intended to kill them with the Immortals wouldn't be difficult.
It would be an easy task, something they could do right away.
However, since they couldn't know what would happen if they killed Christina, they couldn't make that choice until the Gate incident was over.
Now they knew the right answer.
If they killed Christina, the rampaging Immortals would destroy the world in place of the monsters.
Then, it would be impossible to dismiss the notion that they were doing these things for a specific purpose as mere hypocrisy.
If the Immortals rampaged, the strong would survive.
They could use teleportation or escape to a place far beyond the reach of the Immortals' attacks.
In the end, only those who couldn't possibly possess such powers would die mercilessly.
The group that claimed to have done all this for a purpose couldn't choose to kill the Immortals for their own survival from the start.
The moment they made that choice, they might survive, but their justification and purpose up to that point would vanish.
This was a malicious taunt and provocation.
If they cared so much for the world and the weak, they should prove it.
Killing them would be easy.
They wouldn't run away.
If they killed them, they could live.
But could they make that choice?
If they chose that path, Christina would laugh mockingly at their hypocrisy until her dying breath.
If they couldn't choose?
Then, they would be hunted by the Immortals after the Gate incident.
It wasn't that they were being forced down a single path.
There was a way, a very comfortable one, but it was a path that denied everything they had done up to that point.
But the moment they took that path, they would negate all their past actions.
Christina had presented them with two options.
"So, in the end, it's a simple choice."
Die.
Only they would die.
Live.
Only they would live.
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