Chapter 28
She had been constantly in an alert state these past few days, clinging to even the smallest shred of hope checking over azek again and again.
But Azek's condition wasn't improving.
She sat beside him.
Magnus poured holy power continuously into Azek's body, refusing to slow down even for a moment.
Azek's body was slowly turning cold and he knew better than anyone else his condition.
Holy spells flickered one after another but his body was shutting down slowly but surely.
His voice echoed through the room.
"Marquis… I'm afraid you must prepare yourself for the worst."
He spoke while channeling every last bit of healing power he had left.
Vivian gripped Azek's hand tightly.
His temperature was dropping.
Tears streamed down her face.
Her voice trembled.
"Please… please don't give up, Azek."
Adrian gripped the armrest so hard that his knuckles cracked. The wood splintered under his strength.
His eyes were bloodshot.
Magnus could feel what was happening inside.
The holy chains binding Azek's core began cracking one after another.
His mana core was starting to collapse.
And the poison core thrashed violently, excited, desperate to break free.
Darkness surrounded him.
Azek felt a crushing weight pressing down on him, as if submerged deep underwater beneath unbearable pressure.
He tried to open his eyes.
He couldn't.
Each attempt drained him further.
Forget it, I will sleep for a bit more.
Exhausted, he began to sink.
Suddenly—
Pain jolted through his entire being.
A flash.
A primal warning.
Something was wrong.
In this strange realm, he could not feel anything physical — only sensations.
Sense?
A thought flickered.
Mana particles began appearing around him.
And then he felt it.
His heartbeat slowing.
Something thrashing violently near his chest.
Mana was erupting throughout his body.
Particles coursed wildly through his entire structure.
And something black was seeping into the fractured space beside his heart.
The fog surrounding him slowly cleared and his body screamed under pressure.
How could I forget?
The poison.
It's still inside me.
He tried to move toward his heart.
But he couldn't reach it.
His thoughts accelerated.
The poison was rushing into the collapsing core.
No.
I can't let this continue.
Instinctively, he issued a simple command.
Burn.
Mana obeyed.
His entire body surged.
Temperature returned—
But not normally.
He became unbearably hot.
Excited mana raced through his veins and heart at extreme frequency.
The poison reacted violently.Its structure started becoming destabilized.
His body convulsed.
In a final defiance against death—
Veins ruptured throughout his body.
Blackened blood began forcing its way outward.
Vivian gasped.
Magnus instantly slapped her hand away from Azek.
She looked down.
Her palm was coated in sticky black blood.
Holy fire ignited over it, scorching.
But she endured it without even flinching. She had seen this phenomena too many times to get shocked.
"Step back, Lady Vivian!" Magnus commanded, immediately incinerating the expelled poison with holy flame.
Azek's body was on the verge of collapse.
His original core had already shattered.
Mana, without a centre, searched desperately for stability. It rushed through his whole body, burning everything in its path.
Even mana vessels weren't spared.
Black blood started oozing at uncontrollable speed.
Magnus casted a holy barrier.
Inside—
Azek sensed the empty space where his core had once been.
He felt the holy healing spell circulating through his body.
Instead of letting it disperse—
He guided it.
He directed the remaining fragment of his core toward the vacant center beside his heart.
Compression.
Mana began condensing around that fragment.
Layer by layer.
Not rebuilding the old structure—
But forming something denser.
Smaller.
Sturdier.
The healing spell wrapped around it, stabilizing its formation.
The newborn core spun once—
Then hungrily pulled.
Mana from every corner of his body rushed inward.
The poison core, now anchorless and destabilized by excitation, was dragged into the vortex.
Excited mana crushed it mercilessly.
Its structure disintegrated.
Reduced to fragments.
His entire being screamed under the pressure.
Holy mana was devoured at lightning speed.
Outside, Magnus staggered.
He casted spell almost at speed invisible to naked eye and and holy fire incinerated poison without rest.
Holy power rushed inside in a hope to let the crumbling remains last a bit longer.
And azek continued absorbing it unconsciously.
His body struggled to stabilize itself after the crushing storm passed through.
So it devoured holy power like a hungry beast.
Gradually—
Azek's temperature began to fall.
The violent tremors subsided.
One final flicker—
And the last remnants of poison were expelled from his veins.
Magnus incinerated the residue instantly and called for assistance.
Adrian and Vivian remained silent, watching in stunned disbelief as attendants rushed in and handled everything in coordinated manner.
Everything Azek had touched — sheets, pillows, clothing — was burned.
Healing spells bathed him repeatedly.
"Cardinal…" Adrian asked, barely containing his hope.
Magnus did not answer immediately.
He placed a hand over Azek's chest.
Silence.
Then—
A pulse.
Then a moment later he felt it.
His heart started beating in strong steady rhythm.
Magnus' eyes widened.
The contamination was gone.
The was no remnant left.
He stared in disbelief at what he was sensing.
A new core had formed inside. If he hadn't been by Azek's side almost every second, he might have mistaken it for Azek's core never having crumbled in the first place.
But he knew very clearly that Azek's core had completely disintegrated.
And a new one had taken its place.
Forged under implosion pressure.
And far sturdier than the one before.
"I… have never seen anything like this," he whispered.