Chapter 688: A Cure

"Although you said that, Shon doesn't have the divine blood in them," said Arthur after the man calmed down. "That doesn't explain how you and Fey were in the Trial of the Holy Crown."

"You should already know that Shon has succeeded in giving bloodlines to some people. The Patriarch of Shon has altered everyone with those red eyes and white hair. Although called the Land of Common Blood, it's not without sin."

"This way, the divine bloodline was given to other people, and the trial accepted them," said Arthur in realization. "However, how can such a method be possible?"

"Everything is possible with abilities." Yuran looked at him without really looking at him. "The Patriarch of Shon can extract bloodlines and give them to other people. Everyone who merges with the bloodline is taken into his family and surnamed Shon."

"The Father," muttered Arthur, the name he remembered Rae mentioning, and Yuran started shaking. "And how are you related to him?"

"I was one of the experiments. The orphanage was just a cover for the experiments that Shon conducted. In the end, however, I was just a failed one."

"That doesn't explain what I saw," mentioned Arthur. "I saw the powers of nothingness being used to alter the human body. If the Patriarch of Shon can give bloodlines, there is no need for the nothingness."

"It is to eliminate rejection," said Yuran after a pause. "Father wanted a way to create vessels of his powers. One of those ways was to use the nothingness to erase the divine gate within our souls and turn the body into a clean vessel."

Arthur remembered seeing such a gate in runes, and Yuran was right about a gate existing inside their bodies. So it did make sense to use the Powers of Nameless to erase that gate from the sea of consciousness.

"You have been cooperative throughout this conversation." Arthur found that suspicious. "Although I have always known you to be kind, there must be a catch. It should also be related to the fact you applied to Ascent."

"It seems that Seref is your enemy. If we work together, I can get the monk to use his insignia to cure my mother. In this way, we can both benefit. I treated you like an ally when you appeared in my house."

"There is no need for that." Arthur shook his head. "I can do that."

"You can do what?" Yuran was confused and tilted his head. "Seref is not a man you can kill on your own. However, I have a lot of things that can aid in pursuing him, even clues…."

"I meant I can cure your mother." Arthur interrupted. "You are sitting in front of the creator, Yuran. If there is someone capable of eradicating the nothingness, it would be me."

Yuran stared at him silently while blinking. As he blinked a few times, his eyes suddenly welled in tears, and they started running down his face. The young man realized he was crying and started wiping away the tears.

"You would do that even after what I did? Even after betraying you?" asked Yuran as his tears covered his sleeves. "I was ready to... do everything in my powers to make you trust me again."

"I would've done the same for my mother," Arthur answered. "There is nothing sadder in this world than being unable to save your own family. I can cure your mother, but it will be a slow process. Her life force is barely there anymore. If I eradicate the nothingness, the reaction will cause her life force to fade."

"It can take years, and it would still be better than this," said Yuran before he fell to his knees, and the shards from the cup pierced his knees. "Please, Arthur. Help me." Yuran kowtowed on the ground in the small space between the table and his chair.

Arthur was silent as he stared at the brown head of his old friend. Although he tried to deceive him once before, it must have also been hard for him. Yuran saved him twice and used one of the healing potions when he was about to die.

"Lift your head, Yuran." Arthur stood from his chair and walked to help the man stand. "I do have one question before we do that." Arthur took out the shards after Yuran rose, and he used his Heal-III rune to treat his wounds.

"Please, ask anything," said Yuran while grabbing his arm.

"The healing potion that you once gave me. Was it meant to be used on your mother?" Arthur asked before lifting his eyes from the wounds. Yuran pressed his lips into a line and then nodded. "I knew it. You are a good person."

"Goodness wasn't my intention. I knew that she would have done the same thing for others." Yuran said before realizing the contradiction. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"It does for me," said Arthur before stepping aside. "Please lead the way."

Yuran nodded before wobbling toward the door and leading Arthur to the bedroom from earlier. After Arthur looked closer, he realized the situation was more difficult than he had imagined. Her life force was a candle in a hurricane, about to be extinguished.

"You are always pale," muttered Arthur as he stood beside the bed. The woman in the bed was covered in darkness, looking like a corpse. However, she was covered. "From what I see, she shouldn't be alive until now. What have you been doing to keep her alive, Yuran?"

Yuran didn't answer. He stood behind Arthur with his fist clenched, unable to reveal the truth. His silence answered in his stead, and Arthur understood why Yuran always seemed so pale.

"No mother would want to feed on her son's life." Arthur raised his hand above her body and summoned his runes. It was the Revitalize-IV rune. It was wrong to use the Heal rune here, as it used life force to treat illnesses.

In normal circumstances, a life force would regenerate on its own. It can either be through food, meditation, or mana. However, in this case, the nothingness was devouring the life force faster than the body could regenerate it.

This was the reason that her body was breaking down. Arthur needed to revitalize her before healing her body. Then, he would eradicate the darkness.

"Is it possible?" asked Yuran with nervousness. His voice was shaky because his lifelong suffering was about to end.

"It would take a while, but there shouldn't be any issues," said Arthur. "However, I can't keep coming to this place every time I try to heal her. We should take her to Ascent after the initial treatment."

Arthur used his rune on her, and his golden mana passed through the reality-gate of the rune and turned into a life force that entered her body. The black-tar substance began to feed on the life force, but Arthur coated it with his mana of creation.

The darkness was repelled, and the life force entered her body. However, Arthur ensured that no mana of creation entered her body because the resulting clash with nothingness would destroy it.

Arthur then wrote a different rune, and it was to heal her wounds. The rune restored her body functions and made her breathe more peacefully. The darkness flared up, but it couldn't kill her now.

"Any more than this treatment and the darkness will cause her body to break," said Arthur with a sweaty face. This delicate treatment requires a three-way balance between revitalization, healing, and destruction. She would die if any of them increased over the other."

"…I understand," said Yuran as he walked toward his mother. "Her life force is back. But, unfortunately, there is no potion or rune in this world that I found which can give her life force."

"Although you have found a way," said Arthur as he grabbed Yuran's arm and found his wrist to be black. "It seems you have been feeding your life force to the darkness and giving your mother enough time to regenerate her own."

"It is nothing," said Yuran as he tried to break free. However, Arthur imbued his body with the mana of creation, making his hand glow golden. The black and dead tissues fell off his arm as he regenerated new ones. Yuran watched as the darkness was eradicated, turning his arm to its original form.

"How can I even begin to thank you for this?" muttered Yuran as he stared at his arm. His eyes grew teary again, and Arthur smiled and walked out of the room without answering.

"You did mention clues about my father earlier. Let's discuss them for a bit before we leave for Ascent." Arthur walked out, followed by Yuran, who began to tell him what he found.

Alan was shocked to learn that his master and his mother were being cured by Arthur and apologized for the earlier disrespect. However, Arthur didn't care. All that was left now was to return to Ascent. This time, he brought two deme-rankers along with him.

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