Another world, Celeste

Chapter Twenty Four, pt 3

The head elf ignores the pout on my face but he's still holding onto my hand which is greatly appreciated since his support is keeping the light beam steady.

"I heard it all from Roy. That kind of ingenuity that involves wagering a living being's core and attempting to extract black mana whilst minimising all forms of risk could only be thought of by two reckless fools," he chides and gives sidelong look at Roy.

Roy, however, remains nonchalant. Must be my imagination but I think I'm sweating even more after recognising who Lord Sol is referring as one of the two 'reckless fools'.

Ha, ha, ha...

"And thus I propelled myself to hasten my work and come here," Lord Sol continues then sighs. "Now that I'm here, what I am seeing from the analysis of the heat sensor is troubling indeed. How long has it been like this?"

Lord Sol's ability in discerning complicated matters with calm composure is glaringly different to when he gets passionate about magic-related researches. Aside from that, he took the time to finish his work first before coming here? I would believe it if he says he dump his workload onto Kinai instead.

"A hundred and twenty-four ticks after she reported it to me," Roy answers, sounding ranger-like when the question is supposedly directed to me.

I provide some more information. "The discolouration is gradually spreading when the light magic reaches the deepest part where the core is speculated to be. I also verified with the tracking magic that the spread is in line with the black mana's movement."

"What of the Lion Pride's condition?"

Lord Sol questions the most concerning issue and again, Roy replies to the head elf first and I follow up after.

"His breathing is growing weaker as more time passes."

"So far, I've been increasing the effect of 'Serenity' to ease the pain."

"That would explain why you're in this state," Lord Sol says worriedly and wipe the sweat on my forehead with the sleeve of his free hand.

Eh? Do I look that terrible?

Sure, compressing a spell with an originally loose formation meant for wide-range effect into a small tornado in a jar is somewhat difficult to handle, hold on, he's not questioning the part about me modifying a spell like he always does? Given the present situation, I guess it's not the time for questioning.

Lord Sol then stares at the penetrating light coming out of my wand, deep in thought that lasts for a good few seconds and speaks. "From now on, it is a matter of time. I shall take over the black mana removal." He doesn't leave any room for discussion and press on with taking command of the operation. "Iris, I need you to retract your light magic but maintain 'Serenity' as it is. Can you do it?"

"I can thin the light beam as much as it could to give you an opening then I'll pull out once you're in."

"Yes, that would be best." Lord Sol agrees with the proposal. "Roy, once the removal is a success-"

Roy cuts mid-sentence. "I will take care of the vanquishing."

The two sages understand their role in this without saying much. And thus, the second part of the extraction procedure commences following Lord Sol's direction. I put away the wand after thinning out the light beam and dispelling the spell which is a relief for my aching wrist. Lord Sol somehow find a weak spot of the corrupted core and gives accurately detailed direction for me to continuously drill 'Serenity' alongside his magic. Does he have GPS installed in his brain or something? Moreover, his navigation is more precise than my 'Trace' magic.