Lucky Backlash

Fate Ian picked up the first gemstone and said, "These are the last of the Primordial Runes I obtained from Odin."

"My instincts tell me it couldn't have been easy to get them."

"You're right. That old fox was extremely cunning. I had to pay a tremendous price to get them. You know, he actually wanted me to marry into his family?"

"Does he have daughters?"

"Many. All illegitimate."

"That explains it." Ian nodded. Fate Ian took out the second gemstone. "This one contains an in-depth analysis of Fate Magecraft and other forms of magic. I think it might help us improve Arcane Runes magic somewhat."

"That's exactly what I had in mind."

"This one concerns Divine Words magic. I'm sure you'll be interested." "Oh, so my guess was correct?"

"Yes. It can indeed use Divine Power and magic power at the same time."

"Can this help create a vessel that perfectly fuses Divine Power and magic power?" This project had been underway for some time. Its greatest achievement so far had been sealing those two completely opposite energies inside the body and unsealing one of them when needed. They could not be used simultaneously, much less fused together.

"What's wrong?"

"This experiment is the reason I'm certain to die tomorrow."

"I thought it was because the gods were dissatisfied with humanity's development."

"That's part of the reason, but they had originally been barely able to tolerate my existence. They knew that eliminating me and the Empire would come at an incredibly painful cost," Fate Ian explained. "But everything changed when I began experimenting with Divine Power. Those gods knew that this energy was a perfect match for them, so they wanted it. I refused, and that became the spark that drove them to unite and destroy me at any