Countless magic circles and screens surrounded her. Sometimes she looked at this, sometimes clicked on that, or moved the screen in front of her. The process was long and tedious, but she meticulously dissected the corpse of the shadow god, extracted all Divine Power and purified it.
As soon as the process was over, Fatima rushed to operate on her daughter. She didn't care that she had a well-preserved sacred soul, a sacred altar, a small part of Sacred Flame, and a Shadow Authority Crystal that could make any Arcanist become Archmage by learning Law of Shadow. All she cared about was her daughter.
Fatima teleported to the operating room, but stopped. She did not start immediately, but prayed/meditated for another hour before walking into the operating room. Lana's situation was very similar to Koa, which is why she was able to come up with this solution so quickly. However, Lana's situation is even worse, because [Cthulhu Power] has destroyed the first and second layers of her soul, which contained her mind and memories.
It nearly destroyed the third layer, corroding 99% of Lana's soul and 90% of Soulfire. The only good news is that Soulfire withstood all the corrosion, leaving the fourth layer intact.
Fatima observed the black chains around her daughter Soulfire. This embodiment of the power of death kept her alive, if you could still call her current state alive. 'Let's get started,' she thought to herself. The first step in the operation was to remove the necrotic part.
"Start Old Ones Protocol," Fatima declared.
"Protocol E9876J6775 has been started. Are you sure?" Kadija asked.
"Confirm," she replied firmly. Ian designed this protocol in response to Cthulhu monster research in the sea. Once activated, the designated area will be shrouded in the Empire's most powerful sealing spell. In addition, Fatima has just given Kadija a authority: if this artificial life detects that Fatima is contaminated by that power, she has the authority to isolate or even destroy her.
Fatima can feel it. Her Mage Tower is currently in a multi-dimensional space with more than 250 layers. If anything goes wrong, Kadija has the power to turn these layers into bombs, Annihilation everything inside.
"How much energy do we have left?" she asked before starting.
"Old Ones Protocol consumed two first Tier 8 Aether Core," Kadija replied.
"Okay, there's a lot more," Fatima nodded, and began. The first step in the operation was to peel off Lana's soul and the third layer of her Soul Dimension. The stripped parts would be quarantined according to <Old Ones Protocol>'s guidelines, as they had been infected by Cthulhu Power.
As soon as the process was over, various alarms began to sound. Fatima had expected this, so she immediately took the next step. She used Divine Power to rebuild the third, second, and first floors to stabilize the situation.
With these new layers, Lana's soul has a place to regroup, and these layers can also support and stabilize the fourth layer. However, the operation has just begun. The next step is to remove 90% of Lana's soul and peel off the parts that have been corroded by Cthulhu's energy. However, unlike the death energy on Koa, this force is very difficult and refuses to let go no matter what.
Fatima knew she had to find another way, so she changed her tactics. She understood that all life is trying to evolve or perfect Self. Since this force has its own consciousness, it naturally has the same instinct.
She took a pure foreign soul, put it into Lana's Soul Dimension, and then bathed it in Divinity. Then, she opened a small gap in the blockade of the power of death and lured Cthulhu Power towards the sacred soul.
As expected, the thing immediately attached itself to the new source of power. After being sealed for so long, it was extremely excited to find a way out or replenish itself. Fatima reacted quickly. She sacrificed the first and second layers of Soul Dimension to enhance a spell and drew out Cthulhu Power.
Her desperate and reckless approach worked, as she extracted over 80% of the power from Lana's Soulfire. The remaining power, having been significantly weakened, was now easier to isolate and purge.
The next step in the operation was divided into two parts. Kadija was responsible for sealing and removing the third layer that had been corroded again, and then re-creating the first three layers.
At the same time, Fatima is responsible for nourishing Lana's Soulfire with Divine Power, and then reuniting her soul. They must hurry up, because Divine Power is constantly decreasing.
Fatima looked at the pale golden Soulfire and her daughter's soul exuding faint golden light, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Kadija, conduct a full body scan," she ordered.
"As you wish, ma'am... I have detected some physical damage to the patient due to the excessive intensity of the surgery."
"Show me?" Fatima said hurriedly. She took a look and breathed a sigh of relief. The soul and the body are connected, which means that injuries to one will also affect the other. Lana's injury was probably caused by removing her Soul Dimension layer. The injury was not serious and could be easily healed by a few bottles of Potions.
"One more thing," Kadija added. "I detected that the patient has an unusual affinity for shadows that was not seen before."
"That makes sense, after all, the god's corpse was probably a shadow god before, but what do you mean by abnormality?"
"Her immunity to shadows has reached the highest record in the Empire's history. At the same time, her resistance to light attacks has also dropped to its lowest point in history."
"This is not a big problem. As long as she soaks in a suitable Potions bath, we can slowly reduce her shadow affinity and increase her light affinity," Fatima nodded. Arcanist must have a major branch of magic, but it cannot be too extreme, otherwise the advantage of versatility will be lost. Although some people choose the extreme path, that is not the mainstream.
"Is there anything else?"
"No more, ma'am."
"Very good."
Fatima walked into her daughter's ward and slowly stopped all life support spells. Then, she held her breath and waited for little Lana to slowly open her eyes.
"Mom?"
"Lana!" Fatima cried and hugged her daughter. Then she remembered how strong her body was now and was afraid that she would be hurt if she hugged her too tightly. "Are you okay? Do you feel any pain? Do you have a headache? If you feel something is wrong, you must tell your mother."
"Mom, you asked so many questions, which one should I answer first?" Lana said, almost turning over Byakugan.
"Oh, it's so nice to see you alive," Fatima said, hugging her tightly.
"Mom, where is dad? I had a strange dream. I dreamed that he turned into a monster and wanted to eat me."
Fatima's body trembled slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. She looked directly into her daughter's eyes. "Your father... is not here now. You will see him later."
"Mom, you are lying."
"What?"
"I can see that you are lying. Where is dad? Did something happen to him?" Lana asked, her voice slightly raised. However, this trivial little action had disastrous consequences. Her body released a kind of coercion, just like a god looking down on a weak and humble mortal.
That alone was a big problem, but what happened next was what really frightened Fatima. She heard a whisper of gibberish, but somehow she was seduced by the words and wanted to hear more. The worst part was that the whispers bypassed her senses and spoke directly to her soul.
"Cthulhu Power," she muttered to herself with an ugly face. She immediately hit the Snap, and Lana fainted. Fatima then shouted, "Kadija, didn't your scan say she's fine?"
"Our scans did not detect this force."
"How is this possible?" Fatima said, checking it out herself. She checked everything: Lana's soul, Soulfire, Soul Dimension, Magic Core, body, and even her [Life Code]. However, she saw no sign of any such power.
'Then how can she control Cthulhu Power?' she asked desperately. Her daughter's soul and flames contained a trace of Divinity, which was enough to bring her into the Empire's vision, especially Imperial Family. But now that this matter is related to the Cthulhu monster, the situation is much more serious.
'What should I do?'
Fatima's first thought is to escape. Normally, a defecting Arcanist is not a big problem, even a Arcanist with Mage Tower. However, the emperor was suspicious by nature, and the research on Cthulhu Power was one of the main sources of his suspicion. If she escapes, she is sure that Empire will hunt her down for the rest of her life.
She can surrender to the top civilizations in the Astral Realm, such as Wizarding Civilization, but as long as these people know the special situation of Lana and the fact that the rising Arcane Empire wants her, the only fate waiting for their mother and daughter is to be captured and become research materials.
'What am I thinking? This matter is not decided by me at all,' Fatima thought with a wry smile. A Mage Tower's Tower Spirit is under the absolute control of its owner. However, before Fatima is allowed access to her children and the Cthulhu monster's research information, she must implant <Old Ones Protocol> into Kadija's core, which means she can't even command Kadija now.
"Have you reported the situation here to the Empire?" Fatima asked.
"Yes, it has been reported."
She sighed and looked at Lana, who was sleeping soundly in her arms. Fatima decided to wake her up and talk about what happened.