Returning with a vengeance

Malenia could not suppress her curiosity and followed after all, allowing Zhao Si, who had taken a gamble, to breathe a little easier.

The weight on his mind had not lifted, because something even more troublesome lay ahead-how to deal with Ranni.

Although they had never met, everything Zhao Si had done had effectively placed him on the opposite side from Ranni. Whether it was trying to prevent the Night of the Black Knives or bringing Malenia to the Academy of Magic for an audience with the Full Moon, he was dancing through Ranni's minefield.

Weathering Ranni's anger would not be difficult. The difficult part was having a proper conversation.

He had two main reasons for meeting Ranni: first, to learn about the Night of the Black Knives; second, to give Malenia some reassurance.

At least "rebirth" sounded like a viable solution. It was somewhat better than blindly searching for a way to cure the Scarlet Rot.

At that moment, Zhao Si could not help wondering whether the celebrated goddess Marika had bad genes. Miquella and Malenia, whose bloodline should have been noble, both suffered from congenital defects. Yet Godwyn, whom she had borne with Godfrey, had no problems. Morgott and his brother merely displayed the Many Faces through an ancestral throwback; there was nothing wrong with their bodies.

Morgott was certainly a formidable fighter. Mohg was a psychopath, so he could be set aside for now.

Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni, born of Radagon and Rennala's union, all had no problems, and all three siblings were quite gifted.

Godfrey was humanity's strongest warrior, the most formidable human fighter of his age. His genes were excellent. Rennala was more or less one of humanity's finest sorcerers, and her genes were exceptionally good too.

Only the children Marika had "borne" with herself had congenital illnesses. Whichever way he looked at it, the problem lay with her.

Having children with herself. Zhao Si's thoughts wandered a little too far. How exactly did she manage that?

The question was too complicated. Still, it gave him an idea: if Ranni lost her temper, he would tell her the greatest secret in the Lands Between-Radagon was Marika.

He believed that once he dropped that bombshell, neither Ranni nor Malenia would have any interest in squabbling. Their family relationships would become a complete mess. Ranni's biological father was Malenia's biological father, while Malenia's biological mother was also Ranni's biological father.

Zhao Si counted it out on his fingers and felt that even he could barely untangle it.

A little earlier, after Zhao Si and Helena had set off for the Shaded Castle.

That day, Thops visited Shrimp-Meat Boy's stall as usual. Shrimp-Meat Boy was openhearted and loyal, and he had come to regard Zhao Si and the others as friends. When business was slow, he would chat with Thops.

Thops treated Shrimp-Meat Boy as a sounding board and vented at length about the lack of progress in their research. His own Barrier Magic, however, had improved considerably under Sellen's guidance. He had already decided to name it [Thops's Force Field].

The so-called "Waste of Stones" was not a waste at all. He simply needed a little inspiration to turn stone into gold. Sellen had the patience to teach him and could tailor her instruction to his talents. It was only defensive magic-how difficult could it be? The stagnant Academy establishment simply refused to offer him any guidance.

"A bunch of fossils clinging to outdated ideas," was Sellen's assessment of the Academy establishment.

The blueprints Zhao Si had left behind, however, had become a major headache. Even two brilliant masters like Azur and Lusat could not work out how to build a Glintstone Computer.

"A display window that can show images," Azur murmured as he studied the blueprints.

Lusat fiddled with a piece of glintstone carved into the computer's main unit. "And we have to transmit what's recorded in here to the display window. Why not transmit it straight into the human brain?"

"Concerned about danger." Holding the blueprints, Azur pointed out a line to Lusat.

It read: Danger. Do not connect directly to the human brain.

"Doesn't exploration always come with danger? Even paying with one's life for knowledge is acceptable. His words... I don't understand them." Lusat felt somewhat resentful toward Zhao Si, thinking that the man was far too cautious. It never occurred to him that Zhao Si wanted them to stay alive and pass on their magic, rather than throw their lives away merely to satisfy their own curiosity.

Had Zhao Si been there, he would certainly have snapped, Have a little social responsibility, you bastards!

Leaping straight into the era of brain-computer interfaces was too great a step and too risky. Zhao Si's intention was to use tools to reduce the risks, not make exploration more dangerous.

All these people could think about was adding things to their own bodies. They did not even bother controlling variables in their experiments. They were textbook crackpot scientists.

If Zhao Si knew what they were doing, he would probably start missing Goldmask again. He would gladly call Goldmask the foremost Golden Fundamentalist scientist in the Lands Between.

The Glintstone Firearm, on the other hand, had made some progress. They had experience making Cuckoo Glintstones, so they could use etching to store magic inside polished glintstone bullets. Put simply, they had made a staff in the shape of a Firearm, greatly simplifying the mechanism while increasing the cost of the ammunition.

They had Thops test-fire it, and the results were good. It successfully fired a Glintstone Pebble.

Life at the Academy of Magic remained fairly uneventful, until an incident shattered the peaceful atmosphere of research.

In the hills east of the Academy of Magic stood the Church of Vows, a place that could be said to have witnessed Radagon and Rennala's love. North of the church lay the Uhl Dynasty Ruins.

Farther north of the ruins was a village of middling size. Its residents had lived their lives working at sunrise and resting at sunset, until one day, a man arrived.

An ingratiating smile hung on his lips as he muttered cryptically, "Who is worthy of becoming a lord?"

The man was none other than Shabriri, who had not quite stayed dead. After his failure on the Weeping Peninsula, he had once again plotted a counterattack by the frenzied flame, returning through Corpse Possession. This time, he had set his sights on Liurnia Lake.

Having learned from his experience with the diseased village on the Weeping Peninsula, he chose to infiltrate slowly. He would begin with a small village, then influence the guards nearby, followed by the refugees and bandits who could no longer endure the Academy.

He would use the frenzied flame to assemble his own legion of infected people and march on the Academy of Magic, aiming to subdue its sorcerers and gain even greater power. After all, sorcerers were physically frail. As long as he prevented them from using magic, they would be relatively easy to control.

Shabriri took a gentler approach this time, letting the frenzied flame eat away at people little by little, then slowly expanding the spread of infection. He was like a source of plague, spreading a disease called the frenzied flame. At first, the infected merely felt discomfort in their eyes. As the illness progressed, their eyes began to hurt and water, and their eyeballs gradually ulcerated. The torment clouded their minds, placing them under the "pathogen's" control.

That took a very long time.

"Sickness, madness, frenzy. Hmm..." Shabriri gazed toward the Academy of Magic in Liurnia Lake, thoroughly pleased with the location.

"Radagon wouldn't stand by and let his former wife and daughter be bullied, would he? He should send someone very powerful to deal with me, shouldn't he? Heh, heh, ho, ho, hahahahaha!" Shabri-

-ri could not help laughing aloud. "I'll choose someone with the makings of a lord from among the strong, give him a legion of frenzied flame, and conquer the Erdtree! Hahahahaha!"

Who knew where he found such confidence? After laughing for a while, he suddenly shut his mouth. He pondered for a long time before muttering to himself, "That strange youngster from last time won't show up again, will he?"

It had been his first time encountering someone who could neutralize the frenzied flame.

Meanwhile, the ragtag army of frenzied flame he had assembled erupted in Gatefront Town. It was hard to imagine the normally amiable townspeople suddenly spewing yellow flames from their eyes, burning everything they touched to ash.

Those who were still healthy scrambled to get inside the Academy. The Cuckoo Legion was overwhelmed, having to inspect the eyes of those entering the Academy for shelter while also holding off the surging victims of the frenzied flame. The sorcerers provided covering fire for the Cuckoo, easing their burden.

At a time like this, the castle proved its worth, taking in residents during a crisis and serving as a refuge.

Shabriri's infected formed an enormous host. People and animals alike were affected by the frenzied flame, surging toward the Academy in a vast tide. Even those struck down could be hauled back up by the frenzied flame and put to use again. With so many of them, Shabriri gathered even more prayers this time, forming a massive Frenzied Flame Ball in the air.

It looked as though it meant to rival the sun and moon, like an artificial sun upon the earth.

Like an eye, the Frenzied Flame Ball stared at the Academy's gates, unleashing streaks of Sky-Cutting Frenzied Flame at any Cuckoo soldier or sorcerer who showed their head. A yellow beam of fire struck its target squarely in the head like a laser, leaving them dead or wounded.

Death was preferable. Anyone who survived was immediately infected by the frenzied flame.

Last time, it had still needed to wear down the Erdtree's grace. This time, it burned that grace away completely. Had the frenzied flame grown stronger, or had the Erdtree's grace grown weaker?