Chapter 95 - Desperate Measures

~Content Warning: Self harm~

[Get.SkillParameters_ParallelMinds]

[SkillParameters_ParallelMinds: DominantSelf_"Millibelle", SecondarySelf_"Shadow", Harmony: True]

[CreateNewSkillFunction: "DominanceSwitch"]

[Specify New Function]

[If_True: Set.DominantSelf_"Shadow", Set.SecondarySelf_"Millibelle"]

[Specify If_False]

[If_False: Set.DominantSelf_"Millibelle", Set.SecondarySelf_"Shadow"]

[Creating...]

[New Skill Function Integrated: Dominance Switch]

[Specify If_State]

[Set.DominanceSwitch: True]

[Switching...]

Shadow's POV

I open our eyes as I desperately twist and turn our body in order to regain lift. The ground is rapidly approaching.

I groan as our wings strain under the aerodynamic forces exerted upon them when I finally manage to get in a few wingbeats in the right direction, somewhat slowing our descent. Probing the back of my mind, I feel Her curled into a ball, the onslaught of memories still crippling Her.

Baring our fangs at the sky, I finally manage to stabilize enough to bring our body under control. Our speed is still high, but at least we're in level flight. Scanning the area for a suitable, secluded spot, I careen towards a thicket of trees half covered in snow.

'Fwumph'

Okay, World Knowledge, how the fuck did this happen? Why is She incapacitated, and why am I unaffected?

I don't wait for a response as I burrow deeper under the snow, carving out a little pocket for us to hide in. Once settled, I listen to what World Knowledge has to say.

*It is unknown why the gift of the Onryoki caused this. Skill Mutation could be said to be an intentional bug in the System, where the correct environment has a chance of endowing entities with vastly upgraded versions of Skills. The actual chance of it happening, even under these correct conditions are incredibly low.*

*Perhaps because of your nature as an Otherworlder, the chances of you receiving Mutations is increased, but data is non-existent, an accurate assessment cannot be made.*

*As to why your other half is so heavily affected by the Hitodama, it can be explained by the nature of Hitodama. Not quite an Other Will, nor a Soul, it is something in-between. The flames are a byproduct of the way a Hitodama sustains itself beyond the normal lifespan of an Other Will, by consuming Mourning Air or negative emotions.*

*Much like the smoke from a fire, the ethereal fire that surrounds the Hitodama itself is the aftermath of this process. Due to the difference in how Humanoids and Monsters feel emotion, Hitodama are unable to feed off of Monsters emotions, and as such merely ignore you, since you're the monstrous mind of the Monarch.*

*For your other side though, the situation is different. Her mind is that of a human. And as such, even though she has the body of a monster, the Hitodama are driven to harass her with their own memories in order to elicit a negative emotional response.*

*This Skill suggests the creation of a decoy capable of housing and distracting the Hitodama. Essentially giving them an easier meal than harassing your other half. You should have all the materials and abilities necessary. The hearts of a Lindorm are able to draw in energies, such as the Death Element it used to strengthen itself whilst still alive.*

Staring blankly into the air, I take in all the information that World Knowledge gave me. Seems Esmer somehow won in the end, then. She's certainly given us back twofold for us not saving the life of her husband...

I place my head in my hands, shuddering from the pressure put onto me. The role of dominant self is new to me. There's so much more I'm able to do now. For one, move about despite Millibelle being unconscious. I'm also able to turn off and on Skills, that used to be Her ability.

I grit my teeth. This is only temporary. Once I've fixed this, everything will go back to normal. Taking a deep breath, I jump out of the snow-hole I made. Landing on the soft snow, I use Fey Step to keep myself from sinking in.

So, the hearts of a Lindorm, huh. I'm sure I'll be able to reprogram them to take in Mourning Air along with whatever else Hitodama crave. Then I need something capable of containing the Hitodama. Our own flesh and/or blood should suffice since that's where they hang out currently. Encase it all in crystal...

A plan takes shape in my mind. With determination, I bring out the Ancient Lindorm we killed all that time ago. It's... bigger than I remember.

*Scanning... Locations of the hearts found. Highlighting.*

Four bright lights appear on the Lindorms body. Ah, yes, Monsters have random organ placements, I remember now. I suppose our bodies grow extra organs as needed as well as we grow. I elongate the claw on my left index finger to use it as a knife before beginning to cut.

Most of the time it takes to extract the organs is spent getting rid of those scales. They're the size of dinner plates, and they're incredibly hard to get in-between in order to loosen them from the flesh below.

The flesh beneath gives me a small scare, as it's uncannily similar to Malice in color, a deep purplish black. The flesh lacks the odd oil-like sheen that Malice has, though. I'm guessing the color is due to the high Death and Dark contents of its blood. The blood that oozes out is tar-like in texture, and I'm quickly coated in it as I slice my way towards the hearts.

The hearts themselves are shaped much like a humans, which is very weird. They're much bigger though, easily the size of a basketball. I quickly store the hearts as I cut them free, trying my best to keep myself from retching at the thick stench of blood that bursts forth when I sever the arteries.

Finally done, I store the body of the Ancient Lindorm once again. On the way towards the hearts, I took care to not do too much damage to the surrounding tissues, as Ancient Lindorms are sure to be very valuable.

Now for the next ingredients...

I carefully make an incision just below my right wrist. Thick, azure blood flows out, and I store it as it drips off my arm. I have to remake the cut several times as the wound closes quickly. Once I have enough, I need one more thing.

Letting the wound close, I firmly grab my right arm just above the elbow. Bracing for the pain, I quickly exert all my power in pulling it loose from the shoulder socket. The sickening mix of something plopping loose and the snaps of tendons ripping is covered over by my own shout of pain.

Quickly, before my body starts putting itself back together, I finish the amputation. I cast Miracure once to regrow my lost arm before boggling at the scene before me. I'm moving my newly made right arm, and the severed right arm moves along with it.

So this is the intended use of Remote Body Control. I mean, Millibelle used it when fighting the 'Hero', but then the arm wasn't seen. I shake my head to refocus. Now comes the tricky bit.

From what I can tell, Mourning Air is a gaseous mix of Death, Dark and Air Element, with Death and Air making up the larger part of it. So, I should be able to synthesize it within the decoy by reconfiguring two of the Lindorm hearts to take in Air and Dark Element instead of Death.

I grab one of the hearts, focusing my mind to discern how best to do this. Using the [Is] and [Get] commands of the System is, from what I've learnt, harmless since I'm only accessing information, not doing anything to it.

[GetItemParameters_AncientLindormHeart]

[Item Specification: Monster Organ, Use: IfActive:True_DistillElement01, IfActive:False_NullOperation, Can Be Forged? False, Can Be Crafted? True]

Hm...

[GetConditionParameters_IfActive]

[IfActive:True is compatible with these Parameters; IsEntityAlive:True]

I furrow my brow. Does it need to think it's alive to operate? I don't want to mess with adding compatible parameters, so I guess I'd need to somehow tether that decoy to our body, make it part of us. Ugh. Next question, what's Element01?

[GetActionParameters_DistillElement]

[DistillElement allows the concentrating of Elements 01-13]

Yes I know that!

Ugh, let's see if I can learn anything from looking directly at the Elements themselves. I gather up a ball of Air Element in my free hand whilst focusing on the System.

[IsItem]

[Item Is SolidElement06]

Yes! So it does follow the same order as when I made the Spring, though I'm unsure of the compound Elements... I can guess that number thirteen is the ?????? Element, though.

Okay, then we can try editing the hearts.

Dissipating the ball of Air element, I brace myself for the backlash of editing the System.

[EditInstance: IfActive:True_DistillElement06]

[Replace Condition: IfActive:True_DistillElement01? Changes will only apply to this Item Instance]

[Confirm]

I wince as my head throbs with pain. Although I could possibly have achieved the same results with my Magic Crafting, editing the System directly is much faster, and we don't have a lot of time. The longer I fuck around here is more time She has to endure the Hitodama, and less time to gather resources for the villages. Fuck, we still need to check on that last village too!

[EditInstance: IfActive:True_DistillElement04]

[Replace Condition: IfActive:True_DistillElement01? Changes will only apply to this Item Instance]

[Confirm]

I taste blood as I edit the second heart. Even for such a minor change that doesn't even affect the grand scheme of things, the recoil is incredible. It even bypasses my Recoil Resistance.

Now, the hard part has been taken care of. I crawl back into the snow-hole to keep myself hidden. Even though there probably isn't anything out here that poses a threat to me, I need to concentrate for this to go smoothly.

Bringing out the two modified Ancient Lindorm hearts as well as one of the unmodified ones, I suspend the three hearts in the blood I collected from myself, using Control: Water to keep everything together. Despite being blood, it's still mostly water, so it's not much more difficult to control than normal.

I bring out the severed arm. There's a few bits and pieces that aren't needed or might get in the way, like the claws and scales, so I remove those and store them for now. Even though it's fucking weird, using our own body to craft items isn't a new occurrence, though it's the first time either of us have used a whole limb.

Running a magic current through the now skinned and nail-less arm, it rapidly morphs its shape as lengths of muscle unravel and reform around freshly reshaped bone. Before long, I'm able to deposit the ball of blood and Lindorm hearts into a sphere of flesh. Sealing the top, I then run another current of magic through it to induce blood-flow.

'thmp-thmp'

'thmp-thmp'

'thmp-thmp'

three simultaneous heartbeats start issuing from the macabre sphere. I can feel the hearts doing their work as Death, Dark and Air Element start suffusing the blood around them, turning it from a bright azure into a muddled purple.

It's still not done, though. I gather Earth Element around the meaty orb and fix it in place with Crystallize. As the odd liquid takes effect, an amber hued, slightly translucent crystal envelops the decoy, muting then completely silencing the three heartbeats. Only a rhythmic tremble betrays the fact that there's something alive within the crystal.

*World Relic Created: Origin Soul Core - Item is considered part of its owner as well as considered a living entity for the purposes of using Skills [and System Operation]. Can be controlled via Remote Control Body. A natural generator of Mourning Air, making it a draw for Hitodama as well as most other species of Eastern Spirit. Is able to house an infinite number of Hitodama. Reduces the MP cost of using the abilities of the Great Death King Skill.*

I feel a weight lift off my shoulders as the Soul Core hovers before me. If it's considered part of us, then... I focus my mind, and the Soul Core shrinks from its one meter radius down to the size of a human head.

*Set this as the fixed size of the Origin Soul Core? It can be changed later.*

Yes. I reach out for the now much smaller orb, placing my hand upon it. The uncomfortable heat I've been feeling ever since the Other Wills became Hitodama quickly dissipates as droves of deep blue spheres coated in pale blue flame exit our chest and rush the amber orb, pressing against it and vanishing within.

As the last Hitodama enters the Origin Soul Core, a gasp echoes within my mind. Millibelle is finally free from the torment, but I can tell she still needs time to recover.

"Rest. I'll do what is needed. Don't worry, they won't hurt you anymore." I reassure her before positioning the Soul Core within our crown of horns. It fits almost eerily well.

Well then.

I wash myself off with some water before climbing out of the snow-hole and setting course for the last village we need to visit. There's still time, especially now that we have access to many helping hands.