Chapter 96

This week, thanks to everyone, the second volume of Cheat Magic has been selling well, so as a thank you, here’s the second update!

I hope my gratitude comes across!

I was led by Cyril to his workshop.

For some reason, there was a coffin large enough to fit a person prepared there.

Kuuna and Anne were taken away by Kuuna’s mother, Kuu. It seems Kuuna will be grilled about what happened while she was away from Elsie.

“Well, Soji. Let’s start the treatment right away. Take off the bandages and get into the coffin without anything on.”

Cyril says this, but I hesitate a little.

“A coffin? That sounds rather ominous.”

“It’s the only convenient thing I had. It’s old, but please bear with it.”

While saying this, Cyril deftly mixed various chemicals. He also used magic during the mixing process.

He must be creating a treatment that combines science and magic.

What he made was a thick, blue liquid. No, at this point, it looks more like slime.

“What is that?”

“It’s a medicine to remove miasma. The ingredients are flowers that grow in the deepest level of the underground labyrinth. Originally, they were ordinary flowers found everywhere. But after being exposed to miasma, they miraculously didn’t wither and developed resistance over generations. I mix the extract with several drugs and excite and alter them with magic to create a special medicine for miasma burns.”

“Don’t tell me, I have to lie in the coffin and be doused with that slime?”

“That’s right. You’re quick to catch on.”

Cyril grins.

Just imagining it makes me shiver.

While Kuuna or Anne might be fine, I doubt anyone would be happy if I did it.

“I understand.”

But there’s no other choice.

I take off my clothes, remove the bandages, and lie down in the coffin.

“The miasma that has entered and integrated with your wounds will be removed using this slime. By immersing your body in this medicine and using magic, it’s possible to remove the miasma.”

“I’m surprised that miasma, which I thought was impossible to cleanse, can be treated this way.”

It’s quite impressive.

With this, the miasma burns will be healed.

“To be honest, this medicine will damage your body and worsen the burns, so I wanted to heal that first. But the miasma distorts the magic I cast on you. I can’t perform magical treatment without removing the miasma. Please forgive me.”

I nod, not really understanding.

Then Cyril starts pouring the blue slime into the coffin.

My body floats up, and I’m completely covered in the slime. The miasma in my body dissolves into the slime, creating a black murk.

The areas of my body with miasma burns start to itch. It seems this slime really does have the effect of healing miasma burns.

“Soji, if you stay in the slime, the miasma burns will be gone in about three days. If you can tolerate the pain, I can use magic to accelerate the process and finish it in about twenty minutes. What do you want to do?”

There’s no need to think about it.

“I want to become stronger as quickly as possible. I don’t want Kuuna to cry anymore. So, I choose the faster option.”

“Good answer.”

Cyril plunges his hand into the slime and activates his magic.

The number of steps is too many, and the way he writes the spell is something even I don’t know. His computational speed is overwhelming.

Just watching it gives me goosebumps. This is the magic of the world’s strongest magician.

I just keep watching Cyril’s magic.

The slime changes color and starts to ripple.

“Guh, gah”

Severe pain shoots through me.

It feels like needles are being directly stabbed into my nerves.

And it’s happening all over my body, non-stop.

I grit my teeth so hard they almost break.

Each second feels like an eternity of agony.

This is going to last for another twenty minutes.

“Soji, if it’s too painful, you can give up. A normal person would go insane in less than a minute.”

I don’t have the energy to speak, so I convey my thoughts with my eyes.

No way. I’ll endure this much pain.

Cyril chuckles.

And I just keep enduring the pain.

◇

“Guh, aaaaaah”

The slime stops changing color and moving.

The pain in my body subsides.

A light of blessing rises from my entire body.

The burns are getting worse, and the blessing is healing them.

But it’s not returning to a normal state. These burns were inflicted after I lost my blessing. It’s only returning to the state before they worsened.

“Good job, Soji. You did well. The miasma has been removed.”

I get out of the slime-filled coffin and check my body.

The feeling of the troublesome miasma that had been clinging to and affecting me is gone.

The miasma had constantly caused pain and hindered my movements, magic, and the benefits of my blessing, but now it’s gone, and my body feels lighter.

“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We still need to heal the burns. Soji, can you stand there naked?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

I stand up. Then Cyril looks at my entire body as if he’s examining it.

“I’m going to start treating the burns. The reason the burns don’t heal is that the cells have died and are not being metabolized. So, I’ll dissolve all the dead cells and then activate other cells to create new skin and transplant it. I’ll do all of this with magic.”

“That sounds rather rough.”

“But it’s the fastest way.”

“Can a person really perform such precise magic?”

Promoting cell division and transplanting skin. No one would be asked to perform magic with such precision.

Theoretically, it’s possible, but practically impossible.

“Well, it’s impossible.”

Cyril answers immediately.

I’m momentarily stunned.

“Impossible?”

“Yes, it’s something Cyril can’t do.”

“What are you saying now?”

Cyril chuckles.

“I phrased it badly. Cyril can’t do it. But ‘I’ can.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a unique magic that only I can perform, and I’m calling out the ‘I’ who can do it. It’s easier to show you.”

He closes his eyes and increases his magic power.

Unique magic. It’s a magic that is etched in the soul and known from birth.

It’s impossible to reproduce and can only be performed by the person.

One in hundreds of people awakens to it. I never thought Cyril would be one of them.

“Release, my soul. The path left behind in the distant past, now here.”

Cyril starts chanting as if speaking strongly to himself.

“What I desire is the seeker of truth, the one who distorts and blasphemes the logic of the gods, whose name is...”

His voice is mysterious and tinged with nostalgia.

“Frenlyn! [Reincarnation Regression]!”

Cyril’s body is enveloped in light.

His unique magic, [Reincarnation Regression], activates.

When the light subsides, Cyril’s body has transformed into a long-haired woman with silver-blue hair. Her eyes, one gold and one silver, shine brightly.

“What, what is this form?”

“I am still me. I have been reborn thirty-one times. And my unique magic, [Reincarnation Regression], allows me to temporarily return to one of my past forms. There are things that the current me can’t do, but some of my past selves can do them easily. For example, like this Frenlyn.”

Frenlyn’s fingertips glow with magical light.

She touches my burns with her fingertips, leaving lines of light on them. Cyril quickly traces these lines of light all over my burns.

“What is this magic?”

“You don’t need to understand it, no, it’s better if you don’t. This isn’t the kind of magic a person can use. It’s an extraordinary level of magic that can only be used by someone who is no longer human. Frenlyn is the me who gave up everything to reach the level of a god.”

Cyril chuckles.

He draws a three-dimensional, multi-layered magic array in the air.

The magic array itself isn’t that rare. But it’s inefficient and has fallen out of use.

It’s used to compensate for processing deficiencies by recording complex spell formulas in space, which the brain can’t process.

However, what Cyril is doing is different. The shapes intertwine, transform, and change roles, holding multiple meanings simultaneously. Spell formulas that have completed their roles move and are reused by changing their positions.

It’s impossible to imagine how much information he’s processing.

“Let’s go. [Liquefaction Transformation]”

Cyril’s magic activates.

The areas marked with lines of light start to dissolve. There’s no pain at all. They just liquefy.

Then, a gray liquid flows down, and the remaining liquid writhes, regenerating my flesh.

If what Cyril said is true, the dead cells are being expelled, and living cells are being immediately cultivated, correctly designed, and used to fill in the damaged areas.

And it’s happening all over my body at the same time.

It’s truly in the realm of the divine.

“That’s it. All your burns are healed.”

Looking at my body, the burns are completely gone, and smooth skin is visible.

“Really, in just a moment?”

At this point, I can only laugh.

“I’ll do the final touch. I’ll heal your magic circuits. Don’t worry, it won’t take long in this form of Frenlyn. Not only will I heal them, but I’ll also enhance them. Due to the [Silver Fox] you created, emulating Kuuna’s Nine-Tailed Fire Fox transformation, your magic circuits are trying to improve in quality. By supporting this movement, I can make them even stronger. This way, your magic circuits might be able to withstand the [Silver Fox] from now on.”

Under normal circumstances, such a thing would be impossible and laughable.

But after seeing Cyril’s power, I couldn’t dismiss it.

“Tell me, when I saw Kuuna’s magic circuits, most of them were damaged and distorted. Did you do that?”

“Yes, I did. I tampered with her magic circuits to prevent her from creating altered magic. If she transformed into a Nine-Tailed Fire Fox again, there would have been no way to stop her except to kill her. I had no choice.”

Cyril’s voice was filled with bitterness.

“You could have stopped the Nine-Tailed Fire Fox transformation.”

“It’s impossible. It’s too special. Even as Cyril, and even among the ‘I’s, there’s no one who can stop it. I can only temporarily suppress it with force. So, Soji, I’m truly grateful to you from the bottom of my heart.”

With that, Cyril pierces my entire body with needles solidified from his magic.

His magic flows into me through these needles.

The magic spreads throughout my body.

“Also, to guide her, someone who can see things from the same height as her was needed. That’s you. You controlled a Nine-Tailed Fire Fox while remaining human. That’s why you can teach Kuuna how to use her power. It’s something I couldn’t do... Let’s start. I’ve grasped all your magic circuits. Yes, I can make you stronger. Soji, please take care of Kuuna from now on.”

Cyril smiles and begins the final treatment of the day.

It took about two hours to correct the magic circuits, and all the treatment procedures were completed.

The burns, the aftereffects of the miasma, and the damage to the magic circuits were all completely healed.

No, they’re even better than before.

I really can’t thank Cyril enough.

When all the treatments were finished, Cyril returned to his original elf form.

“Good job, Soji. You did well.”

“No, thank you. I really appreciate it.”

I bow to Cyril.

To be honest, I thought it was impossible.

“Since you’re just healed, take it easy for a while. Also, cough.”

Cyril coughs up blood in the middle of our conversation.

“Cyril!”

I rush to Cyril and use magic to check his body.

There seems to be no sign of any physical discomfort.

“I’m fine, there’s no problem.”

“Indeed, there doesn’t seem to be any problem with your body, but what is it?”

Coughing up blood without any apparent abnormality is terrifying.

“It’s the backlash of [Reincarnation Regression]. This magic damages the soul.”

I understand when he says that.

No matter how much it’s a past self, it still distorts the current soul.

The more you use it, the more it shortens your lifespan.

“Don’t look so worried. It’s not that serious. If I don’t use [Reincarnation Regression] again, I can live for about ten more years.”

“Only ten years?”

“Elves look young, but I’m already forty-four this year. In an era where the average lifespan is fifty, living for another ten years is more than enough, don’t you think?”

“But you’re a High Elf.”

High Elves are supposed to be immortal.

“A little bit, in my younger days.”

“Did you shorten your lifespan with today’s treatment?”

“It’s nothing to worry about, just a little. You know the [Silver Dragon of Destruction that destroyed the world], right? If I had to call something like that, it would be different. But today’s [Reincarnation Regression] is fine.”

“Was that dragon you?”

Back in the game era, I fought Cyril on equal terms, and in the end, a huge dragon appeared and devastated everything.

I thought it was a coincidence, but I never imagined it was Cyril himself.

“You were strong back then. So strong that I had to use my trump card and shorten my lifespan.”

Cyril smiles, wiping the blood from his mouth.

“To reiterate, you don’t need to worry about today’s treatment, Soji. You risked your life for Kuuna. It’s fine to shorten my lifespan a little. Besides, I want to live and die at the same time as my beloved wife, Lucie, and Kuu... If you still feel guilty, help Kuuna with the power you have left. That’s my wish.”

With that, Cyril throws a towel at me and leaves.

The fact that he, who could live forever, wishes to die as a human, seems noble.