Numerous magic circles and screens surrounded her. She would observe one, click on the other, or move the one before her. The process was long and tedious, but she meticulously dissected the Shadow God Corpse of all its divine energy before purifying it.
As soon as the process ended, Fatima rushed to her daughter's operation. She did not care that she had a fully preserved Divine Soul, Divine Altar, a small portion of Divine Flame, and a Shadow Authority Crystal that would allow any Arcanist to become a Grand Arcanist by learning Shadow Rules. All she cared about was her daughter.
Fatima teleported to the operation room but stopped herself. Instead, she prayed/meditated for another hour before starting. Then, she entered the room. Rana's situation was quite similar to Koa's, which is why she came up with such a method so quickly. However, Rana's situation was worse because the [Eldritch power] had destroyed the first and second layer of her soul, which involved her mind and memories.
It had almost destroyed the third layer, corroded 99% of Rana's soul, and 90% of her Soul Flame. The only good news is that the soul flame bore all the brunt of the corruption, allowing the fourth layer to remain intact.
Fatima observed the black chains around her daughter's soul flame. This was the manifestation of the power of death that kept her alive, if you could call her state alive. 'Let's begin, she thought. The first step of the operation was cutting off the bad part.
"Initiate Old One Protocol," Fatima stated.
"Protocol E9876J6775 has been initiated. Confirm?" Khadija asked.
"Confirm," she replied firmly. Edward designed this protocol to deal with the Eldritch Abomination Research in the sea. Upon activation, the designated area will be enveloped in the Empire's greatest sealing spell. Additionally, Fatima has just granted Khadija the power to isolate and even annihilate her if the artificial life detects that power has contaminated her.
Fatima could feel it. Her tower was currently inside a dimension onion, with more than 250 layers. If something goes wrong, Khadija has the permission to turn these layers into a bomb, annihilating everything inside.
"What's our energy reserves?" she asked before starting.
"The Old One Protocol used two Tier 8 Aether Cores," Khadija responded.
"Alright, still plenty to go," Fatima nodded before starting. The first step of this operation was abandoning Rana's soul and the third layer of her soul dimension. The abandoned part will be quarantined using guidelines under the Old One Protocol since they were infected by Eldritch power.
As soon as the process ended, all kinds of alerts started sounding. Fatima expected this, so she proceeded to the next step. She stabilized the situation using divine energy to reconstruct her third, second, and first layers.
With their creation, Rana's soul had a place to recondense, and these layers could support the fourth layer and stabilize it. However, this operation was just the beginning. The next step was cutting 90% of Rana's soul, removing the part corrupted by Eldritch energy. However, unlike the death energy on Koa, this power was nasty and refused to let go, no matter what.
Fatima knew she had to try something else, so she changed tactics. She understood the concept that all lives strive to improve or evolve, and since this power had its own consciousness, it had the same instinct. She took a foreign pure soul and put it inside Rana's soul dimension before bathing it in divinity. Then, she opened a small weakness through the blockage of the death power, luring the eldritch power to that divine soul.
As expected, the thing latched onto a new source of power. After being sealed for so long, it was beyond elated to find a way out or a way to replenish itself. Fatima reacted swiftly. She sacrificed the first and second soul dimension to boost a spell that would draw out the eldritch power.
Her desperate and reckless approach worked as she essentially sucked more than 80% of that power from Rana's Soul Flame. The remaining power was now easier to isolate and remove after being so drastically weakened.
The next step in the operation was a two-way approach. Khadija was in charge of sealing and removing the third layer, which had been corrupted for a second time, before recreating the previous three layers.
Meanwhile, Fatima was in charge of nourishing Rana's Soul Flame with divine energy before recondensing her soul. They had to hurry since the divine energy was dwindling.
Fatima looked at the pale gold soul flame and her daughter's soul, which had a slight golden glow, and sighed in relief. "Kadhija, a full body scan," she ordered.
"As you wish, Madam….I have detected some physical injuries due to the intensity of the surgery."
"Show me?" Fatima asked quickly. She looked at it and sighed in relief. The soul and body are linked, meaning an injury to one can affect the other. Rana's injury was most likely caused by the removal of her soul dimension layers. The injuries were not serious and easily treatable with a few potions.
"One more thing," Khadija added. "I have detected the patient has an abnormal affinity with Shadow that was not present before."
"It makes sense since the God Corpse was probably a Shadow God before, but what do you mean by abnormal?"
"Her immunity to shadow has reached the maximum recorded in the Empire. Meanwhile, her resistance to light-based attack is also at an all-time low."
"That's not a problem. With the right potion bath, we can slowly reduce her shadow affinity and increase her light affinity," Fatima nodded. Arcanists must have a main branch of study, but it cannot be too extreme, or they will lose their advantage of versatility. Although some people choose the extreme path, it is not the mainstream.
"Anything else?"
"No, Madam."
"Good."
Fatima entered her daughter's medical room and slowly stopped all the life support spells. Then, she waited with bated breath as little Rana slowly opened her eyes.
"Mama?"
"Rana!" Fatima cried as she hugged her daughter. Then, she remembered how strong her body was and was scared she held on too tightly. "Are you alright? Do you feel any pain? Any headache? Tell me if you feel anything is wrong."
"Mama, which wrong am I supposed to answer?" Rana said, almost rolling her eyes.
"Oh, it's so good to see you alive," Fatima said, holding her tightly.
"Mama, where is Baba? I had a strange dream that he turned into a monster and ate me."
Fatima's body trembled slightly, but she quickly regained her bearing. She looked her daughter in the eyes: "Your baba is…not here right now. You'll see him later."
"Mama, you're lying."
"What?"
"I can tell you're lying. Where is Baba? Did something happen to him?" Rana asked, her voice slightly raised. However, such a small and insignificant action had a catastrophic result. Her body released a pressure akin to a God looking at a weak and humble mortal.
That alone was a problem, but what came next is what truly scared Fatima. She heard a whisper that spoke gibberish, but somehow, she was enticed by these words and wanted more. The worst part is this whisper bypassed her senses and talked directly to her soul.
"The Eldritch Power," she muttered with an ugly expression. She immediately snapped her finger, and Rana passed out. Fatima then yelled, "Khadija, I thought your scan said there was nothing wrong with her."
"Our scan detected no such power."
"How can this be?" Fatima said before doing it herself. She checked everything: Rana's soul, soul flame, soul dimension, mana core, body, and even her [Life Code]. However, she saw no signs of this power.
'How can she control Eldritch Power then?" she asked in despair. The fact that her daughter's soul and flame contained a hint of divinity was enough to put her in the eyes of the Empire, especially the royal family. But now that it was related to Eldritch Monsters, things were even more severe.
'What can I do?'
Fatima's first instinct was to run away, and normally, a rogue Arcanist is not an issue, even one with a tower. However, the Emperor is paranoid by nature, and the research on Eldritch Power is one of the primary sources of his paranoia. If she ran away, she was sure the Empire would hunt her for the rest of her life.
She could surrender to one of the top civilizations in the Astral Realm, like the Wizard Civilization, but as soon as these people know of Rana's unique situation and the fact that the rising Arcane Empire wants her, the only fate awaiting the two is to be captured and become research material.
'What am I thinking? The issue was never for me to decide,' Fatima thought with a wry smile. A tower's spirit is under the absolute control of its owner. However, before Fatima gained access to her child and research on the Eldritch Monster, she had to include the Old One Protocol into Khadija, meaning she could not even order her around at this moment.
"Have you reported the situation to the Empire?" Fatima asked.
"Yes, it has been reported."
She sighed before looking at the sleeping Rana in her arms. Fatima decided to wake her up and have a conversation about what happened.
—
[AN: The next chapter is the last one before we return to Edward.]