Cristine stared at Strax, her eyes wide, breathing heavily. Those words hammered in her mind with the weight of a sentence. But Strax remained firm, and his voice cut through the silence once more, now a little lower, but still full of certainty.
"Don't think this is what I want to do, Cristine," he said, looking away for a brief moment, as if the words hurt him. "It's not. Turning someone... is not something to be done lightly. And certainly not with her."
He approached slowly, without threat, without arrogance. Just the weight of someone who had crossed that line before.
"But it's the most viable solution. And the fastest. The corrupted mana inside her is taking root with every passing hour. She doesn't have days. Maybe not even hours. We don't have the luxury of waiting and hoping she can adapt on her own."
Cristine squeezed Yennifer's hand tighter, as if that gesture could anchor her in the world of the living. Her voice came out tense.
