Dark Fantasy: Magical Eye Knight – Chapter 125

Chapter 125: Treatment

TL: Potato-tan

Proofreader: Asianpotato

They entered the Lord’s Castle in no time, guided by Vandel, and immediately reached the bed where Tatiana was lying down. Sarannen and Jess were already there.

Jess was emitting a faint golden aura from his palm, while Sarannen was tending to Tatiana with green healing magic.

Russell approached the bed and took a look at Tatiana. She didn’t look good at all. If it weren’t for the slight rise and fall of her chest, one might have thought she was already dead.

Her face was pale; her expression was slightly distorted; her skin was dull and puffy; and her lips were dry. She wasn’t sweating, either. The lack of sweat meant that her body had almost no strength left to fight on its own.

Jess gave him a tired smile.

“We said goodbye, but here we meet again.”

“That’s how life is. Can’t holy power heal her?”

Jess nodded.

“Yes. Holy power can heal the internal injuries bursting from within, but not their root cause. Mana likely caused the internal injury, but I couldn’t recklessly examine the Lord’s body without caution. That’s why I called Russell. He’s the one who knows how to handle mana the best that I know of.”

Sarannen said.

“My healing [life] is not going well either. Maybe it’s because of the collision between mana and circuits. I can’t look inside either.”

Of course, Russell could look inside.

“Step aside for a moment.”

The two obediently stepped back. Russell, who was standing right next to Tatiana, focused his mana in his eyes. Then his pupils began to glow purple.

Sarannen looked into his eyes with a slight surprise. It was the first time Sarannen had seen Russell’s magic eyes up close. Jess said.

“It’s the first time since I saw it in the forest. Back then, it felt like it was burning more brightly than it is now.”

At that time, his control over his magic eyes was not very high, so it was as if flames were burning inside his eye sockets. Now, it was just faintly glowing purple.

Russell’s normal field of vision receded, and a field of vision that could read mana, magical power, and even the flow of air began to open up. He saw through the Lord’s clothes and skin to the skeletal muscles and internal organs.

“Hmm.”

A murmur escaped his lips. The problem was simple, but the symptoms were serious. Tatiana’s undeveloped mana circuits and her physical body were clashing.

“It’s not enough to just watch. May I touch the Lord’s body for a moment?”

At Russell’s question, Vandel nodded.

“Please do.”

Russell approached the bed and placed one hand on her forehead and the other on her lower abdomen. Very thin threads of mana seeped from his fingertips into Tatiana’s body.

Russell moved the mana while watching it move with his own eyes. His mana carefully passed through the channels known as blood vessels, qi, and blood, or mana circuits.

As the threads of mana circled Tatiana’s entire body, Russell could see what the problem was. She must have awakened her mana at a young age, but it was not a proper awakening.

Conflict between the open and closed mana circuits led to the accumulation of improperly circulated mana.

The already hardened cold energy was eating away at Lord Tatiana’s body, eating away at her blood vessels and nerves. If this continued, she would lose sensation in her extremities, and her flesh would fall off as the blood stopped flowing and necrosis set in.

Her overall condition was that bad. It seemed that the situation had deteriorated rapidly recently, and the reason for that was obvious. It was evident that the accumulated problems from the war had erupted.

Having fully grasped the situation, Russell removed his hands from Tatiana’s forehead and abdomen and looked at Vandel.

“The improperly opened(undeveloped) mana circuits and the already-opened mana circuits are clashing. As a result, mana accumulates and hardens throughout her body. If this continues, she will die.”

“. . .If the mana circuits have not been properly opened, Perhaps it was when the Lord’s father, the previous Lord, died.”

“What about the previous Lord?”

“He died fighting against an invasion of monsters. It’s been 15 years since then. There were more monsters in the forest back then than there are now. After the previous Lord passed away, Lord Tatiana, who had awakened, struggled to create the current territory.”

It was a story of how she had trained alone, without a proper teacher or parents to guide her, even though she had awakened at a young age.

Uncorrected habits from childhood often persist into adulthood. There is a saying that a three-year-old’s habit will last until eighty.

Should the mana circuits, which had solidified 15 years prior, rupture during this immense battle,

Vandel asked with a grim expression.

“Isn’t there any way? A doctor came and went, but they said they didn’t know about this kind of case. The paladin and the druid said they couldn’t do anything either. I feel so sorry for her, who have already done so much for our territory. . .”

“There is a way. However, it will take some time.”

Vandel’s expression changed to one of great surprise at Russell’s answer. So did Irrucil, Farrells, and Aellasis, who had been following behind Russell and listening to him. Irrucil asked.

“Can you cure her?”

“Yes. I can do the same thing I did before.”

“Before? Does that mean you’ve already cured someone?”

“I didn’t cure anyone, but I did open up a boy’s circuits once.”

Irrucil’s face seemed to recall something.

“You mean that boy who worked at the Black Barley Inn?”

The inn had the great-tasting stout that Russell had heard about while tracking his movements. The boy, who appeared to be an employee, had awakened his mana, which had left an impression on her and remained in her memory.

“That’s right. I happened to meet him and open it up for him.”

“No, to do something like that. . .”

“Anyway, is it possible?”

Instead of Irrucil, who had trailed off, Vandel asked with hope in his eyes. Russell nodded.

“However, it will take some time. The circuits have endured a prolonged period of hardening.

“I see. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Just keep quiet.”

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Tatiana was dreaming. It was a dream of the past. She was a young girl, seen through the eyes of a third person.

“I’ll be back, Grace.”

‘Don’t go, Father. You’re going to die there.’

After patting the head of her young self, her father walked away with a helmet on his head. He mounted his prepared warhorse and left the gate, accompanied by knights and soldiers. He set out to defeat the horde of demons that had been active beyond the territory.

And he never came back. We saw the young Vandel, an adjutant at the time, crying on the ground and holding a helmet that had split in half.

It rained heavily. She stood in front of the Lord’s Castle, holding the helmet in her arms. The people of the territory knelt down and cried with her. Did she cry?

In this way, she became the Lord of Latham Territory, succeeding her father. She had no other siblings, and even her mother had died of illness when she was young. She covered up her longing for her father with the work of the territory.

Ten years passed by quickly. Most of that time was spent living as a lord. She had never even been in a relationship.

Her memories stopped in the recent past. It was when the territory was once again in danger. This time, it was on a much larger scale. Tribes of orcs had invaded.

She was furious. ‘Why were these bastards coming here to take what little we had in this small territory?’

All of the knights had left, and only her loyal knights, Vandel and Jörd, remained. There weren’t enough soldiers, either. At this rate, the territory would face utter destruction.

To relieve her frustration, she put on her armor and helmet and went out on patrol. And she witnessed a scuffle taking place in front of the gate.

“What’s going on there?”

When she took off her helmet, she saw two conspicuously large people. One was an orc, and the other was a human male. His rather handsome face drew her attention.

She recognized him. He was the dragonslayer, and he became famous these days through the words and songs of bards and minstrels.

She invited the Dragonslayer to join the punitive force, and after hearing his answer, Tatiana couldn’t sleep. If even half of the rumors were true, she felt that she could get through this crisis.

She couldn’t stop picturing his face. Jet-black hair, purple eyes. A sharp nose and thick eyebrows. Even his lips were rosy.

‘I’m thinking too much.’

Unfortunately, her thoughts about Russell did not easily subside. The bell rang just before dawn.

She hurriedly put on her armor and stood on the ramparts, where orcs and shamans, along with the demons and monsters they commanded, were already advancing across the plains. The troops lacked proper formation.

Her mind went blank. ‘Are the troops properly formed? We are severely outnumbered. We can barely muster three hundred men. The enemy appears to have more than five hundred men. Are we nearing the end of our territory?’

Vandel hastily summoned Russell, but in all honesty, she didn’t believe he could resolve this situation.

‘The enemy was too numerous. . .’

And then, suddenly, the dragonslayer jumped down below the ramparts. He was with Kai, the Orc who had come with him.

The events that followed were unforgettable in her life. The war that she had thought they could not win turned into a battle with only two participants.

The Orcs, called Uruks in the world, were being restored to their original state by the Brown Orc, and Russell was crushing all the monsters that rushed at him alone.

The power of the dragonslayer, as told in songs and poems, was not a lie.

Only after hearing the news that the devil, who had appeared at the end as a combination of corpses and blood, had also been defeated, did the tension in her body release. In the midst of the fatigue that was enveloping her entire body, Tatiana felt her consciousness fading away.

Her undeveloped mana circuits had been bothering her for a considerable amount of time. The situation had deteriorated significantly compared to earlier times. The reason was obvious. The uncontrollable bloodlust that surged through her as she watched Russell, as the Lord, kill demon beasts and orcs with even more vigor was the reason.

The demons responsible for her father’s death had already vanished, igniting the simmering desire for revenge within her. She had given herself over to that desire for revenge, and it had brought her to this point.

In her slowly dying consciousness, Tatiana could clearly hear and feel the situation outside. Vandel screamed at the sight of her collapsed body, while the Paladin and Druid attempted to heal her.

She felt it all, but she thought that her condition was not improving. Her senses were gradually fading away. She had lost her sense of touch, taste, smell, and hearing. As her eyelids were closed, her sense of sight was already dark.

At that moment, a single strand of unknown mana appeared in the darkness. It was a mana that glowed with a clear purple light.

The mana, which was gentle yet relentless, soon ran through Tatiana’s entire body. It was as wild as a wild horse running through a vast prairie and as majestic as a whale swimming in the deep sea.

Tatiana was completely immersed in the sensation of her entire body being soaked. One by one, the blocked circuits could not withstand the mana and opened the doors that had been half-open or closed.

Soon, she realized that her own mana was also swimming through her entire body, riding on the purple mana. And as soon as all the circuits were opened, her senses returned. Tatiana opened her eyes.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“Whew,”

Russell exhaled slowly. And he carefully withdrew his mana from Tatiana’s mana circuits.

This treatment had also been quite a challenge for him. Even though he had eyes that could see through the inside of a human body, he would not have been able to do it without improved control over his mana.

Tatiana’s mana circuits were all wide open and stronger than before, thanks to his amazing mana manipulation. In the process, Russell gained new knowledge.

For instance, learn how to strike an opponent’s circuits, either to break them or to strengthen them. He learned how to introduce friction and kinks at specific locations to alter the mana’s composition and enhance its effect. He had gained a wide range of insights, including these.

He had been curious about Tatiana Grace’s incomplete mana circuits, and he thought he could fix them, but he had not expected to gain such valuable experience from it.

In any case, Russell looked down at Tatiana’s slightly trembling eyelids, which had settled down.

Tatiana’s eyes widened. A clear light, slightly resembling the sky, sparkled in her eyes. Tatiana blinks slowly.

The prolonged closure of her eyes distorted her vision. In her blurry vision, Tatiana spoke to the familiar silhouette.

“Father?”

“. . .I don’t have any children yet.”

She closed her eyes once and opened them again, and her vision was clearer than before. The silhouette was Russell. His face, looking down at her, looked brighter than before.

Tatiana’s previously stagnant mana circuits had completely opened, naturally strengthening her magic power, but she was still unaware of this. In a daze, she just looked up at his face.

“. . . Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

Tatiana raised her body. Surprisingly, her body felt much lighter than before. She closed her eyes and circulated her mana, and there was not a single blocked circuit.

She no longer experienced the constant feeling of hitting a wall whenever she used her mana. She said it in a trembling voice.

“How did you. . .? Russell, did you do this?”

“I did it once before. It took a little while, but it was fine.”

“I don’t know how to repay you. You’ve already defeated the territory’s enemies, and now you’ve saved my life. Hmm. But what is this smell. .?”

Tatiana lowered her gaze as she spoke. There was a foul smell coming from somewhere. And it was her own clothes. A yellowish-black liquid soaked it.

“. . .What is this?”

“While opening the blocked circuits, the hardened mana released impurities. You’ll be fine if you wash it off.”

At Russell’s calm words, Tatiana remained silent for some reason. Then, she trembled slightly and pointed outside.

“Excuse me, but. . . . get out.”

Russell went out.

“Why is she acting like that?”

━Are you really asking because you don’t know?

“Calia. Why won’t you come out?”

It was night, and the Lord’s Castle was plunged into deep darkness. Fortunately, the corridor to the right of the Lord’s room, from which Russell had just emerged, was not dark because there were lanterns placed at regular intervals.

Calia, who had emerged from the flickering shadows of the lanterns, put one hand on her waist and clicked her tongue.

“It’s natural for a woman to get angry in that situation.”

“It came out while I was healing her, and I understand that such situations are unavoidable. No, that aside. Why don’t you come out in front of Irrucil? When I talked to her yesterday, I thought you would come out.”

Calia hesitated for a moment at Russell’s question. Then she said it in a mosquito-like voice.

“She’s your sister, isn’t she? I don’t know, I feel a little. . . “

Her appearance was so far removed from that of an ancient monarch or a powerful vampire that Russell couldn’t help but chuckle.

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