Angus's injury from the twin swords artifact is severe and should cause permanent damage. His arms are charred from the inside to the out, and it also ruptures all the mana veins in his arms.
It is known that a ruptured mana vein cannot be healed unless you reach at least sixth grade or above. Even then, it is still hard to make a full recovery. In other words, any fifth grade who got their mana vein ruptured could only become cripple.
According to Angus' knowledge, healing this kind of injury is even more difficult than reviving death. The majority reason for this is that the mana vein is similar to the mana core. It exists and can be felt but doesn't have a physical appearance.
In fact, mana veins are actually very sturdy and couldn't be damaged or even ruptured by normal means. Unless the person is doing something excessive or hit by a sinister attack that is specialized to damage the mana vein, it will be completely intact.
Since Angus could even heal this kind of wound easily, he feels like his body has become more abnormal than in his previous life. He even assumes that he could even survive if his head gets beheaded.
However, Angus didn't plan to test it as he didn't have the habit of self-mutilate or even having a masochistic tendency. Ignoring this thought, Angus begins to focus on refining his chi.
Meanwhile, a silver-haired girl appeared in front of Benjamin's private room. After she opened the door with a complex rune, she entered the room and met her father. During this time, Lily finds his father reading his book as usual.
After living for a long time, Benjamin enjoys reading books to pass the time. Noticing Lily enter his room, Benjamin stares at her for a moment before closing his book.
"How is it?" asked Benjamin.
"Target eliminated. I use Shurvas End to ensure its death." said Lily expressionlessly.
"Shurvas End?! It seems that a turtle is quite something to even force you to use it. Anyway, it is good that now he is gone. Oh yeah, you should probably rest and not force yourself, especially after using that spell." said Benjamin.
Lily didn't reply and only stayed silent.
Noticing her silence, "Lily, is there something wrong?" asked Benjamin worriedly.
"Father… No, Master Benjamin, What am I to you?" asked Lily.
"Lily… *Sigh* It seems I couldn't hide it from you anymore. So, what is your conclusion?" asked Benjamin.
"Love.. No.. It's more like lust. Although it is subtle, I notice some indication of lust in your eyes." said Lily.
"I see… Did you hate it?" asked Benjamin.
"Master, give me life and my creator. I couldn't hate, Master." said Lily.
"No.. You could hate me. Unlike before, I programmed you to be truly free, Lily. The fact you develop the soul itself already indicates that you are no longer just an artificial creation. You are a miracle." said Benjamin sincerely.
Hearing this, Lily stays silent for a few seconds before asking again.
"Master, is Lily truly your daughter?" asked Lily.
Knowing the actual question, Benjamin took another deep breath before he replied.
"No. Lily Alcataria... She is the person that I used as your current appearance. She was the most beautiful girl in the world. At that time, be it for her appearance, temperament, and behavior, everything is beautiful." said Benjamin.
"Despite her young age, she is also smart and very charming. It makes everyone feel like they want to protect her. In fact, many kingdoms and nations are at war because of her beauty." added Benjamin.
After staying silent while reminiscing about his past, "At that time, I was only an old researcher and inventor. Like anyone else, I also fell in love with her the first time I saw her. However, unlike others, I didn't feel the need to protect her."
"Rather, I feel an insatiable lust for her. What I want is to claim her as mine. Unfortunately, I am just an old researcher without power or a good appearance. I could even barely reach third grade at that time. Compared to others, I truly didn't have any qualifications." said Benjamin.
"Until one day, the kingdom we reside in is enveloped by war and invasion by the beast horde. At this time, they decide to send Lily to a more secure location far from this kingdom." said Benjamin.
Benjamin stays silent for another moment before continuing his story.
"During her way, I managed to poison all her escorts and kidnap her. That day… I… I rape her against her will. I.. I kept releasing the deepest lust to her even after she cried and wailed loudly. Yet, it does not make me stop. Her resistance and cry only excite me, " said Benjamin with struggle.
"Since then, I have kept her by my side and raped her every day for a few years. Despite my countless horrible deeds, she never gives up on fighting back until one day, her beauty slowly diminishes. In desperation, I begin my mad research to make her beauty last forever."
"I don't know how often I made her undergo a painful ritual when I couldn't find any research subject. However, I don't realize that she is also a brilliant woman."
"Just by picking some clues from the experiment and hearing my mad talk, she knew I was on the right path and close to succeeding. Maybe she knows if her beauty becomes permanent, she will keep suffering. She decided to make a modification during the ritual."
"With the cost of her life, she changed the ritual target to me. Unbeknown to us, the ritual is actually destined to be a failure. Because of her interference, the ritual somehow created a miracle and made me immortal." said Benjamin.
"She also knows the ritual didn't work as intended and her life is slowly gone. Yet, she gives me the warmest smile that I have ever seen from her before, closing her eyes forever."
"It is like she knows I will never get her again. She decides to show me her best beauty to quench my insatiable obsession. Like drinking seawater, I couldn't forget her and was completely obsessed with her."
"I slowly became a madman. I try every possible way to resurrect her. To feel her again. To see her last beautiful smile. Yet, all I got were failures. An insatiable thirst. An Anguish that keeps growing over time."
"No matter how much time passed by. I couldn't forget about it. No matter how much artificial intelligence I create based on her, it never satisfies me."
"With my immortal body and cursed obsession, I finally stumbled on that 'thing'. After huge painstaking efforts and sacrifices, I finally managed to create that 'thing'." said Benjamin before stopping for a long time.
"Did it fail?" asked Lily.
"No. Unbeknown to me, her spirit actually never leaves me. Just before I activated the resurrection process, she appeared before me. She knows how many horrible things I did just to resurrect her."
"As her last effort to prevent me from succeeding, she tried to erase herself. For the first time in my long life, I feel fear. Horrible fear. I begged her. Plead her to stop. I promise her I will repent and pay for my sins."
"Unfortunately, her spirit has already reached the limit from staying too long in this world. Showing herself in front of me is the same as giving her a death sentence. However, I didn't know this. I thought she was still following me like all the years before."
"It took me dozens of years for me to realize that she had already passed away long ago. Out of desperation, I decided to create you in her image."
"I want to show her that I have changed and I still… obsess upon her. The curse from her is still alive all these years." said Benjamin in a gloomy tone.
After a few minutes of silence, "Lily, did you hate me?" asked Benjamin.
Lily didn't answer and closed her eyes before opening them slowly.
"I am sorry. My data is sufficient to give you an answer." said Lily before leaving the room.
Hearing the response, Benjamin slumped on his seat while crying silently. As an intelligent person, he knows what Lily implies to him. Lily tried to tell him that she may not be Lily Alcataria. Even if she is somehow the reincarnation of Lily Alcataria, she no longer remembers Benjamin.
A moment after the conversation about Benjamin's past, "I don't think I am the right person to give you advice, Lily." said Angus while sitting under the tree and being hugged by Jayna intimately.
After leaving the room, Lily decided to ask Angus for some advice. Still, her approach sparks Jayna's flame of jealousy. Although Jayna knows Lily is a homunculus, she still feels threatened since Lily's figure and appearance are not less than hers.
Fortunately, Angus could notice Jayna's disturbance and calmed her before she accidentally burned down the whole fortress. With all the negative emotions from the war, Angus didn't want to gamble and let Jayna calm on her own.
"From all the people I have known, Master Angus is the wisest." said Lily.
"Nah… You are overestimating me. I may be good.. no great at fighting. But, I am far from being the wisest. I just follow what my heart wants." said Angus narcissistically.
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