It took Touko ten days to create the body for the Unborn Child, but in reality, the actual crafting process only took three days. The remaining seven days were spent waiting for the body to develop on its own to the point where a soul transfer could take place.
Watching the body of the one-year-old girl slowly take shape inside the cultivation tank, Rennala developed heavy dark circles under her eyes. However, this was merely an external manifestation of her mental state—physically, she could go without sleep without any actual harm.
The truly awkward situation, however, was for Rellana, who was accompanying her. She was still a pure maiden, without even a formal boyfriend, yet suddenly, she now had a daughter—and one that was tied to her sister. No matter how she thought about it, it felt strange.
But she couldn't complain, as this concerned her sister's mental state and the birth of her niece. So, she had no choice but to endure.
On the eleventh day, Touko used the Third Magic to extract the incomplete soul from the Great Rune entanglement of the Unborn Child and transferred it into the cultivated body.
For the first ten minutes, no visible changes appeared in the body. Rennala was so nervous that she accidentally broke off a piece of the nearby experiment table. Then, suddenly, she saw her child cough and slowly open her eyes inside the cultivation tank, curiously observing the world around her.
The full moon queen pressed herself against the cultivation tank, gazing lovingly at the child she had gestated for ten years before giving birth. No matter how she looked at her, she found her incredibly adorable. However, since the child was still inside the tank, she had no idea what to do, so she turned to Touko with a pitiful expression.
With great professionalism, Touko cast several Rune-based spells to check the child's condition. After confirming that everything was fine, she drained the cultivation fluid while keeping the child suspended in the air and then opened the tank.
Queen Rennala immediately grabbed the prepared velvet blanket and wrapped her precious little daughter in it, holding her carefully in her arms. Her once cold and aloof face was now filled with a loving smile.
Watching from the side, Rellana felt her hands twitch with an itch—after all, this child was partly hers too, right? Should she also hold her for a bit?
"Regarding your daughter's soul, there are some things I need to inform you about," Touko said seriously. "Although she has successfully gained a body and been born, her soul remains incomplete. This is likely due to an incorrect method when using the Great Rune of the Unborn Child."
"Will that have any negative effects on her?" Rennala immediately asked with concern. "Is there any way to repair her soul?"
"This kind of incompleteness is more like an imperfection," Touko explained, adjusting her glasses. "Previously, when she was inside the amber egg, only parts of her brain and eyeballs had developed. No matter how much power was infused, her soul couldn't fully grow."
"But now that she has obtained a complete body, as long as she grows up healthily, her soul will gradually repair itself and she will become a normal person," Touko continued. "However, there is one issue."
"What issue?" Rennala asked, slightly annoyed by Touko's dramatic pauses, but she had no choice but to remain patient and continue listening.
"Her childlike form will persist for a long time," Touko said, spreading her hands. "Because her soul is incomplete, the process of repairing it will consume physical energy, significantly slowing her growth. As a result, she will likely remain in a toddler's form for quite some time, and her intellectual development will also be somewhat slow."
Hearing this, the sisters both sighed in relief. After all, they had struggled for years for this child—if she were born with cognitive impairments, that would be a serious problem.
However, from Touko's perspective, this was no issue at all. In the Lands Between, where these near-demi-god figures had almost infinite lifespans, what did it matter if the successor was a little slow?
With that settled, the affairs of the Royal Caria Academy gradually returned to normal. The remaining one-third of the academic faction's Glintstone sorcerers, who hadn't committed any major offenses, were reabsorbed by Queen Rennala, allowing the academy to function again. Currently, they were busy repairing the buildings and facilities that had been destroyed by the traitorous wastrels over the years.
Seeing that her sister and niece were both safe, Rellana entrusted the academy to them and left for Messmer's side. Meanwhile, Messmer was preoccupied with finding the remaining half of the sigil for the Grand Lift of Dectus.
After more than half a month of meticulous searching, Messmer had largely confirmed that the missing sigil was located somewhere in the Liurnia region. Now, it was just a matter of spending enough time to retrieve it.
From his long-overdue reunion with his younger sister, Melina, Messmer learned that, apart from himself, there was another demi-god in the Lands Between who had a connection with serpents. However, unlike his natural serpent affinity, this person had deliberately fed himself to a great serpent and then seized control of it from within.
When Messmer first heard this, he was shocked. But then, he began to contemplate whether he should eliminate this snake-feeder before advancing on the Erdtree. After all, this individual had openly rebelled against the Erdtree. Even if he successfully restored the throne, he would eventually have to suppress this rebellion.
However, upon further thought, Messmer realized that since his stubborn sister Melina insisted on fulfilling her mission despite learning the truth about the Two Fingers, he might as well give her something else to focus on. That way, by the time he resolved the situation in Leyndell, he would have a valid reason to persuade Melina to abandon her self-immolation mission.
Through insights from Aoko and the revelations about the Two Fingers and the sealed Divine Towers by the Shadow Tree, Messmer deduced the state of the Erdtree. He was certain that the interior of the Erdtree had been sealed by the thorns of rejection. Otherwise, the Blessed King would have entered long ago instead of waiting until now.
Although his Serpent's Flame might not be enough to burn the entire Erdtree, he was confident that he could burn an opening in the seal, allowing him to slip inside and rescue his mother. Unlike the other demi-gods, he had no fear of the Two Fingers.
Thus, for now, the best course of action was to convince Melina and the Tarnished to head to Caelid and deal with the now-mad General Radahn. This would serve multiple purposes: strengthening the still-weak Tarnished, distracting Melina from her obsession with burning the tree, and buying Messmer more time.
However, what Messmer didn't know was that as he was planning to send Melina and the Tarnished to Caelid, a large number of uninvited guests had already arrived at Redmane Castle.
Led by the Cleanrot Knight Leda, followers of Miquella had forcefully joined the combat festival. As warriors from various lands gathered, they clashed in fierce battles, all awaiting the moment when the festival of war would officially begin.
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