"The Philosopher's… Stone?" Nyx echoed with a confounded voice.
"Indeed. You won't tell me that you don't know about it, right?" Flegra raised an eyebrow as she flipped her book back to herself.
"No, I know but…" The goddess paused and pursed her lips. "It is a concept; not a real thing. Even if there are constructs in this world made by Gods that come close to it, a Philosopher's Stone was said to be impossible to make in the truest of senses."
"And you would be correct. At first, alchemists didn't even know what to make of it. They defined it before even actually making it. At first, it was said to grant immortality. Ironically, it was called the Elixir of Life at some point, before the actual one was made," the old woman stated and pointed at the book in her hands.
"Then, we have this. A transcription of the latest Magnum Opus of the olden alchemists. It renewed the view on the Philosopher's Stone. It is not mere immortality; it is near omnipotence. That is the version you have most likely heard of."
Nyx nodded at that. "A good friend of mine told me about it once. She is a witch, one of the best there is, and an equally talented alchemist. She ascertained it was impossible to make."
"And she would be right," Flegra looked down at the pages. "As impressive as this is, it is riddled with flaws. How to gather Sins or Virtues? Where to find the soul of a Nephilim? How to create the Prima Materia? How to balance Causality with Divinity or Infernity? And most importantly, what made it unfeasible was…"
"The container…" Shin-Woo muttered under his breath to complete her sentence and both women turned toward him. Realizing he had spoken out loud, he went on, "In my opinion, what they use to mix up all of those 'ingredients' is the most crucial part."
Flegra smiled faintly and put the book down. "Exactly. This formula never even began to discover a solution to that problem. Not to mention that it was not guaranteed that those ingredients were enough or even the right ones."
"Wait," Nyx raised her hand with a frown. "Before we go any further, am I allowed to assume that this is all on the basis that Rakna is somehow turning into a Philosopher's Stone?"
"Yes," Flegra answered positively without an ounce of hesitation. She walked to the bed and stared at the unconscious therian. "The moment you said his body was made of Prima Materia; I knew."
"How so? And why did you instantly make the connection with that specific recipe?"
"The Stele Inversion," the old woman replied simply. "The process is transmuting his soul power into a black crystal, which is then absorbed by his body and converted as well. For lack of a better term… his soul is eating his body. But that's not all. Did you take a look at the crystal itself?"
Flegra asked whilst picking up the shard she had extracted earlier. She held it between the tip of her fingers and raised it to eye level. "There are two things about this I noticed. First; I can sense an obvious mix of Divinity and Infernity inside of it. And secondly… catch," she told and tossed the shard.
Nyx caught it with one hand and opened her palm to see it. She narrowed her eyes at it, trying to find something askew from its appearance until she focused on other senses. Then, she shuddered and quickly pressed it against her ear.
"What is it? Do you hear something?" Shin-Woo asked curiously.
"…it's the opposite," Nyx uttered. "I can't. It's absorbing sound waves in its direct vicinity. Not only that, the longer I touch it, the more I can feel it take some body heat. Even worse; the air is being sucked in as well."
"That's… strange?" The regressor scowled. "It's not hurting you?"
"No…"
"Then, do you think it's also absorbing all spectrums of light? Could you even properly see it if that was the case?" Shin-Woo wondered aloud.
"Again, that is precisely it," Flegra nodded and both of them turned to her. "Candidly speaking, that shard is not a real material. It's a magical element, filled with all sorts of ingredients, mainly souls and causality. However, it is fused with Prima Materia and has started to absorb all it touches to supply its corporeality. Grossly said, it's sustaining itself by purely existing."
Flegra approached Nyx and extended her hand in order to receive the shard back. "Look," she said and tapped the crystal with her fingernail, making a chime-like sound. "It is absorbing sound, yet producing it. But the truth is; I didn't make that sound; the shard did in response. Instead of cause and effect, there's only cause."
The old woman concluded with a sigh and went to the bed once again. "And that… is the theorized behavior of the Philosopher's Stone. It absorbs the fabric of reality to redefine it."
"And that… is what Xiorra's body is transforming into," Shin-Woo furrowed his eyebrows. "I would guess he's not a 'real' Philosopher's Stone quite yet, right?"
Flegra nodded. "And that's the cause of his ail. There's an imbalance. First of all, as I said, the most elusive part of the Stone's creation was the container. Well… miraculously, it seems that this boy's body and soul became it. A combination of so many incongruous circumstances; a negative karma and causality, yet alive; an outlandish body of Prima Materia; devoured traits; and a Kzanaria of the Crystal Sage, the wish-granter, and a being legendary for bending reality to his will."
"In a sense, the Sage's power is like a Philosopher's Stone… But he was so much closer to an urban legend than anything else that no one ever knew," Flegra mused. "Perhaps it is him that is steering your friend into this path. After all, he is probably the one who gave way to this… Obsidian Star to be born. He is also the one who most certainly arranged the ingredients in a homogenous manner."
"It's as if the Sage is the alchemist and Rakna is the stone…" Nyx muttered with a frown. Suddenly, she had a completely different opinion of the mythical man.
Flegra nodded slowly. "An accurate assessment. Point in case, the young wolf has turned into the container. It is both a simple and absurd alternative. Instead of some object, the recipe involves a living being. Such an idea is ridiculous since the concoction would undoubtedly lead to death… but fate has somehow found a way for this boy. Yet, that's about it. If you go further into the idea, the instability will forfeit the life of the container."
"Which is what's happening right now," Shin-Woo uttered and she acquiesced.
Nyx cut straight to the relevant question, "So, how do we save him?"
Flegra grimaced. "If I had to be honest, I can't say for sure. But I have one idea. We have to restore the balance he had before the Inversion happened. I would posit he ascended his magic or perhaps his soul recently, right?" She asked the goddess. "Can you tell me what caused the imbalance?"
"Both of those," Nyx replied thoughtfully. "The 'fierier' side of his magic ascended and equated the other. The union of both was the Obsidian Star. However, at the same time, he crossed a milestone for his soul that even Gods rarely attain; a Soul Marble."
The old woman's eyes widened in surprise. "That's impressive... A massive increase in soul power reserves, followed by a rapid depletion might have indeed caused a shock strong enough to trigger the Inversion… but there is something else, isn't it?"
"A Sin," Nyx stated. "If I'm not mistaken, he awakened his third sin at the same time."
"I see…" Flegra's eyes flashed in understanding. "Let me guess; his symptoms began to appear only after he came out of some form of demonization?"
"Yes."
"…the Inversion was caused by rejection," the old woman concluded. "Let's say that the Stele is an independent factor inside his soul. Despite everything going around it, and even the alterations it suffered, it managed to stay in place because it remained the center of balance. But when both the Star and Sins went out of control, they pushed it away because it didn't fit anymore."
"Then, what do we have to do specifically?"
"The Star Energy is currently the most overbearing part of the pot. We have to increase the force that counter-balances it. Ergo, we must empower the Sins; just as his demonization allowed him to retain a semblance of stability."
"That… sounds difficult," Shin-Woo remarked with a frown. "I'm a bit lost about Xiorra's abilities, but I know that the Sins are incredibly rare Ultimate-Excelled Skills. To accomplish what you are proposing, we would need to give him one more Sin, right? How do we do that?"
Nyx nodded grimly. "He's right. In the first place, Sins are a facet of emotions. He would need to be conscious at least to even consider awakening a new one."
"I am aware," Flegra retorted. "Just tell me which ones he possesses now."
"Sloth, Pride, and Wrath."
"Which leave us with Greed, Lust, Envy, and Gluttony…" The old woman muttered and gave a side glance to the Night Goddess as an idea flashed in her mind. She was about to speak when a sphere of blue light flashed over Rakna's body.
Flegra stepped back from the bed startled and watched dumbfounded as the unexpected shape of a small Hydra appeared over the therian's chest. The creature's attention immediately zeroed onto the latter and it froze on the spot.
"Pronos…" Nyx whispered in shock. Normally, it wouldn't have been a surprise for a Soul Beast to teleport to their partner in the System. But at the moment, Rakna's soul was barely functional. One could even say that he had absolutely no resemblance to a living being.
Yet, Pronos had found a way. Nyx had no doubt he had sensed something was wrong from the very moment Rakna awakened the Obsidian Star. He had most likely attempted to reach him over and over again to no avail.
And after succeeding despite the odds, the first thing he sees is almost a lifeless sight of his friend. The Hydra's eyes watered and a green aura flared over his scales.
"Pro--!" Sensing something imminent, Nyx was about to call him, but she was cut off by a surge of golden and green aura. It coursed throughout the small wooden house and rattled the furniture.
On the other hand, a large shadow ominously expanded and the earth began to quake, both inside and outside; as if a natural catastrophe was striking the First Plateau. Clad in aura, nine large pairs of eyes menacingly shone and looked down at Flegra, barely low enough as to not hit the ceiling.
The old woman opened her mouth in shock and awe. She gazed into these eyes; a golden infinity symbol etched onto each of the irises. They cried tears of rage and a throaty growl made the room vibrate as the Hydra weighed if she was a life to end… or torment.
Shin-Woo shuddered at the creature's overwhelming presence, standing in front of his master as if to protect him. "God… this is what that snake has become…?" He couldn't believe the difference there was between now and the first time he saw Pronos.
"Ouroboros…" Flegra mouthed quietly and the quaking got stronger. The Nine-Headed Hydra was ready to unleash Infinity on the world and it responded to him.