Even though the blood arrived earlier than expected, the squad had to wait another day for the Rathian blood to arrive. But when it finally did, they immediately got to work.
In the basement of the Royal Knights Headquarters, a room was cleared out, and a large pit was carved into the stone floor.
Duncan, Rex, Aron, and Nataly stood on one side with serious faces, waiting for their Captain to begin.
Sol let out a deep sigh of relief, they could finally revive Lapis after over a month of preparation. But he didn't relax just yet. He was confident it would work. After all, why would the book be kept locked within the third floor of the Royal Library if it contained misinformation? What concerned him more was the chance of failure, which was speculated to be related to how long the deceased had been dead.
'No point worrying about it now. We can only hope it works.'
From the spatial ring he had received the day before, Sol retrieved multiple sealed containers filled with blood. Without needing to be told, the others began opening them and pouring the blood into the pit. Halfway through the process, a distinct metallic smell began to permeate the area, but they ignored it and continued pouring.
Aron dumped the contents of the last container and looked at the pool of blood with an awkward expression. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think we were doing something bad."
Rex shrugged. "Well, to some, it still is. We are reviving someone—some would say we're going against the natural order. It's a matter of opinion."
Some people or cultures would find their actions heinous for various reasons. They would claim that they were violating the laws of nature by bringing someone back, or that they were disturbing the natural balance.
Sol shared his perspective as he stared into the pool of blood. "If it doesn't harm or negatively impact others, who cares? If we can bring someone back from the dead, why shouldn't we? It's not like we had to sacrifice others to do it. The only deaths involved were those of beasts and monsters, and we had no part in those deaths. Those creatures would've died anyway, and someone else would have bought the materials produced from their corpses instead."
The squad agreed with his sentiment and prepared for the next part of the ritual. Duncan stepped close to the edge of the blood pool and took out a large glass-like bottle, called an alchemist flask, containing a murky green liquid.
Duncan presented the bottle to the squad. "Condensed poison essence, Ophis' Tears. The Royal Alchemist warned me that we shouldn't drink, touch, or even breathe it. If we do, there's no cure for the countless poisons and venoms that will assault our bodies."
This poison was so powerful that not even assassins dared use it. Not only was it overkill for any purpose, but it was also too dangerous to handle. It couldn't be applied to a blade, as the smell alone would kill the user, and even if that weren't an issue, a single drop landing on them would have the same result. That's why, after the recovery of the book containing this formula, it had only been synthesized once before—to verify the poison's potency, which killed the user within seconds of exposure.
"How do we pour it in without, umm, killing all of us?" Nataly asked, somewhat worried.
Sol thought of a few ideas. 'I could use one of my magic hands to pour it in while we're all outside. Or, to avoid revealing another skill, I could do the same with [Terra Manipulation]. I could also use wind magic to protect us from breathing it in. Or maybe…'
While he was considering the safest course of action, Duncan took out a funnel with a tube attached from his spatial ring.
"That's why he gave me this. We can pour it in without exposing its contents to the air."
"..."
Sometimes the safest and most practical solution was the simplest.
Duncan kneeled at the edge of the blood pool and turned the bottle downward into the funnel as he had been shown by the alchemist beforehand. The poison in the bottle began to swirl downward, entering the funnel and mixing directly with the blood. The murky green substance spread outwards, causing the red blood to darken into a deep yellow.
The pool of dark yellow blood softly glowed as the poison fully mixed, creating a new substance that was dark yellow with a slight luminescent glow.
Sol watched the change, feeling it was similar to something he had read before. 'Didn't the book mention that Ophis' scales took on a golden glow after its rebirth? Is it similar to this?'
He couldn't say with absolute certainty, but it felt like more than a coincidence. Duncan stood back up and looked at Sol for the final step.
Sol nodded and approached the pool of yellowish blood. He took out two vials of blood, popped their caps, and poured them into the pool.
The blood dropped into the glowing yellow pool and disappeared.
"So… how long do you think it will take?" Aron asked.
No one responded as nobody knew the answer. They could only wait until something happened.
Aron, who always had trouble staying still for long periods, began, "Well, if we don't know, I'm going to head—" before he could finish his sentence, the pool of blood flashed brightly, blinding everyone. It was brighter than even advanced level light magic, which could illuminate an entire city.
"My eeeeeyes!" Aron yelled, staggering backward.
He wasn't the only one, Nataly fell on her butt in surprise, and Rex jumped away from the pool out of instinct. Only Duncan and Sol, who usually tackled things head-on, braced themselves and shielded their eyes with their arms in a defensive posture.
The light continued to shine for a full minute before it finally stopped. The pool that had originally consisted of blood had turned into a pure golden color.
"[Life Dew]. Is it done?" Nataly asked as she cast a healing spell on her eyes to help recover her vision.
"[Life Drop]. Not sure." Sol said, casting a healing spell as well; not for himself, but for Aron, who was struggling to get up without his vision.
Sol, Duncan, and Rex, who still had their sight, looked expectantly at the golden pool. They didn't believe such a light show would result in nothing, and they were right.
The golden liquid bubbled as a figure began to rise from within—a naked woman with long, dark green hair emerged from the pool, a dazed look on her face.
Sol immediately recognized her and called out, "Lapis!"
"Lapis!" Nataly echoed as her vision recovered.
"It actually worked!" Rex, who had still harbored some lingering skepticism, was surprised.
Sol quickly took out a cloak from his spatial ring to give her something to cover herself with. As he approached, before he could offer the cloak, her hand swung out at him.
SLAP!
"Pervert! Who are you?!"