My Wife is a Dead Villainess, and I'm Her Living Weapon-Chapter 65: Human

Elian raised the hand holding his own. It seemed incredibly ironic. He knew the weight Bianca’s words possessed. He should be happy, he should feel grateful, but he remained empty.

I can’t even feel frustrated. It’s like I am turning into a machine.

However, just as he was thinking of a solution a system message came forward.

[Talent: Adamant – Heartless mode penalty has ended. Elian Reed’s emotions will no longer be disabled.]

"!!!"

In a hurry, Elian turned off adamant.

[Talent: Adamant – deactivated.]

And wept. Molten ore leaked down his cheeks as his humanity returned.

Still holding Bianca’s hand his heart was thrown into chaos. His body shivered. Like a wave all the emotions he suppressed came running back.

Relief at being able to save, Fluffy.

Joy at Bianca gaining her family.

Happiness at Silent and Bastion’s approval.

Terror at what he almost lost.

Anger at the church.

They were of various colors, but each emotion slammed into Elian’s body far stronger than even a Tyrant’s blows. His legs buckled. Like a puppet with its strings suddenly cut.

The one holding him grew surprised.

"Elian? What are you..."

And then she saw the tears. She smiled and began crying too.

"Welcome back, Elian. I’m so glad."

"Yeah. I’m back, Bianca."

He felt bliss at her safety; he rejoiced at her smile. It was a necessary sacrifice, but the result was worth it.

"Daughter, what is going on?"

"Son-in-law, are you alright?"

Bastion and Silent drew a blank. Bianca then reassured them while conjuring up water to try and lift Elian up.

"It’s a long story Mom, Dad. We can discuss it over dinner."

***

"..."

Bastion and Silent said no words. Elian and Bianca shared everything, and it was quite heavy. The Wolves learned of how Elian and Bianca met, how they managed to survive, and the cost of the power they wielded.

Silent broke down many times at their story. Bastion nodded but grew agitated when he heard how young Elian was. Yet when they heard the cost to Adamant-Heartless and Driven-Hopeless they mulled in silence.

"Heartless, a state which kills off a piece of you in exchange for clarity. And Hopeless a double-edged sword that grants resilience at the cost of what you stand for. Both are incredible, but Son-in-law, are you certain you intend to use them despite their burden?"

"Yes. I am weak. I cannot protect Bianca with good intentions alone. As someone who grew up a Defect, I know that best," Elian answered.

"And you just received your second Job when Whisper’s body died?" Bastion asked in a gruff tone.

"Yes, I haven’t checked them yet, but I have finally entered the Radiant tier."

Bastion sighed before swiping an Ant Core with his tail and chomping on it.

"To think that I would lose to a Dawn-tiered pup. My dignity is in shambles."

"How does that even matter now? Your Son is slowly erasing himself all because we are too weak to help! And these humans!" Silent scoffed. "The audacity to blame everything on my daughter! Tsk. I have never lamented my weakness as much as I have now!"

Bianca reached out and snuggled Silent’s chest, "Mom, it’s not your fault. It happened a long time ago. What matters is everything happened so that we could come here together. That is the only thing I believe that makes all the bad things bearable."

Silent whimpered as she hugged Bianca, "Oh, my daughter. Please forgive me for not being able to be there for you. My heart bleeds in sorrow at your suffering."

The witch hugged her adoptive mother with both arms as she smiled, "Please don’t blame yourself mom. At least I have you now. For that reason alone, I am as happy as I can be. I belong to Fralhame now!"

"Sigh, my child you are too good for the humans."

As the two women bonded, the men just glared at each other a short distance away.

"Your words earlier, about your intent to kill everything that stand in your way. Was that heartless talking or did you really mean that?"

"I meant every word. Heartless would make it easier, but I grew up seeing the difference strength makes. Without power, one cannot protect, nor can one save. In order to ensure no one would ever hurt Bianca, I will stop being human and gladly become a Tyrant."

"Good. I will help out. She has suffered enough," Bastion grunted.

Elian bowed his head to the wolf and said in gratitude, "Thank you Father-in-law."

"We should get on with Whisper’s body and move. While I am not afraid of the Church, making an enemy of the human bastards as early as now would not be a smart move. I have meet several of them, they were all snakes hiding behind human faces."

"Do not worry, Father-in-law. I will place nice for now. But I assure you I will kill them all eventually. None of them will escape."

"Good. Come, Silent, Bianca. We should not tarry. Let’s revive Whisper and move."

"Yes, Dear."

"Okay, Dad."

***

Bianca laid Fluffy’s core beside a small, dog-sized wolf made of Living Metal.

"Oh my, that is adorable! It has been decades since Whisper was this small!" Silent gushed in praise.

Meanwhile Elian consulted with Bastion.

"Father-in-law, what happens to this place when we leave?"

"When Silent and I leave, the system would consider the dungeon closed. The part of Fralhame here will remain, but it will meld to be part of Earth. The Dungeon portal will disappear, but this place can again be used by Fralhame as a beachhead in the future."

"Who would make those decisions? Can Earth stop that?"

"If they had a Tyrant maybe. But as Earth is still in the preliminaries it means all Earth has right now are Tyrant candidates like you. For our world, the choice lies with the Fralhame Tyrant. He is the Winter Wolf who was crowed after we closed five dungeons."

"Then..."

"As Earth has yet to have a real Tyrant, no one can use the system benefits yet. Why they are dallying, I do not know. But only the one crowned as the Earth Tyrant would be able to decide who fights where."

"I see. So, it all starts there huh?"

Bastion then looked at Elian with a complicated expression.

"You have a hard road ahead of you Elian. But if you are serious, Silent and I will give our all to support you."

"Thank you, father-in-law."

"Stop it. I am just a coward who burdened a pup with the fate of my family and my world. I have no right to receive your gratitude."

"Elian! Dad! I’m starting now!"

Bianca called to the men. Ending their short discussion both rejoined their partners.

The Witch’s body trembled as she used a blanket of water to move Fluff’s core around. Elian who noticed her anxiety approached her and touched her arms gently.

"Bianca do not worry. You are doing great. You can do this. Compared to binding a soul to a monster core this is easy," he smiled.

The woman nodded while letting out a deep breath, "But I have never succeeded before. In my experiments. Souls with will could not command the golems I prepared. That was why I changed my approach and created Forged to begin with."

So I am the result of a failure?

While the realization stung, Elian simply nodded and waited.

"Here I go! Soul Calibrate!"

Bianca channeled a large amount of mana into Fluffy’s soulgem and pushed it towards the metallic body but sadly, the core didn’t fuse. When the mana dissipated the soulgem and the body still remained separate.

The witch showed a face of frustration but Silent and Bastion began to console her. Meanwhile Elian consulted someone else.

"System, why won’t it work?"

[It is the inherent restriction of Psychomancer. A soul cannot bind another soul into a body. She must first be bound or find something else to connect the core to the body instead of mana.]

At the system’s clear and concise explanation Elian thought for a moment. Bianca’s core was with him. To bind her to a body meant that for that body to die, her core would need to be destroyed. It was risky.

Hmm... she can make do with just Possession. Right now, it is too dangerous.

"Right. Can I do something about it?"

[Yes. You have the ability to bridge the gap. Although it would require you pick your second job.]

"Really? Show me."

[Second Job Progression for Elian Reed]

[Adamant Pathway – Metalweaver]

[Driven Pathway – Dominator]

[Forged Pathway – Juggernaut II]

"These look good and all but how does any of this help?"

[Please focus on the Driven Pathway, Dominator. This job in essence, allows you to control any object, organic or inorganic with your material. You may use this to connect Fluffy’s soulgem and her body.]

"Ho? Interesting."