In the Land of Shadow, everyone had a role to play.
Lucian stood beside Irina before one of the Shamans, while Melina watched anxiously from nearby.
A little farther away, Hildegard had already prepared a variety of perfumes, ready to respond to any emergency.
The remaining physicians had been assigned to care for the other Shamans, each busy with their own task in an orderly fashion.
Lucian looked calmly at the Shaman before him.
Outwardly, he appeared composed.
In truth, he was just as nervous as everyone else.
Whether this would succeed was completely unknown.
If they spent all this effort giving these people hope only to watch it be crushed, it would be a truly heartbreaking outcome.
But precisely because of that, he had to remain calm. Only by projecting confidence could he reassure everyone who followed him and keep their morale intact.
The Shaman before him looked familiar.
After a moment's thought, Lucian remembered her.
She was the very first Shaman he had discovered.
Among all the Shamans, her condition was the most stable, and her sanity had recovered more than the others.
If they were going to attempt treatment, choosing the patient in the best condition would greatly reduce the chances of something going wrong.
Taking a deep breath, Lucian exchanged a glance with Melina and gave her a reassuring smile.
Then he turned to Irina, nodded, and said,
"The rest is up to you."
Since Lucian couldn't adapt to that unique way of seeing, he needed Irina or Liliana to observe for him.
Liliana, however, was a fairy, and because of her race's nature, she wasn't well suited for work that demanded prolonged concentration.
The plan was simple.
Irina would use her fairy eyes to distinguish the "concept" of the Shamans' flesh from that of the Hornsent.
Then, following Irina's guidance, Lucian would attempt to separate them.
Irina pursed her lips and quietly replied,
"...Okay."
The horrifying sight before her filled her with a desperate desire to save these people.
She didn't want to fail.
But reality wasn't changed by determination alone. Whether this method would work remained completely unknown.
Especially with her being the one responsible.
Although some time had passed since Liliana chose her, she had barely mastered any of the fairy's inheritance or powers.
The pressure weighed heavily on her.
Sensing her anxiety, Lucian gently patted her on the back.
"It's alright."
"You don't need to put so much pressure on yourself."
"If there's even a chance to heal them, then let's give it everything we've got."
Feeling the warmth of his hand against her back, Irina seemed to find something to lean on.
Her heart gradually settled.
She nodded.
The unease faded from her eyes.
Lifting the veil that covered them, Irina activated the power of her fairy eyes and looked carefully at the Shaman before her.
As fairy spirit energy gathered within her pupils, emerald radiance began to shine from her eyes.
Already mesmerizing, those extraordinary eyes now seemed almost liquid, flowing with dazzling light.
Within Irina's vision, the grotesque mass of fused flesh immediately separated into two completely different colors.
She swallowed hard, hardly believing it.
This was only the first step...
Yet it had succeeded so smoothly.
A good beginning was incredibly encouraging.
Looking at Lucian, she nodded excitedly.
"It worked!"
"I can tell them apart!"
Lucian broke into a smile.
"That's wonderful."
"Now let's move on to the next step, just as we planned."
Taking a deep breath, Irina calmed herself, suppressing her excitement and focusing on the next stage.
Now it was her job to mark the differences and guide Lucian.
As long as she could identify and mark them, Lucian wouldn't need to share her vision.
That bizarre perspective was simply too unnatural for anyone with normal eyesight.
Adapting to it would take an enormous amount of time.
There was no way he could do so in the middle of such delicate work.
Trying to adjust to that alien vision while performing an operation this precise was something even Lucian couldn't guarantee.
So he entrusted everything to Irina.
He chose to trust her.
And to trust the power of the fairies.
Irina carefully guided her fairy spirit energy into the Shaman's body, marking what she had identified.
It was the most suitable power for the task.
Although using spirit energy meant Lucian wasn't familiar with manipulating it, it perfectly complemented the "concepts" distinguished by the fairy eyes.
Neither glintstone sorcery nor any other form of energy could replicate that level of precision.
Only fairy spirit energy could distinguish the two without the slightest error.
The spirit energy flowed through the Shaman's body.
Avoiding every trace of Hornsent flesh, it spread throughout only the Shaman's own body.
Merely passing through her flesh, the fairy's spirit energy nourished it.
Its warm, comforting power made the Shaman let out a soft, involuntary sigh.
After completing the markings, Irina slowly exhaled.
"The second step... succeeded too."
"Now... it's up to Sir Lucian."
Turning toward him, Irina extended her right hand.
Lucian took it.
Through her power, he immediately gained a clear perception of the spirit energy.
The difference between areas with and without spirit energy made the distinction between the Shaman's flesh and the Hornsent flesh unmistakable.
Within the twisted mass of fused flesh, every part that belonged to the Shaman had been marked and protected by the fairy's spirit energy.
Everything else...
Naturally belonged to the Hornsent.
Those were the parts that needed to be removed.
Now came the true test of Lucian's skill.
He summoned his Great Rune.
Gentle golden light instantly spread throughout the entire church.
The Great Rune taken from Godrick was the anchor at the center of the Golden Order, the Rune that represented its very foundation.
Its greatest ability...
Was analysis.
Borrowing the power of the Great Rune, Lucian began an extraordinarily thorough analysis of the Hornsent flesh.
Before long, every aspect of its structure had been dissected and understood.
Previously, he had only performed rough analyses to study various powers.
Now...
It was like meticulously dissecting an alien specimen under a microscope.
After completely understanding the structure of the Hornsent flesh, Lucian finally discovered a way to destroy it.
But the Great Rune possessed only the power of analysis.
Actually separating it required another force.
Purple gravitational magic slowly gathered in his free hand.
Looking at the swirling gravity magic, Lucian smiled faintly.
Although it was called gravity magic, it encompassed far more than simple gravity.
Gravity lightning.
Attraction.
Repulsion.
Gravitational shockwaves.
It could manifest in countless different forms.
In a sense, it even resembled the magnetic powers from another world.
Taken to its finest level, it could influence the interactions between all forms of matter.
If he someday mastered it completely...
It might even become delicate enough to directly manipulate living cells themselves.
Although Lucian couldn't yet manipulate gravity with the precision required to affect individual cells, simply separating the two masses of flesh was still within his capabilities.
Especially now that he had fully analyzed their structure.
Extending his hand toward the Shaman, he opened his palm.
Purple gravitational magic instantly enveloped her entire body.
Attraction and repulsion worked in perfect harmony.
Her flesh seemed to come alive, writhing and shifting as it flowed.
Little by little, the Shaman's flesh separated from the Hornsent's, gradually returning to her original body.
Lucian opened his eyes.
The weight hanging over his heart finally eased.
Turning toward the anxious Melina, he gave a steady nod.
"It can be done."
Melina clasped her hands tightly against her chest.
Hearing those words, she lowered her head and let out a long, relieved breath.
But at that very moment—
Something went wrong.
As the flesh separated and reorganized itself, the Shaman's body began to tremble violently before she let out a heart-rending scream.
The pain of the separation itself was insignificant.
What truly broke her was that the process forced her to relive the agony of being fused together in the first place.
Physical pain could be endured by gritting one's teeth.
The trauma carved into her mind could not.
Hearing her anguished cry, Melina's heart tightened.
She poured even more power into the phantom Minor Erdtree within the church, hoping to soothe her kin.
Over the past several days, the illusion of the Minor Erdtree that she had maintained continuously had already grown several times larger.
Now, influenced by Melina's boundless love, it became even more lush and vibrant, almost resembling the true Erdtree itself.
Yet the golden warmth that had always comforted her people could do little against such overwhelming psychological torment.
Hildegard hurried forward, pulling two bottles of perfume from her pouch.
Without waiting for instructions from Lucian, she scattered two completely different fragrances.
The first was Uplifting Aromatic.
It dulled physical pain while invigorating the mind.
Although it wasn't as mentally stimulating as Uplifting Aromatic, its effects were still substantial.
Unfortunately, heightened excitement was exactly what the Shaman didn't need.
So Hildegard immediately followed it with a second mixture, one made using sleep-inducing ingredients.
This special perfume suppressed mental fluctuations to an extremely low level while allowing the patient to remain conscious.
As a result, the Shaman's body was strengthened, sparing her from intense physical pain.
At the same time, the uplifting mental stimulation was overridden and suppressed, leaving her in a state of enforced calm.
Only after confirming that her condition had stabilized did Lucian finally relax.
He continued manipulating gravity, carefully stripping away the Hornsent flesh.
Under his precise control, every part belonging to the Shaman was preserved, gradually returning to its original form.
Meanwhile, once the Hornsent flesh was completely separated, it was immediately destroyed, breaking down into microscopic particles devoid of all vitality.
As Lucian continued his painstaking work, the Shaman slowly regained the appearance she was always meant to have.
At some point, every other physician in the church had unconsciously stopped working.
They all held their breath.
No one dared make a sound that might disturb Lucian.
Every pair of eyes was fixed upon the treatment taking place at the center of the church.
No physician wished to see a patient suffer.
When they had first witnessed the Shamans' horrifying condition, they had already accepted that nothing could be done.
They had given up in despair.
Yet now...
The Shaman before them was visibly improving.
Little by little.
Perhaps...
She truly could be healed.
Outside the church, Harold silently watched everything unfold.
Ordinarily, he should have been leading the soldiers on patrol.
But he couldn't bear to miss this moment.
Besides, the surrounding area had already been thoroughly cleared.
Every wandering Hornsent Shade had long since been eliminated.
Watching the Shaman gradually recover, Harold gripped his Black Knight's Great Hammer so tightly that it trembled in his hands.
Lucian hadn't merely bestowed grace upon him and restored his faith.
He was accomplishing what even Queen Marika herself had failed to do.
A miracle...
A true miracle.
Whenever the world fell into chaos, a mighty hero would always appear to hold up the heavens before they collapsed.
Once, that man had been Godfrey.
Now...
Harold believed this age belonged to Lucian.
Even if Godfrey himself were to return, Harold's loyalty would never waver.
In his heart, he had already prepared himself to hunt the Hornsent once again.
He needed only a single command.
Some grudges...
Could never truly be settled.
—
When the last trace of Hornsent flesh was removed, the Shaman's tall, graceful figure finally emerged in full.
A gentle breeze swept through the church.
The shackles embedded deep within her flesh were cleanly severed, leaving behind numerous bloody wounds.
Lucian reached out.
While the pain-numbing perfume was still taking effect, he carefully removed the strip of cloth fused into the flesh over her eyes.
The wounds beneath were a gruesome mess.
Her eyes had long since become infected and rotten.
The injuries were severe.
But now that the Hornsent flesh was gone...
They could finally be treated normally.
Warm sunlight blossomed in Lucian's hand.
Its gentle radiance washed over the Shaman.
In an instant, the wounds around her eyes were completely healed.
Every injury across her body disappeared along with them.
As her eyesight returned...
She saw the world once more.
The first thing she beheld was the warm sunlight.
Then the gentle golden glow of the Minor Erdtree within the church.
Realizing something, she slowly lowered her head and raised both hands before her eyes.
Looking at her restored body...
Before she could even process what had happened, tears were already streaming down her face.
Melina hurried forward, draping the cloak she had prepared over her fellow Shaman's shoulders before pulling her into a tight embrace.
By now, Melina could no longer restrain herself.
Tears of joy flowed freely down her cheeks.
Irina, overcome by the moment, quietly wiped away the tears gathering in her own eyes.
'Thank goodness...'
'It worked without anything going wrong.'
Hildegard's entire body trembled with excitement.
'A condition like this...'
'It was actually cured...'
Even having participated in the treatment herself, she still found it impossible to believe.
From the perspective of a perfumer, what had just taken place completely defied common sense.
...But who cared?
The patient had been healed.
That was all that mattered.
After a brief silence, thunderous cheers erupted throughout the church.
"As expected of Lord Lucian! He accomplished what none of us could!"
"My heavens... my heavens! Queen Marika... it succeeded!"
Lucian let out a long sigh.
The burden that had weighed on him ever since entering the Land of Shadow had finally been lifted.
From now on, all that remained was to continue treating the remaining Shamans one by one, then help them recover mentally and emotionally.
Each Shaman's body had fused with Hornsent flesh in a different way.
Every case would require an individual treatment.
It would take an enormous amount of time.
But now that healing them was possible...
Time was no longer an issue.