Chapter 41: Stacking Passives
Regulus harbored a rather dangerous idea.
A killing blow against all carbon-based life — wizards included.
What compound was nearly universally lethal to carbon-based organisms, and could be generated on the spot via Transfiguration from readily available materials?
Cyanide.
Whether as hydrogen-cyanide gas or cyanide ions, both were viciously toxic — capable of shutting down cellular respiration almost instantly. The lethal dose was minuscule; onset was near-immediate.
The air contained nitrogen and carbon. Water vapor supplied hydrogen.
In theory, with sufficiently godlike magical control, one could instantaneously capture nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen atoms from the surroundings,
forcibly combine them into hydrogen-cyanide molecules, and deliver them directly into the target's respiratory system...
What that demanded was no longer mere molecular rearrangement but a fantasy of atomic-level manipulation — and real-time elemental identification and synthesis-pathway computation rivaling a supercomputer.