Episode-825
Chapter : 1649
"Pain is a warning signal," she recited. "It indicates damage. I am not damaged. Yet I register pain."
"It's phantom pain," Lloyd said. "It's the ghost of the limb you lost."
The ceremony ended. The neighbors dispersed, casting curious glances at the noble lord and his silent maid. Lloyd ignored them. He walked to the grave. He placed a single white lily on the fresh dirt.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Weaver," he whispered. "I'm sorry I lied. But I'll make it true. I'll bring her back."
He turned away. "Let's go."
They returned to the carriage. Ken was waiting. He looked at Lloyd, a silent question in his eyes.
"It's done," Lloyd said.
They drove back to the estate in silence. The mood was heavy. Lloyd felt the weight of his vows pressing down on him. He had promised to save the kingdom. He had promised to save Risa. Now he had promised to resurrect the dead. He was making checks his soul couldn't cash.
When they arrived at the estate, Lloyd didn't go to the main house. He didn't go to the manufactory. He went to the training grounds.
"Ken," Lloyd said. "Clear the grounds. I need space."
"Understood," Ken said. He didn't ask why. He just signaled the guards to leave.
Lloyd stood in the center of the training arena. The rain had stopped, but the ground was muddy.
"Jasmin," Lloyd said. "Front and center."
The Spirit walked to the center of the ring. She stood at attention.
"You said you are a weapon," Lloyd said. "Show me."
"Combat mode?" she asked.
"Yes. Full power. Don't hold back. I want to see what I bought."
"Target?"
"Me," Lloyd said.
The Spirit hesitated. "Protocol forbids attacking the User."
"Override," Lloyd commanded. "Authorization code: Ferrum Zero. Attack me. Try to kill me."
The Spirit’s eyes flashed. "Override accepted. Combat protocols engaged."
Her demeanor changed instantly. The slouch was gone. The hesitation was gone. She shifted her stance, her feet digging into the mud. Her skin shimmered and turned into a faceted, diamond-hard armor.
"Engaging," she said.
She moved.
It wasn't movement; it was displacement. One second she was ten feet away, the next she was in his personal space. Her arm, transformed into a diamond lance, thrust at his throat.
Lloyd barely reacted in time. He used a [Void Step] to flicker backward, the wind of her strike cutting his cheek.
"Fast," Lloyd noted. "Faster than the original."
She didn't pause. She spun, her leg transforming into a heavy crystal mace. She swept low, aiming to crush his knees.
Lloyd jumped, using his Steel Blood to reinforce his legs. He landed on her sweeping leg, pinning it to the ground.
"Is that all?" he taunted.
The Spirit looked up. Her face was blank. Her arm shifted again, turning into a multi-barreled construct.
Pew. Pew. Pew.
She fired shards of diamond like bullets. Lloyd deflected them with a summoned steel wall, the shards embedding themselves deep in the metal.
"Ranged capability confirmed," Lloyd muttered.
He dropped the wall and charged. He wanted to test her durability. He reinforced his fist with B-Rank Steel Blood and punched her square in the chest.
CLANG.
It was like punching a mountain. His hand went numb. She didn't even stumble. The diamond armor absorbed the kinetic energy, dispersed it through her crystalline structure, and reflected it back.
A shockwave threw Lloyd backward. He skidded in the mud, gasping.
"Reflective carapace," he wheezed. "Nice."
She advanced. She didn't run; she glided. She raised her hand, and the air around her distorted. Light bent. She vanished.
"Invisibility?" Lloyd said, activating his [All-Seeing Eye].
He scanned the arena. He saw her heat signature... no, he didn't. She didn't have heat. He saw her mana signature. She was flanking him.
He spun around and caught her wrist just as she tried to stab him in the kidney.
"Got you," he growled.
She looked at him. "Tactical error: Engaging grappler."
Her skin spiked. Hundreds of razor-sharp diamond thorns erupted from her body. Lloyd yelled and let go, his hands bleeding.
She kicked him in the chest, sending him flying into the mud. He lay there, staring up at the sky.
"Combat simulation ended," the Spirit announced. "User incapacitated."
Lloyd laughed. It was a wet, painful sound.
"You're a monster," he said. "You're perfect."
She walked over to him and offered a hand to help him up. Her skin was smooth again.
"I am the Diamond Queen," she said. "I am your shield."
Lloyd took her hand. She pulled him up effortlessly.
Chapter : 1650
"You're not her," Lloyd said quietly. "She would have apologized. She would have cried because she hurt me."
"I detected no structural damage to your vital organs," the Spirit said. "Apology illogical."
"Yeah," Lloyd said. "Illogical."
He looked at her. She was a masterpiece of magic. A perfect soldier. Fearless. Painless. Efficient.
But she was cold.
"We're done," Lloyd said. "Go to the lab. Stand by."
"Affirmative."
She turned and walked away. Lloyd watched her go. He felt a profound sense of loneliness. He had the perfect weapon, but he had lost his friend.
________________________________________
Lloyd didn't go back to the lab. He went to his study. He poured himself a drink, his hands still stinging from the diamond thorns.
He sat at his desk and pulled out the Anubis journals again. He was obsessed.
"He did it," Lloyd muttered. "He brought the memory back. The Golem... she remembered her father. She remembered her life. How?"
He scoured the text. He read the footnotes. He read the margins.
He found a section he had glossed over before. It was about the "Soul Catcher" array Anubis had used.
The Soul Catcher acts as a net. It holds the consciousness in suspension. But the net must be anchored. It must be anchored to a place of deep resonance.
"Resonance," Lloyd whispered.
He thought about the tear. The tear the Spirit had shed.
"The resonance is there," he realized. "The body... the Spirit body... it remembers. The shape remembers. The muscle memory. The emotional pathways. It's all there, locked in the data."
He stood up and paced.
"But the key is missing. The soul. The driver."
He looked at the map of the continent on his wall. He traced the path to the west. To the border of the Devil lands.
"The Abyss," he said. "Chaotic resonance. It breaks the Divine Law."
He understood now. The Divine Law was a firewall. It prevented souls from coming back. But the Abyss... the Abyss was a virus. It corrupted the firewall.
"If I can get a piece of the Abyss," Lloyd theorized. "A pure piece. Not just a corrupted bat or a cursed sword. But a piece of the realm itself. A Soul Stone from Hell."
He could use it to break the lock on the Spirit's memory. He could force the System to download the soul from the ether.
It was necromancy. It was heresy. It was exactly the kind of thing he would do.
"But I can't go yet," he said, slamming his hand on the map. "The war. The plague. Risa. I have too many fires to put out."
He slumped in his chair. He had to wait. He had to be patient.
"Patience," he hissed. "I hate patience."
There was a knock on the door. It was Mina.
"Lloyd?" she called. "Are you in there? You missed dinner."
"I'm not hungry," Lloyd said.
The door opened anyway. Mina walked in. She saw the books. She saw the map. She saw the look in his eyes.
"You're planning something dangerous," she said. It wasn't a question.
"I'm planning a rescue mission," Lloyd said. "To Hell."
Mina sighed. She walked over and took the glass from his hand. She took a sip.
"Of course you are. But not today."
"No," Lloyd agreed. "Not today."
"Today, you need to rest. You buried a mother today. You fought a diamond robot. You're exhausted."
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You're vibrating."
She put the glass down and pulled him up from the chair.
"Come on," she said. "Bed. Real bed. Not the floor."
Lloyd let her lead him. He was too tired to argue.
They went to his bedroom. He collapsed onto the bed, fully clothed. Mina sat next to him, running her fingers through his hair.
"She cried," Lloyd whispered. "The Spirit. She cried."
"I know," Mina said softly. "I saw."
"That means she's in there, Mina. She's trapped in the machine."
"We'll get her out," Mina promised. "We'll figure it out. But you need to sleep. You can't fight the Devil King if you're asleep on your feet."
Lloyd nodded. His eyes drifted shut.
"Mina," he mumbled.
"Yes?"
"Don't let me turn into a robot."
"I won't," she said. She kissed his forehead. "I'll keep you human. Even if it kills me."
Lloyd fell asleep. He dreamed of a diamond girl standing in a river of fire, waiting for him to take her hand.
And in the dream, he didn't hesitate. He walked into the fire. Because that's what you do for the people you love. You burn for them.