Chapter 302 – A Combined Effort

After several rewinds and endless tests of different rune and element combinations, Emily has to admit defeat. She can feel the cost of Temporal Shield increasing with each subsequent use, and her mana and machina reserves are quickly dropping. Even trying to create an isolated spatial prison turns out to be ineffective, as the dungeon core tries to bind itself to the space to start creating a dungeon anew.

She sighs and pulls out one of her time crystals, carving a complicated array – a modified stasis enchantment – onto its surface and inner vessel as one. When the array activates, it draws the dungeon core in, freezing it in time. Emily can feel the crystal draining to maintain the enchantment, losing energy faster than it naturally draws it in.

I can only keep it like this for a few weeks…

Finally finished, she shatters Temporal Shield and turns to the gathered crew watching her from various places within her Factory.

“I think it goes without saying that I’d rather you didn’t spread my ability to use time magic.”

They all nod in agreement, not a single person unable to understand the importance of keeping the skill close to their chests. Emily pulls her mental focus from her belt and tints the energy in the dimension with the element of mind, gently reaching for the Mental Lock already in place in all of their minds to modify what it covers.

“I’m editing the spell I placed on all of you to include memories formed in here, but it will automatically release once I’ve reached a level where I can protect us should news spread. I’ll also inform the rest of the crew when the time comes. Now, as for those of you who’ve been in the dungeon, I’d first like to say well done. You’ll be granted fifty per cent of the resources you gathered in there, once we’ve handed the agreed-upon amount over to the FAF, as thanks for your fine work.”

Murmurs of satisfaction spread through the returning dungeon group, and the others cast looks of envy towards their fellows, but none of them speaks out, knowing they’d had the chance to volunteer for the dangerous mission if they really wanted.

“Now, I told my son, and I’m sure he passed along the message, but I’ll repeat it now for certainty’s sake. Yorn is dead. Silvia is our new captain, and I have been assigned as her vice. We are rebranding as the Crimson-Blade Pirates, but we’re seeing this contract through before we make the change official. Any questions?”

No one says a word, so Emily dismisses their attention and turns her focus to helping those who fought in the dungeon heal their wounds. The moment she’s done, she leaves them behind in the clearing at the centre of her Factory and takes the rest of the crew back out to continue their mission. They immediately run into a contingent of mechanoid forces searching the forest where they vanished, and make quick work of them thanks to their surprise entrance.

Emily sends Silvia a message reporting the success of the dungeon party, and not long later she receives a call.

“It went well?” Silvia asks the moment Emily answers, sitting on a pile of scrapped mechanoid corpses with several of their crewmates visible in the background picking through the rubble for any usable parts.

“Very.” Emily nods, not pausing her scan of the forest for even a moment whilst turning her eyes to the video feed. “We lost Angil and Vex, both second phase, but everyone else made it back. I’ll have Mensacus put together a full report when he’s done resting, but for now, Ivor is checking through the many spatial storages they managed to claim to find out what’ll require our enchanter’s attention. They managed to grab the dungeon core without anyone else seeing. I’ve put it in stasis for now, but the crystal powering it will fail within the month, so finding a use for it takes priority.”

“Amazing. Do you have something in mind already?”

“I think… it’s about time I made another child.”

***

It takes two weeks for one of their split groups, the one under Elwaine’s command, to find signs of the warp gate. They call the others over and, with Emily’s help, they make quick work of a perception barrier blocking its detection.

The fight to destroy the gate doesn’t take long, with only numbers on the mechanoid side and not a single seventh level awakened present to keep Silvia contained. Emily gladly claims the shattered shell of the gate once it’s disabled, taking it into her Factory to disassemble and study later as their fleet leaves the plane.

When they call in their success, they’re questioned about the recently closed dungeon and admit to pulling their team out using their own methods. FAF command asks them to report to the closest major outpost, and they set course on a two-month-long journey to reach it.

Silvia joins Emily in her Factory as she’s applying the final touches to Mensacus’ new arms.

“I take it that’s thanks to handling the dungeon core?” the vampire asks as she settles against one of the empty workstations near the edge of the workshop Emily’s currently using within Elisime.

“Mmm,” Emily hums, not breaking her focus as she fuses the new tendril coils to her son’s shoulder with a delicate blend of metal, fire, and darkness. “The core achieved partial fusion, so I had to cut off the claimed portions to keep it from spreading.”

“Will that affect the child you plan to make with it?”

“Most likely. I’ve been drawing up blueprints with the idea of compensating for the unstable elemental combination I observed while sealing it, but I’ve yet to decide on a satisfactory way to stabilise it. It caused issues in the sealing process and forced me to go with temporal stasis since there’s no longer a clear division of elements that could counter those present in the same way I chose to when first handling Mensacus.”

“A problem you can’t solve? My, how grand,” Silvia purrs in a teasing tone, earning a curious glance from Pod on the other side of the workshop, partway through maintenance on one of the many weapons he used in the dungeon.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Emily responds, finally stepping back from Mensacus and flashing the vampire a half-hearted glare. “I have a solution. But it’s… unusual and not in line with my normal creation process, so I’m hesitant to use it.”

“Oh?” Silvia pushes off the workstation behind her and approaches as Mensacus flexes his new limbs, testing their range of motion and nodding in satisfaction. “Unusual how?”

“Think biological as opposed to mechanical.”

“You know,” Silvia slips her arms around Emily’s waist with a playful smile on her lips, “for most looking to bear children, the biological process is the usual method.”

“I think we’ve already established that I’m not like most,” Emily responds dryly, looping her arms around the vampire’s neck. “Though, if I go for the biological option, it’d work best with your help.”

“I’d be happy to help you, darling.”

The sound of metal hitting metal breaks their eyes away from each other, and they turn their heads to see Pod staring at them with wide eyes, his rifle forgotten on the workbench before him. He quickly raises both hands in surrender at Emily’s unamused stare and Silvia’s very amused grin.

“I heard nothing,” he lies as easily as he breathes. “But Ivor does owe me ten credits.”

“Is everyone really betting on the nature of our relationship?” Emily mutters with a hint of resignation in her tone as Silvia chuckles against her.

“Only like half the crew.” Pod shrugs.

“Go use the normal workshops or something.” Emily dismisses him, wrapping him in spatial mana to send him out of the Factory before turning towards Mensacus to do the same. “Do as you please, but go check on your sister first: she should be with Rotwin.”

“Understood, Mother.” The chimaera bows his head respectfully as her mana pushes him from the space. “I look forward to meeting our newest sibling.”

Emily turns her attention back to the vampire grinning in her arms.

“My, my.” Silvia leans forward, purring into her ear: “Someone’s eager to be alone.”

“Well, if we’re really going to use the method I had in mind, the presence of others will affect the alchemical process, and I’d rather not have my child decide Pod is its parent.”

“Ah, so it’s alchemy.” Silvia pulls back, brushing her lips along the edge of Emily’s jaw on the way past.

“Of course it is, what else could you have thought?” Emily asks innocently, only betrayed by the amused glint in her eyes.

“Besides.” She draws Silvia into a slow kiss before pulling away and tugging on the fabric of the dimension, moving them both out into the open space the crew created at the centre of the Factory. “I’m unable to bear a child the traditional way. My womb was one of the first organs my body considered superfluous and removed during my ascensions.”

“That’s… not unexpected for a mechanic.” Silvia shrugs, releasing her hold and stepping back as Emily calls over a large stone basin from among her creations. It stands on a thick pedestal made from the same white stone with glowing blue veins of mana running through its structure, and its surface is covered in hundreds of finely-carved runes. “So, what exactly is this method? You seem awfully prepared for having said you were hesitant to use it only moments ago.”

“I was hesitant because I’m unsure whether it would be successful were I to use my own blood alone,” Emily explains, filling the basin with water with a wave of her hand. “But, if you’re willing to aid me, it should go swimmingly. Your blood holds both regenerative properties and enough energy to resist and complement the dungeon core.”

She begins drawing herbs and various prepared beast parts from her belt, dropping them into the basin and flooding its engraved runic structure with mana to start heating the mix.

“What we’re about to do is from a branch of alchemy called homunculi-formation. It’s the art of creating artificial life. I’m prepared because I considered using this method to create Harriet a separate vessel when I first found out about it, but they expressed a desire to remain closer to my mechanical side, so I scrapped the idea. There isn’t much information available on The Net, but, well, the moment I read the basics, the rest wasn’t too hard to figure out.”

“Of course, because niche branches of alchemy are so simple to understand,” Silvia comments dryly.

“Exactly.” Emily nods, choosing to ignore her tone as she crushes several crystals to add to the basin. “We’re skipping the hardest part of the process, creating and imbuing a functioning consciousness, by integrating the dungeon core instead. Through bonding it to an empty vessel, it should stabilise itself and allow me to skip the process of finding a perfect elemental match.”

“Fascinating,” Silvia murmurs, unable to look away as Emily raises her right arm and slashes open her wrist, letting a stream of blood pour down into the bubbling mix. She licks her lips as she approaches the basin. “Do you need me to do the same?”

“Not yet,” Emily says, not looking away from the pale liquid that’s quickly darkening to match the hue of her blood. “I’m currently creating the ink I’ll use to draw the binding and structural circles. I’ll need your blood when it’s time to create the homunculus’ base.”

The moment the liquid is the right colour, Emily has her subdermal armour stem the flow, and Silvia takes hold of her hand before running her tongue along the wound, sealing it and cleaning up the drops of blood staining her flesh.

Emily stirs the bubbling mix with her mana and equips a tool from one of her metal arm’s storage spaces. A set of empty tubes covers the back of her hand, connected to tubes running the length of her fingers to a set of nozzles at the tips. She dips the nozzles into the mix and draws some out to fill the tube reservoirs, maintaining a steady flow of mana into the basin’s enchantments the whole time, before setting to work drawing an intricate set of magic circles onto the ground. She lays down large, sweeping geometries that fill the empty space around them and carefully draws out hundreds of runes in between.

Silvia silently watches the entire process, entranced, admiring Emily in her element. She stays out of the way but never leaves the forming circles, the building red haze rising from them drawing her in.

The contents of the basin are almost completely used up by the time Emily finishes the final arc of the surrounding arrays, with only a few drops lingering at the bottom.

“Okay, match your blood flow to mine,” Emily says, taking up her position on one side of the basin and gesturing for Silvia to stand opposite.

Emily slits her wrist again and holds her arm out. Silvia does the same without hesitation.

Their bloods flow freely into the basin, slowly filling it back up as Emily begins throwing in more materials. Various parts of the serpentine world-eater dissolve into the mix, along with dozens of herbs and even a few completed potions. The bubbling red blend slowly shifts in colour, darkening until it's near-black as it rises to the basin’s lip. Emily gathers a prepared bundle of memories, including her insights into combat and the basics of energy cultivation, to the forefront of her mind before pouring them into the basin with a complex spell and a stream of mental mana, adding a glistening silver hue to the mix.

Emily stems her wound right before the brew can overflow, and Silvia does the same, cleaning their wounds without looking away from the bubbling liquid, feeling a strange draw towards it.

“Now, for the final touch,” Emily says, pulling the stasis crystal from her belt and dropping it in.

The liquid hisses, green veins spreading through it with an unnatural glow as it roils and threatens to spill over, but it settles down after only a few moments into a perfectly smooth, still surface with the glowing veins of silver and green frozen in time.

“The crystal as well?” Silvia asks curiously, following an unspoken command from Emily and stepping away from the basin.

“I accounted for the stasis’ decay. The enchantment should break down the moment the homunculus has reached the appropriate point in gestation for the dungeon core to integrate itself,” Emily explains, leading Silvia to a specific set of runeless geometries at the edge of the binding array. “Now we must wait. We can’t leave the array until the binding circle has done its job, which should be at the same time as the stasis fails.”

“Do you need me to do anything else?” Silvia sits down and draws Emily into her lap, wrapping her arms around her waist.

“No, not unless you want to try and take over the place of the child’s primary creator.” Emily relaxes back into her as she continues to pour mana through the fabric of the dimension and into the basin. “I’ll continue to provide mana for the next day, and then there’s truly nothing left for us to do until its growth is finished.”