Great Mage Revival Plan
The Deputy Earth Spirit King was sent off across the vast ocean thanks to Kazuhito’s teleportation.
"Alright, that means the Deputy Earth Spirit King has been released."
"Released? You just sealed them in a bottle and threw them into the ocean, didn’t you? Is that really okay? They’re a spirit that rules over earth, right?"
Alicia’s complexion looked slightly pale. Well, spirits are free beings, but if angered, they can mercilessly trigger natural disasters. They’re dangerous in that way.
But there’s no problem.
"It’s fine. After serving as the power source of the research facility for so many years, their strength has weakened to that of a lower spirit. And if they try to cause trouble for Arland, we’ll just wipe them out."
If I get involved, erasing a spirit is an easy task. Even if they’re a Deputy Spirit King, once they’ve weakened to a lower-level spirit, they can’t win against me.
This is due to the special nature of my mana. My mana is close to that of a spirit.
Close, but not identical. It’s only similar.
The reason for this is probably that my soul reincarnated after absorbing the power of the Spirit King.
Originally, the Spirit King’s power should have been granted in a way that wrapped around the soul, but because part of that power became one with my soul, portions of my soul have partially become spirit-like. Still, it’s structured so that I can separate it without issue, meaning I could return the power to the Spirit King without trouble—though I would certainly weaken.
Thanks to having mana close to that of spirits, attack magic aimed at spirits works surprisingly well for me.
But the much bigger problem is mana supply to spirits.
A spirit grows by increasing its mana reserves. Their rank changes based on the amount of mana they possess. Normally, this increases through the years they exist. There are exceptions, but generally that’s how it works.
Some people might think spirits can rapidly absorb natural mana and grow strong quickly, but that’s impossible—just like humans. Natural mana differs in quality from spirit and human mana.
Only the Spirit King can forcibly convert natural mana into their own. Meaning, I can do it too. But the human body can’t withstand it. The strain is extreme. In the worst case, it could kill me.
Lily’s Magic Eye, the "Mana Absorbing Eye," can convert natural mana into human mana and absorb it—an extremely rare ability—but it still causes fatigue. Magic Eyes consume mental strength or mana, or sometimes both. And the Mana Absorbing Eye isn’t even that fast at absorbing. It’s like constantly drinking mana potions.
Spirits do the same—they slowly mix natural mana with their own and convert it, just like an ordinary magic user.
But I can forcibly draw in the natural mana around me. And since my mana is similar to that of spirits, spirits contracted to me absorb mana at an absurdly high rate. They take as much as they want from me.
Originally, only the Light and Darkness Spirits were high-ranking, but now the other four have risen to high-ranking as well. The Light and Darkness Spirits have become Great Spirits, equivalent to the Spirit King’s retainers according to the Spirit King’s memories.
The Deputy Earth Spirit King must have realized this. They were annoying, so I released them into nature.
Now that the troublesome Deputy Spirit King has been returned to nature, we began investigating the incubation chamber where they were confined.
"Mufuu. All the research data here is new to me."
This place was the pinnacle of cutting-edge technology from the Ancient Magic Dynasty. The facility seems to have been officially shut down, but the researchers here must not have given up on restarting it. The core technology was left intact. If the collapsed sections had survived, we would have found mountains of additional documents. Truly unfortunate.
"Weren’t there tons of magic books stored on the magic battleship too?"
Big Brother questioned my statement.
"It’s true that the magic battleship carried a huge amount of technical books.
They probably wanted to preserve the Ancient Magic Dynasty’s technology for future generations. But there wasn’t much cutting-edge material."
For modern magic users, the discoveries were enough to make them scream. The magic users of the Technology Development Bureau literally screamed with bloodshot eyes.
But those texts were likely grabbed in a panic during the collapse of the Ancient Magic Dynasty. They probably stuffed whatever books they could into the ship. There were multiple copies of the same books, or books that referenced important material but lacked the main parts. It was sloppy.
Even so, they were still precious ancient knowledge. But none of the documents here had been found before. This was a research facility operated and shut down in secret. The fact it remained intact was a miracle.
"I see. Just like how we have no idea what’s going on in the secret research lab you built on your own."
"… Secret."
Big Brother, I won’t take responsibility for what the Lost Numbers are doing on their own. They’re rebels. If I find them, I’ll send them straight to the underground shipyard.
I did give them a list of what I’m personally researching, but without detailed explanations, Big Brother and the others are often confused.
Mufuu. I’m almost done with the fully automatic juice extractor. Then I can make juice whenever I want. Also, the ground attack aircraft Rudolf requested is nearly complete.
The prototype apparently disintegrated mid-air due to excessive engine output, but since it was a clone flying it, it’s fine.
I also need to process the Yamato no Orochi eye we acquired with alchemy and make a weapon. A defense Moai statue for our base.
Anyway, back to the topic—this facility mainly researched biological weapons.
Not bacterial weapons like on Earth. They created powerful organisms like the Yamato no Orochi, and they also researched immortality.
The remaining documents in this incubation chamber were mainly about homunculus production and granting immortality to subjects.
They probably tried to create homunculi identical to humans and then attempt to make them immortal. Based on the documents, they achieved some results.
But the research was discontinued. They couldn’t solve a critical issue.
They created something close to immortality, but the cost was unacceptable to the Ancient Magic Dynasty.
Loss of magic, and the immortality wasn’t complete.
When this technique was applied to a human, their lifespan nearly vanished—but the subject lost the ability to use magic completely.
The Ancient Magic Dynasty was a magic supremacy nation beyond even the current Magic Kingdom. Losing magic meant losing power. They couldn’t accept that.
On top of that, immortality wasn’t perfect. It was only "close."
If the cells were damaged continuously, they risked collapsing during regeneration. In experiments, a homunculus turned to sand after regenerating about ten thousand times. This varied by individual, so the exact number was unknown.
Furthermore, abnormal cell division caused alternating aging and rejuvenation.
Even that alone was amazing, but losing magic and having imperfect immortality angered the ruling class. They wanted immortality while keeping their authority.
Meaning the Yamato no Orochi is the same. It was created with an unknown core substance, but if you keep killing it, eventually the cells will collapse. But since nobody knows when, throwing it into the sun is best. It’ll die eventually.
The loss of magic is likely due to the regeneration technique constantly running, consuming all resources that would otherwise be used for magic. A perpetual enchantment capable of regenerating even from dust runs constantly. Even someone like me or Eibon would only be able to cast beginner-level magic… no, in my case, my mana control consumes too much, so only Eibon could cast magic.
If someone applied this technique to me, my massive mana would run wild, causing a magical explosion turning everything within 20 kilometers into scorched earth. My mana wouldn’t disappear, after all.
"So it’s incomplete.
Just to ask—can true immortality even exist?"
Big Brother’s words made me give him an exasperated look.
"No, I don’t want it personally. The suffering of long-lived races like elves is their unique burden. Understanding their anguish makes it clear that living long is difficult.
However, it would be bad if this research became public. It’s unlikely, but if another similar facility exists and remains intact…"
Indeed, long-lived races like elves often isolate themselves partly due to lifespan differences.
Even if they bond with others, from their perspective short-lived races die too quickly. Many elves retreat to forests among their kin to avoid endless farewells.
The wish of the immortal is the same everywhere—either longing for a finite life, or clinging to existence as a broken monster. Either way, sanity cannot endure.
"If you’re asking whether it’s possible, then yes. But I can’t guarantee what happens to the mind."
"Hmm, elaborate."
"There’s an example of ultimate immortality right there."
I pointed at Eibon, happily analyzing equipment.
"In a way, Eibon is the pinnacle of immortality.
But he’s controlling his emotional fluctuations heavily. He’s suppressing large emotional swings."
Eibon has almost no physical body left. Without a physical anchor, controlling emotions is harder than for a living human. Without the anchor of flesh, anger and sorrow could spiral into an endless loop of negative emotion.
"I see. Then if we restarted this facility, could we create near-immortal weapons?"
"Impossible. The materials are too rare. And equipment alone won’t solve it."
The documents listed many materials nearly impossible to obtain now.
The facility must have consumed absurd amounts of funding. Even back then, they used rare materials like water.
"For example, Spirit Crystals created when spirits crystallize their mana are now national treasures of the Magic Kingdom."
"I heard they’re alchemy catalysts, as valuable as World Tree materials."
Mana is extremely important to spirits. And Spirit Crystals can’t be made simply through contracts. A spirit must genuinely desire to make one, and even then only high-ranking spirits can produce them due to the immense mana cost.
In return, they’re as versatile as World Tree materials and considered the supreme alchemy catalyst. The Magic Kingdom only has fingertip-sized pieces. Didn’t they kill some famous spirit user to get them?
Incidentally, I have a small mountain of them in the Treasury thanks to feeding mana to my spirits. I made too many.
Aside from Spirit Crystals, many other materials are required. Well, I have them. Helios's treasure included materials, but I didn’t give those to Arland—they had no use for them at the time. Now they could.
While thinking that, I made eye contact with Eibon—or rather, his eye.
"Want me to make you a body?"
"Can you do that?"
Eibon has weakened drastically maintaining his current form.
"The materials would be Alicia’s tail fur that fell out during brushing, Mr. Coote’s beard hair I pulled out, Helios’s reversed scale I forcibly ripped off in exchange for all-you-can-eat barbecue, and a plant I picked before entering the lab (just a weed, no effect). Yes, I can make one."
"I shall also offer my bones."
Eibon removed part of his skull and spine and handed them to me.
"These are all that remains of my body. Preserved by magic, so they should be usable."
If preserved by magic, I might extract DNA. If successful, I could create a homunculus body without rejection.
If rejection occurs, memories, knowledge, and identity can be erased, or the worst case, the subject reincarnates as a vegetable. Possession of random bodies is not recommended. Golems are fine though.
"I’ll borrow your memories and knowledge later. Without them, your memories disappear once your soul enters the homunculus."
I retained memory and knowledge transfer technology from before reincarnation. I should make copies as a safety measure.
In a way, this is the resurrection my past self wished for.
Though back then, by the time I verified the soul’s existence, it was too late. Unless the person remained like Eibon, their soul reincarnated immediately. Full resurrection is only possible in the brief moment a soul leaves the body. Impossible on Earth.
"I can handle that. I shall adjust it on my end."
So Eibon can transfer memories and knowledge too. He must have considered reconstructing a body. Right now, most of his power is spent maintaining his existence, preventing him from functioning as a Great Mage.
That said, I never considered making homunculi. The incident in my previous life left me with mild trauma. Also, I have no need for homunculi. For expendable labor, I have countless clones. They have downsides—trying to escape immediately upon creation, plotting rebellion, acting defiant—but they obey if ordered. Creating them doesn’t require rare materials like homunculi.
"I see. Then we’ll continue after returning to Arland."
"Understood."
First, I need to inspect the equipment here and gather matching machinery. Hmm. We lack personnel. I’ll reassign some diggers from the underground dock—they’re still digging a massive hole.
"……"
As I turned to resume the investigation, Kazuhito stared at me.
"I know what you’re thinking, but even I’ve learned my lesson."
"… Really?"
"Really."
I understand what he wants to say, but I’m not foolish enough to attempt resurrecting my previous life’s family now.
When I said that, Kazuhito silently nodded.
After completing the investigation and exiting the facility, a swarm of undead spilled out of the airship.
"Oooooh…"
"What!? Undead!?"
People from the Land of Tranquility drew swords and readied spears. In contrast, the Arland group stepped between them and the undead with pitying expressions.
I stepped forward to explain.
"Sorry, but they’re technically alive."
"Your Highness~~! Please return~~!"
They weren’t the dead.
They were bureaucrats.
What do you think about this chapter?
