Within the room, everyone was watching Alfonsus treat Delia. Linley was the most nervous of them all, and his forehead became matted with sweat. Linley, however, didn’t even notice.
“Crackle…”
That green energy circulated, emanating a very faint sound. Alfonsus, his face solemn, suddenly let out a low growl, and the speed at which the green light circulated suddenly increased dramatically, constantly pouring into Delia’s brain.
“Uhhh….” Delia, seemingly in pain, let out a soft sound, and her forehead creased slightly.
This soft sound, to Linley, was like a clap of thunder. His eyes lit up as though he had been hit by lightning. “Delia has regained consciousness! She’s responding!” Linley was so excited, his entire body was trembling.
Looks of joy had appeared on everyone else’s faces as well.
“Boss, Delia is going to be saved.” Bebe hurriedly said through divine sense with joy as well.
“Right.” Linley nodded. He felt as though he were filled with life and energy.
Gislason, Phusro, and the others began to chortle as well. Linley continued to stare at Alfonsus as the man treated Delia, and the hope in his heart continued to swell. “Delia, you absolutely must get better, you must.”
Right at this moment…
Alfonsus took back his right hand, concluding the treatment.
“Mr. Alfonsus, is my wife treated?” Linley asked hurriedly. Alfonsus turned to look at Linley. He could clearly see the hopes and expectations held within the eyes of this youth. However, Alfonsus just let out a soft sigh. “Linley…make your preparations.”
“Preparations for what? What preparations?” Linley immediately had a bad feeling.
“Mr. Alfonsus, what is going on?” Gislason, whose face had been all smiles, hurriedly asked as his face changed as well.
Alfonsus shook his head. “All I can do is tell you quite openly…I am not able to save this woman. In addition, I recommend that you give up. To save this woman is virtually impossible.”
Hearing these words from Alfonsus, Linley felt his entire mind go blank.
“No!”
Linley suddenly growled, staring fixedly at Alfonsus, like a savage, maddened lion. “Mr. Alfonsus, you must be lying to me. Just now, Delia had a reaction. She was conscious. How can you suddenly said that you can’t treat her?”
“Right. Didn’t she improve just now?” Gislason said as well.
Seeing the savage, wild look on the face of the youth in front of him, Alfonsus let out a low sigh. “Linley, just now, your wife didn’t actually regain consciousness. Rather, while I was treating her, her soul pushed at mine strongly, causing a slight involuntary response in her body.”
“But…but didn’t Kestrel say that you had a 90% chance of saving my wife? How can…now…” Linley couldn’t accept this.
He truly couldn’t accept it!
Three months ago, Linley had been convinced that Delia would definitely be cured. Over the past three months, Linley had been waiting constantly for this day. Just now, Linley had believed that Delia had already been cured.
But now…
Alfonsus let out a sigh. “Three months ago, if I were to treat your wife, I would definitely have been able to save her. But now, it’s too late.”
“What do you mean? You could save her three months ago, but not now?” Linley said frantically.
Alfonsus looked around at everyone, then said, “Everyone, this sort of spiritual attack is a very insidious, vile type. Those green spots of light invade the soul, then constantly devour and transform it. One spot becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight…”
“Although the souls of Highgods are powerful, and to devour and transform them is very difficult…as the multiplicative effects continue, the more time passes, the more extravagant the rate of devouring becomes.” Alfonsus said solemnly.
Everyone present nodded.
“I know these things. But why are you unable to save Delia?” Linley said frantically.
Alfonsus looked at Linley, then sighed. “Linley, you still don’t understand? The devouring and transforming speed continues to grow faster and faster. Three months ago, the speed of devouring and transforming…was a million times slower than it is now!”
Linley was stunned.
One becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight…as time went on, after a just a few dozen rounds, the numbers would become astronomically large.
“What I need to do in order to save your wife is to counter-devour and counter-transform those green spots of light!” Alfonsus said.
Linley knew this as well; that the treatment method was to counter-devour and reverse the transformation process.
“Only when my counter-devouring speed surpasses the devouring speed will I be able to save your wife.” Alfonsus said, and Linley completely understood.
“Right now, my treatment speed is far too slow, compared to the devouring speed. Even if I go all out, at most I’ll be able to slow the devouring speed and slightly extend your wife’s life.” Alfonsus sighed. “Three months ago, I could have easily saved your wife. But now…forgive my inability.”
Linley stood there, stunned.
He completely understood. This sort of devouring speed was like a spark of flame that had become a prairie fire. The more time passed, the wider the burned area would become. A single spark of fire was enough to char the entire grassland. The same was true for these green spots of light.
The more time passed, the faster the devouring speed…and the more distant the hopes for saving Delia would be.
“Boss. Boss.” Bebe called out repeatedly.
“Linley.” Phusro called out as well.
But Linley stood there like an idiot, completely silent.
“Alas.” Alfonsus let out a sigh as well.
Within the room, Gislason, the Vermillion Bird Patriarch, and the various Elders all looked at each other, speechless. The entire atmosphere was extremely tense and gloomy.
“Mr. Alfonsus.” Linley suddenly said frantically. “I beg of you, please help treat my wife and extend her life. Let me have enough time to ask someone else to help treat her. Is that acceptable?” Linley looked hopefully towards Alfonsus.
Linley understood that Alfonsus’ treatment speed was inferior to the devouring speed. Then…if Alfonsus wanted to extend Delia’s life, he would have to constantly treat her. This request of his was indeed rather excessive.
But…he had no choice!
“Linley.”
Alfonsus said solemnly. “Both because of your Four Divine Beasts clan as well as because of the Lord Prefect, I would definitely help extend your wife’s life if I had the ability to. But…I have to tell you. Even if I help out, I’ll at most be able to extend her life for a day or two.”
“A day or two?” Linley was stunned.
He had been hoping the extension would be for several years. The longer the better.
“This sort of soul treatment…it isn’t as simple as you think it is. To treat your wife…as I just said, because your wife’s soul rejected my energy, even her body physically reacted.” Alfonsus continued, “The soul is a very central part of a person. When treating someone, I have to be extremely, extremely careful. If just the slightest bit of energy spills out, I’ll have injured your wife’s soul and she will die.”
“I can maintain this sort of peak performance for a short period of time, ensuring that I don’t make any mistakes. But if the amount of time I spend in that state is just a bit too long, given how much spiritual energy that takes up, errors will naturally occur. And once an error occurs, your wife will…” Alfonsus said apologetically.
Linley was silent for a moment.