My Wife is a Dead Villainess, and I'm Her Living Weapon-Chapter 60: Home

"No...No.... This can’t be happening! Fluffy! Fluffy! Wake up!"

Despite the sorrowful cries of the Witch, her sister lay on the ground unmoving. With every second that passed, the world lost its warmth. As if it rejected the notion of everything Whisper of Hope stood for.

[You have leveled up! You are now Level 28! Would you like to choose your 2nd job?]

But that wasn’t the only thing that happened. Few would even notice the change in temperature. All eyes would most certainly look at Elian. His entire body rippled. Large blades and spikes taller than him abruptly came out of his limbs.

Fluffy... She was just laughing with us earlier... she can’t be really dead, right? This has to be a joke. She is injured; I need to help. I-I need to do something. Anything...

His armor and weapons were destroyed as the Living Metal underneath grew berserk. Elian’s mind grew chaotic as thousands of questions swirled in a toxic whirlpool of chaos and negativity.

But then, his silent guardian intervened.

[Talent: Adamant – activated. Elian Reed is now immune to fear and psychological effects so long as the Talent remains active.]

Again, it stabbed his heart and forced his emotions to bleed. But unlike before, that wasn’t enough. Rage, regret, worry, hatred, sadness and grief. They all thrashed in the golem’s heart like tidal waves in danger of flooding his reason.

"..."

Chink. Chink. Chink...

The weapons of metal clashed in futility. Like an army searching for a target, they chaotically burst out of Elian’s body. His armor all dissolved into a sea and began to riot like an angry mob.

Bastion and Silent froze and glared at Elian. Seeing their wary gazes, Elian took a deep breath. For the first time, he called to his talent.

"Adamant. I need a clear head."

[Talent: Adamant – Heartless mode activated. Elian Reed’s emotions will be disabled for the next twelve hours.]

Heartless. How apt.

In an instant, Elian’s heart died. There was no uncomfortable feeling, no suffocating trauma, there was nothing at all.

With a clear head, Elian quickly pulled a high-grade potion from his magic bag and moved toward Fluffy and Bianca.

However, two figures stopped him.

It was Bastion and Silent. Their eyes showed terror, unease and confusion.

"Stand aside," The weapon said with finality.

Neither did, instead they lunged for Elian.

But the Living Metal flowing beneath their feet attacked the two Snow Wolf Alphas. With precision their limbs were skewered just enough to become useless. They winced in pain, but Elian simply walked past them.

"FLUFFY! FLUFFY!!!! NO!!!! THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!!! NO!!!! I KILLED HER! I KILLED MY SISTER! NO!!!!!!"

At Bianca’s hysterical cries, Elian embraced her from behind. He felt her body tense. Elian moved Bianca aside. With steady movements he opened the potion and sprinkled half into Fluffy’s open chest cavity and made her drink the rest.

Within an instant, the gruesome wound closed. Yet the body still remained motionless. Elian changed the shape of his face plate and formed a pair of lips. He then grabbed Fluffy’s mouth and blew air into her lungs.

Bianca still covered in tears began to calm down at his actions.

"You are going to be alright, Fluffy. We won’t let you go...We won’t..."

Ignoring his master, Elian proceeded to perform CPR on Fluffy. He continued for a few minutes with no success. Seeing the results, the golem analyzed the situation.

She is dead. It has been too long. While the body is fine, her soul is no longer present.

Elian wracked his brains with all he had. He then remembered what could be their last chance. Trying his best to not say the obvious, Elian turned to his master.

"Elian! What are you doing? Fluffy still hasn’t woken up!"

He grabbed his master’s arms gently and asked in a robotic voice.

"Bianca. Your third job. Psychomancer. You can retrieve souls and put them into vessels, right?"

"Huh? What are you saying? Fluffy is not dead! Her body is fine!"

Elian shook his head and placed his hand on Bianca’s cheek.

"Bianca, please listen. This body no longer holds Fluffy’s soul. You must quickly retrieve it or we’ll lose her. It is a fight against time."

Bianca gulped in nervousness, "But I’ve never tried doing something like that before! It’s not what a Psychomancer is meant to do!" she screamed.

Despite her voice cracking, Elian remained calm and composed, "I know. But we have to try. Bianca. If anyone can do this, it is you. You are the only one who can save her."

His master violently refused, "NO! What if I make a mistake and fail! Fluffy’s soul might be destroyed! I can’t risk it!"

Far from the normal majesty of the Witch, right now she was distraught and looked small. Like a terrified little girl. Truly it was a large responsibility. But Fluffy would cease to exist if they do not even try.

Elian wrapped his arms around Bianca and pulled her close, "You won’t. You can do this Bianca. I believe in you. You won’t fail. We will find her soul and save her. I know it."

Despite his words being based on nothing but pure optimism, Elian continued to coax Bianca. Steeling herself, she wiped her tears and nodded, "I’ll try."

Separating from everyone else, she closed her eyes and channeled a terrifying amount of mana into her body.

"Elian, what do I do? There are far too many souls in the dungeon! I don’t know which one is Fluffy!"

At her words a galaxy of stars turned visible. Each star had its own trajectory and flew about like fireflies in the middle of summer night.

"That is great Bianca, call out to her. Fluffy should hear your voice. I believe in your sisterhood. You can do it."

Bianca screamed as she wept, "FLUFFY! YOU LECHEROUS BALL OF FUR! COME BACK HERE! DON’T THINK YOU CAN JUST LEAVE ME BEHIND! I WILL NEVER ALLOW IT!"

Elian then moved to Bastion and Silent. He healed their wounds with a potion and released them. Pointing to golden lights, he gave them a command.

"Call to your daughter. It’s the only way to save her."

Silent joined and admonished in tears, "Whisper of Hope, do you intend to abandon your sister? Stop behaving like a child and come home young lady! You haven’t even given me grandchildren!"

Bastion still kept one eye on Elian but also called out. "Daughter, if you can hear my voice, head toward your sister. You have yet to fulfill your destiny. Come home."

At their calls over fifty golden lights all headed toward Bianca, Elian who saw them grimaced.

Other wolves are trying to masquerade as Fluffy.

"System, I need a way to tell them apart."

[Talent: Driven – Hopeless mode available. All acknowledged enemies will be given a soul brand. Elian Reed will never lose consciousness until every brand is extinguished.]

"Activate it."

[Talent: Driven – Hopeless mode permanently consumes a core memory from the user each time it is activated. Proceed?]

"..."

At the System’s prompt, Elian’s mind raced.

Without Hopeless mode, it would be impossible to tell the souls apart. Since the System suggested it right now, it should be a means to fulfill his request.

And there is no guarantee Fluffy’s soul can wait.

He looked at the crying faces of Bianca, Silent and even Bastion as they begged Fluffy’s soul to return. The golden lights were all circling around Bianca like a swarm of bees. One of them was their beloved family member.

The goofy, snarky ball of fluff that worried about them, protected them, and called Elian and Bianca her own.

You can’t go yet Fluffy. Not until we win the crucible.

"System. Do it."

[Talent: Driven – Hopeless mode activated. All enemies have been given a soul brand. Elian Reed will never lose consciousness until every brand is extinguished.]

Within that instant, each of the fifty golden lights, as well as the rest of the galaxy of stars were given a red brand. Only one didn’t receive Elian’s mark.

It was a golden light that lingered alone in seclusion far away from the rest.

Seeing it, Elian instantly knew that this was Fluff’s soul. He could practically hear her snarky complaints. Walking toward the lone light he extended his finger and offered it to Fluffy’s soul.

"You little troublemaker. You had us all worried. Come on. Time to come back."

The faint golden light hesitated for a moment but quickly moved to Elian’s finger. A warm voice echoed in his ears.

"Sigh. You two are hopeless. You can’t even last an hour without me? Such slave drivers, hahaha!"

Trembling as if it was having a seizure, the golden light continued to laugh. Meanwhile Elian guarded the light as he brought it to Bianca.

"Bianca, this is Fluffy. My Talent confirmed it. What do you need to turn her into a golem?"

The Witch quickly cupped the golden light in Elian’s finger and brought it to her cheek.

"You are in big, big trouble you little brat! I am going to fluff you for a week, and you are forbidden from complaining," she rebuked with tears of joy.

"Bianca."

"Ah, right. Sorry Elian. I need a core. The strongest one we can find."

Elian nodded, he stretched out his arm and created a gigantic serpent that tore the Tyrant’s corpse in two. Using Living Metal, he quickly extracted the core and offered it to Bianca.

"Soul bind."

At the Witch’s command, the golden light in her hand slowly entered the core.

The jagged edges of the monster core morphed and turned smooth. Like a lump of clay being turned into a vase, the core smoothed until it slowly turned into a golden marble.

Elian, who saw the process complete, nodded.

"Welcome home, Fluffy."