CHAPTER 178: A GOLDEN HEART

"Arrrggghhh!"

Pain—pure, searing pain—greeted him the moment the first strand of holy energy touched his actual heart. The sound of his pulse was like war drums in his ears, each beat radiating a shockwave of heat and pressure through his chest.

It was like a friend he desperately wanted to avoid, yet one that insisted on tagging along everywhere.

The energy pierced through the thumping muscle, each beat sending a fresh wave of agony rippling through his chest. The scent of iron filled his nose as the metallic tang spread over his tongue.

Fuck... what’s with my main character luck these days?

At the same time, the holy energy worked to heal him from within, knitting tissue even as it tore at his nerves. His skin prickled, and his fingertips twitched from the strange blend of pain and restoration.

With every ounce of focus he had, Leon began the painstaking process of weaving a rune out of holy energy directly in the center of his beating heart.

The pain never left him, a constant companion.

He didn’t worry about hunger—he’d bought a pill from the system space that could keep it at bay for years. A one-year pill and a one-month pill, rationed with precise calculation for a total of three and a half years.

Urgh... that vile taste. I never wanted to taste that shitty pill ever again.

The aftertaste was so foul he once tried rubbing his tongue with a spoon to scrape it off.

Days bled into weeks, and weeks into months. Three months in, and Leon was nowhere near completing the rune—and even once the rune was done, he still had to create the body of the heart.

Sitting cross-legged on the grassy surface, Leon’s face had grown gaunt, his frame leaner than before.

His hunger was controlled, but his body still bore the subtle aches and fatigue of prolonged deprivation.

It didn’t matter. None of it mattered—not when his focus was locked so fiercely on the task at hand.

——

In total, three years had passed, and now his rune was finally complete. The intricate weave of holy energy pulsed gently within his heart, each line of the formation humming with restrained power, like a caged beast finally tamed. The glow painted the inside of his chest with shifting patterns like sunlight through water.

Leon exhaled slowly, his breath shuddering with both relief and the weight of survival. Every second of pain, every foul-tasting pill, and every moment of isolation had led to this point—and for once, the gamble hadn’t killed him.

A grin broke across his tired face as a laugh escaped his throat, half-disbelief, half-celebration. "It actually worked... and I’m still alive."

He had imagined something to go wrong in between, but it didn’t happen, and more importantly, the same rune was working for holy energy also; his suspicions were correct.

The rune itself was a lattice of luminous threads, each line twisting in complex, interlocking patterns, forming a perfect sphere of golden-white light that throbbed in rhythm with his heartbeat.

Hell, I shouldn’t celebrate too fast—there was still the process of forming the outer heart left.

He knew he didn’t have to be as slow as before and could be much faster now.

The holy energy inside his body was still fierce as ever, spreading all across him and not letting a single speck of mana form inside.

There are only six months left; I should be as quick as possible.

He knew there wasn’t much precision needed in this part. With the practice of making the copy of the rune, he was confident in his abilities—but it would be much more painful.

Even knowing that, he continued, because he couldn’t miss his chance to put on a show in front of the world, to let that bastard who had tried to assassinate him and bother Seraphine for so long see the consequence of his actions.

It was unimaginably painful to let your heart be knitted by strands of holy energy one after another without stopping.

As days turned into months, time began to pass, slowly taking the form of a golden heart made out of holy energy.

Time was pressing against him—there was only a day left here before the festival would start.

Which meant only a couple of minutes left outside.

Faster... ever faster.

Strands were now moving as if they had made a line of holy energy directly connected to his heart, biting into his flesh and tracing the shape of his previous heart.

Only an hour was left now. His heart was almost complete, with just a couple of strands left to take their rightful place.

The glow of holy energy was all over his body, as it had already gone way past the limit of what his body could contain.

His previous heart had already stopped working long before during the process, and the rune was the only thing keeping him alive and pumping his blood, which made him even more confident.

The last strand of holy energy took its place as the rune inside the heart started to glow.

Thump... thump.

Leon could now feel the first heartbeat of his new heart, and just then the rune inside became even more intensified.

The rhythm grew heavier, each beat like a hammer striking an anvil in his chest.

Unnaturally loud—he didn’t even have to focus to hear it. Anyone standing close to him would have heard it easily.

Thump... thump... THUD.

Is this supposed to be normal?

He had no answer and could only believe it was fine, because he was still alive and his previous heart had already died.

The rune symbol pulsed even more as suddenly the holy energy began getting sucked into his new golden heart. It acted like it was a black hole.

Leon glanced at his hand; seeing the holy energy gone, he knew it had started working as intended after a few seconds.

But then the pounding deepened, each surge of force making his ribs vibrate as if they were tuning forks.

This is not good.

He had ignored the loudness of his heartbeat before, but now... this felt like too much.

There was nothing he could do, as in the next second, another big gulp of holy energy was absorbed by the heart. The sacred energy tried to flee but failed in doing so.

The next heartbeat—

BAM!

"Arrrrgghhh!" Leon spat out a mouthful of blood as the metallic taste filled his mouth.

His fingers touched his ribcage—his bones were broken.

What the hell is happening?

Everything was happening in seconds, but this time his consciousness was still intact. He wasn’t going to purely rely on his Phoenix Feather; there was always a dark thought—what if it didn’t work?

So he quickly opened the cosmic shop and bought an item he had his eye on and knew would help in this situation.

Vial of Second Breath (Epic – Elixir)

He didn’t just buy one—he purchased ten at once, as 3.2 million casualties vanished from his account.

The item materialized in the thin air with a glitch, but before he could even catch it, another heartbeat was taken by the new heart—another big gulp of holy energy absorbed.

WHUMP!

Leon’s body hit the ground along with the ten bottles of shimmering green liquid.

He was coughing up blood—more than just a mouthful this time. It felt like his entire bone structure in his upper body was crushed, along with his lungs and liver, which had burst.

His eyes were bloodshot, and with willpower alone, he kept himself conscious. Even with his broken and battered arm raised above his shoulder, he grabbed one vial and emptied its contents straight into his mouth.

Bright green light enveloped his body, spreading warmth all over. The pained look on his face was replaced with comfort.

Just then, another shockwave of a heartbeat was released from the golden monster inside his chest.

This time, it didn’t just shatter his bones and rupture his organs—which were already close to healing—it obliterated them.

It obliterated his entire upper half. Beside the golden heart, the broken pieces of his bloody body flew across the grass. Even his head felt a concussion, the bones of his legs breaking with cracks in his skull.

"ARRRGGGHHH!"

An agony-filled scream tore from his mouth. He thought he was dead and that the Phoenix Feather, clenched in his teeth at the last moment, would work—but instead...

The green light intensified. Every piece of his body was now put back together, leaving him without injuries at all.

The Vial of Second Breath was more powerful than he had imagined. Without wasting any time, he picked up the next vial of bright green elixir and drank it whole.

He knew the shockwaves from his heartbeat were still not done—there was still holy energy left in his body, which would be finished in this last absorption.

Knowing this one was going to be even more devastating than the last, he drank two vials instead of one for safety.

If I fail here, everything I’ve done for three years will be meaningless.

"Three years of pain, three years of sacrifice... all for this one moment. Either I own this heart, or it owns me." His jaw clenched, face hardened with resolve as the words echoed in his mind.

—End of the Chapter—

_____

Elixir Info:

Vial of Second Breath (Epic – Elixir)

Restores all physical health instantly. Can revive near-death states.

Price: 320,000

Vendor: Dr. Fixme the Skeptical