"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle."
Under Aura's orders, the four adventurers had their heads buried in the river. As time dragged on, the sensation of suffocation oppressed every single one of their nerves.
Aura's command had been to keep their heads submerged until she gave a new order.
Simply diving did not conflict with the rule against harming humans, nor did it require ordering them to slit their own throats; it was a command she could issue.
Aura had found another loophole.
Just as the people underwater were about to reach their limit, a familiar presence suddenly appeared within Aura's Mana Perception range.
The moment she sensed it, Aura mobilized all her mana, activating flight magic at maximum speed. In an instant, she soared up and vanished from the spot, leaving the four adventurers still soaking in the water behind.
The Hero! He had come out of the barrier!
Disregarding the fate of Nanoda or those four adventurers, Aura fled directly without looking back.
Himmel, having just emerged from the barrier, had already chased after the residual mana left by Aura's earlier fight outside.
"A Demon..."
When he saw the four adventurers soaking their heads in the river like hippos, along with the lingering mana in the area, he knew he was too late. But fortunately, these four adventurers hadn't escaped.
Reaching out, he fished the four adventurers out and threw them onto the ground. Seeing that they were already unconscious saved him the effort of subduing them.
Stripping the four adventurers of their equipment and weapons, Himmel tied them up beneath a tree.
"Alright, time to see how things are over there."
His intuition told him that the Demon had already fled far away, and there were no wild beasts nearby, so leaving these four sinners here temporarily wouldn't be a major issue.
Meanwhile, inside the barrier.
Jane explained the origin of the magic potion to Nanoda, leaving Nanoda feeling a bit overwhelmed.
This magic potion was purely blood storing Jane's mana. The mana within this blood could not only repair wounds but also boost power. The side effect was that once the blood was separated from Jane by a certain distance, it would gradually lose its regenerative activity. Once mixed with human blood, influenced by the adulteration of Jane's mana, the blood would completely deactivate, and people would go mad with craving for it.
This research result was precisely one of the summaries the Mage had told Jane before his death five hundred years ago.
As for how to overcome the side effects, even that Mage hadn't come up with a solution.
Jane, bewitched by the sweet words of the four adventurers who had intruded into the ruins, had told them this point. Subsequently, Jane became a tool for these people to make money.
"They didn't draw swords against you at the start, so why did you still treat them as friends?"
"Because they said they only wanted to spar with me. Seeing that I was so strong, they wanted to be friends with me..."
Hearing Jane's answer, Nanoda didn't know for a moment whether Jane was too naive or those guys were too cunning.
"Listen well. The humans outside aren't all like your Father. In the eyes of most people, the Demon Race are enemies. You must be careful when you encounter them in the future."
She didn't deliberately smear the Mage 'Father' who had used Jane as an experiment, because she could see from the notes that the 'Father' still held some affection for Jane.
"Is that so?" Jane tilted her head, then nodded immediately after.
"I understand. I will listen to Mother."
"Could you stop using that title?" Nanoda felt this was really awkward.
"Then, are we going to kill that human?"
Jane suddenly turned her head, extending a slender finger to point at the man who had just entered from outside the barrier.
"?"
Himmel was stunned. This wasn't quite the scene he had imagined; it seemed a bit too harmonious.
"Why did you come back? Did you catch those guys?"
Nanoda was somewhat surprised; she hadn't expected Himmel to return for her.
"All solved. Although I believe in my partner's strength, I never leave a partner behind."
Himmel smiled, and Nanoda felt like she was getting goosebumps.
"What partner? Are we that close?"
"That's truly hurtful. Didn't we fight side by side? It's my first time cooperating with a Demon too; it feels very subtle." As he spoke, Himmel brushed back his beautiful blue hair.
"Are you really the Hero? Has anyone ever told you that in private, you're really smug?"
Nanoda had long wanted to tease this guy who built bronze statues of himself everywhere.
"Hahaha, you're really interesting." Himmel gave a gentle smile.
"Alright, since matters are resolved, let's part ways here." Nanoda waved her hand, intending to leave.
"Please wait. How... do you plan to handle her?"
Not entirely unexpected, the Hero still blocked her from taking Jane away.
"She didn't do anything wrong; she was just used by villains. I will guide her onto the right path in the future. You haven't forgotten what I promised you, have you?" Nanoda paused for a moment before continuing.
"Here's a hint: if you want to attempt to remove the magic potion's side effects, you can start your research directly from the magic potion itself."
Hesitating for a moment, Himmel removed his hand from his sword.
"I'll trust you one more time."
Seeing that Himmel wasn't blocking them, Nanoda took Jane's small hand.
"Let's go."
"Okay, Mother."
Just as Jane finished speaking, Himmel behind them suddenly let out a "Pfft" sound. Nanoda's forehead instantly darkened with gloom, and she dragged Jane away in a frantic rush.
One week later, the magic potion turmoil quickly subsided. Those driven mad by the magic potion were detained and cared for, and the scattered magic potions were collected uniformly. Aside from those used for research, all were destroyed.
Famous pharmacists from various regions, as well as the Goddess's Order, were fully analyzing the magic potion. Even the recently established Continental Magic Association joined in.
The smuggling ring selling the magic potions had nearly dissolved. While its leader had not yet been caught, most members had been arrested.
As for the four adventurers alleged to have manufactured the magic potions, they were sentenced to death under the unified ruling of the Southern Kingdom, the Central Nations, the Northern Empire, the Goddess's Order, and the Continental Magic Association.
Regarding the magic potions, the testimony given by the Hero Himmel was that the potions were generated by these four individuals extracting Demon blood within the ancient ruins, and the source Demon had already been slain by him.
After this event, just as when the Hero defeated the Demon King, people everywhere sang the praises of the Hero's greatness.
Meanwhile, in Qual's laboratory.
Various glass vessels were arranged on the table, filled with liquids of different colors.
At Nanoda's request, Qual had temporarily shelved the improvements to the automatic tracking of Killing Magic and began researching Jane's blood.
"My King, please give me a month's time. There should be some results in a month. The person who researched this magic was quite remarkable."
Even Qual, who was always confident in magic, had no immediate leads regarding the Eternal Life magic inherent in Jane's body.
____
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