A terrifying amount of mana surged into Fluffy’s metallic dome—so thick it became visible, like a fog of stars. A nebula of shining lights formed around Bianca at the center. Elian didn’t know if each light was a soul, but it was dazzling all the same.
While Bianca focused on anchoring Bastion’s soul, Elian worked in tandem. Ashen and black liquids—Living Metal and Dominator—flooded the corpse, devouring flesh and hollowing bone.
The metal infiltrated every orifice, every pore. This was no surgery. It was rebirth by annihilation.
Like with Fluffy, the process tore Bastion’s body apart piece by piece. Bianca screamed as the pain surged into her soulgem—but Bastion made no sound.
A golden thread linked his soul to hers. And then, without warning, it snapped.
Bianca gasped—and collapsed to her knees. Her eyes grew wide with horror, "N-No! Father! Father! What are you doing?!"
Fluffy and Elian grew concerned at her cry. All the metal surging into the Alpha corpse halted. But before either could ask, a husky voice resounded in everyone’s mind.
"I am fine. Do not worry. Continue."
Elian grew impressed. Bastion was present during the rebirth of Fluffy. Thus, he knew that the reason Bianca was present was to increase the chances of success. The main danger of the Weaponization was not the body breaking, but the soul collapsing.
[10%. The soul will endure great pain and must be connected to the body while it is being consumed. Expected trauma is beyond what Radiant tiered souls can withstand.]
That was what the system said, for Fluffy’s sake, Bianca willingly endured the burden with her. Elian knew that she intended to do the same here.
Yet Father-in-law rejected her kindness.
It wasn’t because he was arrogant. Much like Fluffy, Bastion was still Radiant Tiered. By all definitions of the system, without Bianca, Bastion’s soul would shatter. But somehow, Elian felt it would be alright.
Hearing the overflowing confidence of Bastion, Elian chuckled. Even now, left nothing but a soul, he still wished to protect his family. Answering his conviction, Elian once again commanded the metal.
Bianca and Fluffy who noticed the metals once again flowed both called out.
"Elian! Stop! Dad is..."
"Oy! Dad is going to get hurt!"
To most people, it would seem reckless. But Elian understood. This was a father’s pride, a husband’s resolve. Bastion’s own pride as a man would not allow any weakness. Not because of anyone else but his own tenacity.
"It will be alright, trust him," Elian remarked confidently.
His words caused both of Bastion’s daughters to squirm. But the lack of any screams added credibility to their father’s resilience. Noticing their hopeful eyes Elian couldn’t help but snap in his mind.
After all that bravado, you are not allowed to fail Father-in-law! If you don’t make it back, I will come over just to beat you up!
With the skill the system created, the process was far easier than before. But the Tyrant, didn’t want to just create a Weapon Bastion. He wanted to create the strongest beings to fight alongside him.
Partly because of his reverence for him, Elian drew from the biology lessons Heaven’s Fist’s body had taught him, incorporating them into Bastion’s reconstruction.
If I am rebuilding him from the base, there is no real purpose to still stick with a Snow Wolf’s biology. Everything was fair game—except the part Silent might maul him for changing.
"System, help me visualize. Implant eyes inside the new body."
A ghostly projection formed, revealing Bastion’s innards like blueprints overlaid on bone.
As if he was operating on a patient, Elian’s vision began to see the insides of Bastion’s Corpse. He watched Bastion’s body hollowed, then restructured—cell by armored cell.
Remove everything that uses mana, instead let’s create redundant organs, make bones harder, muscles stronger. We don’t die so long as our cores aren’t destroyed, but our bodies rely on the once biological framework to make it function.
Like a mad scientist, Elian created 2nd and 3rd hearts and hid them in Bastion’s thighs. He formed a second brain and placed it above the stomach. He expanded the veins to be three times as thick and twisted them together to increase power.
Bear with it for now father-in-law, I will make your suffering worth it.
As he was working on it, a nostalgic chill appeared beside him. Elian turned to her and saw the resolution on her face.
"Let me help," Bianca offered.
And so, Bastion’s body was rebuilt, at each step, Bianca and Elian thought about the problems together. They pointed out issues that the other had not foreseen.
The process took hours. Each second was a test of patience and resolve. But Bastion’s body was reforged—muscle like braided cables, bones like compressed siege steel.
"Elian, the size of the vessels would require a drastic increase in Snow Wolf blood. Without it the muscles won’t be able to move at full power," Bianca worried.
Just as he was about to wonder what to do, a metallic wolf approached them.
The two of them looked up and saw Fluffy. She had a potion gripped by her tail and slashed a large wound on her neck. Blood bonded with Dominator floated and injected itself into Bastion’s body.
Fluffy’s eyes were focused, as if her current task was more important than anything else. Her entire demeanor gave no room for debate. Elian and Bianca looked at each other and reluctantly agreed.
Only moments later, Elian felt a will push back. The body that obediently accepted his changes resisted. It rejected the Living Metal he was pouring into the body.
The dome trembled as something dangerous awoke. His metal limbs groaned—not from signs of strain, but like hundreds of blades all being unsheathed at the same time.
Bianca was in tears as she covered her mouth, "Dad!"
But Fluffy stood between Bianca and the new Weapon. His eyes grew bright like flames. A gigantic metallic body even towering over Fluffy stood imposingly. This wasn’t the Alpha who once held the line. This was the monster that ravaged cities on the other side of it.
Elian’s metal had mana embedded in it. That was the only reason Bianca could touch it. By that same principle, Weapons made from them could kill her soul body.
Only, the gigantic monster of metal acted as if none of them were there. Its attention was fixed solely on the dome wall.
Sigh. Good to have you back Father-in-law.
Knowing what Bastion desired at the moment, Elian opened a door out of the dome. As the entire structure was made of sealed Living Metal—like all things Elian made, it obeyed its creator.
Like a blur, the 13-meter giant of a wolf ran outside. The ground felt like it would break because of the powerful footsteps. Elian, Bianca and Fluffy all ran outside to watch.
Bastion raced and then stopped mere feet before Silent. Silent cried out and hurled herself at her reborn husband She began licking and tried to push down the former. He tried to resist at first but eventually just lay down.
It was obvious to everyone that he was humoring her.
"Dear, thank goodness, you are safe. I am so glad. So glad..." Silent said in overwhelming bliss.
Her happiness was evident. The Alpha’s tail practically turned into a fan due to the speed it wagged. Feeling content that Bastion returned to them Elian took Bianca’s hand and rested his head on hers.
"Good job, Bianca. I am grateful for your help."
To his surprise, Bianca took his face in her hands and gently turned it toward hers. She then kissed him on the lips. Although she once again was only a soul body, Elian felt her immense affection.
"Not even the System could measure how thankful I am that you’re mine, Elian."
They gazed into each other’s eyes lost in the moment, before a third party interrupted.
"You horny monkeys really should get a room. What? You forgot I was here? Why isn’t anyone thanking me? I helped too you know?"
Elian and Bianca grew surprised at Fluffy’s comment and broke into laughter.
The witch flew towards her sister’s sulky face and rubbed her face on the shiny metal. "Thank you for being here, Fluffy. Ever since I found you only good things have been happening."
"Hmph! You are just saying that."
"No, I am not," Bianca reassured.
"Then rebuild me too."
"I saw how different Dad’s insides are to mine. Fix me up too. I want to be stronger. Stronger so that when we meet another strong bastard like Heaven’s Fist—I’ll never run again."
She then turned to Elian as her eyes burned with fire, "And you. If you try that Tyrant crap on me again, you and I are going to have a big problem you hear?"
"I am sorry," Elian apologized.
"I will forgive you once. And only once. The next time we fight something, we will do it together, understand? If you really are that thirsty for Snow Wolf crap, then go ahead—do it again. I dare you."
Faced with that ridiculous threat, Elian just nodded—still smiling.