The Record of Orc Civilization - Chapter 426: The Mystery of the Immortal Cell

From the ashes of that weak girl, a ruthless survivor named Nevare had crawled out. She chose to be the monster who controlled her own fate rather than the prey that wept for help.

And now, seeing her own brother mutate into that same demonic form… Nevare knew exactly. Whatever tragedy had befell Bon and Jon in the past to turn them into mindless monsters, the root of all that depravity was intimately linked to the round pill Artur had just swallowed.

“Where did you get that pill?!” Nevare hissed. Her eyes flashed, radiating a killing intent so sharp the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

But Artur, who had already lost half of his consciousness, could no longer hear her. The mana around him was being sucked into his body with brutal force. The youth was now like a bottomless black hole that had suddenly appeared at the floor of the ocean; energy rushed into him, and nothing could stem the tide.

For Artur, maintaining even the fragments of his sanity was a crushing burden. He had neither the time nor the capacity to answer Nevare’s questions. However, the killing intent radiating from his sister triggered his primal instincts. Like a wild beast challenged by an apex predator, Artur let out a deafening roar at Nevare.

Before Nevare could press him further, the figure of Artur in front of her vanished. He didn’t teleport as before; he moved with such extreme velocity that Nevare’s naked eye could not catch his afterimage. Fortunately, the detection spells she had cast at the start screamed a warning from above.

With no time to dodge, Nevare immediately elementalized her body into pure lightning. Artur’s movement was too fast; even with divine reflexes, she wouldn’t have time to shift her position. Sure enough, a second later, Nevare’s “body” of lightning was shredded by a brutal strike that streaked past.

Nevare immediately used Blink to put distance between them. Her form solidified in the distance, uninjured. Even so, her chest heaved as her breath grew heavy. Elementalization was a miraculous defense, but the mana cost was exorbitant.

“Tch!”

Concentrating fully, Nevare took control of the mana surrounding her. Quickly, a dance of lightning coalesced into a protective ring that spun rapidly around her. After he had consumed that mysterious pill, Nevare realized she could no longer match Artur’s physical speed.

Thus, she created a dynamic fortress. This ring of lightning served not only as a shield but would automatically lash out at anyone daring to draw near.

True to her prediction, before Nevare could process her next move, her detection spells vibrated again. Artur lunged. But before his claws could reach Nevare’s skin, the lightning ring protecting her detonated, shocking Artur’s body with high voltage.

BOOM!

Nevare was pushed back once more. This time, a claw mark appeared on her right arm, leaking fresh blood. She had been a second too late to elementalize. Nevare hadn’t expected Artur to completely ignore the counterattack from her lightning ring, pressing forward regardless just to land a single wound.

As a result, Artur was not in good shape either. His body suffered severe burns from the lightning strikes, which could still be seen destroying the cells on the surface of his skin.

However, Nevare’s eyes widened. She witnessed with her own eyes how Artur’s body convulsed and regenerated instantaneously without the help of a healing spell. Artur’s recovery speed now nearly rivaled the high-level regeneration of the Asuras.

Nevare narrowed her eyes. She intentionally refrained from healing the wound on her arm; Artur’s scratch wasn’t deep, only tearing skin and flesh without damaging the bone structure. She could still fight.

The main problem now was: how long would the effect of that pill last? And could Artur regenerate forever, without limit?

Nevare’s mind began to race. She recalled the teachings of King Moku regarding the Law of Conservation of Energy. Moku had once advised that everything in this world—whether magical or physical—is subject to the principle that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one state to another in equal measure.

The alraune at R-18 agreed wholeheartedly. Their thesis on Dragon Prana had solved the mystery of that energy. Although Dragon Prana was extraordinarily powerful, the method of obtaining it was grueling. A user of Dragon Prana essentially performed a conversion of biological energy (nutrients and body mass) into combat energy.

The assumption that Dragon Prana came from “preying” on the mana in the air was a grave mistake. If Dragon Prana came from environmental mana, then an Asura should be able to regenerate simply by “eating” air or soil rich in mana. But the reality was different. An Asura’s regenerative ability was a form of pure transformation from biological energy back into a biological state.

So, where did Artur’s regenerative ability come from? Was it from the massive amount of mana he had just absorbed?

Nevare shook her head slowly in her mind. The healing spells used by mages did not actually turn energy into new flesh like an Asura; rather, they stimulated the body’s cells to accelerate the natural healing process by providing them with additional “fuel.” That was why healing spells could only close wounds, not cure chronic or degenerative diseases.

But Artur was not stimulating his cells. His body seemed capable of “creating” itself anew.

If this ability originated purely from the absorption of environmental mana, then Nevare would have to immediately order all monsters to retreat. Because if Artur’s regeneration was powered by the infinite mana of the world, he had become immortal. He would be an undying monster that was impossible to kill.

However, Nevare knew that mana did not possess the same properties as Dragon Prana; it could not convert energy into solid matter (flesh and bone). Mana could only be transformed into other forms of energy—heat, light, or kinetic force.

The answer came to Nevare as she watched the steam rising from the pores of Artur’s reddened skin. It was a conclusion far more horrific than death itself.

Extreme Autophagy.