Il Ji quickly grabbed Barry and summoned the rest of the crew.
Alfredo soon arrived with Lily and several other beast masters in tow. "Master Il Ji! I see you've been working hard."
"That I have. I will tell you when I have completed my tasks. Until then, please preserve my life."
The servants nodded sagely.
"Alright, then. Lily, you're first."
The little turtle took a ferocious grin and cast [Satisfy].
"I shall begin." Il Ji intoned.
Entering his soulspace, he quickly grabbed the stars he needed. The sooner he finished, the faster he and the servants could move on to other things.
First on his list was [Submind Creation]. He had already fused 3 of the seven subskills. First, he fused three copper skills into [Mental Break]. After that, he combined four more and [Mental Fuse], which he had already made, into [Mental Perfecting].
Combining the two skills, he made his first run and completed the [Ruby] skill, [Submind Creation].
This task completed, he moved on. Combining five more skills gave him [Submind Control]. Fusing an additional eighteen have him [Submind Convergence], [Mental Storage], and [Logic Partitioning].
After fusing all four skills together, he had the highly coveted [Brain Partition].
Although the high ranking of his new skills should take a relatively high influx of stamina, he still hadn't felt his body warning him of impending doom, so he took the next step.
After a short sequence of fuses he completed [Memory Conditioning].
Then, he began to work on [Mental Master]. It was the second most complex fuse. Rated at the [Diamond] level, it was one of the few skills he was worried about.
Once achieved, he would be able to fully control every aspect of his mind, and be immune to mental debuffs from outside of himself at or below the same rank.
He crossed his fingers. After seeing the lineup of beasts ready to save his bacon, he wasn't too worried. That being said, it was [Diamond] rank for a reason. Luckily for him, it didn't take that long to find out.
The new star popped up in his soul space and replaced the myriad that had come before it.
With a gasp of relief, he sighed. 'Well, if that one worked, I might as well try the next.'
…Alfredo was nearly at his wits' end. The first few times the man's skin erupted, it was easily replaced by the team around him. But they were quickly running out of energy.
The last wave had bound them tight. They only had enough for 3 quarters for an eruption of similar strength.
He had called for someone to bring the little treasure chest; it should be able to enter Il Ji's soul space and warn the man. But it would soon be too late. He couldn't help but switch tactics.
"Men! Switch targets! Heal and recharge Lily instead!"
'Master, forgive me.'
The Master Butler, Alfredo, began giving orders to his pets. "Ori, continue healing him directly. Sami, keep a low heal on Lily. No matter what, make sure she survives this."
He sent a message to his other pet. 'Baxter, grab and bring IV support to this room. Give out another general order as well. Hopefully we can reach someone who hasn't fome yet.
"Men, may we make it through this day with our heads held high."
"Yes, sir!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Agreed, Master Butler!"
Just then, it struck. Lily's [Satisfy] grew fivefold. With a mighty bellow, the little turtle cast her skill. In waves of beams it began to work upon the man. But as a result, Lily's health and stamina was quickly depleted.
To cover her, all the beasts sent her their strongest healing arts.
Just when they were about to fail, the head chef arrived. With a mighty yell, she summoned her [Platinum] rank [Sushi Roll Sous-Chef] and her [Ruby] rank [Multiplication Bread]. They covered Lily just long enough.
Right as the little turtle sagged her legs, a brown blur rushed out from between the legs of all those watching.
The little treasure chest had come to save his master! With a mighty leap into the air, Jackpot desummoned himself into the soul space.
And at that point, all were still. A small, ragged breath came out of the turtle. But as for the man, not one person was assured of his survival.