Supreme Magus

Chapter 4507: Not a Hybrid (Part 1)

Fury replaced pain when she focused long enough on the newcomers to recognize Lith.

”Leech!” A red flame appeared over her head, and the Dryad breathed a burst of Fire Soul at him.

The ward’s arrays dispelled the corrupted fire and restricted the Dryad’s movements. Her body writhed and spasmed in anger, her features shapeshifting from Dryad to Upyr nonstop for a while, before she stopped struggling.

”Leech.” Her voice was a whisper coated in poison.

”Long story short, this is Althika, and she was fine until the day the Dead King attacked the Undead Court branch of Bornar. Then, that silver flame appeared over mother and child.

”At first, everyone rejoiced, thinking Althika had discovered a new bloodline ability thanks to her unborn baby. Yet less than a day later, something went terribly wrong. She was experimenting with her new powers when a patch of her body mutated.

”We don’t know why, how, or even what that patch is, only that since that happened, Althika hasn’t been herself anymore. She claims-”

”That this is no power.” She pointed at the flames above her head, cutting Lotho short. ”This is a curse. I was a normal bright cyan-cored Dryad before I joined the Dead King’s side.

”Yet after getting pregnant with his child and reaching the blue core, I didn’t evolve into a Titania. No matter how much I practiced Accumulation or the baby helped me refine my core, even after reaching the deep violet, I’m still a Dryad.

”It unsettled me, but I could live with it since my Upyr side makes me a Divine Beast. Since the silver flames appeared, however, I’m always hungry, and nothing I eat puts a dent in it. It’s consuming me, driving me crazy.

”It doesn’t crave meat or nutrients from the soil. It wants me to consume my own child. To feed on his life force and add it to my own. And you know what the worst part is?” Althika teared up, her fury turning into despair.

”I feel deep in my gut that the silver flames are supposed to start a battle to determine who’s stronger and deserves to live. Yet my child is going to let me win because he trusts me! Please, kill me if you have to, but save my baby!”

Those words confirmed Baba Yaga’s darkest theories about the origins of the Vurdalak race. She had discarded them because there was no evidence to support them, but now the evidence lay right before her, crying.

”Don’t fret, child. It’s too soon to lose hope.” The Crone didn’t let her worries transpire and smiled warmly at the Dryad to reassure her. ”I need to examine you to assess your condition. It’s okay if I use my breathing technique on you?”

”Yes.” Althika sobbed. ”I recognize you, Red Mother, and I don’t care about what happens to me. Don’t ask my permission. Do anything you can to save my child.”

”I will, but before that, I need to meet my host.” She turned to Lotho. ”Who’s the idiot who rules over this bloodline? I want to look them in their face as I give them a piece of my mind.”

”I’d like to keep that confidential.” Lotho scratched the foliage covering his head.

”And I’d like to start treating this poor girl as soon as possible.” The Crone replied. ”How can I trust someone to uphold their word if they don’t even have the guts to step into the light?”

”You make a compelling argument, Lady Yaga.” A wooden wall opened, and a stunning Titania walked into the room. ”Nice to meet you. I’m Naphila, matriarch of House Redleaf.”

She was over 3 meters (10 feet) tall, with wheat-blond hair, light green eyes, and slightly long, pointy ears. She wore a sleeveless dress made of vines that covered everything under her collarbone, leaving only her rosy face and hands exposed.

Thin branches and leaves that were part of her own body formed what looked like a circlet around her head. Her slender fingers ended in long nails that, with the wood’s wrinkled appearance and darker color, made them look like they belonged to a much older woman.

He beauty surpassed that of all Dryads Lith had ever met, yet he sensed no kindness or warmth in her. Every fiber of his being warned him that the creature before him was a predator as ruthless as an Abomination.

”I’m sorry for this pathetic display of weakness you had to endure. Dryads are usually calm and composed, but mixing our blood with other species can lead to unfortunate side effects.”

”Before you ask, Lady Naphila considers Althika’s love for her unborn child a weakness, Lith.” The Crone said with all the spite her voice could convey. ”Also, yes, she’s the real matriarch of this household.

”I know it because she bears the same energy signature as the arrays in the room. I’m glad you’re such a piece of work, Lady Naphila. It makes my work much easier.” A wave of Baba Yaga’s hand brought the Titania to her knees and ripped the Root out of her chest.

”Make one wrong move, order one of your elders to so much as say something I don’t like, and I’ll squash you like the bug you think Althika is. Are we clear?”

”Yes.” The Titania gasped, ordering her cloaked allies in the adjacent rooms to call off the attack on Baba Yaga with a hidden sign.

Naphila craved the power of the Vurdalak, but since it had already proven problematic, she considered the secret of the white core a much greater boon for the Redleaf clan.

”Good.” The Crone nodded. ”I’m willing to bet purified Davross that if Lith came here alone and failed to cure Althika, you’d have employed whatever you wanted to use against me to strap him to the bed and make a few more Divine Beasts the old-fashioned way. Do you deny it?”

”No.” Naphila shook her head.

”What?” Lotho roared in outrage. ”You gave me your word, Naphila! I gave Verhen mine!”

”Stupid fossil.” She snarled through gritted teeth. ”Who cares about honor when presented with the opportunity for true power? If I can’t have the Vurdalak bloodline, the Tiamat will have to do.

”As for your precious honor, once I killed you and Verhen, nobody would’ve known what happened here, and the Council would have only you to blame for Verhen’s disappearance.”

”I swear I didn’t know about this, Verhen. I would have never brought you here if I suspected Naphila’s intentions.” Lotho said.

”This only makes it worse, Lotho, because I expected something like this to happen since you called me.” Lith snorted. ”Why do you think I brought Lady Yaga along?”

The plant representative gave him a deep bow and lowered his head in shame.

After ordering Naphila to use the arrays to restrain anyone powerful enough to disturb her work, Baba Yaga moved to the bedside. She used her breathing technique, Sun and Moon, to examine Althika and her child.

The Crone also used the Ears and the Eyes of Menadion, sharing part of the burden with Lith and Solus. The artifacts allowed her to share everything she discovered with them as quickly as a mind link.