Chapter 4509: Hollow Being (Part 1)
Chapter 4509: Hollow Being (Part 1)
"I wish that were true. It would make things much easier. The reality is that my rebellious daughter cut the different aspects of Orpal’s life force apart with the grace of a butcher and then stitched together what was left." Baba Yaga said.
"If not for Night’s regenerative abilities, Orpal would have never survived the process. The Vurdalak that he has become is not a stable Divine Beast bloodline nor an undead. It’s an aberration.
"A living disease, akin to a cancer that, after replacing all the healthy tissues, also replaces its host. What you are experiencing, Althika, is the hunger typical of my children, but it has been twisted and perverted beyond recognition.
"Undead need the life essence of their race’s members to prolong their existence and never forget their origin. Vurdalaks, instead, are living beings; they should have no reason to feed on their kin.
"Yet Night’s crazy experiments have left the Vurdalak life force incomplete. There are gaping holes in its structure that need to be filled. Check your son’s Vurdalak life force, if you don’t believe me.
"There is no trace of the mana organs of the human, Dragon, and Vampire bloodline. Nothing. He’s an empty slate that tries to fill the blanks with the Dryad bloodline."
Lith’s eyes widened in shock, and the other people in the room fared no better.
"Can you please show us what we missed?" Lith and Lotho asked.
"Please, Lady Yaga, show me as well! I need to know!" Naphila begged in frustration and despair.
Althika and the Crone nodded, and the three examined the Dryad with their respective breathing techniques under the Crone’s guidance. What they found confirmed her words. Even the unborn child wasn’t safe from the Vurdalak blood.
If not for his Dryad side’s regenerative abilities, his life force would have already been assimilated.
"Would my child still retain his bloodline abilities after becoming a full-blooded Vurdalak?" Althika asked.
"No." The Crone replied in disgust. "As I said, a Vurdalak is a mangled, corrupted creature. At best, your son would retain a couple of his Dryad mana organs, and they would become twisted and corrupted.
"Everything of you that makes your son would be remade in Meln’s image."
"What about my hunger?" The Dryad pressed on. "What does this have to do with my hunger?"
"Everything." Baba Yaga replied. "As Vurdalaks, you and your son are incomplete beings that crave to become whole. The hunger you experience is a symptom of your condition.
"The silver fire on your baby’s head, instead, is the means to resolve it. It allows a Vurdalak to prey on a fellow Vurdalak, assimilating their energy and any mana organ they have acquired until that moment.
"While my children feed on the living, the Vurdalak bloodline feeds on itself until there’s no hole left in the life force. A normal Upyr would be spared from the hunger until their transformation into a Vurdalak is complete, Althika, but your case is different.
"The baby’s Vurdalak blood that flows in your veins allows his silver flame and yours to synergize in a loop. They are constantly eroding your mind and body, inflicting upon you the worst of both worlds.
"Even if you never practiced the silver flame, it was only a matter of time before you ended up like this. In the same way, it’s only a matter of time before your Upyr side swallows your Dryad life force and you become a Vurdalak."
"Wait a moment." Lith pondered. "Why didn’t Meln suffer from this hunger before? If he’s anything like your children, he should have died of starvation by now."
"He’s nothing like my children!" Baba Yaga snarled. "He’s alive, and can eat normal food to survive. The hunger is only a byproduct of Night’s incompetence, and it spurs a Vurdalak to finish the job she half-assed.
"I bet Meln didn’t experience any hunger until my plan with the Harmonizer backfired and turned one of his Upyrs into a full Vurdalak. He had always been the only member of his species, so nothing could trigger his primal instinct.
"It explains everything. Why my plan failed, why the Vurdalak I unwittingly created attacked Meln’s Chosen, and why Meln retreated like that. He had already gained more than he came for and needed time to study his new powers.
"It also matches the timing of Althika’s transformation. This is all my fault."
"Did you do this?" The Dryad snarled, her teeth shapeshifting into needle-like fangs. "Did you do this to my child, you dumb bitch?"
"I’m afraid so." Baba Yaga sighed. "Which makes what I’m about to say even harder. I can fix your corrupted life force, child. I can restore your Dryad side to perfection and cleanse the illness, but that won’t last long.
"The small Vurdalak in your womb will keep spreading his cursed blood through your body, and sooner or later you’ll be like this again, if not worse. My recommendation is to kill mother and child."
"Althika as well?" Lotho was flabbergasted. "Why? Didn’t you just say you can cure her, Lady Yaga?"
"I did, and I can, but she would still be a Upyr." The Crone replied. "Her life force would still be under the relentless attack of the Vurdalak’s blood. One day, maybe when her life is in danger, or she’s under great stress, Althika’ll lose control.
"She’ll become a Vurdalak, and then we’d have another Meln to deal with. You’ve seen how Althika reacted when she saw Lith. You’ve heard the Dead King’s voice coming out of her mouth."
"About that." Lotho pondered. "How is that possible? Althika didn’t take Meln’s blood. She became a Upyr through her unborn son."
"And how do you think that child got there?" Baba Yaga replied. "Althika still took part of the Dead King’s life essence inside her. It wasn’t enough to turn her in a Upyr, but it infected her with his madness.
"The Vurdalak blood of the baby turned her body into fertile soil, and the madness took deep root in her Upyr side. The baby has been spared from it, but only because his own Vurdalak blood protected him from the infection.
"Althika’s Upyr side, instead, is a mindless creature driven only by instinct. Whatever part of himself Meln left inside Althika’s body had an easy time possessing it since the baby never tried to manipulate his mother."
"Are you sure about this?" Lotho said after checking the Dryad again and again. "I find no anomaly in Althika’s life force."
"It’s hard to notice, but Lady Yaga is right." Lith said. "There is a faint trace of Meln’s corruption."
’Yet it’s so faint that we missed it with Demon Grasp.’ Solus said. ’If not for the Ears and the Eyes of Menadion, we’d have never noticed it.’
The artifacts displayed a faint black light coursing throughout the Dryad’s body. Not a single hair had been spared from the affliction.
"Is there nothing you can do?" Althika sobbed.
"I can try removing the madness, but it’s so widespread that the procedure would maim your life force." Baba Yaga said. "Even if you survived, there wouldn’t be enough left of you to have a life or retain your personality."