Chapter 4511: Lifting the Veil (Part 1)
Chapter 4511: Lifting the Veil (Part 1)
’Moreover, the Infirmary can only help us to understand the illness, and we already know what it is. Finding a cure is up to us anyway.’ Not knowing what else to do, Lith stopped breathing the Dread Flames and fighting the voices in his head.
The Voidfeather Dragon spoke the loudest. He guided Lith to flood his eyes with the power of the elements and then focus on what he saw through his Spirit Eye.
Spirit Vision showed him the Dryad and the Upyr life forces, where they overlapped, and brought into focus what the Ears of Menadion perceived as a thin fog.
A sickly black substance moved from the Upyr side to the Dryad, attacking Althika’s original life force and retreating as soon as her regenerative abilities triggered in response to the invasion.
Orpal’s fragment moved with purpose, striking at the first moment of weakness and hiding behind the Upyr life force whenever it was attacked.
’That’s why I failed until now.’ Lith was flabbergasted. ’That thing is not static. I can’t just pin it down and burn it to the ground. I need-’
’Not burn. Kill!’ The Void cut him short. ’Like this.’
The crown of fire on top of Lith’s head turned blue as he opened the cracks in his life force just enough to ignite Death Vision and a spark of Scourge Flames. Spirit Vision showed him the different aspects of the Dryad’s life force, while Death Vision showed Lith how they could die.
He took one last deep breath and exhaled three tiny streams of fire. The Scourge Flames advanced toward Orpal’s essence with one stream of Dread Flames on either side.
The blue fire ignited the black substance, and it once again tried to escape. This time, however, there was no way out. The Scourge Flames never let go of their prey, while the Dread Flames flanked both hunter and prey.
Orpal’s essence could run, but it couldn’t hide any longer. The Scourge Flames marked its position at all times, and the Dread Flames kept it from moving inside the healthy tissues.
The first black droplet died with an agonizing scream, and the hunt began anew. Baba Yaga’s assessment of Althika’s condition was correct. Orpal’s essence had spread all over the Dryad’s life force, infecting every nook and cranny of her body.
It covered her healthy tissues like a spiderweb. Thin, but incredibly sturdy, and easy to burn. Lith cleansed the black substance one rivulet at a time, until Althika’s head belonged to her again.
The Dead King had no influence over her anymore, and resisting the hunger became easier. Then Lith cleansed her chest, her arms, and her right leg, leaving the left leg for last.
"Clench your teeth. This is going to hurt a lot." Lith waited for the Dryad to nod before letting the Scourge Flames run wild on the Vurdalak foot. They burned the deformed flesh and bones, purging the Dryad’s life force of its corruption.
Althika held on for a few seconds before she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her flesh burned, her blood boiled, and her very soul seemed to have fallen in a pool of lava.
The Vurdalak flesh blacked into a charred mass and fell to the ground in a pile of ashes. Althika’s body regenerated the missing limb as soon as the Scourge Flames went out, shaping it out of fast-growing vines.
"That’s my foot!" The Dryad opened her eyes to admire her delicate toes and the uniform green of her skin. "That thing is gone! I’m me again!"
At the same time, in the fortress of Nareka in Jiera, Orpal clutched his chest in agony, sharing the searing demise of his fragment and feeling that a small part of him was gone forever.
"How is the hunger?" Lith leaned against the nearest wall and let himself slide down until he was sitting on the floor.
"It’s gone!" Althika looked at the Light Soul above her head and discovered it had shrunk to a candlelight. "I’m cured, and so is my baby!"
The unborn child’s Feast Soul also had stopped blazing and was reduced to a spark.
"I wish that were true, child." Baba Yaga sighed. "You’re not cured. It’s just that, like an undead can only feed on those who belong to their original race, a Vurdalak preys only on other Vurdalaks.
"You’re back to being an Upyr, and as such you can no longer use or be a victim of the bloodline ability Vurdalaks use to consume each other."
"It’s still good news, right?" The Dryad appreciated every breath she took, no longer feeling pain coming from her left leg or the hunger eroding her sanity. "I’m stable again, and my child is no longer in danger."
"I’m sorry, but that’s wishful thinking." The Crone replied. "You are still an Upyr and carry a Vurdalak in your womb. Your Dryad life force is under constant attack, and it’s only a matter of time before stress or strain makes you fall again.
"At that point, the bloodline ability will return, and so will the hunger. Depending on the situation, the next time you might not be able to resist the transformation and become a full-blooded Vurdalak. I let you imagine the rest."
"What if I remain in isolation until I give birth?" Althika asked. "If I don’t put myself in danger, there won’t be any stressful situation, right?"
"Childbirth is no walk in the park, child." Baba Yaga shook her head. "Even assuming your clan plays nice, which I find hard to believe, once the labor begins, your body will undergo plenty of strain.
"If the transformation happens at such a delicate moment, Lith wouldn’t be able to do anything even if he stood right by your side. Yet even if everything goes fine, that won’t be the end of your trouble.
"You may be allowed to spend the rest of your life in isolation, but do you think your son will accept such fate? Do you think the Council, or any of the five races for that matter, will allow a living plague to endure?"
"Then what was the point of dousing me with those flames?" Althika cried tears of desperation. "Why didn’t you just put me down like the rabid monster you say I am?"
"Because that was just the first step of your treatment." Lith’s ragged breath slowly returned to normal as the energy from Starforge stabilized his life force and restored his strength. "I’m not done yet. I’m just catching my breath.
"You’d better focus on refilling your body with nutrients, because you’re going to need them soon."
The Dryad nodded and extended several vines from her hands. They seeped into the wooden floor, absorbing everything she needed to return to her peak condition.
"We’re lucky you’re a plant folk, Althika." Lith said, his voice still punctuated by short gasps. "I don’t think I could have performed this procedure on any other race. At least not alone.
"Sure, Lady Yaga would’ve helped me to heal your wounds, but coordinating our efforts would have made things much more complicated. I don’t know what to expect from the procedure, and if Lady Yaga asked me to stop at a critical moment, I don’t know if I could."