To make matters creepier, the creature's body kept turning from what looked like flesh and blood into living shadows, yet his eyes were pitch black instead of red.
Whatever it was, the creature was neither an Emperor Beast nor an undead.
"I'm sorry for my unsightly appearance, but I can assure you I mean you no harm. I'm still getting used to this new form of mine. My name is Nandi and I was sent to rescue you." The pata emitted a sizzling sound that made the Eldritch Abomination curse.
Nandi had lost control of the Chaos energy coursing through his body that was now devouring his prized weapon and forcing him to take it off before it was too late.
The fact that they were still alive reassured Quylla and Friya of his sincerity. They quickly thanked him and rushed to heal their sister. Phloria had sustained wounds so deep that there was a pool of blood at her feet.
Yet when Quylla finished chanting her diagnostic spell, it revealed that Phloria's body was as fit as a fiddle. Quylla only found minor injuries that barely bled and even Phloria's vitality was higher than her own.
"How did you do it? I thought you had been critically injured." Quylla asked.
"I don't know." Phloria replied. "One moment my body felt like it was falling apart and the next I was full of energy again. Don't ask me how I killed that Ghoul because I have no idea."
Once Quylla's arrays confirmed to her that there was no longer a threat to their lives, it was time for some answers.
"What are you doing here and what took you so long to help us?" Quylla asked Morok who was actually hoping for an adrenaline-induced romance rather than an interrogation.
"I'm not a stalker, I was just doing my job." He put his hand over his heart as if he was swearing on it. "I've tried to get in touch with you several times after Kulah, but your house staff always stopped me saying that you don't want guests."
Quylla nodded for him to continue. So far, he was telling the truth. She did instruct both the academy and the Ernas staff to make sure no one outside her contact list bothered her.
"Then, after the Blood Judgment thing, your mother reached to me and offered me a job. She promised me that if I kept your sister safe, she would introduce you to me again and we would go out on a date." Morok said while pointing at Phloria.
"She did what?" Quylla would have liked to refuse the idea that her own mother had sold her to pursue an agenda.
Yet it was exactly what she knew that Jirni would do. After retiring from the army, Morok had got his title of Baron with its attached lands, lots of wealth, and responsibilities.
Of course, it had taken him just a few months to get bored to death, ditch the lands and responsibilities, and get back to work as a mercenary. After reading his resume, Jirni knew he was the perfect man for the job.
Morok was powerful, capable to live in the wilds for prolonged periods of time on his own, and most of all, he was expendable. His life was worthless in the scheme of things and his infatuation with her daughter made him easily exploitable.
"I know. I would have preferred to protect you so that we could know each other over time, but Lady Ernas was adamant in her instructions. As for me being late, do you have any idea how many of those creeps were following you?
"Even with Nandi's help, it took me a while to get rid of them and wait for the right moment to step in. A wrong move and they would have killed your sister. Thank the gods she's easily mistaken for a man and the Ghouls failed to notice they already got their prize until it was too late." Morok said.
"That bears one more question. Why did you help us?" Phloria clenched her stomach, feeling as if it was going to burst at any moment. "I don't mean to be ungrateful, but I recognize an Abomination when I see one, and your kind isn't renewed for being friendly."
"I'm not an Abomination, or at least not anymore. I'm a monster-Abomination hybrid not so different from the man whose smell you all carry." Nandi pointed at Phloria's necklace and to all Lith's gifts they wore.
"A hybrid?" Friya echoed while looking at the tier four magic holding ring Lith had given her for her birthday.
Unlike normal rings, it could store two different spells. She treasured it dearly and even kept it a secret from Orion, who otherwise would pester her for the opportunity to study it.
Suddenly, the memories about their adventure in Zantia, when Lith had taken a demonic form to impersonate the All-Father, assumed a completely different meaning. Friya had seen Protector shapeshift into a hybrid form and knew that the offspring of two different races would be born hybrids.
'Normally, I wouldn't believe any bull coming from a bull, but it would explain a lot. Why Lith is so strong, why he heals so quickly, and most importantly why my sisters didn't tell me about it.' She thought.
"As for the reason I'm here, I'm no different from the foul-mouthed man. I helped you because I was tasked to." Nandi said.
"Mom makes deals with Abominations as well?" The three women said in unison, wondering what kind of monster their mother could be to instill loyalty even into such dangerous creatures.
"Gods, no. I was sent to your rescue by a common friend. She'll do the explaining since I have no idea what her reasons are. Now follow me if you want to live. You don't have much time left." The minotaur walked toward the light-filled corridor, leaving the others behind.
"What do you mean, she doesn't have much time left?" Quylla examined Phloria again, yet she failed to find anything wrong with her.
Yet her sister's pained expression was in stark contrast with the results of her diagnostic spells.
"She doesn't have long enough for an explanation. You'd better move." He replied without even turning back, emitting a moan of pleasure the moment he basked into the mana crystals' light again.
Before turning into an Abomination, he had been a Minotaur, the Emperor Beast evolution of a Tyr (AN: bull type magical beast). The Master had fused some of his bits with a tribe of ogres, giving birth to a hybrid who could commune with mana gemstones like the Fallen race.
"What's wrong with me?" Phloria needed sheer willpower just to not scream in pain.
None of the wounds or illnesses she had suffered in the past was comparable with what she was experiencing. Even Balkor's poison paled in comparison.
Friya tried and failed to diagnose her as well, which made the sisters desperate.
"No offense, but I don't know you and my sister needs help." Friya took her communication amulet out of her storage item, only to discover that it didn't work.
Then, she got away from the crystal veins enough to cast a Warp Steps leading back to the surface, yet her spell failed.
"I told you. You can either follow me or die. It will not be at my hand, but you'll die nonetheless. It's never polite to make your host wait." The minotaur said.
