"Two of yours against one of ours. It's no wonder I always broke up with you, Leegaain." Salaark said. "You're an incompetent idiot that can't even keep his own house in order."
"First, I'm the one who always breaks up with you…"
"Debatable." She replied with a sneer.
"…and second, I'm not going to apologize because I don't rule over my children like a tyrant. I let them search for their own happiness whereas you turned yours into your private army!" Leegaain snarled.
"How dare-"
"Stop bickering like a married couple!" Tyris shut them up. "We've been summoned to bear witness and prepare for the changes in the balance that these events will have, no matter their outcome. Not to point fingers."
Baba Yaga inwardly thanked both Mogar and Scarlett for bringing her there. She burned Xedros's and Jakra's faces in her mind, swearing to take revenge upon them in the case her allies failed.
'How dare did they do that to my children? If any of those vermin put their filthy hands on Epphy, their agony will be the matter of legends!' The Red Mother thought.
'Damn, this is really bad. Another Guardian might be born and Epphy is in a danger much worse than death.' Silverwing was worried sick, cursing Mogar for forcing her to watch without letting her interfere.
'I want to save her from Lith, not make her fall into even worse hands. Heck, to save her from the Dragon and Xedros, I'd rather let her live with him forever. F.u.c.k.i.n.g monsters, stay away from my niece!'
Mogar sat in the middle of the overlapping circles that the spectators formed. The white cored people, being much smaller in form, were positioned below the Guardians who watched at the events from above.
The consciousness of the planet had a different appearance for each one of them, yet all of its forms had a slight smile. Mogar wanted them to understand that good or evil were irrelevant, only positive change mattered.
She had stopped the Guardians from pursuing the Master because his hybrids were the key to save her long-lost children and from pursuing Thrud because she had done more to push evolution forward in a few days than most races in millennia.
Thrud and the Master used disturbing and despicable methods, yet they had shown to the rest of her children that nothing was impossible. That there was a wrong way and a right way to do things, but there was always a way.
Abominations had always given up on finding a way back among the living, just like all species had grown complacent, accepting the limits of their current state instead of challenging them.
In a cruel, twisted way, both Vastor and Thrud were pioneers to unexplored fields that had always been considered just a myth by those who had failed to achieve them. Now, however, no one could deny their existence anymore.
Not when the living embodiment of those fields threatened everything that all of the races had always taken for granted.
In the meantime, Xedros looked at Scarlett's proto-Guardian form and a smug expression replaced the fear that had twisted his face until a second back. Her mana core was still bright violet and her extra mass didn't affect her physical prowess.
"What a day! I get to become the Father of a new race of Dragons and to kill a Guardian in her crib. Run, cat. Run!" He laughed maniacally at the top of his lungs as he unleashed another tier five Spirit Spell, Manastorm.
'The tribulation is the least of my worries.' She thought. 'If Xedros gained the powers of a Dragon bloodline along with its appearance, things are only going to get worse. On top of that, in this situation, I can't use Gravity Magic.
'Without an array to contain its effects, any spell would affect Lith as well. I might use Spirit Gravity magic, but each spell consumes too much mana and unlike Xedros, I'm quite tired already.'
Xedros traced an arc of emerald green light in the air with his right forefinger. The crescent moon-shaped energy mass released a barrage of emerald bullets made of pure mana, each one with the power of a cannonball.
The volley generated by Manastorm was so quick and powerful that being struck by just one projectile meant that countless others would quickly follow, pummelling a target as small as the Scorpicore to death.
Scarlett compressed her form with Body Sculpting, becoming the size of a house cat. It allowed her to move nimbly enough to charge forward and dodge every single bullet, sometimes even using them as stepping stones to gain more momentum.
Only once she came out of the emerald blizzard did she turn back to her original size and activated a second Primordial Roar. Her personal spell not only dealt Xedros heavy damage, but the mix of cold and vibrations slowed down his movements.
The Scorpicore knew where the vitals of a Dragon were and stung at them with her scorpion tail with surgical precision.
The acid it released burned holes through both scales and flesh, making Xedros scream in pain.
Yet it wasn't enough. Compared with the huge size of an over 2,000 years old Dragon, those wounds were painful but not life-threatening. Xedros used a healing spell to fix himself and struck at the Scorpicore with his right fist.
She wasn't faring well, but Lith was doing no better. He had failed to buy enough time for one full use of Invigoration and Jakra was seconds away from nailing him to a wall.
Origin Flames, battle experience, swordsmanship, the Emerald Dragon outmatched Lith under every aspect. The only reason why he was still alive was thanks to his ability to cast spells during the fight.
"I pity you, little brother. So young and yet so strong. I wonder what heights you might have reached if only you had chosen your allies more wisely and lived long enough to reach your full potential." Jakra said with honest regret, making Lith feel even worse.
'Solus, plan E!' He said while conjuring the Demons of Darkness.
The spirits of the dead that still lingered near the Madness drank avidly from his spirit magic, fusing themselves with the shadows of the cave until they obtained a new body.
'Plan E is a go.' Solus replied, using her own mana to keep the constant onslaught of spells that hammered at Jakra up.
The Demons of Darkness came from Lith and from him they drew their strength. Even though they shared the same energy signature, Solus's mana was pointless because they had a different bloodline, something that she couldn't reproduce even through their bond.
