Morok left for the surface on foot, making both Baba Yaga and Nandi wonder how could he have such a narrow vision of life.
“I can’t believe he didn’t even bother to remember the names of Quylla’s sisters. It’s beyond rude and if he keeps up like that, their first date will be short and the last.” Baba Yaga said.
“I can’t believe you’re still thinking about that moron while your precious project walks away!” Nandi blurted out. “What about your hybrids, and more importantly, what about me?”
“I can’t keep them against their will. All I want is to make my children happy. Starting a new family over the misery of my own firstborn would doom my project to failure and is against all I ever worked for.” Baba Yaga replied.
“No matter what you think, I’m not a tyrant but a mother. Even when my children go against my wishes, I don’t put them in jail until they obey. That’s not love, that’s madness.
“Even without Phloria, I have already collected a lot of data about twin cores thanks to your prolonged stay in my home. For that, you have my gratitude.” Compared to the Minotaur, the Crone was so short that she could barely reach his chest.
Baba Yaga touched his thigh and Nandi felt as if his body was being turned inside out. Multiple deep wounds opened and black blood streamed from all his orifices. He didn’t experience such an intense pain ever since his mana core had crumbled, turning him into an Abomination.
Yet it only lasted a second.
Nandi gasped for air, realizing that the agony had brought him on all four. He checked his body and discovered that not only it had finally evolved, but also there were no wounds left.
The constant need to contain the Chaos energy was gone and it had been replaced by several small violet crystals that had appeared on his forehead, chest, and hands.
“What did you do to me?” He said.
“What you asked me since the day we met.” Baba Yaga replied. “I fixed you. What blocked your growth was your own strength. Both of your natures were strong enough to live on their own, that’s why they never merged into one.
“You needed an opponent strong enough to put you in a life-or-death situation to evolve. I forced your two sides to choose between fighting together against me and survive or continuing their squabble and die.
“Don’t worry about the crystals, they are not weak points, but part of your own body. An orc without mana gemstones is crippled. That’s why before their fall, orcs were capable of turning their flesh and blood into crystals.”
Baba Yaga caressed the Minotaur’s head that was now at her eye level with a kindness Nandi had never experienced, not even from his own mother.
“Even if you are not an undead, you have lived under my roof, eaten my cooking, and shared your worries with me long enough to be one of my children. Now you’ve been reborn through me, and that’s a bond I cannot forget.
“Wherever you go, whatever happens to you, this will always be your home.” She touched his forehead, bestowing upon Nandi the spell that allowed all of her firstborns to always know where to find her.
“Now you can go see the world again, like you always wanted.” His head alone was almost bigger than she was, but Baba Yaga embraced it nonetheless. “Before you go, allow me to give you one last piece of advice.
“Once you are done having fun, go find the Master. They seem to be a smart human and the other monster-Abomination hybrids are your siblings. The Master can make you whole again while your kind can help you overcome your blood madness.
“The Organization is the other half of your family, and families stick together.”
The violence of Nandi’s inner turmoil kept him from standing up. Not even getting free from the insatiable hunger that plagued Abominations after absorbing his original self had been such an intense feeling.
Nandi had always considered his condition as a punishment for all the atrocities his original self had committed as an Emperor Beast first and an Abomination later. He had believed that Baba Yaga was no better and that she would screw him over as soon as she got what she wanted.
Yet while he had been wary of her and treated her as an enemy, Baba Yaga had grown fond of him. She had freed him from the shackles of his curse and was now sending him off with her blessings.
Warm tears streamed down his eyes while a feeling long forgotten ravaged the Minotaur’s withered heart.
“Thanks, mother.” Nandi returned her embrace, careful of not hurting the small figure between his hulking arms even though his reason told him that putting a scratch on her was an impossible feat.
Meanwhile, Quylla and Friya entered the tower a split second before Protector arrived with their sister in his arms. Phloria was still clenching her teeth, waiting for the fits of pain, when she realized they would never come.
The Ernas sisters looked in awe at the Mirror Hall that was now as big as Baba Yaga’s living room. They could feel that each one of the mirrors was actually an enchanted item and the mana in the Hall was so dense that it made their body hair stand up.
Yet nothing could compare with the vision of the feminine humanoid figure floating in the middle of the room. It looked like a short woman, about 1.54 meters (5’1″) tall, made of golden energy and with long golden hair that floated in the air as if she was underwater.
Yet what truly shocked the Ernas sister was the fact that the golden woman wore a Skinwalker armor identical to Lith’s and that the voice they had heard before belonged to her.
“Nice to finally meet you all, I’m Solus. Don’t worry about your Awakening, Phloria, Lith has- Fuck me sideways! No, you don’t!” She said as the image in the mirror in front of Solus required her full focus.
Solus’s voice was actually warm and kind. What creeped the girls out was that its tempo, inflection, and even the way she spoke sounded like a female Lith. They had no idea that the two of them had spent so much time in each other’s head to be as one.
“What is that? Is Lith alright?” Tista had returned to give her friends all the explanations they might need while Solus cast spells non-stop, but the scene on the mirror left Tista no time for pleasantries.
After the effects of Raging Nova had faded, the main force of the undead and the traitors had surrounded Lith from every side.
“Verhen is but one man and after that spell, he must have run out of mana!” Captain Lotta said. “Today is our day! Verhen first and the Ernas later. Fire at will!”
The barrage of spells coming at him was so thick that it covered the sky, eclipsing the moon and the stars. Against a single enemy, filling the battlefield with spells was a common strategy that made it impossible for the target to both dodge or Blink.
Lith snapped his fingers, conjuring both the darkness and the air sealing array from the tower’s Heart around himself. Most of the incoming spells disappeared and among those left, only a handful was actually aimed at him.
