The World Tree looked at the Bleed through her eyes and stared at it in horror.
The room contained several hybrids between machine and Forgemastery that showed clear similarities with the workings of the Odi, Arthan, and many more forefathers of Forbidden Magic.
Just much worse after Menadion had given them her personal spin.
The other Chroniclers froze as well while blinding pain invaded their colleague. The Bleed sucked the elf’s blood, her mana, her very life force, and converted them into a suitable nourishment capable of feeding Solus in the absence of a host.
The Bleed was careful in its calculations, draining just enough to temporarily restore Solus’ body to that of a regular Awakened. It was uncaring of the pain it caused and how long the agony would last.
Menadion had designed it for manual control in case something happened to Elphyn. She had been forced to write the specifics of the automated Predator protocol before facing Bytra so mercy was off the table.
Also, she wanted to make sure that if the Raiju were to kill Ripha and then locate Solus, the Fourth Ruler of the Flames would regret it for the rest of her life.
Menadion was no healer, but she had studied Forbidden Magic since her husband’s death to find inspiration for her quest to protect Elphyn. Also, she had worked long enough with Baba Yaga to have a deep understanding of how undead and Horsemen worked.
The Bleed was the forbidden love child born from everything Ripha had managed to get her hands on that could reverse death, no matter the price. The only thing she cared about was that Elphyn wouldn’t be the one to pay for it and that she would be safe.
“What have you done, Mom?” Solus looked at the corner of her visor, noticing that the power rate of the Engine was slowly but steadily going up.
Before retrieving the Ears, the Engine’s maximum output had been stuck at 60% and after assimilating the rune strings from the Apprentice Ears, the output had gone up to 80%, just like she and Lith had predicted.
Yet after the activation of the Predator Protocol and the Bleed, it had reached 81%, then 82%, and now 83%.
“What in the nine hells have you done, Ripha Menadion?” The World Tree’s canopy roared, mere thoughts incapable of conveying their fury. “How could you stoop so low to resort to Forbidden Magic.”
“I know what you are thinking!” A hologram of Ripha’s face covered the Engine’s, showing a mask of fury and madness. “I, the First Ruler of the Flames, shamelessly resorting to Forbidden Magic.
“Well, guess what? If you’re watching this, you bitch, it means that I’m dead. I don’t give a flying fuck about my reputation and even less about my legacy. The only thing I care about is bringing my daughter home safe.”
“Can this be true?” The World was shocked by the revelation. “Bytra killed Menadion? This explains how she turned into one of those Eldritches but why is she working with-”
“If the rest of Mogar considers me a monster, they can come to the afterlife with me and complain about it!” The recording went on and cut the Yggdrasill short.
The Engine opened its arms as a burst of energy accumulated in its chest just to produce a fizzle. Menadion’s program assumed that she was dead and the tower complete so it had called upon floors that were still missing.
The Predator protocol interpreted the circumstances as Bytra having inflicted heavy damage upon the tower and reacted accordingly.
“You bitch!” The World Tree had no idea why the hologram had delved further into a frenzy but recognized quite well the onslaught of tier five Tower Spirit Spells unleashed by the Firing Range.
The inner chamber was blown to bits and the Yggdrasil had to use their roots to protect their followers. The Tree couldn’t afford to lose more Chroniclers and give the enemy another opening to feed more elves to the cursed floor.
Only one of them had been captured but the pain she experienced was shared with Chroniclers and Yggdrasill both, crippling their focus.
“Get in, sweetie, and use Invigoration.” The hologram said while it rescued Solus with a hand and carried her to its chest.
With the other, the Engine clawed at everyone and everything. The talons on its feet dug through the ground with every movement and sucked it dry of every form of life and nourishment.
Wherever the Engine stepped, the soil dried up and plant life withered as if in the presence of an Abomination.
Solus had no idea what good Invigoration could do her without Lith, but she trusted Menadion, no matter how deranged she might have become. One breath was all it took her to replenish her mana and heal her wounds.
“Wait, what?” Solus could feel that it was more than her body.
The cracks in her life force and mana core had been stitched again, their restoration process resumed.
Solus was sucked inside the Engine just like the elf before her, but instead of ending up in the Bleed, she found herself on the control throne of the Prime Engine. Cables sprouted from the Ears of Menadion and the stone throne, meeting halfway.
The cables connected to every inch of her body so that she could now move the Engine like an extension of her being. The Hands and the Mouth connected to the throne as well, respectively to control the power output of the various enchantments and the enchantments themselves.
Controlling the Engine was now incredibly simple and every one of its functions was easily accessible from the holographic interface in front of her eyes.
“I’m sorry you had to see this, sweetheart.” Menadion’s voice said. “I hate myself for what I’ve done, but since you are still alive, it was worth it.”
“Thank you, Mom.” Solus had the Engine run at top speed towards the exit while trying to conjure the Tower Blade Tier Spell, Extinction.
‘Gods! We have always been afraid of what Vastor might do if anything were to happen to Zinya and the children and today I think I got a pretty good idea of the answer.’ She put such thoughts on the back burner and moved forward.
Suddenly the output of the tower dropped to dangerous levels and a splitting headache made Solus and the Engine stumble.
‘Dammit! Even with the Predator protocol a bright blue core is too weak for Extinction. Even worse, without Ragnarök I felt like something was off. The number of runes I had to conjure was just too much to handle for the Mouth alone.’
She cancelled Extinction and readied Silverwing’s Annihilation and Bastion. At the same time, she had the Engine conjure two Furies, one for each hand, and used them to swat everything out of her way.
The Yggdrasill wood healed at an astounding rate and crossing through the open walls was dangerous. Vines and roots tried to block the Engine and even though they failed, they still managed to make it lose momentum.
‘I’ve been patient!’ The World Tree screamed. ‘I’ve tried to be polite! What comes next is on you, Elphyn Menadion.’
