Chapter 4566 One Too Many (Part 2)

What remained of the sapphire energy was a little more than half of its original size, and part of it solidified into Ajatar's head, neck, and part of his chest. Enough to take a deep breath and release a soft, sky-blue blaze.

"What are you doing? There's no world energy-" Baba Yaga had never seen anything like that, and Life Vision confirmed to her that the sapphire flames burned mana instead of world energy. "Never mind."

She had no time or desire to look the gift Dragon in the mouth, especially since the absence of world energy and Ajatar's compliance made his mystical fire much easier to Dominate than it was supposed to be.

The Mother used the sapphire flames to purge Thunder Soul and her Domination to remove every trace of Blood and Life Maelstrom from Ilthin's body. Despite her timely intervention, the body of the Firstborn Banshee was in shambles, and her blood core was close to cracking.

"You're as reckless as you're lucky, daughter of mine." Baba Yaga bit her finger until it bled, and used her own life essence to restore Ilthin's. "If it wasn't my blood running through your veins and being the very foundation of your core, this might have gone differently."

"Mind if I come in? I'm in a bit of a rush." Ajatar looked over his shoulder like a man expecting trouble to find him any second now.

"I'd prefer that. It's easier-"

"Great. Shut both the wooden and dimensional doors, please." The Sapphire Dragon literally bolted inside and cut her short.

"Order and Chaos if you're making me curious." With Ilthin's condition stabilized and improving, The Mother could afford to divert part of her focus in search of the source of Ajatar's distress.

"Where are you, Ajatar? Come back!" A powerful, roaring voice that she recognized as a female Dragon's drew her attention.

According to Bloodhaven's arrays, it belonged to a Fire Dragon who would reach Drenghen in a matter of seconds.

"Close that damn door! You owe me!" The Sapphire Dragon snarled.

"Sorry. I'm becoming a real busybody with age." Baba Yaga slammed the wooden door shut, and the Warp Gate quickly followed. "Do you mind telling me what this is about? If I just made an enemy out of the entire Fire Dragon clan, then a bit of flames is nowhere near enough to cover your debt."

"You've made an enemy of no one but a power-hungry female called Jigrith." Ajatar snorted as the rest of his body materialized slowly. "Any more questions?"

He wore magnificent Adamant armor that only left his neck and head exposed. It was decorated with all kinds of elemental crystals except for Spirit and dimensional ones, and a few white crystals to fuel the various enchantments.

There was no pattern to the crystals she could recognize, but the armor was a masterpiece nonetheless.

"A few, actually, but they can wait." The Mother raised her arms and conjured her tier five Body Sculpting spells, Cradle of Life and Lifespinner, to heal the damage to Ilthin's life force. "First I need to tend to my daughter."

"I can feel a lot of world energy around us." Ajatar sniffed the air. "Are we above a mana geyser?"

"Is there a point in having a mage tower away from a mana geyser?" The Mother snorted. "Of course, we are."

"Thank the gods. I'm going to need it." Ajatar took the armor off, revealing that both his legs were missing and a short stump coming out of his shoulder was all that was left of his right arm. "I'm not used to my new powers, and I pushed myself way too far."

Baba Yaga almost lost her focus when she noticed that Ajatar's fierce vigor, life force, and mana were not consistent with someone who had suffered such grievous wounds.

Even more shockingly, his missing limbs weren't just regrowing at a speed visible to the naked eye, but also forming out of the abundant world energy instead of his flesh and blood.

"Gods, I hate it when something like this happens." She closed her eyes to suppress her burning curiosity and devoted her full focus to the First Banshee.

***

Meanwhile, in Drenghen, the battle against the Dead King had come to an end just to be replaced by a different kind of conflict.

"Thank you for nothing, you imbeciles." Rusta the Banshee glared at the restored Lotho the Treant. "Not only did you Awakened come almost too late to matter, but you also played little to no role in defeating the Dead King.

"If not for our valiant allies from the Rathi continent, Drenghen would be destroyed and the Night Court massacred!"

"How dare you criticize us when the bulk of your forces didn't lift a finger to help you or us?" Lotho replied in cold anger. "So much for making a united front against Narchat. The other Courts deserted our alleged common cause!"

"Please, calm down and try to be reasonable." Marnora raised his four arms in a peace gesture. "As Rusta said, there wasn't much the undead could do away from the local geyser. You've seen what the Upyr had prepared for us with Fire Soul, Lotho. Staying out of our way was the right move. If the Dawn and Dusk Courts intervened, they would have died when we released the Doom Tides to save everyone else."

The Banshee smirked at those words, while the Treant snorted.

"On the other hand, Rusta, we Isharas managed to arrive so fast only because we keep a rapid response team ready at all hours. The Council isn't at fault for coming a bit late no more than my reinforcements. Assembling a powerful force takes time."

Now it was Lotho's turn to smirk and the Banshee's to snort. Marnora knew he was doing a good job as a mediator because everyone but him was unhappy with the outcome.

"Thank you for your help, Jinima. You and your troops arrived just in time."

"Don't mention it, Elder Marnora. I was just performing my duty." She replied with a bow. "Representative Lotho, Lieutenant Colonel Rusta, I apologize on behalf of the blood of Selkis for being late.

"We came here as fast as we could, but with no access to the Empire's Gate Network or the Council's Warp Arrays, delays are inevitable."

'In a single move, I've given us plausible deniability for our delayed intervention, I made everyone believe our means in Garlen are limited, and acted as an earnest ally of the local Council. Many birds with one stone.' Jinima inwardly complimented herself for her acting performance.

"Please don't apologize, Lady Jinima. I owe you my life." Rusta bowed deeply to both Isharas. "The Undead Courts are in your debt."

"And so is the Awakened Council." Lotho sighed. "I'm sorry for cutting you off our dimensional network, but it requires access to the lairs of our elders, and you are Divine Beasts. We…"

Realizing he couldn't justify the Council's decision without admitting how little the Awakened of Garlen trusted the Isharas, he stopped mid-sentence.

"Don't worry, Representative Lotho. I understand why the Garlen Council is so wary of us, especially after the accident in the Ghishal County." Marnora said.