Chapter 3284 Long Overdue (Part 1) 'I can't conjure the Menadion set unless I summon at least one floor of the tower. The space-compressing array stops me.' Solus said. The World Tree had eliminated solely the magical formations surrounding the Fringe to stop the invaders and kept those inside their body to keep Solus in. 'Also, I told you already that I go by Solus now, Mom, and I'll appreciate it if you started to use it.' 'I know but that's not your name, Epphy.' Menadion replied with ill-concealed disappointment. 'I know that conjuring the tower will take a toll on your host but if you don't do it now, I doubt you'll have a second chance.' 'You are right, Mom.' The sound of that word made Menadion feel like she still had a heart and it was pounding in her chest. 'But please, call me Solus, okay?' 'Sure thing, sweetie.' Ripha's condition as a Demon made her go from the verge of tears to a fit of murderous frenzy in two seconds. On the one hand, just being able to interact with Solus again, to be more than a passive spectator in her daughter's life, moved Ripha beyond what words could express. On the other hand, however, there was no time for kindness. Menadion had to repress all of her gentle feelings and let out the fury that possessed her for over 700 years. The two opposites clashed, both demanding their long overdue release. 'I'm sorry, Ghar'mar.' Solus said while conjuring the smaller version of the tower she could. She knew how much suffering it would inflict upon the elf yet she didn't ask the Librarian's permission before doing it. Truth be told, Solus remembered Ghar'mar's name after hearing it once. She called her host "Spare Parts" because she was angry and traumatized and because she didn't want to form any long-term attachment to the elf. Now that Solus was about to hurt Ghar'mar, Solus wanted to treat her with a modicum of respect. 'Sorry for w- Gods below!' The energy the stone ring needed to displace enough mass for a building the size of an outhouse made the Librarian feel like her mana was being squeezed out of her core with a vise. Ghar'mar became as pale as a ghost and she panted heavily as her body suffered the effects of mana abuse. 'Don't be a wimp.' Menadion snarled at the Librarian. 'This is nothing compared to what your ilk has done to my daughter.' Solus kept the outhouse flying right behind them and just for the time the Ears, Eyes, Mouth, Hands, and Fury needed to materialize inside and come out of the door. Then, the building turned back into the stone ring and slipped back on the elf's finger. 'Much better.' Ripha wore the set, activating the Eyes to scan their surroundings for traps and the Ears to read the mana flow in the area 100 meters (328') around them and anticipate the changes in their environment. The Mouth was already filled with powerful spells. Menadion focused the Hands on absorbing the surrounding world energy and fed it to the rest of the set. Using so many artifacts at once without the tower would have otherwise forced Solus to consume the energy stored in the Bleed. Last, but not least, Ripha split the Fury into nine hammers and kept them orbiting around her like silent sentinels. 'I knew it!' She had yet to assess how much of its original strength the Menadion Set had lost and what new functions it had gained when the internal mana flow of the World Tree stabilized. With the Ra'ntar-Puppet gone the pain had stopped, and it took the Yggdrasill but a few moments of clarity to assess the situation and adjust their plans. 'Finally! It lasted less than ten minutes but it felt like an eternity. I had almost forgotten how the absence of pain feels!' The World Tree took control of the Puppets and the Awakened elves, Blinking them around the board. The space-compressing array was still in place but as its owner the Yggdrasill could turn it on and off at will and now they also had the presence of mind to perform mass dimensional spells at the same time. The Ears warned Ripha of the phenomenon but by the time the array was back in place, she was still at the first runes of her Warp Steps. The magical formation and the Puppet-elves had Blinked in and out of existence in unison, surrounding her from every side. Menadion threw the Fury at the nearest opponent and the other eight hammers surrounding her bolted against as many Puppets as well. Nine impacts, each accompanied by a boom of thunder, secured the area around Solus. The hammers produced two shockwaves each. One sonic boom as they moved and the second when they hit their target due to the clang of Davross and Yggdrasill wood. Menadion had timed her attack so that the eighteen shockwaves spread in a partial constructive interference with each other. Their combined power blasted away the rest of the Puppets without harming Ripha and Solus who stood in the only two spots where the destructive interference nullified the attack. 'How did you do that?' Solus was flabbergasted. Taking so many factors into consideration and performing a split-second assessment like that was beyond what she believed possible. 'You have no idea how to use the Ears in combination with the Eyes, do you?' Ripha slammed the real Fury and the makeshift copy made from the Chroniclers' equipment on the ground. The impacts produced two more shockwaves, this time infused with darkness magic. The vibrations reverberated through the Yggdrasill's trunk, neutralizing their darkness fusion and numbing their senses. To a Fae, it was the equivalent of having fingers shoved in their eyes. The World Tree could still perceive the invaders but their figures were blurred. The Puppets and the wooden tendrils emerging from the ground aimed their attacks at the two women's last known position, making them easy to evade. 'Not a clue.' Solus admitted as a second volley of Furies cleared the path in front of Ripha and the Librarian. 'That way, quick!' Ghar'mar pointed at a corridor on their right that was twisting and deforming. 'How far to the exit?' Menadion asked, taking the elf in her arms and flying at her top speed. 'We are close. Just take the first to the left at the end of this corridor. I think.' The speed with which the Tree shifted their interior had become much faster. The Librarian could only hope her memories were still accurate. Ghar'mar shared her worries with Solus who in turn did the same with Menadion. 'Fuck!' The First Ruler of the Flames prepared a Warp Step in case the World Tree lowered the space-compressing array again. 'I really didn't want to do this.' The problem was that she needed an exit point leading to a secure location outside the Yggdrasill and the only way to obtain it was by contacting Lith via the black chains. 'Menadion? As in Ripha Menadion? Solus' mother?' Despite the critical situation he was in and the dozens of enemies surrounding his team, Lith couldn't suppress his incredulity. 'And you have been watching us all along?'