Chapter 3290 Apex (Part 1) Due to the influence of the World Tree over the world energy, mana organs could only process it with extreme difficulty. It even resisted the pull from the mana cores when Awakened used their breathing technique and the attempts to mix world energy with pure mana to conjure any form of magic. Only Spirit Magic was immune to such effects but it was mana expensive and recovering with Invigoration took longer than usual. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖 Those near Nandi and Lith didn't suffer from the Yggdrasill's influence, the world energy surrounding them was purified respectively by the bio-crystals and the Apprentice Hands, but they numbered too few to matter. The arrival of more greeds of fresh Wyrms just prolonged the time the World Tree would need to get rid of the pests swarming their dominion. Yet that only applied as long as the world energy was under the Yggdrasill's control. With each Dragon that flew through the Chaos Dimension unimpeded, Mogar felt the tipping of the scales of the battle. The World Tree didn't suffer from pain and hunger anymore and their troops coordinated to cast dozens of anti-Guardians spells at the same time flawlessly. Yet on the other side, there were enough Divine Beasts to counter each Annihilation with a Bastion, providing cover for the seven-beast units behind them to launch a counter-offensive. The number of spells employed by both sides increased by the second and the power unleashed inched closer to that of two Guardians with each Dragon joining the fray. The cracks in the sky widened, spreading further and further as if the heavens were just a reflection on a huge mirror and someone was throwing stones at it. 'Don't falter!' The World Tree constantly rearranged their troops to contain the tide of enemies breaking against lines of Golems and possessed elves. 'Fight like there's no tomorrow because if we lose, there won't be one!' Arrays, Tower Tier spells, Wood Golems, and deep violet-cored elves worked like clockwork under the Yggdrasill's guidance. Their goal was to kill the Divine Beasts before the strength of the two sides matched and the Fringe crumbled. Were they to succeed, victory would belong to the World Tree. When the last group of Wyrms entered and the Fringe held, the Yggdrasill felt confident. Then, the latecomers from Verendi arrived, quickly followed by the Dragons from Jiera. The Fringe shattered and was instantly replaced by a bigger one. It sealed the World Tree and their enemies inside, leaving them no way out but also freeing Tezka from the need of keeping Chaos Dimension fixed in the same place. New world energy flooded the newly formed Fringe, filling the invaders with its pure, untainted power and diluting the Yggdrasill's influence to irrelevance. "Finally!" Baba Yaga drew upon the power of Mogar with avid gulps, her whole body and tower starving for world energy after being denied by World Tree. The Red Mother's body split into three separate beings: the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. "What's the point?" Aylen asked while waiting for her body to regenerate after one lucky Tower Tier spell had pulverized her. "You only have one tower." "Because I only need one, you runt!" The three women were all Baba Yaga and they spoke as one. The Mother stood in the middle, her mature and fully developed body acting as the base. She absorbed the Maiden first, gaining from her the vigor and never-ending energy of youth. The Mother now looked much younger, her body was back to the prime of her early twenties. Then, she assimilated the Crone, inheriting her muscle memory and battle experience without the burden of her weathered body. The process lasted one second, revealing Baba Yaga's true form as a white core, the one she used to challenge the Guardians in order to protect one of her children. Like the Traughen, she had six hands, each one of a different elemental color as a testament to her full elemental affinity and mastery over magic. Unlike them, however, her head bore three faces, each with brilliant emerald eyes. It was the apex of the Odi race. Someone capable of facing the present while learning from the past and being wary of the tides of the future. The form of Asura. Bloodhaven feasted on the now-abundant world energy and reshaped itself after its master to reach its true battle form. The featureless wooden puppet developed two more sets of arms and three faces. Each one of Bloodhaven's hands wielded a different weapon. A sword, a mace, a shield, a spear, a staff, and an ax. As she weaved her spell with body casting, the runes belonging to each element appeared on the corresponding arm of the tower and remained there after the spell was cast. Bloodhaven now only needed to touch two fingers from two different hands to cast a tier five spell. Three hands were needed for a Tower Tier spell instead. Spirit Magic was cast from here her eyes that were now filled with string of runes. When two or more eyes stared at the same target, the proper runes combined to instantly form any Spirit Spell the Asura needed. Bloodhaven broke through a seven-man unit of Golems, her weapons cleaving, stabbing, smashing and blocking at the same time without hindering each other. A second unit of Golems unleashed an Annihilation at her but to no avail. Her hands formed six extremities of a seven-pointed star with her head completing the magic circle necessary to conjure Silverwing's Bastion. Once the attack was spent her arms formed the Big Dipper and the Bastion tuned into an Annihilation, vaporizing the exhausted Golems asunder. "The fuck?" Aylen and Silverwing said in unison. "How do you do that?" "Beats me, you runts!" The Asura said while mowing down Wood Golems like ripe wheat. "I discovered this form on my own soon after gaining the white core, just like Valeron the First did. I thought you guys couldn't manifest your real strength as well due to the World Tree's influence. "You can't possibly be so naïve to believe that a mana core is just more power and regeneration. You must be playing dumb to hide your strength." "I thought that too at first." Sinmara screeched in joy as her body brimmed with mana and darkness for the first time since she had entered the Fringe. "It took me a few fights to realize Aylen is completely oblivious of her true form." "Then tell me how to tap into my true power!" Lochra yelled. "I have no idea either." Surtr replied. "Divine Beasts shed their old body upon acquiring the white core so there's no need for special training. Even Thrud ascended into a Golden Griffon without any help." As the human white cores cursed Mogar's unfairness, different greeds of Dragons joined their forces, forming two lines of seven-beast units. The first line conjured a Bastion to cover the advance while the back row unleashed a searing wall of white flames in their wake. Primordial Flames were more destructive than any spell below the Tower Tier and took a minimal toll on a Wyrm. By alternating the consumption of mana and a spark of life force, the Dragons inflicted maximum damage upon their enemies with minimal effort.