"One last thing. As Phaso said, batches of his spores are scattered around. The blue flames might be able to track them. If you see the blue fire following a straight line, do not stop them." Lith looked at Menadion for a few seconds and the Ruler of the Flames returned the gaze. "You have my blessing. Kill that jerk." She said after a while. "That was never the question." He grunted. "I was waiting for you to get back inside my Void Sigil. The blue flames ignite from my life force and your body is made of it. If you stay out, from this distance you will burn along with me." "A fitting destiny." She nodded. "I’m many things, child, but I’m not ungrateful. We both know you can use learning the effects of the blue flames on your Demons. I’ll stay by your side and share your burden." "But M-enadion, what if the blue flames purge you? What if the pain is so intense that you are driven to move on?" Solus was so worried her tongue almost slipped. "There’s no discovery without risk, child. I’m a Ruler of the Flames and I’ll bend the blue flames to my will." Ripha replied. "Besides, do you really think that after watching over my blood for seven hundred years a bit of pain is enough to get me off your back?" Menadion gently caressed Solus’ face. "Trust me, sweetie. I’ve never left a friend in their time of need and I’m not going to start today." Solus clenched Menadion’s hand for a moment before stepping away and nodding to Lith. "This is going to hurt." He closed his eyes, focusing on the darkest corner of his life force, where the sealed door to the Void was. Lith forged a silvery key from the Dread Flames and used it to undo the seal. The door flung open but this time Lith was ready. He ignited the endless stream of vengeful souls, turning them into blue flames. Not a stray soul went unchecked, the door kept ajar by Lith’s will and limiting the blue flames to what he hoped he could control. The blue flames burned his life force on their way out, flaring up his mana, flesh, and blood alike. Lith grunted in pain as blue fire wreathed his body but he refused to become the Void Demon Dragon. Menadion, instead, was caught by surprise by the violence of the blue flames despite being forewarned. The hologram giving her human appearance shattered, revealing a black horned figure twisting with hate. Her body was covered in pitch-black scales, her fanged mouth curled up in an expression of malice. As she burned, Menadion grew stronger than she had ever been but her mind slowly plunged into madness. She hungered for blood and retribution. Lotho and Feela now looked to her as the past Council representatives who had tried to exploit her and entice Elphyn. She wanted them dead so bad that it hurt. Then, Menadion’s eyes fell on her daughter and the hate became unbearable. ’Stupid little bitch!’ The Demon hissed at Solus, incapable of holding her fury. ’Your father, the only man I’ve ever loved, gave his life for you. And what did you do with it? You squandered your youth in vices and a petty revenge against your mourning mother. ’You treated me like shit, dragged my reputation through the mud, and for what? To play the victim and pretend you were the only one suffering! If not for you, I would still be alive. ’I would have gained the white core and lived long enough to bring Forgemastery to new heights and Mogar to a golden age, but you took everything away from me. You wasted your life and then ended mine. ’You don’t-’ The real Menadion screamed inside her own mind until her voice overpowered the pain. ’What the fuck is wrong with me? Epphy was just a kid and I was her mother. ’I was supposed to take care of her and instead, I neglected her for years while wallowing in self-pity. Her failures are born of my failures. I could have let her die that day. Epphy didn’t force me to do anything. ’I lost my life not because of her but due to my own stupidity. I waited seven hundred years for the opportunity to talk to her again. I don’t give a fuck who or what you are, blue flames, you won’t take my daughter away from me!’ As Menadion’s willpower steeled, her figure regained its composure. The blue flames burned brighter and stronger, but their power was now hers to command. "Good gods, this really hurts." She panted. "Everything burns. My mind, my sanity, my soul. Everything. Please be quick." She grabbed Lith’s shoulder and the pain abated. Menadion’s flames answered Lith’s will and became tame. "It’s not a party for me either." He replied, keeping the pain out of his voice. "Be ready, guys. Don’t allow the blue flames to spread but if you spot a pattern, let them burn." Lith placed his hand over the stone prison and it burst into flames like gasoline. The blue flames ignited rocks, constructs, and Adamant, making them burn until they vanished into thin air. Phaso screamed but the blue flames burned his voice as well. The Adamant vaporized, leaving the blue spores vulnerable. The blue cloud collapsed, leaving only one flaming lump of fungi and five tendrils. There was a limit to the distance the spores could be left without the separation becoming painful or the spores losing their connection to the hive mind and reverting into common fungi. All parts of Phaso’s body were connected by mana and psychic pathways that the blue flames followed like a shark to its prey. The Hordes took care of the spreading flames, snuffing them out as soon as Phaso’s life force faded. Lith waited in the cave for the main body to be purified. The blue flames burned at everything, but they attacked the madness first, as if they had a will of their own. Lith only had to stop them the moment the blackness was vanquished or the blue flames would have burned the Yggdrasill’s essence next. "This was easy. Too easy." Lith thought back at Esor’s words as the two fragments merged into one. Dread Flames took focus, discipline, and control. Blue flames just had to be let out. The final result was the same but the conditions to achieve it couldn’t have been more different. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 "Only because we helped you." Feela said, missing his point. "Without us, this place would have turned into a charred wasteland." "That too." Lith sealed the door to the Void again and he and Menadion went back to normal. "How do you feel, Ripha?" "Terrible." She hugged Solus, smelling her scent and appreciating her warmth to restore Ripha’s dwindling sanity. "It’s better now. Don’t you ever share that power with a Demon you don’t trust with your life or you’ll regret it." "Duly noted." Lith looked down at the fragment now had the shape and size of a crossbow dart. "The good news is I can now tell the distance from the next fragment. It should be in the Empire." Find adventures at empire "What’s the bad news?" Lotho sighed, bracing for impact.