Chapter 3900: Precarious Balance (Part 1) "No offense, Yaga, but we’ve already talked too much." Lith said. "We need to act or Zoreth will die." "Act how, child? Do you have a plan? A brilliant strategy? One of your cunning tricks?" The Red Mother raised an eyebrow like a teacher dealing with an impatient student. "Actually, no." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment. "But I hoped you did." "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I don’t know what to do either." She chuckled. "I’ve explained so many things to you to share my knowledge and give you the time to assimilate it. "We need to work together to save Zoreth, and I need capable assistants, not fumbling tinkerers. Now you know about Zoreth and yourselves as much as I do. Do you have any idea?" "Yes." Kalla replied, surprising everyone. "If I want to become a Lich, I need to find a way to stitch the two parts of my life force together once I cut them apart. It should be similar to what we are about to attempt on Zoreth. "Whether we succeed or fail, this experiment will provide me with priceless data for my future apotheosis." "I mean about Zoreth." Baba Yaga scowled at the Wight. "Oh, that. No clue. Why?" Kalla tilted her head in confusion. "Liches." The Red Mother sighed. "Anyone else?" "I don’t have any ideas, but there are a few things I’d like to say." Lith used a mind link to share Vastor’s advice with everyone. He blurred the Master’s face and altered his voice, ensuring that no one would recognize him. "Those are valid points." The Baba Yaga mulled over Vastor’s words. "They will be of great help once we find a cure, but they give us no direction. Did anyone come up with something we can use?" Shrugs and shaken heads answered her question. "Then we have no choice." Baba Yaga wore Faluel’s Hands and Bytra’s Maw. "We need to go blind and try to fix the damage, or at least stabilize Zoreth’s condition." "Go blind?" Faluel asked. "Isn’t that dangerous?" "It is, but what’s the alternative?" The Mother replied. "The Infirmary has performed every imaginable test and brought us no lead on how to proceed. If we do nothing, Zoreth will die. "I’m not proposing to do anything reckless, just to use the full power of the tower and see if there’s something we can do or learn by giving her palliative care. I know this is risky, and the gods know if I hate quoting a Lich, but whether we succeed or fail, this experiment will provide us with priceless data we can use to find a cure." "Those are wise words." Kalla said, jotting them down. "Which Lich said that?" Everyone stared at her for a second and then ignored the Wight’s question. "Solus, I’m going to need the full power of the Elemental Storage." Baba Yaga said. "How long does it take to recharge it?" "Depends." Solus pondered. "Days if you need all elements, and I keep the other floors of the tower active. Much less if I shut down everything but the Infirmary and you provide me a suitable location to collect the different elements." "Then we’d better get a move." The Mother nodded. "Time is not on our side, and the the Elemental Storage’s recharge speed limits the number of attempts we can perform before Zoreth dies. Is everyone ready?" Baba Yaga filled the Maw with the spells she believed she would need, and Quylla did the same with the Apprentice Mouth. She was a much more skilled and experienced healer than Tista, and the twins in her womb gave her a power second only to the Red Mother’s. The two pieces of Bytra and Menadion Set resonated as well, but this time, the tower underwent no change due to their similar nature. "Ready." Faluel and Friya shapeshifted into their hybrid forms. The Hydra wore the Monocle of Menadion, splitting its burden between her seven heads and those of her Harbinger. Lith, Solus, and the tower core each took a share, allowing the artifact to process the data much faster. "Ready." Lith and the others said one after the other as soon as they finished preparing their spells. "Sorry for the wait, Zoreth." The Mother activated her breathing technique, Sun and Moon, and transmitted it past the crystal case and the life support fluid. "Hold tight. We’ll do our best, but I need you to trust me and do everything you can to not obstruct my mana." The Shadow Dragon yelped in pain and agreement. Baba Yaga tried to inspect the Eldritch side first, but the world energy carrying her will was devoured just like it had happened to everyone’s diagnostic spells earlier. Then, she tried to restrain the Decay of the troll side. The Cursed Element consumed the darkness contained in Baba Yaga’s mana to revert itself to its natural state, altering the balance of the remaining elements. Soon, there was too much light element, and the flood of Decay twisted the world energy around Zoreth beyond recognition. ’This is bad.’ Each time Baba Yaga used her breathing technique on one side, it swelled, tipping the balance in its favor and nearly toppling the other. She tried examining them in turns to keep them stable, but this way she didn’t have the time to get beyond the surface level before being forced to retrieve the tendril of her mana. ’I’m going all out.’ The Red Mother said, assuming her Asura form. ’I’ll consume my energy and the tower’s in one burst. Support me to the best of your ability, and if you have an idea, don’t bother telling me. ’There won’t be the time to come up with a common strategy, so save it for later and only focus on the task at hand.’ The Apprentice Hands of Menadion split between her six arms, taking the form of index finger protectors. Each arm bore its matching elemental crystal to amplify the Asura’s corresponding affinity and her ability to cast spells instantly. Needles, scalpels, and other complex surgical tools formed at the armored fingertips and extended toward the floating form of the Shadow Dragon. "Please, no. No more!" Not even all the Red Dragon flowing in Zoreth’s veins could stop the terror she felt at the sight of the mystical instruments. "Stop hurting me!" Baba Yaga’s medical constructs looked nothing like Raum’s dissection devices, but to Zoreth’s scarred mind, they were one and the same. Chaos and Decay burst out of her body, filling the crystal tank with a black and silvery radiance as the Shadow Dragon prepared to fight for her life. "Stop it, Zoreth." Baba Yaga pulled away before her spells were destroyed. "I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help you." The Shadow Dragon screamed and trashed, deaf to the Red Mother’s pleas. "Don’t worry, Zor." Bytra was no Healer, so she had kept her distance and Hushed herself not to bother the others with the noise of her prayers. "Everything is fine. We are back together, and I’m not going anywhere." "Byt?" The maddening fear that had taken over the Shadow Dragon abated as she remembered where and with whom she was.