Yet with dozens, if not hundreds, of tons of Adamant-Davross alloy, white crystals, and black rocks bearing streaks of gold-veined white marble standing right in front of them, greed was louder than sense.

"Don’t forget that Vladion is under my protection." Dawn landed beside the Vampire, her crystal steed shining with the power of the sun. "Any attack on him will be answered with extreme prejudice. You’ve seen what I did to Ruugat. Don’t force me to do it to you."

"He’s also under my protection." The Red Mother’s white aura flared up, conjuring a storm of wind and mana. "My mage tower is no lost city, but it’s not an old fossil like Ruugat either. I upgraded it to the modern standards of *my* magic.

"If you feel confident taking me and my children on, be my guests."

"Calm down." Lith stepped between Baba Yaga and the crowd, his hands raised in a universal gesture of peace. "I’m with Vladion. I came here to help him, and I did. Whatever you want to do next, don’t count on my help."

The people of both Jiera and Garlen yelled in uproar, knowing that with Lith, they had just lost their best weapon against Dawn.

"I trust you will compensate my allies, the elves and the people of Zelex, properly." Lith shook Vladion’s hand, leaving a piece of paper in it. "Also, my Omega Prime armor is broken beyond repair. I expect fair compensation for the damage."

’Son of a Dragon!’ Vladion inwardly laughed. ’With one hand declines all rewards, with the other asks me for one. We both know that Menadion’s tower will repair itself without the need for extra materials.’

"I’ll see what I can afford." Vladion pointed at the ruins. "As I said, first comes my fortress and fellow undead. Then I have to help the elves and the people of Zelex to build their settlements.

"Agreed." Lith nodded. "My losses are purely economic and can be replaced. The people who died today, instead, can’t be resurrected. I won’t let their sacrifice be for nothing just to sate my greed. I’ll wait for my turn."

The people of Setraliie, Medolin, and Zelex shed honest tears at Lith’s words, while the others had to back down or appear as a greedy bunch and lose their allies.

"Thanks for your understanding." Vladion squeezed Lith’s hand to show him how much the First Vampire loved being conned.

"Don’t mention it." Lith squeezed back. "I’ll have Grandma fix the Omega Prime on credit, so don’t blame me if she comes knocking on your door."

"I’m not worried." Vladion shrugged and called Lith’s bluff. "I’ll deal with the wise Overlord *if* that moment comes."

’Enough with the friendly banter!’ Solus placed a hand on Lith’s shoulder and activated a hidden mind link. ’The effects of whatever happened are wearing off on everyone else, but your scales are still green.’

’Thank you for the warning.’ The eyes of the humans, the energy wings of Fomors and Balors, and the scales on Morok’s body were slowly returning to their natural state.

Lith’s body was no different, but the emerald of his scales was the result of a spell, not of the awakening of his new powers. He started dispelling the Body Sculpting, keeping his condition one step behind Morok’s to give the impression that his mutation was late because it was more stable.

"I can’t believe this." Baba Yaga sighed. "Zagran was right. All it takes to break past limits considered insurmountable is one person who leads the others by example."

"Zagran said that?" Raagu and Gyrwin said in unison, moving their eyes from the Red Mother to the still-emerald Tiamat in awe. "Does this mean Verhen is the future of the human race?"

"Who cares about that?" The moment the threat Roghar represented was gone, and Ryla recovered from the shock of her transformation, she bolted past the Human Representatives and grabbed Lith by his arms.

"I know that I’m not healed. I can feel it in my heart that my life force is still Fallen. Yet something amazing just happened, and it might still have brought positive changes to me and maybe to my entire species.

"Can you please check my life force while the effects of the mutation still linger? Can you see if I’ve made any improvement?"

’Fuck me sideways, between surprise and my Dragon greed, I almost missed such an important opportunity.’ Lith thought, his eyes widening in realization.

"Sure." He nodded. "Solus, you check my life force, please."

"On it." She replied.

’There’s no point checking mine.’ She actually thought. ’The infirmary should contain every single piece of data related to me. If there is any change in my body, be it temporary or permanent, the tower must have recorded it.’

’Correct.’ Menadion replied.

Lith studied Ryla’s life force with his breathing technique, Demon Grasp, and accessed Solus’ eidetic memory to look for changes. He failed to notice anything noteworthy and soon moved on to look at his own life force with Solus.

’You’re just in time.’ She said. ’You went this close to missing it.’

’Missing wha-’ Lith’s life force was exactly as he remembered it.

A large galaxy spun around a giant bright violet star, which flared with silvery and blue flames from time to time. The galaxy was comprised solely of burning stars. There were no planets, even among the many moons each solar system had.

The blackness of the Void replaced the emptiness of space, forming a protective shell that absorbed any external threat and used the stolen energy to nurture the galaxy. It also formed a few black stars scattered among the solar systems that stabilized the Cursed Elements whenever they manifested themselves.

There was only one change in the vastness of the galaxy, and it took Lith Solus’ help to notice it before everything returned to normal. Unlike a real galaxy, it wasn’t gravity that kept Lith’s life force together and the various stars moving along precise orbits.

His human life force formed a red thread that connected the various stars, passed the energy from one to another, and also kept them separated so that different Cursed Elements wouldn’t get into contact.

Now, the red thread had turned to emerald green, and it no longer acted as a mere conduit for the different kinds of elemental energy. The emerald thread burned with power, fuelling the stars connected by the human life force with it, while also being fueled back by them.

Lith was still staring at the phenomenon in amazement, trying to understand how the normal and Cursed elements affected the emerald thread when its light dimmed. In the space of a few seconds, the human life force turned red, and the energy exchange ceased.

"Well? Am I better?" Ryla took Lith’s shocked expression as a good sign, but tried not to get her hopes up too much.

Her voice and gaze were firm, but her hands clung to her dress with all of her considerable strength to keep her anxiety in check.

"I’m sorry, Ryla." Lith’s somber gaze and tone shattered her dreams of imminent freedom. "I can’t see anything different from the last time I used my breathing technique on you, but that doesn’t mean much."