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Chapter 165

Slash.

Thesaya let out a silent scream. At the same time, blood spurted from the new wound.

While trying to hold on, she raised her head and let out death rattles. "Guh... guuuh...."

The true blood separated from her and shot away into the sky. As blood gushed out of her, Thesaya collapsed to the ground.

Charlotte gasped in despair. "Thesa!"

She turned to Ian, her gaze seemingly asking him why. However, Ian just kept his gaze fixed on Thesaya’s eyes, which were losing their vitality.

The red hue of her pupils slowly faded. However, chaos power seemed to be keeping her alive. Ian had mixed it into his blood to help her regenerate quickly.

Chaos power was akin to the divine power of corrupted beings like demons. It was the reason she could resist the Empress\' touch, even if only for a moment.

"Don\'t let go of my hand," Ian said, startling Charlotte, who was about to cradle Thesaya\'s head.

Finally, Ian met her gaze. Surprisingly, the beast warrior\'s orange eyes were brimming with tears. Deciding not to point it out, he instead extended his left hand toward her. Puzzled, Charlotte looked down, finding a dark lump just slightly larger than his palm.

Charlotte’s eyes shot back to Ian in disbelief. "The seed of Life...?"

Ian nodded and then looked at the seed.

With a slight frown, he pushed the seed into the open wound below Thesaya\'s sternum.

Charlotte gasped.

The seed was absorbing the blood that she had lost back into her wound and then drinking it.

Soon, the seed cracked, and thin roots began to spread from the wound, quickly weaving through Thesaya like a spider web. After some time, she twitched.

"Guuh...!" With another death rattle, Thesaya jerked and began to convulse. This time, however, she didn’t scream. Still unconscious, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as her eyelids fluttered. Blood and dislodged fangs filled Thesaya\'s mouth. "Guh... guh...."

Charlotte, who was pressing down Thesaya\'s thigh with her knee, forcibly turned Thesaya\'s head to the side and pushed her fingers into Thesaya\'s mouth, letting the blood and fangs flow out before they could choke her.

"Well done," Ian said, then turned his attention back to Thesaya\'s sternum.

Considering the seed of Life hadn\'t sprouted yet, all of its energy was likely being used to spread roots. Veins bulged under her skin like countless tiny worms crawling. The same was likely happening, the roots spreading deep inside her body.

It\'s good that it\'s working... but it’s not a pleasant ritual to watch.

Setting the thought aside, he activated Magic Detection.

Although Ian had tried to kill her, he had always planned to keep Thesaya alive. In fact, the only reason he attacked her was to force the Empress to extract the true blood from Thesaya, which in turn would have given him the opportunity to use the seed of Life.

The seed would’ve still likely worked even if Thesaya had remained a vampire. However, leaving the true blood inside her would have allowed the Empress to keep controlling her. That was why he prioritized removing the true blood.

Nevertheless, when the Empress decided not to extract it, he quickly switched to saving her. Unfortunately, to do that, Thesaya’s chest had to be cut open. It was bound to happen anyway, so to expedite the process and avoid needless pain, he decided to do it himself.

... Still, I didn\'t expect it would be this helpful.

Ian observed the flow of magic that the roots had created within Thesaya.

He had originally planned to put the seed in Thesaya’s mouth, not her chest. However, the quest [The New Elder] instructed him otherwise.

Despite their occasional unfriendliness and omissions, quest and information windows had never given him false information. Hence, although he was skeptical of the quest, he still decided to follow it. This time, too, the results proved the quest right.

A soothing sound surrounded them.

Ian carefully observed the magic that the countless thin roots were emitting. They had spread throughout Thesaya\'s body, making him feel as if he could see right through her skin.

The brightest lights came from those that had settled and stopped growing. To Ian, they looked as though they were merging with her. The dozens of pulsing roots that had enveloped her heart—revealing its shape to him—were no different. With each pulse from them, her still heart beat again.

... They said one should be prepared for the heart to stop.

Perhaps death was an inevitable step toward rebirth. After all, it wouldn\'t have been surprising if Thesaya had died from the shock alone.

The series of changes that Ian was witnessing were neither gradual nor gentle. Fortunately, Thesaya was unconscious. She would have experienced deathly pain had she undergone this ritual awake.

Well, being drained of true blood must have been quite painful too.

Still, it was better than enduring endless suffering.

After who knew how long, Thesaya finally relaxed. Her eyelids closed, and faint breaths escaped her pale lips.

However, the process wasn’t over yet.

Ian continued to observe the restless flow of magic through the roots. Having reached a certain level of uniformity, they now seemed to be creating a new nervous system.

Moreover, although the changes had slowed, the roots\' ends continued to creep forward. Perhaps it would only be complete once the roots had reached every corner of Thesaya\'s body.

Looking at the now-quiet Thesaya, Charlotte asked, "Is she... okay now?"

Ian nodded as he glanced at the long wound on her chest. It had already healed, leaving only the split seed of the Tree of Life protruding from her sternum.

Ian knocked the seed away. With a faint crack, it crumbled.

The reddish marks that the roots had created now vividly stood out on her skin, resembling forked lightning.

Looking at Thesaya, Ian said, "The roots have taken hold."

Thesaya was now finally sleeping peacefully.

The roots that had spread from her nape to her jaw wriggled further upward toward her face. Ian believed that she would only open her eyes once they had reached her brain. When she did, Thesaya would likely be an entirely different being. At the very least, she would no longer suffer from endless thirst.

Ian turned to Charlotte, who looked both relieved and exhausted. "It’ll take some time before she wakes up. Until then, you\'ll have to protect her. Can you do that?"

Charlotte\'s condition was far from ideal. Her armor was battered, her fur matted with blood, and her hands and feet covered in wounds dealt by the thorns that had pierced them earlier. One of her ears had been torn, too.

Nevertheless, at that moment, her orange eyes finally regained color.

With a determined gaze, she firmly answered, "Of course. We just saved her. I can\'t lose her again,"

She seemed ready to lay down her life for Thesaya.

Then again, she already has.

Ian smirked and stood up. The slight relaxation brought on a mild dizziness. As his joints popped and his temples throbbed, he retrieved a snow leopard hide cloak from his pocket dimension and draped it over Thesaya.

"If Philip and Sir Riurel come, have them protect her as well," Ian said as he jumped off the pile of flesh.

Walking across the clearing, which was covered with the remains of chimeras and other experiments, he picked up the ragged fang sword and the broken silver sword. He then tossed them near Charlotte. They fell on the flesh beside her.

"I\'ll have them follow you instead. I can protect the elf on my own," Charlotte said.

Even though she didn’t even seem fit enough to lift Thesaya yet, she still picked up the swords. She then settled back down on the flesh.

"No need. I’d already be done with everything or at least close to it by the time they’d me," Ian replied as he grabbed the Legion Commander\'s Greatsword and shoved it into his pocket dimension.

Pulling out a small pouch, he added, “Since I’ll be handling the rest on my own, I\'ll be taking the shortest route."

Ian replaced the magic stone in his bracelet with the thumbnail-sized one inside the pouch. Afterward, he looked up at the sky.

The enormous crescent moon at the zenith of the purple night sky had turned almost completely red. It seemed he was not hallucinating when he noticed that the garden had become redder, the moonlight had lost its paleness, and the vortexes at the garden\'s edge had been noticeably swirling faster.

Swoosh.

A gust of wind swept over Ian, shaking the vine walls and scattering the massive roses’ petals. Ian watched the scene impassively before turning around.

"So hold on tight. I\'ll keep it a secret that you cried."

"W-what?! I-I didn’t!"

Blushing, Charlotte awkwardly avoided Ian\'s gaze and clicked her tongue.

Ian smirked and then quickly leaped away.

***

Ian ran without stopping. Whenever he encountered a dead end, he simply climbed over the barrier. Now that he was alone, nothing could block his path anymore.

With good reason, he had concluded that all the monsters in this labyrinth had disappeared.

Woosh—

The blowing wind, which was getting stronger and stronger, swept away the blossoming giant roses and whisked their countless petals past the garden, dyeing the air red.

At a glance, it made for a beautiful sight. However, Ian already knew that those petals were made of blood.

The closer he got to the mansion, the more vivid the wave of petals gathering toward it became. The vine barriers, now devoid of flowers, were quickly losing their vitality. The once sharp thorns, like dry branches, had become so brittle that they snapped off with a mere touch.

The labyrinth garden had clearly outlived its usefulness. The flying petals would likely become part of the remaining strength of the mansion and the Empress.

Even a mutt has an advantage in its own home. This is going to be tough.

Ian smiled wryly as he picked up the pace. He already committed to this, and he had nothing to gain by stopping or retreating now. He soon lost count of the barriers he had climbed over and the passageways he had passed through.

Eventually, as the wind swept over him again, the walls flanking him abruptly disappeared. Slowing down and catching his breath, he took in the full view of the labyrinth mansion before him.