What made surviving to Chaos magic so hard, even for its caster, was the fact that it would strike at its target and drain it of all of its light element until the Chaos turned into darkness, making the spell hit three times.

The first damage would take place when Chaos struck, the second once the lack of light element would cause a toxic imbalance in the body, and the last when the darkness element produced from the Chaos would spread without encountering any resistance.

Casting a Chaos spell was not only so demanding in terms of mana that even Eldritchs took care of not using them indiscriminately, but also extremely dangerous. The slightest mistake controlling it would induce madness.

It was the reason why not even Guardians used it and why usually very few Abominations lived long enough to become Eldritchs. The effects of Chaos magic combined with their relentless hunger and isolation would turn them into mindless creatures, easy to find and even easier to put down.

Only those with outstanding mental fortitude and discipline could resist the effects of Chaos magic long enough to master it. Salaark believed that Balkor didn't fit the bill due to his cracked psyche, just like Lith.

Tista thought back at all the lessons about Body Sculpting she had followed at the academy, at home under Lith's guidance, and during Faluel's apprenticeship.

'Solus, connect with the city's mana geyser again and use it to recover as much as you can.' Tista said via their mind link while the three of them waited for the Emperor Beasts to return.

'By my maker, my condition must be even worse than I thought if I failed to remember about the geyser. Thanks, Tista.' Solus was so shocked at Lith's most recent transformation that she had a hard time thinking clearly.

She had come close to losing him many times, but even death couldn't compare to the horror of Lith being turned into an Abomination. Not just because of the agony she had physically experienced, but also because of what would happen if the transformation became permanent.

It would mean to be forced to follow the Master and to never be able to feel his touch again until a cure was found.

While they waited, Solus started to share with the mind link everything that had happened, using mostly words to avoid mana poisoning and resorting to images only when strictly necessary.

'Good gods.' Phloria used her best healing spells on the stone ring the moment she recognized the black energy typical of the Abominations.

During the monster outbreak caused by the Master's hybrids, the army had collected plenty of data about Chaos from the lucky soldiers who had managed to survive. It had taught them how to cure Chaos at the cost of several lives.

Light couldn't heal such injuries, but it kept them from spreading before it was too late. The light element flooded Solus, having no effect on her stone body just like Phloria expected.

Yet it turned the still lingering Chaos into darkness element that Phloria proceeded to destroy with surgical precision by using focused darkness pulses. Only then did all the aftereffects of Lith's Abomination form disappeared from Solus.

Her mind suddenly became clear and pain left her body, allowing her to absorb energy from the underground mana geyser more efficiently.

'How did you know it would work?' Both Tista and Solus thought in unison.

'Not everyone manages to dodge all spells like Lith usually does. The more the army fights against the Abominations, the more we learn. The reason you didn't hear about this kind of treatment is that it has only been recently discovered by the Balkor department.' Phloria replied.

Solus's stone body has just started to regenerate when a Warp Steps opened right in front of Xoth the Nue, the Mayor of Reghia.

"Dammit, we need help. I've never seen this kind of injuries or of life force. No matter what I do, the kid keeps losing blood, mana, and life essence!" Olua the Roc said while carrying Lith in her arms.

His body was limp and puffs of black flames came out from the many open wounds that refused to heal. The left wing had yet to regenerate, losing so much energy from its torn extremity that it looked like a torch.

Olua now looked like a woman in her mid-twenties, with wheat-blond hair and eyes, who was now drenched in blood, guts, and dirt from the fight. She had assumed human form solely to better take care of her wounded companion so she wore no clothes.

The few humans working at the defense outpost were so enthralled by her glossy golden skin and beauty that they barely noticed the Wyrmling. Everyone else just didn't care.

"Someone calls his companions! They must know something." Bodya the Nidhogg said.

He now looked like a handsome man in his early thirties, with ashen skin, raven-black hair and eyes. He had the body of an athlete at his peak, a living symphony of flesh and muscles that would have usually given the girls a lot to talk about, but time was of the essence.

"Leave him on the ground and I'll do the rest." Tista said while using Invigoration on both Lith and Solus.

'The good news is that ever since their arrival, your recovery rate is simply out of this world, Solus. The bad news is that I've no clue what I'm looking at.' She thought while examining Lith's twisted life forces.

The hybrid side was still in disarray and the damage was evident. Even though it lacked cracks or signs of permanent damage, the life force that usually looked like a burning star surrounded by a black sphere was deformed into a gurgling pot.

The sphere resembled a liquid egg whose surface boiled, oozing a black liquid that sizzled just before reaching the flame of the bright blue star.

The last time Tista had seen Lith's life forces, its three components had started to blend into each other, taking a new shape that her brother assumed it was a sign of him becoming a whole new species.

Now, however, there was no balance between them. The black of the Abomination covered everything like a thick shroud, threatening to smother the blue of the Beast. On top of that, checking on Lith's human life force was made even harder by the bloated sphere that completely overshadowed it.

'Being close to Lith is akin to Invigoration to me, just slower. Once I get also linked to a mana geyser, my strength becomes nigh-endless.' Solus replied.

'The problem here is that I can't take too much world energy without blowing my cover and that I need most of it to heal my own wounds. I only need a few minutes to fix my body, but Lith doesn't have that long.

'Tista, Phloria, I'll use your vitality first so make sure you time your Invigoration right. Wait until you've lost three-fourths of your energy or you'll not last long enough.

'I would use mine, but until my body recovers, I can't risk pain compromising my focus. Darkness fusion is ineffective on my stone body because in my case, pain means I'm in critical condition.' Solus said.

'Don't worry about us. Just tell us what you are doing so that we can help you in case something goes wrong.' Phloria said.