Chapter 4220: Drunk with Power (Part 1)

Loma had grown their new spores in two different breeding grounds to keep their energy signature so weak that the magical aura of the artifacts hid the Horde’s backup plan from the Life Vision of the Divine Beasts.

Anaka’s death had not only reduced the number of the Isharas further, but had also sent them into a blind rage. In their fury, the Divine Beasts failed to notice Loma’s return until it was too late.

The fresh and fully developed spores needed one breath each to fill themselves with mana and strike the Isharas the moment they turned their backs on their fallen comrades.

"The other Horde is still alive?" Imosi, the Ishara Elder, had a hard time dealing with Ygri one-on-one.

His Life Maelstrom-infused Spirit Barrier repelled most of the Horde’s attacks, and the jolts released by his pincers thinned the silver mist, but keeping the Horde alive while ensuring there were no spore stashes left that would ensure their escape took a lot of focus.

"I’m sorry, brother Horde." Imosi said as he released a new bolt of silver lightning and his body crackled with power. "I wanted to take you alive. I know better than anyone else how it feels to be part of a dying species.

"I never meant to hurt you. Yet your allies already killed three of my people, and I can’t afford mercy anymore." Ygri was still trying to make sense of those words when it happened.

An ocean-blue dome of energy enveloped by sparks of Life Maelstrom burst out of the Ishara’s body. The Doom Tide expanded for over 200 meters (656’) around the Elder, vaporizing every trace of the silver mist and all the stashes Ygri had left in the meadow.

"Kill them all!" Unbridled rage turned Imosi’s chirruping voice into a roaring thunder. "Our hesitation has already cost us three of our siblings! Kill the Horde and their human allies! Better to capture the fungus folk than lose another member of the Ishara bloodline!"

The Elder bolted toward Kalla without waiting for an answer.

"Give me the fungus folk, and you can leave, creature." Imosi landed with the grace of a sparrow, yet it wasn’t enough to spare the meadows from his might.

A localized quake generated from the tips of his four legs, making it hard for Kalla to keep her balance. His entire body sparked with silver lightning, and several arrays surrounded the flabbergasted Wight and fungus folk from every side.

"Life Maelstrom and Doom Tide?" The Wight swallowed hard. "That’s a compelling argument if I ever heard one."

"Believe me, I know." Imosi’s segmented mandibles snapped open, revealing the vast abyss of his throat. "Sometimes, I even wish we Isharas weren’t that powerful. Maybe, if not for that, our foremother would still be alive."

Selkis, the lost Guardian of Evolution, had immediately realized the potential of her bloodline abilities. Life Maelstrom allowed even the weakest creature to tap into their inner power and reveal their inner potential.

When that wasn’t enough, the ability to cast moving arrays and empower them with the silver lightning created perfect medical fields where the members of every race could experiment with their newfound abilities in perfect safety.

Selkis also used her Elemental Flow bloodline ability to keep her diagnostic spells always active and notice the emergence of dormant or proto-mana organs.

When that happened, she used her pincers to stimulate them and guide those who asked her for help on the right path to improve themselves.

Yet Life Maelstrom also made Selkis much stronger than she already was. The arrays allowed her to slaughter hundreds of enemies at once, and Doom Tide alone killed all her non-Awakened enemies or at least robbed them of their best weapons.

Without world energy, there could be no bloodline abilities, making Life Maelstrom, and with it Spirit Magic, the mightiest of weapons. Even Zagran, the Guardian of Might, couldn’t match Selkis’ raw destructive abilities.

Over time, the Guardian of Evolution became drunk with her unmatched strength.

She preferred to fight rather than to help others improve. To annihilate her enemies instead of worrying about the struggles of those who, like the humans, lagged behind in Mogar’s constant evolutionary race.

"The Doom Tide might have killed my proteges along with my enemy, but at least now there is one less threat for the countless people across Mogar." Selkis used to tell herself whenever the bloodlust overwhelmed her.

"I’m doing this despite the pain that ravages my heart. I’m doing this for the greater good."

Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t true. Selkis herself believed it less and less, while Mogar didn’t believe it at all. Still, Selkis had passed all the tribulations and learned all the lessons Mogar had for her.

Guardians were still living beings, not perfect gods. They could stray from their path from time to time. What mattered was their loyalty to themselves and the cause that had drawn Mogar’s attention to them in the first place.

Selkis kept straying until she stopped lying to herself and embraced her new warrior nature. She reneged on her vow and turned her back to Mogar, daring the planet to face her if it dared.

Mogar didn’t dare. Or rather, it didn’t care at all.

The moment Mogar turned its back on Selkis as well, the connection between them was broken as the rebellious Guardian of Evolution demanded. With the fulfillment of Selkis’ wish, however, also came her death.

She devolved into a Divine Beast who had lived long past her natural lifespan and turned into dust like a slain undead. Faluel’s grandfather had witnessed the event and believed the Guardian to have been struck down by Mogar’s fury, but reality couldn’t be more different.

It was indifference that had killed Selkis. Her indifference towards her duty and her bloodline had paved the road towards her ruin, but it had been Mogar’s indifference that had put an end to an otherwise immortal being.

"Yet this isn’t the time for philosophical questions, creature." Imosi said. "Move aside right now, or I’ll kill you where you stand!"

The Ishara Elder didn’t wait for the Wight to answer, nor did he let his pride as a Divine Beast turn into arrogance and blind him to the danger that even a small Emperor Beast like Kalla might pose.

He conjured an earth- and a water-sealing array centered around the fungus folk to neutralize their magical abilities and an emerald dome spanning as far as Imosi’s Life Vision could see.

The dome started shrinking right after becoming solid, restricting the space Kalla had to move and the fungus folk to spread their spores. On top of that, the Spirit Barrier acted as a sieve and scooped out of the ground all the spore stashes that it encountered.

’I won’t repeat the same mistakes we made the first time we found the fungus folk.’ Imosi channeled his burning rage into fuel for his focus. ’I can’t afford to fail again. Not after three wonderful youths full of potential died under my watch.

’Their parents entrusted their precious kids to this old fool, and I failed them. The only way I have to make up for it is to bring the fungus folk back and ensure the prosperity of the Ishara race. I’ll face this weird-looking creature as I would another Divine Beast.’

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