Just as Zoreth's readings were about to exceed the tower's scale, the fusion between her cores stopped, and the flash of light released by her body faded as quickly as it had appeared.

The Shadow Dragon still had two cores, one filled with the Chaos of the Eldritch and the other brimming with the Decay of the troll, but now they half overlapped.

An emerald spark flashed in the gray area at the center of the conjoined cores, forming a small vortex whenever the two mana flows matched. Nobody said anything until Zoreth's hybrid life force stabilized again, and with it the readings of the Infirmary.

The emerald spark was still there. Its size shifted with the ebb and flow of the storm caused by the surrounding Cursed Elements, but its energy signature showed no sign of weakening.

"I stand corrected. Now we are done." Baba Yaga said, taking off the Skull, Maw, and Apprentice Hands.

"How do you feel, Big Sis?" Lith asked, and received no answer. "Zor? Zoreth? Can you hear me?"

He would have worried about her well-being if not for the Infirmary displaying a yellow light and vigorous, stable vital signs.

"I'm sorry, Lil Bro, but I'm pain-free for a while, and you guys took so long to say something that I fell asleep." Zoreth gurgled with a yawn. "I'm dead tired and starving, but aside from that, I feel great."

A chime signaled the end of the post procedure in-depth scans of the Infirmary.

"Mana cores: dormant and compromised." The Shadow Dragon read out loud. "Life force: uncategorized and not fully stable. Life force composition: 25% Eldritch Dragon, 25% Eldritch rank 1 human, 50% rank 1 Odi.

"Warning: Life force and mana cores are corrupted. Further diagnostics are required before a viable treatment can be identified. The subject is healthy, and any alteration to her life force is strongly discouraged.

"It's recommended to free the subject from the tank, stuff her with tasty food until she drops, and let her sleep for at least a week."

"You're making the last part up." Lith laughed.

"It doesn't make it any less true." Zoreth replied. "By the way, can you let Bytra in or at least tell her that I'm okay? She must be going insane with worry."

"By my Mom, I completely forgot about her." Solus wiped the sweat from her body with a chore water magic spell and opened the door of the Infirmary.

She didn't need to access the tower's mainframe to know that Bytra had been there since the start of the procedure.

'That's what I would have done if Lith were the one in the tank.' Solus thought.

"Please, be honest with me, Solus. How bad is it?" Bytra asked, mistaking Solus' tired expression for bad news.

"As bad as your worst nightmare." A familiar voice came from inside. "I'm sorry, but they failed to get rid of me. You have to spend the rest of your lifetime with me."

"Is she telling the truth?" Bytra grabbed Solus by the shoulders, shaking her like a tree laden with ripe fruits. "Did you save her?"

"Yes, Zoreth is fine." Solus replied as her teeth clattered. "You can see her now."

"Gods, thank you!" Bytra hugged Solus tight, her back popping when she tried and failed to lift Solus. "I'll always be in your debt, Solus. Just say the word and I'll do anything you want. Anything!"

"You can start by letting me go." Solus kept her voice neutral, but there was an edge to it that snapped Bytra out of her joyous frenzy.

"I'm sorry." The Raiju jumped back. "I didn't mean to. I was just too happy."

"Wow. I barely escaped the jaws of death, and your idea to celebrate my recovery is to swear your eternal love to another woman." Zoreth clicked her tongue as the life support liquid flushed out of the crystal tank.

"You know that's not what I meant!" Bytra snarled. "Gods, Zor, you are so annoying that if everyone hadn't worked so hard to save you, I'd kill you myself."

The moment the Shadow Dragon walked out of the tank, the Raiju tackled her in an embrace, followed by a sweet kiss.

"There you go." Bytra took the letters out of her dimensional amulet and returned them to Zoreth. "There's no need for them anymore. Burn them. Burn them to a crisp."

"What if something like this happens again?" Zoreth asked.

"Shush!" Bytra covered Zoreth's mouth with her hand. "You almost died, and leaving your last will lying around is bad luck. Don't jinx everything and do as I say."

"But-"

"Don't! Jinx! Everything!" Bytra cut her wife short, her eyes crackling with fury and lightning.

Lith had no doubt that if glares could maim, Zoreth would already be in dire need of another round in the Infirmary.

"Fine." She sighed while turning towards Baba Yaga. "Can I use magic, or is that bad for my health?"

"No magic, no shapeshifting, and no bloodline abilities for at least three days, child." Baba Yaga replied. "I would tell you not to use Dragon Eyes as well if that weren't a power you can't turn on and off at will.

"Speaking of which, I'd appreciate it if you kept everything you've seen during the procedure for yourself."

"That goes without saying." Zoreth nodded. "I'm in eternal debt with you, Lady Yaga, and with all of you for saving my life and returning me to my wife. If you ever need my help, protection, or want someone dead, just give me a call."

"I'll take your word on that, Zoreth." Kalla jotted down her newfound notions about how to keep a fragment of life force from fading away after being cut off from the main body. "You make a great specimen. I can't wait to work on you again."

An icy silence fell over the room, but the Wight didn't notice it until she was done writing and raised her eyes from her booklet.

"Did I space out and someone died?" Kalla asked after noticing the angry glares boring at her.

"I endured days of torture, and I've been in agony until a minute ago. What makes you think that I'm going to let you cut me open again?" Zoreth snarled.

"I'm not planning anything of the sort." The Wight shook her head. "I'm content with following the recovery of your life force. You've endured cuts and mutilations similar to those required by the process I'll undergo to achieve Lichhood.

"I want to observe you for potential post-surgery complications and rehabilitation tips. My life force is not as sturdy as yours, nor does it possess your regeneration abilities. What is a temporary itch for you might be a deadly wound for me.

"I want to observe you to assess what kind of setbacks my life force will encounter and devise healing spells to survive them."

"If that's all you want, we have a deal." Zoreth and Kalla shook hands. "As for you, Byt, I need a little help here."

The Raiju conjured a violet flame in her palm, and Zoreth used it to set the stack of envelopes ablaze.

"Happy now?" She asked once only ash remained.

"Very." Bytra nodded. "Are you sure three days of rest are enough, Lady Yaga? Wouldn't a week be better? Maybe a month?"

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