Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 920 - Taming the Crystal Hearts - 4

Selphira had penetrated the complete depth of the rectangular defensive formation supposed to stop her or at least delay her sufficiently to make her spend all her mana.

But sheʼd done it in record time, communicating that the individual power of an exceptional tamer could overcome almost any numerical advantage when the caliber disparity was sufficiently large.

Three thousand soldiers. Some elite rebel forces that had a long time to have prepared positions while she fought mutants and they also had home ground advantage.

Yet sheʼd carved through them like they were a training exercise rather than serious military opposition.

But the cost had also been real even if the result looked easy.

She was panting slightly. Breathing accelerated, showing her effort that the fast approach had required.

A rapid evaluation of her reserves would have indicated she was operating at approximately thirty percent capacity. Perhaps less if she was honest about how much cumulative small attacks had drained her during the advance.

Not critical levels... But considerably less than ideal when the final confrontation with Orion still waited.

Sheʼd spent a bit more than two-thirds of her remaining mana killing mutants and getting through the army. That left barely enough for sustained combat against a Gold-rank opponent who presumably was fresh and operating at full capacity.

The math wasnʼt great… It was what it was. Sheʼd made her choice when sheʼd charged forward alone rather than waiting for a better opportunity that might never come.

And then, shortly before completely overcoming the last stretch of soldiers separating her from the ruinʼs entrance, she saw something making her calculations become secondary to an emotional reaction that overwhelmed the discipline she normally maintained.

Orion emerged from the ruin and from the building that guarded it. Appearance sheʼd been anticipating but that came with something she didnʼt expect in his hands.

He was dragging a body that Selphira recognized instantly despite some big changes making it difficult to process what she saw.

Worse was that being this close she didnʼt feel his signature.

Victor was...

But it wasnʼt Victorʼs body as she remembered from last time sheʼd seen him days before.

He was semi-crystallized in a way that was more terrifying compared to Dragarion or Sirius.

Not a complete crystal statue like his father whoʼd been transformed into a monument leaving him immobile. That had been terrible but at least had looked dignified. Like a sleeping hero rather than this torture.

This was something worse in many aspects. Intermediate state communicating suffering instead of simple stasis.

It was the body of a poor wounded man in many places. Damage visible even at this distance to her enhanced eyes as Selphira processed details that her maternal instinct tried rejecting as impossible.

And from those wounds appeared crystals in multiple colors that shouldnʼt exist in a human body.

Purple mostly… Manifestations of corruption that had been forced through methods Selphira didnʼt understand nor wanted to contemplate. The purple crystals grew from open wounds like tumors, foreign growths that didnʼt belong.

But also some black that absorbed light unnaturally. Making holes in the visual field where they existed.

And white that glowed with vigor hurting the eyes when focused directly. Brilliant and pure but also wrong because they shouldnʼt be growing from tissue.

The overall effect was nightmarish.

Selphira hadnʼt felt his energy neither now nor when approaching. Absence that made terrible sense.

Sheʼd seen corruption before. Had studied the crystallization phenomenon that had claimed Sirius and others. But this was different. This was controlled… Weaponized suffering rather than the other accidental transformations.

This was torture and Orion had done it to her family member.

To the boy sheʼd watched growing up. The spoiled prince sheʼd protected despite his flaws. The future of the kingdom sheʼd sworn to preserve.

And fury like she hadnʼt felt in decades exploded through her control.

She raged with intensity that made ice around her manifest spontaneously without conscious command.

Temperature fell precipitously as emotions translated directly into elemental manifestation. The air froze. The ground crystallized and moisture in the atmosphere coalesced creating falling snowcrystals despite the clear sky.

Soldiers near her backed away instinctively. Recognizing that whatever was happening, they didnʼt want to be close to it. That the old woman whoʼd been advancing through their lines had just transformed into something considerably more dangerous.

That conviction pushed her to make a decision sheʼd normally reserve as a last resort.

Selphira fused with the little mana remaining to her. Approximately thirty percent of reserves being channeled into the technique that would multiply her capabilities for a few minutes at the cost of exhaustion coming shortly after.

She couldnʼt wait or be cautious anymore. Couldnʼt hold anything back when Victor was right there in a sorry state that made her want to scream.

The Black Tortoise manifested in her body simultaneously with the White Serpent. Both emitting power that made the ground tremble and the air shimmer.

And then the fusion began. The merging of woman and beasts into a single entity that exceeded what any component could achieve separately.

Her body altered and shifted. Scales erupting along arms and legs. Shell fragments appearing across back and shoulders. Eyes changing to reflect serpentine and chelonian qualities simultaneously.

The power surge was immediate and overwhelming. Thirty percent reserves would last at maximum 10 minutes but were suddenly providing a capability equivalent to full mana strength through the fusionʼs multiplicative effect. Weakness became strength through a technique that Orion apparently hated not to possess.

It was time to finish the most hateful Starweaver with mad violence…

But the increased perception from the fusion stopped what would have been a big attack and brought a small hope cutting through her rage.

Her first thought had been that he was dead. That Orion had killed him and was bringing the corpse as a trophy or final mockery.

His mana signature was that small. Reduced to almost nothing by some process that had consumed the majority of his vital energy normally radiating from a tamer of his rank.

It was a signal communicating he was at the edge of complete extinction. Life sustained by margin so narrow that any additional perturbation could end it permanently.

But it was still there.

Victor lived.