Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1552 - 1551 - Underlying Issues

Lind let his Art delve deep into Jur.

Unlike Bori or others, he found a disaster inside his daughter. He was no longer mystified as to why the pills and elixirs failed. It was not deviation or damage, but a chunk was actually missing.

He had never seen such a thing but it explained why she was dying. The imbalance was too much and showed no sign of recovery.

He sat back in confusion. He could, theoretically, fix it, but it would exhaust him. If he did it and it happened again, he would not awaken in time to help find the cause.

Still, he was able to help her recover stamina a bit before he stopped.

Her improved color made her family rejoice but his grim look was not missed by the older pair.

"Bori, could you take your twins out for a moment. I have to speak to Lady Jur about her condition before I treat her." His words were treated with some skepticism but healers and other experts often asked to be left alone with their client.

The 2 children and Bori left after hugging Jur and the door sealing erected a ward. Lind then looked at her seriously.

"A chunk of your foundation is missing. Why?" Shock flared on her face before she seemed to finally realize he really could help her.

"The twins. They are divine phoenix bloodlines and I was not able to safely bring them into the world." Lind's eyes went wide.

He then realized the problem. She was of a tiger bloodline and her children were not! They had strained her very life and she had to choose to save them or die!

The Throne had pushed her nascent children in the womb and left her at grave risk.

"Does Bori know?" Her dark eyes bore into him and he knew he did not.

She then relayed to him a tale he had heard several times. If 2 beasts came together as humanoids, their children could cause severe strain on the mother. Sometimes pills or elixirs could resolve the issue but living in the Throne gave Bori's bloodline priority and he was a progenitor.

When 2 Divine Bloodlines mingled, one would try to overwrite the other. Inside the Throne, Jur suddenly found her bloodline fighting for supremacy and she chose to let her newest children survive rather than let them be sacrificed for her own life.

"I can heal you, truly, but it will put me into a coma. I need your promise to have a frank conversation with Bori going forward, Lady Jur." She frowned at him but she did not doubt him.

"Are you in danger?" Her sudden question gave him pause but he nodded.

"The barrier I erected to protect us from the Great Bastard consumes my vitality with every challenge. I am ok, at the moment, but if someone figures out I am all that stands between them and descending, they can cause my True Death." He hid nothing.

She actually looked concerned before she spoke.

"When I reached the midterm with the twins, I felt a danger to myself. I could save myself by sacrificing them but I refused. I love my children and will not let them die if I can save them." Her words mirrored his own convictions. He could not disparage them at all.

"If I repair you, can you promise to wait till I awaken before doing something foolish again?" She glared at him but then nodded.

"The twins assure my position as primary wife. I no longer need to take such risks." Lind then flared his harmony.

"Someone dares challenge you?!" His draconic aura was infused into his harmony and a flicker of a smile crossed her face before she frowned at him.

"Can you help me, truly?" Lind calmed himself before he slowly nodded.

"My Art of Defiance can restore as part of its ability so yes, I can help you." He had some ideas about elixirs that could help but his limitations stopped him from experimenting with it.

She then laid back and he took it as permission.

His harmony flared and he began his work. It was a harsh state she was in but he started slowly. Suddenly restoring her foundation would cause deviation.

Time became fluid for him as Jur's foundation was slowly rebuilt but he frowned as he found another issue.

As the restoration proceeded, he found traces of a heart demon. It was faint, and not fully formed, but he felt it.

He did not bring it up as he suspected the origin. Jur had loved him deeply and his betrayal clearly could plant seeds for a heart demon.

The fact she had not formed one meant it was unable to condense due to her family and likely his wives' interference.

He pushed his Art and was able to carefully purify the traces from her foundation. It made his mind blur but he held on.

After an unknown amount of time, he finished his work. Jur looked far better but he could not hold on as darkness closed in.

He collapsed and fell to the floor hard as she simply looked at him. He felt pain in his heart as she was so cold but he could not fault her.

The world fell away and he hoped he would awaken before it was too late.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

Papa was on the floor.

Jur had said she spurned him, but in her heart, she still called him Papa. She felt better than she had in centuries.

As always, his power was just ridiculous. At least a dozen healers, alchemists, and elixir maesters had plied their trade to no effect, but now she felt whole once more.

His pale face and weakened state showed the cost of his Art.

She easily rose from the bed unlike any time she could recently remember. She then knelt next to her Papa.

His pained face showed the cost he paid to help her and she knew his words were true. How much pain had he endured for all of them and even now, risked his very existence to protect them from the monster looming over them all?

"Why did you abandon me?" The question left her mouth but she did not expect an answer.

Suddenly, a bald dark skinned man appeared. Haro had not changed from what she had seen but his power had improved.

He bowed low to her with cupped hands before he spoke.

"Jur, Master was manipulated by fate, true, but he still chose. It was why he accepted all of his family's decisions but you should know his current state." Haro revealed far more of Papa's current issues.

He needed something from the Throne but he had run into dead ends. Even so, he never asked for help. He kept his word to her from so long ago in the Endless Peaks.

She wanted to keep hating him, but the farther she advanced, the more she realized the horror of what he was shouldering. Bori knew more but she had been able to learn how much True Lords were forced to endure in normal circumstances.

Her Papa was a direct force against the Great One.

He was being used by Heaven and Earth. She had come to understand that.

In that respect, her Papa's rebellion by cutting off his family made sense, but his choice hurt her.

"Why does he keep going, even knowing he is being used?" Her anger stemmed from that issue. Haro smiled at her and pointed his dark hand at her.

She paled as she recalled something central to Papa.

He would not let his family face extinction if he could help it. Any price was willing to be paid so far as he was concerned.

"Can Bori help him?" Her question caught the ring spirit off guard but he nodded.

"The Soul Cleansing Ritual needs Bori. Master needs his soul refined. The rest can be left to him after that." She slowly nodded as she gently caressed his cheek.

A pang of longing filled her but she quashed it.

"Bori will help him once he is a Sovereign Tier. It should happen soon. Papa will leave us again after that." Haro did not deny her prediction.

Once his soul was refined and he faced the other ritual, the Rebirth Grounds would accelerate Lind's ascension.

A flash of worry crossed her face.

"Can he win?" Haro paused before he spoke truthfully.

"I do not know. Master is unlike any I know. He is a threat to be sure, but the Great One is horrifying in his power. Still, he is the best hope I have ever heard of." His words seemed to reassure her before she stood up and nodded at him.

She then summoned some servants to take Lind away.

He would need time to recover and likely many well intentioned guests would come to check on him.

"Haro, tell me truly, does he regret what happened in the Endless Peaks?" She was not looking at the spirit but he smiled at her.

"He loves you without condition. He is pained by his failure but will never say you are wrong to abandon him." Her eyes became misty but she did nothing else as the servants took Papa away.

She could not forgive him! She couldn't! Yet, she felt the need to embrace him. The healing was full of his love and she knew he still saw her as his daughter.