3175 Mind War (Part 1)

'Uldreyin will accompany you.' The Tree said. 'If Elphyn Menadion tries anything funny, he'll deal with her physically. Remember, no matter how strong she is, her body is still that of an artifact. She is made to obey her master.

'We need to break her only once to gain control over the tower forever.'

"If she's so dangerous, why not use more Chroniclers?" Seeing Uldreyin in full battle gear rattled Vamir's confidence.

'To what end? All you have to do is bring her down her telepathic defenses. I will be there to neutralize her magic and Uldreyin to keep her from attacking you physically. Remember that we want to bind her, not kill her, or I'd have done that myself already.

'I need her alive to study the tower and bringing in more people means more chaos. More chaos means more variables and more variables means an exponential increase in our chance of failure. Mogar knows if I hadn't enough of that already.'

Those words raised many questions but the Yggdrasill's tone brook no discussion. The Tree Warped the two elves in front of Solus' cell, wrapping the stone ring in a dimensional barrier before opening the door.

'By my Mom!' Solus tried to Blink out of the room but the energy field stopped her even from flying.

She was akin to a heavy fly trapped inside an unbreakable glass jar. The door closed and her chance to escape was lost.

"Come out, Elphyn. Don't force my vines. You know how this works." The Tree applied enough gravity and pressure to cause small cracks to open in the stone ring before Solus could even reply.

"My name is Solus, World Fucker." A cute, petite woman appeared amid sparkles of light. "And that's my line."

She glared at the elves, the ring on her finger to keep anyone from imprinting it.

"Uldreyin." On the Tree's cue, the Chronicler bolted forward.

He was infused with all elements and his Yggdrasill staff was shapeshifted into two one-handed battle maces. With no spells at the ready and dimensional magic sealed, Solus didn't stand a chance.

It wasn't a fight, but a one-sided beating.

She only wore a day dress to not let the World Tree steal her artifacts whereas the Chronicler wore the best artifacts the Tree had crafted. On top of that, the difference in speed between a bright blue-cored Awakened and a bright violet was the same between a kid and an adult.

Uldreyin moved too fast for Solus to follow him, his strikes masterful and without a wasted movement. His weapons were hard enough to wound even a Divine Beast and he infused them with spells that lowered Solus' defenses further.

Water magic sapped her body heat, making her slower, while darkness magic ate at her ever-dwindling strength. She did her best to dodge but every hit reached its mark. She punched and kicked as fast as she could yet the Chronicler avoided and countered every one of her attacks.

First, he hit her on the head to cloud her vision. Then, he mercilessly struck her right kneecap to cripple her footwork. In less than a minute, Uldreyin had broken her arms, legs, and ribs, making every breath a necessary pulse of agony.

Solus whimpered in pain, but she didn't cry or beg. She just glared at the elves, biting her lips.

'Excellent job. Imprint her, Vamir.' The Tree ordered while checking with Life Vision that her condition was as bad as it appeared and wasn't just a trick.

'Why not knock her out, My Liege?' The Librarian had witnessed the beating, but he also knew that even an Awakened would have died one hundred times over under those hits.

If anything, the fact that Solus was still alive and conscious sent a cold shiver of fear down his spine.

'I wish. Based on my information, the host takes part of the damage Elphyn suffers. If we beat her too hard, there's a chance you'd faint once you bond with her. If she wakes up first, you'd have no chance of resisting her psychic assault.

'You have to trust me. This is the best course of action.'

Vamir gulped harder. After spending over five millennia behind his desk, he wasn't accustomed to pain and Solus' current wounds looked more than he could already endure.

"Do not try to resist, Elphyn. I find no pleasure in hurting you. All of this could have been avoided if you surrendered peacefully." The Tree refused to call Solus with her current name.

They ignored her needs and crossed her boundaries to show Solus how helpless she was. Inside the Fringe, the Yggdrasill defined her reality, even her name was under their control.

The Tree wanted her to submit willingly so that once the Librarian bonded with her, he would encounter no resistance.

Solus didn't reply or move.

At least until Vamir bent down to touch her. Guided by Spirit Magic, her long multi-colored hair wrapped around his arm like a bunch of snakes, too fast for the elf to react.

Uldreyin bolted forward but Solus was still on the ground and the Librarian's body was on top of her. She was small compared to him, leaving the Chronicler no opening to attack while her hair choked Vanir to death.

"I warned you!" Roots emerged from the wooden floor squeezing Solus' broken limbs and making her eyes tear up with pain. "Let him go, now!"

'Dammit. I can't imprint people. I'm really like a cursed object. My host must be willing to bond with me.' The attack had just been a cover for her experiment. 'Had I succeeded, I would have started the fight on my terms.

'Instead, I'm forced on the defensive again.' She released her hold on the terrified Librarian who needed a few seconds to regain his cool.

"Don't be scared." The Yggdrasill warned him. "We'll be by your side, just like now. Gather your willpower and imprint her as soon as you are ready."

"Yes, My Liege. I didn't mean to freak out, My Liege. She took me by surprise." Vamir waited until his breathing steadied and then touched Solus.

As soon as his mana invaded her body, her mind went to the attack and the Librarian writhed in pain.

"My arms! My legs!" He moaned as his limbs became purple and swollen.

"What are you doing?" The Tree roared.

"Nothing." Solus lied through her teeth. "You should have known this would happen. Have you learned nothing from Nes'hiah's death?"

"Nes'hiah is dead?" Vamir froze in horror as he understood why his fellow Librarian had disappeared and that the Tree wasn't telling him everything.

"She blew up like a firework." Solus said, weakening his mind further. "And you are next."

"Silence!" Uldreyin moved like the wind, hitting Solus' head with one of his maces and making Vamir curl up in pain a split second after her.

'Don't listen to her, Vamir.' The Yggdrasill said via the piece of their bark that ensured a constant mind link with the Librarian. 'She's just trying to delay the inevitable.

'Think of all the amazing things you'll be able to do as the master of Menadion's tower. The glory and honors with which your entire race will shower you.'