Corrupt Creations

Rumble! 

A dark storm was covering the whole sky and from inside those dark grey clouds, many red lightning sparks were cracking in rage, trying to announce the arrival of doom. 

Caizhi and Rina had reunited with Jiayi, Xiurong and Ruolan, but Seth left to go to the frontline. He was already standing beside Elyra, looking towards the dark storm that was unfolding up there. 

"What is that?" Seth asked in a heavy tone. 

Elyra didn't reply him for a long time. Her countenance was nothing like before. She was exuding a serious feeling that Seth has never seen before. She was always serious about everything and that was part of her personality, but now there was a sense of heaviness that Seth could feel from a distance. 

After some more time she replied while still looking towards the sky. 

"This aura is from a monster that should not be here... There are some records stating that our ancients came across a very powerful entity while exploring the depths of the inner layer, an entity that was above all the others. It was the chief of the whole inner layer and nothing could defy its power. The Guardian of the Ruins ... A Profound Mana peak-stage Realm beast." 

Right after she explained to Seth the dimension of the trouble they were in right now, a loud thunder echoed in the entire area and a huge beast stormed towards the place the elves and humans were. 

Chirp! 

A mythical creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion, appeared in front of everyone. It was a huge brownish griffin. 

It stopped in the air right before everyone and looked down at the creatures that had invaded its territory. Red lightning sparks started to circle around its body, giving it a very menacing appearance. 

CHIRP! 

The griffin made a very loud noise and all the beasts that gathered in the area released their aura at once, crushing whatever possible chance of survival everyone still had. 

The griffin started to flap its wings and the dark storm in the sky intensified, covering the entire dungeon. Some red lightning bolts started to form right above the practitioner's heads. 

CRACK! 

KATCHA! 

Lightning started to drop towards the ground, threatening to extinguish whoever was in there. The thunderstorm started to head towards Seth and Elyra, bringing a huge destructive force along. 

Elyra released her entire reserves of Mana as her body started to release a vibrant green glow. She was going to fight with her all and protect the young practitioners that couldn't even move before the immense pressure they were feeling. 

The wind started to form a domain around the area she was in, ready to withstand the barrage of red lightning that was coming her way. 

Seth held the small red bead he acquired from the Allakiir treasury inside his hands, since he didn't see other option if not using it. This was the last thing he wanted do, but this situation was forcing him. 

However... 

Right as the barrage of lightning was about to meet Elyra's wind domain, everything seemed to stop abruptly. The dark clouds in the air stopped generating lightning; Elyra's wind domain disappeared without a single omen; The more than fifty beasts that were around the area, felt their aura vanishing from their bodies; Seth felt the Mana he was infusing on the red bead inside his hands, cease from circulating. 

A green energy swept past everything, clearing the dark clouds in a single second, making them vanish from the sky. Everyone was able to clearly see the horizon once again. 

All the beasts suddenly felt that they couldn't move even a single muscle. The green energy reached where most of them were, passing through them as if it was a light breeze, but for those beasts, it was the winds from the depths of hell. 

Their bodies started to disintegrate into tiny particles, melting into oblivion. They didn't have even a chance to struggle against it, since their powers seemed to be sealed by a very oppressive energy. 

Everyone presents except for the people from the Glazed Lake Sect realized what the green energy really was. 

Elyra looked the scene that was happening right in front of her and a deep light of respect flashed inside her eyes. She recognized the Evergreen Essence that was cleaning the entire battlefield and was sure that it could only belong to one person. 

"Mother!" Rina Exclaimed with a smile. She saw the silhouette of her mother hovering in the air and slowly descending towards her. 

While she was still descending, the Evergreen Essence destroyed all the Mana Control beasts in the whole area, finally reaching the four Profound Mana initial-stage beasts. 

They jointly exerted every single bit of strength they could muster to resist it, but the green wave of Evergreen Essence seemed to be unstoppable. It enveloped their bodies making it corrode in a matter of seconds. 

ROAR! 

HISS! 

GHARL! 

GROWW! 

The four beasts roared in pain as their bodies were thoroughly consumed by the Evergreen Essence. A Profound Mana beast couldn't even last a single second before a Mana Sovereign cultivator, the apex predator of this world. 

The griffin witnessed the beasts under his command die one after the other for that green light, but instead to fear for his life, he went out of control. The corruption inside its blood, felt the dark and gloomy emotions raging inside it and consumed them to intensify the power. 

The griffin broke through the pressure that was holding it in place and a huge storm unfolded around it. It started to charge towards the Elf Queen and a thousand meters long whirlwind domain formed around it. 

"Impudent!" The Elf Queen moved a single hand and the griffin and everything around it came to a halt. The energy it was able to gather vanished as if it has never existed in the first place. 

A round cage of Evergreen Energy formed in the air around it, crushing the griffin in the middle. The poison invaded that beast body, destroying every single cell it came across, making the prestigious Guardian of the Ruins turn into nothingness. 

CHIRP! 

Even until the last seconds, it tried to rebel against the Elf Queen, but it was powerless before her. 

The green energy suddenly vanished, making the entire environment turn back to normal. All the pressures vanished and everyone was finally able to breathe peacefully again. 

Now, that things turned back to normal, many people started to feel a cold sensation in their backs, finally noticing that they were drenched in cold sweat. 

The Elf Queen's feet touched the ground and she looked directly towards her daughter. She didn't know if she should reprimand her here in the middle of everyone, or hug her and rejoice that she was safe and sound. 

Now that everything had ended, Seth was finally able to relax a bit and look towards the person that arrived to save them. When he turned back to look at who it was, he had the shock of a lifetime. 

Elyra saw that his reaction was a bit rough and grabbed his arm, using her energy to shift their position instantly. They appeared before the Elf Queen and Elyra knelt down on the ground. 

"I thank the Elf Queen for saving my life and the life of every member of the Allakiir family." 

Elyra was kneeling on the floor and failed to notice that the Elf Queen and Seth were looking towards each other. 

Seth was thoroughly speechless after he saw who the Elf Queen really was. He was so shocked that he didn't even know what to do as Elyra brought him to stand face to face with her. She was the woman he met at the Evergreen Tavern, the woman he tried to court just after meeting her. 

So many things have happened and the thing he expected the least, was that this woman would actually be the Elf Queen. 

On the other side, the Elf Queen already knew that it was possible that she would meet Seth at some point in time, however, the embarrassment she felt was stronger than she had anticipated. Still, she was the revered Elf Queen that could maintain her composure anywhere and anytime. 

"Y-Y-You are the..." Seth stuttered while trying to talk. He was lucky that Rina came running to meet her mother, making him avoid a lot of embarrassment. 

"Mother! I'm sorry..." 

"You don't need to say anything, we will talk about it later at the castle. The first thing we should do now, is to gather the survivors here and treat the injured people, however, I'm not the best person for that. You are." 

"Are you..." 

"Yes, I'm allowing you to expose your abilities for now." 

Rina nodded towards her mother. It would be the first time that she would be allowed to use her Evergreen Essence. The Elf Queen has never allowed her to do such a thing before, but right now, the situation demanded for it. 

Elyra was silently hearing everything and perplexed after realizing that girl was actually the real Elf Queen's daughter. She made sure to never reveal that she has seen Seth carrying her so intimately. 

"Elyra, stand up. I want to know what is currently happening here. Give me every single detail." The Elf Queen started to talk with Elyra and left Seth to reorganize his feelings and thoughts. 

Rina went towards his side and asked: "Have you met my mother before?" 

"Eh? Ahn... Why are you asking it?" 

"Well, I've never seen her acting like this before. She seemed a bit embarrassed after meeting you, I guess?" 

"Hahaha... It must be your imagination."