"Silver," she called. "Absorb the black mist,"
The vines suddenly erupted from the ground and dipped itself into the pool. The black matter at the bottom is dispersing. After soaking for a few minutes, the black matter in the pool disappeared.
Kyra eyed Silver's vines. The fairy tinkers are also studying the vines. Obviously afraid something will happen to it. The black mist is able to contaminate the sap of the World Tree. It wasn't that easy to handle. A few minutes passed and nothing happened.
Just as Kyra was about to exhale a sigh of relief, the vines turned black and erupted in rotten wood.
"Silver!" The vines were not the only ones affected. Kyra too. Her hands suddenly turned black. It's climbing at a fast rate, right in the direction of her heart. The fairy tinkers panicked and flew in a circle, not knowing what to do.
Kyra tried to dispel the corruption with her mana. It was useless. The corruption has the same properties with Silver. It can eat away the mana and create stronghold from it.
Kyra saw from the corner of her eye that Silver was struggling with the corruption. It keeps eating away its vines. Kyra gritted her teeth. Because of exhaustion, she's not in her best shape.
How can she fight this thing off if Silver can't?
Just what is this corruption and where did it come from?
Kyra gritted her teeth. She unsheathed her crystalline sword with her right hand. The scabbard fell into the ground. The cold blade shone in the last bit of sunlight. Kyra squeezed her eyes shut and struck the blade against her left arm.
Overwhelming pain almost knocks her out. She blinked back tears. She immediately went to the big struggling vines with the corruption slowly eating its trunk away. Kyra was greatly weakened. But that doesn't mean she can't raise her sword again.
After she struck, a strange hissing sound came from the cut off corrupted vine. Silver wiggled close to Kyra, as if traumatized by the thing. The vines slithered on her wrist, slightly shivering. She soothes it by patting its head.
The corrupted vine oozes out black smoke before disintegrating into dust. It could be Kyra's imagination, but she heard it puff out a disgruntled breath before disappearing.
Her blood that was dripping on the ground stopped. Kyra looked down to see her severed arm growing a new one. She initially thought it was the work of Silver again.
She was proven wrong. Silver's vines are also growing back to its normal length. A blue hazy mist glowed and surrounded Silver. The same thing happened to Kyra.
"Silver, what is this?" Kyra tried touching the blue hazy mist. Like a cloud of dust, not a speck settled in her hand. She can't touch it.
The fairy tinkers all stopped and went still seeing the hazy mist. Their agitated expressions became frozen.
Fairy tinkers have always been strange and difficult to understand. Kyra ignored their reaction and went on to ask,
"When did this corruption happen?"
Instead of explaining, the fairy tinkers led Kyra to the pool. She was forbidden to touch a single branch. Kyra understood. After all, one little mistake can worsen the corruption happening in the Word Tree.
The pool rippled and an image of two familiar individuals came into Kyra's sight.
"Mother?!"
Kyra recognized the place. It was in the courtyard of the Elven Croft Palace. A black mist is hovering above her mother. She was shining in golden light. Her light magic keeps coming out in various forms to dispel the black mist. The ground beneath her feet is cracked, deadly and poisonous.
A black concentrated smoke kept pouring out from the ground. One royal guard was standing on the side, careful not to get caught in the fight of two royals. When the ground under his feet cracked, black smoke oozed out. It swirled in his body.
Watching the royal guard, Kyra could tell he was getting dizzy because of the smoke. The smoke did not stop coming to his face. That's when Kyra noticed his whole body had black spots climbing straight to his heart.
Kyra's got a bad feeling about this. She involuntarily stepped forward, attempting to rescue her mother from that dangerous place. But she can't reach her. The royal guard that got hit stumbled into the ground.
He was extremely pale, his fingers and chest were black. The black spots climbed up his neck, to his jaw, and then covered his whole face. Kyra witnessed how the black spots devoured his whole skin, his flesh, until he was left with nothing except crumbling bones.
The scene shifted and the image focused on the other person her mother was fighting with. It was her father!
The rest became clear to Kyra. Curse magic. The cracked ground with deadly smoke instantly killed fairies. It was the Fairy King who cursed the whole land, because he was fighting the Fairy Queen with light magic. They are equal in terms of power. If he don't go all out, she will defeat him.
Cursing the land of the fairy realm has a dangerous impact on the World Tree. Kyra's eyes wandered to the leaves falling off the branches. The pure mana had become heavily contaminated with corruption. Making the once-magical World Tree into this desolate state. Kyra tightens the grip on her sword. Her palms are shaking with anger.
So it was you who was responsible for all this.
It was not enough you destroyed my future just because I did not meet your expectations.
It was not enough locking mother in the Silver Lake Pavilion because she disappointed you.
You dare to bring the fairy realm to its brink of existence.
I will never forgive you.
A low groan sounded behind Kyra. It took her completely out of her thoughts. She looked back to see Lester. Terribly wounded, the corruption has gotten farther into his body. It had already spread to his chest.
"Lester!" She hurriedly came running to his side. He collapsed on the ground. She raised her sword above his arms. She must cut it. Cut it out. Stop the corruption.
"Yo…ur…High…ness…" Kyra is shivering. Her hands are trembling as she grips the sword. Cut it. Cut it.
Where was she supposed to cut? The corruption has spread to his heart!