The Empress remained still for a brief mont after everyone had stepped out, her gaze resting on Lucas, asuring the state of his body one final ti before she began, then she turned and walked toward the entrance of the tent, her movents calm and unhurried, yet carrying a quiet urgency that did not need to be spoken aloud. As she reached the flap, she pulled it aside slightly, enough to look out at those gathered just beyond, the King, the girls, Captain Varran, Commander Alexander, all waiting with tense expressions, their attention snapping to her the mont she appeared.
"It will take hours," she said, her voice steady, leaving no room for misinterpretation. "And I require absolute silence."
Her gaze moved across them, ensuring each of them understood the weight of what she was about to do.
"No one is to co in," she added. "No matter what."
The words lingered, heavier than they should have been, because the implication behind them was clear, whatever was about to happen inside that tent would not be simple, and it would not be gentle.
The King gave a slow nod, his expression firm despite the concern that lingered beneath it.
"You have our word," he said.
Lira clenched her fists slightly, her lips pressing together, but she said nothing, her eyes briefly flickering past the Empress as though trying to catch one last glimpse of Lucas before the process began.
Satisfied, the Empress lowered the flap.
Then she sealed it.
Not with sothing physical, but with power.
A faint shimr passed over the tent, subtle at first, almost invisible, before settling into place completely, an encapsulation that wrapped around the entire structure, isolating it from the outside world, cutting off any form of interference, any intrusion, any disturbance.
Nothing would enter.
Nothing would leave.
Inside, the air shifted.
The silence deepened.
The Empress turned back toward Lucas, her expression now fully focused, the calm from before sharpening into intent as she stepped closer to him once again, her presence filling the enclosed space as she prepared for what needed to be done.
She could feel it clearly now.
The foreign energy within him.
It was not natural.
It did not belong.
It moved subtly beneath the surface of his ridians, clinging, spreading, feeding, not as a simple remnant, but as sothing alive in its own way, sothing that had taken root far deeper than it ever should have been allowed to.
"The shadow dragon’s inferno..." she murmured softly.
It was not just residue.
It behaved like a parasite.
If left alone, it would continue to consu him from within, corrupting his Qi, his blood, his very foundation until there was nothing left to save, and worse, if forcibly expelled without care, it would not simply dissipate.
It would escape.
And seek another host.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she extended her hand once more, her energy gathering, not in the sa gentle flow as before, but in sothing far more controlled, far more precise, because this was no longer about stabilizing him.
This was about extraction.
And destruction.
She would have to draw it out completely.
Every fragnt and every trace.
And then annihilate it before it could take form again.
There could be no mistake because if even a fraction escaped...It would begin again.
She stood over Lucas for a brief mont longer, her gaze steady, her senses fully attuned to the chaotic state of his body, and then she began.
She placed both hands on him, one over his chest and the other just below his navel, aligning herself with the core of his Qi pathways, and without hesitation, she released her energy into him once more, not in a shallow stream like before, but in a deeper, far more potent flow, the kind that carried the unmistakable weight of her current state, refined, elevated, and no longer bound by the sa limitations as before.
The mont it entered him, his body reacted.
A sharp tremor ran through him, his muscles tightening instinctively as the celestial energy spread inward, pushing through his ridians, flooding the spaces that had been corrupted, forcing its presence into every part of him that had been touched by the inferno, and as it moved, the resistance beca imdiately apparent, because the shadow dragon’s inferno did not simply recede, it resisted, clinging stubbornly to what it had already claid.
The Empress did not rush.
She could not.
This was not a battle that could be won through force alone.
So she controlled it carefully.
Gradually increasing the pressure of her energy, allowing it to seep deeper and deeper, reinforcing what was already there, strengthening the foundation that had been holding the inferno back all this while.
Because she understood now.
What had kept Lucas from collapsing long before this mont was not just his will, not just his resilience, but the fragnt of celestial energy she had given him back in Valerion, a remnant of her own power that had embedded itself within him, acting as a barrier, a suppressor, sothing that had slowed the spread of the inferno even when everything else was failing.
And now...She was feeding it.
Strengthening it.
Amplifying it until it could no longer rely suppress, but dominate.
The process stretched on for two hours. Her focus absolute, her control unwavering, her energy continuing to flow into him in asured waves, never too much, never too little, always exactly what was needed to push the inferno further back without triggering a violent backlash.
Lucas’s body continued to react throughout.
At tis, it trembled violently.
At tis, it went still.
His breathing shifted between strained and shallow, his chest rising and falling under the weight of what was happening within him, yet slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, sothing began to change.
The corruption began to lose ground.
The overwhelming heat that had consud him earlier no longer dominated his body in the sa way, replaced gradually by a steadier, more balanced flow as the celestial energy spread deeper, reinforcing every inch it passed through.
The darkness that had clung to him began to recede. Not gone, but weakening.
And as the hours passed, the visible signs followed.
The tension in his face eased slightly.
The unnatural strain that had been etched into his features began to soften.
The blackened tone that had crept into his complexion slowly faded, replaced inch by inch with sothing closer to normal.
Color.
Real color.
It returned gradually, almost like life itself was being restored piece by piece, his skin no longer carrying that sickly, corrupted tint, but regaining its natural tone as the balance within him was slowly reestablished.
The Empress did not stop.
Not even for a mont.
Her focus remained absolute, her control precise, her energy continuing to flow as she maintained the process without interruption, knowing that this was only the beginning, that forcing the inferno back was not enough, that what remained still had to be removed completely.
The mont ca gradually, not with a sudden burst, but with a subtle shift that only soone of the Empress’s level could fully perceive, because after hours of steady infusion, of careful suppression and controlled pressure, the balance within Lucas’s body finally tipped, the celestial energy no longer rely holding the shadow dragon’s inferno at bay but overwhelming it completely, forcing it into retreat from every corner it had infested.
Her eyes sharpened slightly as she felt it gather.
The inferno was being cornered.
Driven inward and compressed.
It resisted violently now, far more than before, no longer spreading, no longer feeding, but thrashing against the force that sought to remove it entirely, its presence flaring in brief, chaotic surges within his ridians as though it understood what was about to happen, as though it was trying to cling to anything it could before it was torn away.
Lucas’s body reacted imdiately.
A sharp convulsion ran through him, his back arching slightly off the table as a strained sound escaped his throat, his breathing turning erratic again as the internal struggle reached its peak, and for a mont, the heat surged once more, not as dominance, but as resistance, the last desperate flare of sothing that refused to be extinguished.
The Empress did not falter.
She increased the pressure.
Not recklessly, not forcefully, but with absolute precision, her celestial energy tightening around the inferno from all sides, cutting off every path it could use to spread, sealing every channel it could escape through, until there was only one direction left.
Out.
Her hand shifted slightly, one moving to his chest, the other rising to hover near his face, her control narrowing, focusing everything into a single, decisive push.
"Now..." she murmured softly.
And she forced it out.
Lucas’s body jerked violently as the inferno was expelled, a dark, smoke-like substance erupting from him all at once, pouring from his nose, his mouth, even his ears, thick and unnatural, carrying with it a heat that did not belong to ordinary fire, but sothing deeper, sothing corrupted, sothing alive in its own twisted way.
It did not disperse.
It did not fade.
It lingered.
Coiling in the air like a living thing, writhing faintly as though searching, as though reaching for sothing else to latch onto, sothing else to consu.
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