2114: 2114. Cure

2114. Cure

The severed root struggled inside the dark matter, but the latter prevented most of its functions. The green limb couldn't dissolve or escape the suppression, and Noah made sure to replace everything that got infected.1

Meanwhile, Noah enhanced his mind's capabilities to study the root. He had found the very source of the infection, so he wanted to develop a cure. His plan didn't only involve the upper tier magical plant seen in the other layer of the separate reality. He also wanted to save the three experts to increase his number of allies.

The dark matter around the root acted as an extension of his mind and helped him study the tough and strange limb coming from the plant that the separate reality had tried to hide. The upper tier specimen was beyond odd. It had a solid structure, but it appeared able to turn into infective energy in an instant.

Noah couldn't identify its original form during the inspection. The upper tier magical plant resembled one of Snore's earlier versions. Depending on the situation, it could be solid, gaseous, and ethereal, and each state carried different features.

The solid state carried the toughness proper of an upper tier specimen. The root was only a mere limb, but Noah could guess that the trunk wouldn't be so easy to cut. The same went for the branches near the magical plant. It seemed that the distance from the main body affected the innate defenses of that structure.

The gaseous state began to carry the infective properties. Branches and leaves started to grow from the dark matter whenever the root tried to disperse among that prison, but Noah never let the infection spread. He controlled it perfectly as his study continued.

The ethereal state was extremely peculiar. The magical plant used it to pierce the layer that divided the two layers of the separate reality. It could send its energy in the flora around Noah in that form. As for the channel, the upper tier specimen used the connection created whenever the cultivators tried to give their energy to the roots.

After confirming those features, Noah moved to a deeper study of the root. The dark matter took different forms as it tried to find cures and counters to the infective energy. The magical plant was in the upper tier, so the project was far from easy. However, Noah had access to superior fuels, and his ethereal blackness could improve them. The difference in power wasn't an issue for him.

Noah studied the root while the dark world suppressed the three tainted experts. June continued to fight the liquid stage cultivator, and Fiery Mountain slowly accepted her role during that battle.

The battle grew harsher as June gained access to higher forms of energy. Fiery Mountain quickly found herself unable to create defenses against June's attacks, so she focused on saving the liquid stage cultivator whenever the situation became too dangerous.

Fiery Mountain felt stunned whenever June unleashed an attack that surpassed her previous technique in terms of sheer power. The old expert couldn't understand the nature and reason behind June's world. She could guess how it functioned, but the sole idea of something with unlimited potential felt impossible to comprehend.

Still, June barely cared about the presence of that ally. She unleashed her lightning bolts without holding anything back, and her opponent soon started to suffer serious injuries. Her attacks had begun to pierce the defensive layer of branches and leaves long ago, and they had begun to leave holes in the expert's body during the last phases of her offensive.

Noah was doing his best to ignore June and Fiery Mountain. He didn't want to affect their battle or scold June about her approach, but he kept track of the liquid stage expert's state.

The many holes that June had started to open in the liquid stage cultivator forced Noah to accelerate his study, and a solution slowly began to take form.

The infection transformed the cultivators by fusing with their bodies and enhancing some of their features. In theory, the process wasn't harmful, which was the very reason behind its dangerousness. The innate defenses didn't recognize the infection as a threat, so they let it pass.

That feature caused problems for Noah since he would find it hard to differentiate the infected parts from those that still retained traces of the original world. Reverting the transformation seemed impossible in those conditions, so his cure had to follow a different procedure.

Noah thought and experimented with the root until he perfected the procedure. His idea was complicated and required a long transformation, but he did his best to simplify it. His priority was to save the liquid stage cultivator from June as soon as possible.

Noah returned inside the dark world and activated the workshops. His dark matter had already built connections with the three experts, and he used them to study everything that seemed connected to their original world. Bringing them to their state before the transformation was impossible, but he could achieve something decent as long as they didn't completely forget about their true selves.

The workshops built three different chrysalides through a fusion of dark matter and pieces of the three cultivators. Noah wanted to make sure to create the perfect environment where the three experts could allow their true selves to grow and find their worlds. He couldn't do much more from them due to how deeply the transformation had affected their existence.

Once the workshops completed the chrysalides, Noah shot toward the three cultivators and put them inside the items. He had to suffer a direct hit from June's lightning bolts during the process, but the attack didn't leave any injury since the dark world weakened it before the impact.

The dark world dispersed afterward. Noah, June, and Fiery Mountain reappeared among the azure sky, and their attention quickly went on the three oval chrysalides floating next to them. The two women could sense the three experts from inside the structures, but their senses soon went on the faint strands of energy released in the environment.

"What are you doing to them?" Fiery Mountain asked as her senses told her to stay away from those strands of energy.

"You could have let me fight it for a bit longer," June complained.

"Our future allies need to be alive," Noah scolded before sighing. "I'm forcing out of their worlds everything belonging to the infection. There won't be much left of them after the process is over, but my energy can help rebuild part of them, hopefully."

"What now then?" June asked as she crossed her legs.

"We wait," Noah explained. "I need to keep track of the process and adjust it according to their personal needs. After that, we'll go after the true enemy of this floor."

"True enemy?" Fiery Mountain questioned.

"There is a magical plant in the upper tier in a hidden dimensional layer," Noah revealed. "I believed we have to defeat it to clear this floor."

"Upper tier?!" Fiery Mountain exclaimed as she tried to calculate the amount of power her group would have to amass to defeat such a powerful opponent. However, her surprise soon turned into worry when she saw June's excited smile.

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