Chapter 40: Found You!

Once the battle finished, the basin was silent except for Hydra taking deep breaths.

What remained of the alchemical swarm lay scattered across cracked earth and poisoned water, twisted bodies steaming as emerald residue ate through metal plating and corrupted flesh alike.

The lake itself bubbled sluggishly, surface disturbed by dissolving remains of monsters, its unnatural sheen slowly fading under the pressure of Jax’s presence.

Hydra landed once more beside the shoreline, claws digging deep into stone as she folded her wings. Her chest rose and fell steadily, poison still rolling faintly along her scales as she surveyed the devastation.

“None left moving,” she reported, tail flicking as a final twitching carcass went still, “But I can feel it too. Something’s pulling away over there,”

Jax had already stepped off her back.

His boots touched the ground without sound, golden eyes closed as his senses extended outward, threading through mana residue, corrupted alchemical trails, and the faint imprint of will guiding it all.

The invisible thread was there, thin but stubborn, stretching away from the lake and burrowing deeper into the forest like a coward fleeing underground.

“They’re running,” Jax said calmly. “And they know they’ve been noticed, so they’re trying to get away quickly,”

As if responding to what Jax said, the forest immediately trembled.

From deeper within the trees, new signatures flared to life. Fresh alchemical beasts tore their way free from hidden burrows and concealed summoning circles, their bodies still steaming as unstable enchantments stitched them together mid-movement.

These were rougher and way less refined. It was clear to Jax that these were unfinished projects thrown out to help the perpetrator escape before Jax catches them.

A desperate stalling tactic.

Hydra snarled, wings spreading wide, “More are coming huh, how fun,”

Jax didn’t even look back. “Handle them,”

Hydra grinned, sharp and feral, “Gladly, My King,”

She surged forward, breath igniting as emerald fire washed through the incoming wave, her massive form carving a path of annihilation through the forest edge.

Roars, explosions, and the scream of tearing metal followed as she fully unleashed herself, keeping the beasts far from Jax’s path.

Jax, meanwhile, focused on the thread, bending space as he vanished from the basin, reappearing several miles away.

The forest here was wrong in a different way. Compared to where he was, there wasn’t any obvious corruption in this part of the forest, and Jax couldn’t even sense any alchemical residue from the creation of those monsters.

Instead, the trees stood unnaturally still, mana dampened and suppressed beneath layered concealment wards. A small clearing opened before him, carved deliberately, its edges etched with delicate sigils meant to redirect attention and distort perception.

At its center stood a figure.

A Dark Elf woman, which surprised Jax. Why would she attack her own clan? He wanted to find out.

Looking at the woman, she was relatively young, at least by their standards, and had silver-black hair tied tightly behind her head, her purple eyes blazing with fury as she spun towards Jax the instant he materialized, glaring daggers at him.

Her robes were layered with alchemical components, glass vials cracked and leaking at her belt, veins glowing faintly beneath her skin with volatile enchantments already primed.

Her eyes widened for a split second as she saw him and then twisted with even more rage, “You,” she spat, mana flaring violently around her, “You ruined everything you IMBECILE!”

Jax regarded her calmly, hands relaxed at his sides, expression unreadable. “You’re the one poisoning Dark Elven land,” he replied evenly. “That makes this your fault.”

She laughed, sharp and hysterical, backing away half a step as power surged through her body. “Do you have any idea how long this took? How many sacrifices? How close I was?”

“You chose the wrong forest,” Jax said, staring at her.

Her face contorted as she heard that, “I chose the only way left, it sucks it had to end this way,” her voice had a hint of resignation as she said that last part.

~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM!~

Mana detonated outward from her core as she spread her arms, sigils igniting across her flesh. Alchemical circles flared beneath her feet, spiraling wildly out of control as she screamed, voice cracking with obsession.

“If I can’t finish it,” she snarled, “I’ll take you with me!”

Her body began to glow with immense mana pressure and Jax quickly realized that she was going to overload her body with mana and kill herself in an explosion.

Jax’s eyes narrowed as he saw that, and before the detonation could complete, space snapped shut.

Her mana froze mid-surge, compressed violently inward as Jax closed his fist. The alchemical reaction stalled instantly, explosive force crushed back into her body rather than outward, pinning her in place as invisible pressure wrapped around her from every direction.

The clearing went dead silent before the Dark Elf woman screamed in frustration and anger.

“NO! NO NO NO NOOO! Let go! LET IT!”

She collapsed to her knees, choking as the unstable power tore at her from the inside, contained but not dispelled. Her veins burned bright violet, skin cracking under the strain as tears streamed down her face, fury and shock mixing into raw terror.

“You don’t get to choose how this ends,” Jax said quietly as he stepped closer, golden eyes burning now, “Not after what you’ve done.”

She looked up at him, eyes wild. “You can’t stop it forever! I’ll, I’ll tear myself apart if I have to!”

“You already tried,” Jax replied coldly. “And failed.”

With a subtle twist of his fingers, the alchemical energy was forcibly stripped from her body, torn free in glowing threads that unraveled violently before dissipating into harmless motes.

She screamed again, collapsing forward as the pressure vanished, her body left trembling and empty, plans reduced to nothing in an instant.

Jax crouched in front of her, gaze level with hers.

“Who sent you?” he asked.

Her lips trembled, hatred burning even through fear. “I won’t tell you anything.”

Jax smiled faintly.

“That’s fine,” he said. “You already told me enough by acting alone.”

Far away, Hydra’s roar echoed through the forest as the last of the beasts were torn apart.

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