"Theresa, faster!" Charles panted, his physical endurance nearly exhausted from the desperate dash. "Something is waiting for us up ahead!"
Behind him, Theresa had never seen Charles this anxious before, but she could feel his tension and worry. Without hesitation, she picked up the pace, raising a beam of sunlight to light the way.
Under the searing brilliance, the Dark Elves hiding for ambush around them all cried out in pain, clutching at their eyes, tears streaming as they scrambled to escape the blazing path. Their flawless camouflage instantly fell apart—now they looked more like a routed mob.
Charles didn't have any time—or patience—to sweep them away for safety's sake. He charged forward as if spellbound, mind narrowed to a single, burning thought.
Sulpharlo's Old Nest loomed just ahead!
Meanwhile, in Sulpharlo's laboratory.
Rows of experimental pods lined the hall, and Sulpharlo's smile couldn't be contained. Throwing her arms wide, she gazed up at the largest, glowing pearl suspended from the ceiling.
She whispered, "The sacred moment has come!"
Whoosh—
An overwhelming wave of magic swept through the lab, raising tempestuous winds that made her cloak and clothes billow dramatically. Pant legs snapped in the sudden gust.
And then—pure white wings burst from her back, shredding her outfit, leaving only a form-hugging black bra atop her snowy chest.
A single beat of those wings, and she floated into the air!
"The secret of life is mine! Today, I step onto the first rung of godhood!"
She murmured to herself, red magic runes curling across her flawless face, giving her beauty a touch of dangerous, demonic allure. "Grow, my children! On the road to conquering the multiverse, you are my unstoppable blades!"
With a sharp motion, she unleashed divine power from her palm, channeling the wild Chaos Energy pouring into the world from the twin moons overhead.
That boundless energy gathered in the gleaming pearl above her—a filter that trapped harmful impurities, only allowing the purest life force to funnel into her body!
"Ugh—!"
She cried out, the onrushing force swelling her to the point of near explosion.
She had to release the energy—fast—or she'd be the one to blow apart.
Sulpharlo, of course, had foreseen this. With her other hand she pointed to the nearest experimental pod. "Yes, blossom—grow, my child!"
Buzzz—
Terrifying magical energy shot into the first pod. The green liquid within rapidly faded, the amber cocoon around the infant melting away.
Inside, the baby began maturing—hair lengthened and limbs filled out. In less than twenty seconds, she passed through twenty years' worth of growth, taking on the same physique as Malena!
Crack!
Dark red wings erupted from the girl's back, shattering the tempered glass with a sharp snap. The naked Dark Angel stepped out, her stare frozen cold, though her features soon melted into confusion and helplessness.
Sulpharlo wasn't interested in her feelings. She directed her energy at the next pod. "Grow strong, my child—raise your blade for your great Ancestor!"
Again, and again, the process repeated: every slumbering Dark Angel in her amber shell was force-matured, hurled terrified and lost into a new world.
Even the darkest devils of the Nine Hells would call this a blasphemous ritual, yet the winged angel continued it with fierce determination.
Above, the once-pure pearl turned sludgy, sickening in its filth.
"Ugh—ah—!"
Sulpharlo endured tremendous strain, sweat beading at her brow. To keep a "saintly" aura after betraying Mount Celestia was agony—and now, she was at her absolute limit.
But starting now, she didn't need to hold back!
Her wings faded from divine white to blasphemous black. Her skin paled to deathly white, eyes bleeding to a vicious crimson—a predator ready to feast.
Clinging to madness, she poured even greater magical fury into the pods. As she unleashed her full, fallen self, her magic grew not less but stronger and wilder by the second!
Her power soared without end.
Crack—
With the last baby finally forced to adulthood, wings flaring as she broke her glass cell, Sulpharlo at last ceased the flow of magic. Her face wore a strange flush, like she'd just experienced some ecstatic, unnameable pleasure.
She fluttered down before the first Dark Angel, took the girl's face in her hands, and screamed, "Malena! Come see this! Such perfect creations—such formidable weapons!"
She howled, while the Dark Angel she held quivered in terror, tears brimming in her eyes.
She wanted to resist, but a strange bond tethered her to Sulpharlo, and her fear kept her perfectly obedient.
From the back of the lab, Malena—belly still swollen—walked in, supported by the first Dark Angel. Her feelings were impossibly tangled; nervously, she bowed her head. "Congratulations, Ancestor."
Sulpharlo's smile was smug, but then, all at once, her pleasure vanished and her face darkened.
"An enemy?" She narrowed her brows. This entire lair was her domain—if any hostile outsider clashed with her Dark Elves she could sense the battle instantly.
She gritted her teeth. "Damn Duergar! Completely unreliable! The weapons they promised still haven't arrived!"
She let out a long breath, her eyes chilling to ice. "Malena—!"
Malena looked up, "Yes, Ancestor?"
"Watch over the children. Dress them; teach them to wield a weapon." With a sidelong glance at her army of newborn Dark Angels, Sulpharlo's wings swept wide and she soared outside. "I'll go deal with the intruders—personally!"
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