Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

Chapter 561: The dysfunctional Dragon and Witch.

The door to Nidhogg’s house slammed shut behind them with a low, heavy sound, instantly drowning out the distant hum of mana currents coursing through the Original Realm. The interior remained exactly as it had been the last time Kael had been there. The walls, made of living black wood, still pulsed slowly with golden lines of primordial energy, while the entire room remained illuminated by that constant bluish light that seemed to emanate from the very dimension surrounding it. The air was warm, heavy, and charged with enough mana to render any human mage unconscious after a few minutes.

Elion was already inside.

Seated on one of the central sofas.

Waiting.

Kael immediately noticed that she didn’t seem furious in her usual explosive way. In fact, it was much worse. His mother was simply tired. The kind of profound tiredness that only comes after a day that was emotionally too disastrous even for someone like her to manage properly.

Without saying anything, Kael slowly walked to one of the sofas and sat down. Nidhogg did exactly the same thing beside him. Neither of them said anything. They just remained in absolute silence, like two people perfectly aware that an inevitable lecture was about to begin.

The room was quiet for several seconds.

Elion watched the two with his arms crossed, partially resting his face in one hand. His golden eyes slowly scanned Kael, then Nidhogg, then back to Kael again, like someone trying to decide exactly where to begin the conversation without destroying dimensions in the process.

Then she let out a long sigh.

A genuinely tired sigh.

"Well," she said finally, in a much lower tone than they both expected, "I’m exhausted."

The silence that followed was immediate.

Kael slowly raised his head.

Nidhogg did too.

They both stared at her with the exact same expression of utter, suspicious shock.

It was Kael who spoke first.

"...Are you alright?" Elion raised an eyebrow slowly.

"That was offensively concerned."

"You just admitted you overreacted," he replied immediately. "You never do that."

Nidhogg nodded beside him with extreme sincerity.

"I honestly thought you were going to try to drown us inside a star before admitting any mistake."

Elion just shrugged.

The movement was small. Tired.

"I’m a grown woman." She slowly crossed her legs as she looked at the two of them. "I know when I’ve crossed certain lines."

Kael remained staring at her in silence.

Nidhogg too.

The two clearly didn’t believe a word they were hearing.

Elion noticed this immediately.

And didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

"Stop looking at me like I’ve developed a terminal illness." Her tone regained some of its usual irritation. "I still find this whole situation absurdly problematic." "Ah," Kael murmured. "There’s my mother."

"I never left."

Nidhogg slowly rested her face in her hand as she observed Elion with almost scientific attention.

"You’re actually handling this better than I imagined."

"Because I’ve had enough time to accept that stopping you two would be a gigantic waste of emotional energy." Elion slowly massaged her forehead before continuing. "Besides, honestly, after the atmospheric teleportation I was too tired to keep yelling."

Kael chuckled softly through her nose.

"So almost dying saved our family relationship."

"Don’t exaggerate."

"She’s trying to sound rational," Nidhogg commented calmly. "That usually means she’s already planned seven different forms of preemptive homicide."

Elion immediately pointed at her without even looking.

"Keep talking and I’ll figure out an eighth."

Nidhogg seemed pleased with the threat.

Silence returned for a few seconds, but this time it was much less heavy than before. There was still tension in the air, of course. It would be impossible for there not to be, considering that this conversation involved a primordial bond, possible dimensional conflicts, and an ancient draconic entity sleeping with the only son of an emotionally unstable archmage.

But now there was also exhaustion.

And resignation.

Elion finally let out another small sigh before raising her eyes to Kael.

"Come here."

Kael blinked slowly.

"...What?"

"Don’t make me repeat myself." She moved one hand slightly. "Come."

Nidhogg immediately narrowed her golden eyes.

"Depending on the context, that sounds threatening."

"Because it probably is," Elion replied without hesitation.

Kael slowly rose from the sofa while massaging his tired neck. His body still felt strange because of the primordial energy circulating beneath his skin. The golden glow occasionally appeared around the veins of his neck and hands, pulsing slowly in sync with his mana.

He walked until he was standing before his mother.

Elion remained seated for a few seconds, just observing him closely.

Then she stood up.

The difference in magical presence was immediate. Even though she was tired, Elion still radiated an absurd amount of mana pressure around her body. The runes hidden beneath her skin began to glow faintly in gold as she slowly brought one hand closer to Kael’s chest.

"Stay still."

"That sounds threatening too."

"Kael."

"Fair enough."

Elion placed two fingers on the center of his chest.

Instantly, runes began to appear.

First a few.

Then dozens.

Golden lines of magic slowly spread across his skin like living ink, running down his neck, arms, and back at an impossible speed. The runes didn’t remain static. They constantly moved, rearranging ancient symbols into absurdly complex magical structures.

Kael immediately felt his body react.

His skin grew hot.

Then cold.

Then heavy.

The mana within him began to vibrate violently as the runes connected directly to the magical core linked to Nidhogg’s essence.

"This feels wrong," he murmured as he watched golden symbols appear even on his hands.

"They are restructuring your spiritual resistance." Elion spoke as she continued writing runes directly in the air and pressing them against his body. "Your organism is still too human to fully traverse the central domain of Yggdrasil without suffering existential collapse."

Kael slowly turned his face toward her.

"...Existential collapse."

"Your body could literally forget how to exist." She replied with irritating nonchalance as she continued working. "I’m avoiding that."

Nidhogg watched everything silently from the sofa now.

And, for the first time since Kael had met her, she seemed genuinely impressed.

The runes around his body continued to multiply.

Hundreds of them.

Perhaps thousands.

Some sank directly beneath his skin. Others swirled slowly around his arms and chest like living structures made of pure mana.

At one point, Kael realized his vision had begun to distort slightly. The gigantic roots outside seemed closer. The very space around him seemed to breathe slowly.

"Elion," Nidhogg called for the first time in several minutes. "This is already excessive even by your standards."

"Because he will need it." The reply came immediately. "The Central Kingdom rejects any incompatible existence. Especially now."

Kael frowned as he felt another wave of heat wash over his body.

"Now?"

Elion finished drawing the last rune on his neck before finally taking a step back.

The runes remained glowing for a few seconds.

Then they slowly disappeared beneath his skin.

Silence returned.

Kael looked at his own arms.

He could still feel everything vibrating beneath his skin.

Mana.

The runes.

The primordial essence linked to the very magical core.

After a few seconds, he raised his eyes to his mother.

"...What exactly did you do to me?"

Elion slowly crossed his arms.

"I placed every possible rune of resistance, adaptation, spiritual stabilization, and dimensional protection that I could remember without destroying your nervous system."

Kael remained silent.

Nidhogg too.

Then Kael spoke slowly:

"That didn’t answer the reassuring part of the question."

"They will prevent you from dying immediately when you enter the full domain of Yggdrasil." Elion slowly turned his face towards Nidhogg. "Or at least significantly increase your chances."

"Reassuring," Kael murmured.

Elion completely ignored the comment.

His gaze remained fixed on Nidhogg now.

"Feed the runes with primordial magic."

The room fell silent again.

Nidhogg slowly tilted her head.

"You want me to synchronize my chains directly with his runes?"

"Yes."

"That will deepen the bond even further."

"I know."

Nidhogg remained observing Elion for a few full seconds after that response. The surrounding atmosphere remained heavy with the overwhelming presence of the two’s mana, but now there was something different beneath the usual tension. It wasn’t pure hostility. Nor was it exactly trust. It was something far more complicated. Two entities too ancient to be reasonable attempting to manage an emotionally absurd situation without destroying the fabric of reality in the process.

Kael remained standing in the center of the room, still feeling the runes pulsing beneath his skin like living structures buried directly into his existence. Heat slowly coursed through his arms and chest as golden symbols occasionally glowed beneath his skin before fading again. It felt as if his entire body was trying to adapt to something that simply shouldn’t exist within an ordinary human.

He looked first at Elion.

Then at Nidhogg.

Then he sighed deeply.

"You two are frighteningly calm about all this."

"I’m not calm," Elion replied immediately. "I’m tired."

"Is there a difference?"

"A big one."

Nidhogg slowly rested her arm on the back of the sofa as she watched Kael with silent attention.

"Elion only goes into rational mode when she’s emotionally exhausted." Her tone was strangely analytical. "It’s an extremely rare social survival mechanism."

"You talk as if I were an exotic animal."

"You blow up mountains when you get angry."

"It was once."

"You literally created a magical eclipse because an archmage interrupted your lunch."

Elion crossed her arms slowly.

"He was annoying."

Kael massaged her face with a tired expression.

"I’m starting to understand why you two have known each other for so long." "Why are we powerful?" Nidhogg asked.

"Because you are mentally troubled."