GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

She demanded menacingly. "Release him now."

Soverick rolled his eyes at her antics. "I'm doing it already."

It is not as if she can take him on. He doesn't have anything to fear about her so her facade doesn't scare him. She isn't pretending though. He knows that she will fight him again if he goes back on his word even though she knows she has little chance of victory. That is a good enough reason to give her what she wants. 

A desperate titan of law is not a titan of law to mess with. He has the raw strength to contend with her but her state of existence is above his despite it being imbalanced. She can decide to tip that imbalance towards chaos and burn all her essence for empowerment. Then she will become able to deal fatal damage to him if only briefly. Then she will die from exhausting her essence. 

So it is not a good idea to push her. Besides, he wants to be done with her and he already got what he wanted so he will release her precious son. Then he will be able to get to researching his prototype and meditating on the law of order that he took.

He undid the glove and deactivated the phases. The glove expanded and became a black runic sphere. Then the sphere became the mummified Ghaster and was unwrapped before the ribbon returned to Soverick. Ghaster appeared but he looks very different. His buff and muscular body has become lean and gaunt. He is also still screaming. It is just silent but his mouth is widened and he is still feeling some residual pain because of the ordeal.

He shivered involuntarily after he became free and stopped his soundless screaming. He was still dazed but his eyes widened when he saw Soverick and he turned to run again. Then he saw Mihila and ran to her. The pair of mother and son embraced in a happy reunion.

Mihila asked in concern. "My baby. Are you okay?"

Ghaster could not reply. He is just crying and only that. The experience is so painful that any recollection of it brings a fresh wave of trauma. He simply wishes he can forget what he went through. Thankfully he has a caring mother who is there to console and dote on him.

Soverick frowned when he saw Ghaster's form. He muttered, "So the transformation is not efficient. I wonder why? Is it because he is weak?"

He is more concerned about the loss of form that Ghaster experienced rather than his pain. The injury is temporary. It happened because he ran out of Origin energy for the vessel to siphon from him. He will heal once he has enough Origin energy within him.

"This means that the prototype is not self-sustaining. There's some loss somewhere. I need more data. Will it be the same if a stronger being is used?"

He needs a test subject to get data. His vessel is not a finished product. It is still a prototype that needs extensive testing and improvements. It is what he is concerned about. The more data he can get, the higher his progress in perfecting his new artifact.

"What if I try a titan of law?" He thought to himself as his eyes wandered to the mother and son pair.

His eyes focused on Mihila as he contemplated using his mother as a test subject. She has no future anyway. She might as well be part of something great by becoming a test subject. The prototype should also be strong enough to restrain her as long as enough origin energy is used to activate it so the prototype should be safe no matter how much she struggles. He became more inclined to use her the more he thought about it.

Mihila seemed to have sensed something so she pushed Ghaster behind her and got ready to fight. This time she is ready to do everything to protect her son. That includes burning the essence of power within her. It will mean burning her remaining lifespan but she is willing to pay that price.

Fortunately, it didn't come to that. Two Elders of the family appeared.

"Please cease all fighting." One of them said to them.

Mihila sighed in relief when they appeared. She even smiled because she recognise one of them. The other one is familiar to her but she can't remember where she knows him. Both of their presence are welcomed. It means cessation of hostility if only temporarily. She will take any reprieve that she can get right now.

She greeted the one she recognized. "Elder Stein. It is nice to see you."

Elder Stein replied. "It is my pleasure to be here. I am lucky to have witnessed that fight. I feel so alive."

The other elder spoke, "Child of the plane. Why are you fighting your mother? Let's see if we can settle your dispute without violence before you resort to violence. If you must fight then we demand that you take it outside."

Elder Stein sighed. "How time has passed. I remember being there on that day of the birth of these kids and I was there when your mother wanted to create trouble because you were being delayed for your life evaluation. But now you're strong enough to exchange blows with your mother in just a short thousand years. It brings tears to my face."

He is so emotional that he looks like he might just cry. It wasn't that long ago when the litter was born to Ghoto Ghastorix. He saved the babies by clashing with a lightning bolt of heavenly punishment on that day. In fact, he was there on the day that Mihila and Ghoto were arrayed for an inquisition before the elders of the family and the Sovereign from the ancient battlefield. 

It was less than a thousand years ago but things have changed so much. Soverick is now capable of exchanging blows with his mother. That means Soverick is capable of exchanging blows with him too.