"What? You're telling me Cai Xing was attacked by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and is falling into the Mara-struck state?"
Julian had been following his usual daily routine—checking development milestones, reviewing art assets, and enjoying a quick gaming session when he needed a break. But when a sudden message from Silver Wolf popped up on his screen with the news, he slammed his hand onto his desk in total disbelief.
A heavy, suffocating wave of spatial pressure radiated outward from his desk, sweeping through the executive suite in a fraction of a second.
Down in the lower office bays, staff members froze in place, shivering from the sudden, inexplicable chill that passed over them. Fortunately, the pressure vanished as quickly as it had arrived, leaving the confused employees whispering among themselves about what could have caused it.
Are you sure this isn't a joke? Is she going to be okay? Julian typed back, his hands tense over the keys.
What did it mean to become Mara-struck? It was the ultimate, inescapable curse haunting every long-life species in the galaxy. Once the affliction flared up, even if it could be temporarily pushed back, it would inevitably return again and again until the victim lost their humanity, turning into a mindless monster of Abundance.
I managed to get her to the Alchemy Commission, Silver Wolf replied. The young Dragon Lady here is using her healing arts to hold it back, but she can't keep it suppressed for long.
"Wait for me!"
Julian didn't have time to ask how or why. Flipping his phone shut, he extended his perception across the world-ship, locking onto Silver Wolf's presence inside the Alchemy Commission's medical wing. With a quiet distortion of space, he vanished from his office.
"Whoa—hey! Don't just pop out of thin air like a ghost!"
Bailu jumped in surprise as Julian materialized right beside the examination table. The sudden fright caused her concentration to slip, momentarily interrupting the green dragon-light she was channeling into Cai Xing's chest.
The moment her healing light faltered, several dark, wooden branches sprouted violently from Cai Xing's arms.
"Eek!" Bailu gasped, hurriedly stepping back up onto her wooden footstool. She channeled her draconic power once more, forcing the creeping boughs to wither back beneath the skin. "Phew... that was way too close! I almost made a terrible mess! You—the pale-haired shorty over there—hurry up and pass me another batch of those cooling herbs!"
Silver Wolf gave Bailu a thoroughly flat look, but she didn't argue. Grabbing the dish of prepared medicine, she diligently handed the ingredients to the busy dragon lady.
Julian didn't have time for light banter; saving Cai Xing was his only priority.
As the secretary who handled the company's daily operations—allowing him the freedom to focus entirely on creative projects—Cai Xing was someone he valued deeply. When Silver Wolf mentioned the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, Julian immediately suspected this was Phantylia's petty retaliation against him.
If Cai Xing hadn't been on the verge of losing her humanity, he would have tracked down Phantylia's current host body and dealt with the harbinger right then and there.
Stepping up to the table, Julian reached out with his mind to scan her condition, but standard spatial perception gave him no answers. Switching tactics, he summoned a cluster of Zygarde's green cells, letting them merge gently with Cai Xing's skin to monitor her internal physical balance.
As a native of the Xianzhou, Julian had spent plenty of time pondering the nature of the Mara-struck state.
It was a fundamental curse of long-life species, not just the people of the Alliance. In his eyes, it was essentially a cosmic rule enforced by the universe to maintain equilibrium.
Generally speaking, a living creature was guided by its mental spirit, which was normally far more adaptable than the physical body, allowing for full self-control. However, the physical frames of long-life species—whether naturally or through the blessings of Abundance—continually regenerated or reached a fixed, unyielding state that refused to decay.
While the physical vessel remained indestructible or grew steadily stronger, the individual's mental spirit rarely received a matching level of growth. Once the delicate balance between spirit and body broke down, disaster was inevitable.
When the physical vessel completely overwhelmed the mind, the result was the Mara-struck state.
Because Zygarde held the cosmic duty of preserving ecological equilibrium, it possessed a sharp sensitivity to balance. Julian hadn't been sure if that sensing ability would work on human biology, but it turned out the human frame was just another part of the natural order. Through the Zygarde cells, he felt the chaotic energy surging through Cai Xing's veins.
It was just as he had theorized: a sudden, massive surge of dark Abundance energy had artificially boosted her physical vitality, pushing her body's growth to a point where her mind could no longer contain the physical mutations.
Even though she lay unconscious on the table, Cai Xing's brows were tightly knit, her face twisted in quiet agony. The feeling of one's physical form eroding their own consciousness—of watching self-awareness slip away while helpless to stop it—was a terrifying nightmare.
Having confirmed her condition, Julian made a swift decision. With a soft wave of his hand, he summoned the three lake guardians: Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf.
"Lend me your strength," Julian requested softly. "Stabilize her mind and strengthen her willpower. Don't let the physical mutation swallow her consciousness."
The three legendary entities represented wisdom, emotion, and willpower—the core pillars of a conscious mind. Working in unison, they floated around Cai Xing's head, weaving a soft, soothing aura that washed over her forehead.
Almost instantly, the painful tension on Cai Xing's face smoothed out, her breathing settling into a steady, peaceful rhythm. The three guardians' mental power was working just as intended.
At the same time, Julian began drawing upon Yveltal's power, using his fingertips to absorb the chaotic life energy overflowing from her body.
Excessive physical vitality was the root cause of the mutation. By absorbing the wild energy, he was directly stripping away the physical pressure overloading her frame.
Bailu had initially moved to block Julian when he stepped up to her patient, but seeing Cai Xing's agonizing expression vanish in seconds, she held her tongue. When she saw Julian begin pulling the dark, creeping Abundance energy straight out of her patient's skin, the dragon girl's eyes went wide with absolute shock.
She knew better than anyone that even with her heritage, she could only suppress and soothe the chaotic vitality inside a Mara-struck patient. Yet this man was literally extracting the corrupted life force directly out of the body without causing a shred of internal harm.
It was a medical feat she had never even heard of, let alone witnessed.
"Do you have a one-way storage container nearby?" Julian asked, turning to look at Bailu. "Something designed to let liquids flow in, but completely sealed against leaking out?"
"Ah! Yes! We have plenty of those!" Bailu snapped out of her stupor, quickly signaling a nearby healer.
The young medical attendant caught her cue immediately, rushing off toward the supply cabinets. While such strange requests were uncommon, the Alchemy Commission maintained all sorts of specialized containment vessels to handle volatile remedies.
A moment later, the attendant rushed back carrying a heavy, metallic gourd. The mouth of the vessel was fitted with a complex pressure valve that allowed fluids to drop in while preventing any backflow.
Julian set the gourd on a nearby side table and held his hand above the valve. A single, crystal-clear drop of vibrant green liquid—glowing with concentrated life force—drips gently from his index finger into the mouth of the vessel.
It was the raw, purified vitality he had just drained from Cai Xing's body.
If he were in Yveltal's true physical form, his body could easily digest this energy. But in his human form, absorbing such a vast amount of wild Abundance energy was a quick recipe for self-destruction. He had to discharge it safely.
"Oh..."
Staring at the glowing, pure liquid pooling inside the vessel, the young medical attendant seemed almost hypnotized. Entranced by the sheer density of the life force, she subconsciously reached out her hand toward the opening.
"Stop! Don't touch that!" Bailu shouted, her small voice ringing out across the room.
Though her own eyes had sparkled at the sight of such pure energy, Bailu understood the dangers instantly. Long-life species—especially Xianzhou citizens carrying the mark of Abundance—could easily lose their minds if they absorbed such raw, unrefined vitality directly into their bodies.
The attendant flinched, pulling her hand back as if she had just touched a burning flame. Coming back to her senses, she stumbled backward, her face turning pale as panic set in.
"I-I'm so sorry, Lady Bailu! Forgive me... I don't know what came over me..."
She bowed repeatedly, trembling with fear. She knew all too well what had almost happened; for a brief second, her body's natural, biological hunger for life energy had overridden her mind, nearly dragging her into the very same state they were trying to cure.
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