Chapter 438 Darkroot

438 Darkroot

A dark gooey substance exuding a venomous aura started to seep out from the holes as the ritual formation lit up with a radiant light.

Instead of flowing outward, it reached out for the ceiling of the room. The ritual was designed in such a way that it gathered the energy from the surroundings and forcefully extracted the poison from the patient's body.

Brigham's body once again began to violently twitch as the toxins were extracted from him. However, he remained unconscious due to the tranquilizer that Rosalind had provided.

From this, one could assume just how strong the drug was.

Yavia levitated above Brigham's body as she glanced at the black gelatin-like substance hovering before her. She made an extremely disgusted face and stated, "Adam, you... you want me to touch that?!"

"Cover it with your mana and take it out of the circle. This venom is parasitic! If we let it remain inside the circle, it will make its way back to the host!" Adam spoke in an urgent tone.

"Parasitic?!" Yavia gasped in shock. "But if I touch it, won't it cling to me?"

"No, your mana attribute is of the wood element. You'll be just fine. Trust me!"

If he hadn't been occupied with controlling the ritual formation, he would have done it himself as his mana attribute was a mixture of the five fundamental elements and was extremely pure in nature.

However, he had his hands full at the moment and could only depend on the wood spirit.

Despite Adam's assurance, Yavia still hesitated. But right at the moment, Rosalind's calm and soothing voice entered her ears.

"Don't worry, my child. Nothing will go awry in my presence."

At once, all of Yavia's worries seemed to have vanished. Then, she began blaming herself for even hesitating in the first place.

Steeling her resolve, she flew forward and covered the black substance with her mana. She carried as much as she could before flying out of the circle and dropping it to the ground.

"Darkroot Hemlock is a parasitic poison that is extracted from the roots of the Darkroot tree."

"Darkroot Tree?!" Elysande exclaimed in shock. "If I recall correctly, it is a type of tree grown in areas that have an abundance of dark mana, is it not?"

"Well, yes and no," Adam began explaining. "Mana itself has no attribute, however, its surroundings can cause it to change its quality. Similar to how emotions affect the mana in a place, the type of Magi gathering at an area for long durations of time can also transform the quality of mana."

Elysande's heart sank as she deduced, "Are you saying that the Dark Tree usually grows in places that are infested with practitioners of dark magic."

"Precisely." Adam nodded. "The Darkroot Hemlock is extracted from the essence of this tree root. When it is introduced into the victim's body, it manifests as a parasitic entity that begins feeding on the host's life force and mana."

Elysande's eyes involuntarily shifted to her father, who was now sleeping peacefully on the floor. His breathing was stable and color had returned to his once pale face.

"But... such a strong poison, why didn't any of us come to know about it before?" She asked with an expression filled with sorrow and anger.

"See that's the thing with this type of parasitic poison, neither the host nor the people around them realize until it's at the latter stages," replied Adam with a solemn expression.

He paused for a moment as he gazed into Elysande's eyes. "And there's one more thing."

"What is it?" Elysande asked as a foreboding feeling welled up in her heart.

Adam took a deep breath and said, "The amount of poison that was inside his body... I'm certain that Lord Brigham has ingested it over a long period of time, several years maybe."

"What?!" Elysande blurted out in shock. "That's impossible! Why would he knowingly consume a poison like this? Are you out of your mind?!"

"But what if he didn't know?" Adam's eyes narrowed.

"What if... someone fed it to him?"

Any guesses as to who could it be?