Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 265: Episode 263: The Cure

The midday sun beat down on the lush, sprawling garden behind the Iron-Wood Manor, casting a warm, golden glow over the manicured grass.

For a brief, fleeting moment, it looked like a perfect, idyllic sanctuary.

Roxy sat on a wide, woven blanket spread across the lawn, her legs crossed comfortably beneath her.

The exhaustion of the previous two days had finally begun to lift, thanks in no small part to the incredibly peaceful, restorative night she had spent wrapped securely in Syris’s arms.

Around her, the children were filled with energy. Drax was patiently showing Axel and Onyx how to properly balance their weight while holding training sticks, his massive wings tucked away to avoid knocking them over.

Iris was tumbling through the tall grass, chasing a particularly vibrant blue butterfly, while Tanith sat perfectly content in Roxy’s lap, aggressively mashing a piece of soft peach into her own cheeks.

Roxy’s mates on the other hand were hard at work. The petty jealousy and territorial posturing of yesterday had been completely forgotten because of the wither-rot plague drawing closer.

At the massive wooden gates, Zarek was utilizing his draconic fire. The Dragon Alpha’s hands glowed red hot as he physically melted down thick iron-ore bars, fusing them over the Manor’s perimeter fencing to create an impenetrable, spiked barricade.

Beside him, Torian hauled massive, stripped pine logs over his broad shoulders as if they weighed nothing, reinforcing the structural integrity of the outer walls.

Kaelen moved along the inside of the fence, while using his trench-glass dagger to carve intricate, protective runes into the wood, ensuring that no corrupted beast could accidentally stumble through their physical defenses.

But the most mesmerizing display of power came from Ren.

He stood at the highest point of the Manor’s roof, his red hair blowing wildly in the wind. His hands were raised to the sky, weaving a massive, shimmering dome of green and gold illusion magic.

The magic cascaded down like a waterfall, blanketing the entire estate like a dome. From the inside, the sky looked perfectly normal. But Roxy knew that to anyone looking from the outside forest, the Iron-Wood Manor had completely vanished, replaced by an illusion of a dense, impenetrable, and unremarkable thicket of thorny briars.

She only wished they could do this to the pack too, which was open in the iron wood forest.

But it wouldn’t affect them since they didn’t have mana for it to be corrupted.

"We are safe," Kaelen announced, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow as he walked over to the blanket. "Nothing short of an army is getting through that gate."

"Good," Roxy smiled, handing him a clean cloth. "Because it is time for lunch."

Torian and Syris emerged from the kitchen, carrying massive wooden platters piled high with roasted venison, steamed root vegetables, and fresh berries.

The males gathered around the blanket, sitting cross-legged on the grass. They laughed at Onyx’s attempts to eat a piece of meat half the size of his head, and Zarek even managed to compliment Ren’s illusion barrier without immediately insulting his tail.

It was a perfect, cheery lunch.

Until it wasn’t.

Roxy was laughing at a joke Kaelen had made when she felt a sudden, weak tug on her shirt. She looked down.

Tanith had stopped eating. The piece of mashed peach fell from her tiny, pale fingers onto the blanket. The toddler’s usually bright, vibrant green eyes were dull and glassy. Her little face was flushed a deep, unnatural shade of red, and a fine sheen of sweat coated her forehead.

It was as if she was suffering from some kind of stomach ache.

"Ba... ba..." Tanith babbled, but the sound was incredibly weak, a frail, trembling whimper that sounded absolutely nothing like her usual bubbly chatter.

"Tantan?" Roxy’s smile vanished instantly. She pressed the back of her hand against the toddler’s forehead.

Roxy gasped, pulling her hand back as if she had been burned. Tanith was burning up! And it was definitely not the same fever she knew from earth.

"Oh my god," Roxy panicked, her heart dropping directly into her stomach. "Syris!" Roxy cried out, scooping the toddler into her arms. "Syris, something is wrong! She’s burning up!"

Syris attempted to come to her but before he could, Tanith groaned and shifted into a small snake.

Roxy widened her eyes a she looked at Tanith.

The chubby human limbs, the silk dress, the dark hair—they were gone. In their place was a beautiful, slender snake with brilliant emerald-green scales.

Before Roxy could even process the transformation, the tiny snake darted upward. It slithered swiftly up Roxy’s arm, ignoring the panic radiating from her mother, and wrapped its smooth, cool body securely around Roxy’s warm neck.

The tiny snake rested its triangular head directly against Roxy’s racing pulse, letting out a soft, contented hiss before its eyes fluttered shut. It went completely limp, falling instantly asleep.

Roxy sat frozen, her hands hovering in the air, hyperventilating. "She... she just... ?! Why did she turn into a snake?!"

"Roxy, breathe," a smooth, incredibly calm voice commanded.

Syris knelt gracefully beside her on the blanket. The Snake Beastman didn’t look panicked in the slightest. He reached out with two long, cool fingers and gently stroked the top of the tiny emerald snake’s head. Tanith unconsciously nuzzled deeper into Roxy’s neck in response to her father’s touch, seeking comfort.

"She is not sick, Roxy," Syris assured her, his green eyes locking onto Roxy’s terrified green ones. "Look at her scales. They are bright, hard, and perfectly healthy. There is no need to worry,"

"Then why is she burning up?!" Roxy demanded, her voice shaking.

"It is a growth spurt," Syris explained patiently, a soft, proud smile touching his lips. "Beastkin children grow rapidly, especially those with potent Alpha bloodlines. The human toddler form requires a massive amount of internal energy to maintain. Her body simply realized it could no longer sustain the human form, so she reverted to her true, serpentine form to conserve energy and heal."

Roxy let out a massive, shuddering breath, her shoulders dropping as the pure, blinding terror finally released its grip on her lungs.

She reached up, her trembling fingers gently brushing the smooth, cool scales of the snake wrapped around her neck. Tanith shifted slightly, letting out another soft hiss, and nuzzled her tiny snout against Roxy’s jawline, as if trying to comfort her mother in return.

"She just needs your body heat and a few days of rest," Syris murmured, kissing Roxy’s temple. "She is perfectly safe."

Roxy closed her eyes, leaning into Syris’s touch, but her heart was still racing. A fear gripped and made it suffocating.

Zarek saw the lingering fear in her eyes. And decided to change the atmosphere. He didn’t like her shivering like that.

"We are preparing. I spoke with the Dragon Peaks. I gave the absolute order. They have locked off the main cave entrances with heavy boulders and fire-wards. They are strictly monitoring everyone who comes in and goes out."

Zarek’s jaw tightened slightly, his brow furrowing. "But dragons are apex predators. We are creatures of the open sky. Being caged in the mountains... it is making them restless. They are nervous. If they stay locked up for too long, the territorial aggression will start causing internal fights. We need a solution quickly."

Ren spoke too beside Zarek, his bushy red tail swishing seriously behind him.

"My people have taken your words just as seriously, Roxy," Ren added, his green eyes sharp. "The Fox Tribe has retreated into the deep dens. The elders are currently tearing through the ancient, underground archives. They are looking for any historical scripts or forgotten lore on how to stop a mana-targeting sickness."

Roxy listened to them, as she slowly stood from the grass careful not to wake Tanith.

"I think I know the cure."