Chapter #55

Vesemir's return was the sign indicating that Zeno finally ran out of time.

He didn't have much time for complex plans and contraptions but the threads surrounding the keep have all been weaponized with spikes.

Zeno had expended quite a bit of biomass to have them all armed and was hoping to replenish his loss during the attack.

If one were to give him some kind of health bar one would see that he had %10 left, but that remaining health is unlimited allowing Zeno to regenerate in time.(AN: This means he can't spam devastators and the biomass he uses affects him.)

Zeno also made plans to get blood samples from the mages once they were dead but most of that plan relied on his partners to be present.

Zeno didn't have the mental strength to make independent clones that are capable of doing different tasks.

He can at most make pseudo clones that can follow simple orders while being connected to his body through a cable of biomass.

Thankfully his buddies have returned from their little mental cave by the time Illyana Zerbst came down to take care of the children i.e. them.

By then Zeno had already switched places with System who was now impersonating him.

Unfortunately Ouryuu was still tired and could only watch at the moment, at this point Zeno was starting to get worried about him but he didn't exactly have the time to delve into his mind.

Before all of that however Geralt had woken up and decided to shave his hair and eyebrows in hopes of them growing back in their original colors.

Currently the children were in the basement near the granary as the witchers in the keep got ready to defend the castle.

"Ma'am there's a hatch beneath the granary. We can escape from there." Geralt said.

"How did you come to learn that?" Illyana was surprised.

Geralt smiled nastily as he remembered the hatch they discovered. The gang have been using it to sneak out of the keep.

"That doesn't matter, we should run off, if any other witcher survives they will be able to track us down." System interjected.

"Right, off you go boys. Run even if your feet bleed, don't ever stop!" Illyana started to lead them to the escape

She for some inexplicable reason knew the way and didn't need the guidance of the people that actually lived in the keep.

At that time Old Harkon who had been sent by the actual Zeno arrived, he was surprised to see Zeno here since he clearly remembered him going elsewhere but he didn't bother thinking about it as he had a mission.

"My lady, you should leave as well. I'll lock the hatch behind you." Old Harkon said with resolution.

Illyana was eventually convinced by System who offered to carry her and pointed out that she was basically dead weight to Vesemir.

'Emotional leverage always works.' System thought while he lifted Illyana and started running.

Old Harkon locked the hatch before placing a Yrden on it for safe measure. The sign itself drained him of all his energy but he still held the sword in his hand without trembling.

"Heh! I still got it." Old Harkon smiled and turned around to see monsters rushing towards him and smiled.

"Come at me, bastards! I'll accompany you all to hell!" He leaped towards the monsters with a ferocious scream.

There was an explosion right after, it was Old Harkon detonating the witcher bombs he had stolen with a minor Igni.

He might not have become a witcher but he died like one...

______

While these events were happening Zeno was rushing to the entrance of the castle.

He was held back a bit by Old Harkon who gave him the necklace of his childhood sweetheart, as he knew he wouldn't be surviving tonight.

Zeno, who had been reconsidering his moral views, didn't have the heart to just punch him in the face and take the necklace to speed things up.(AN: My mind is a gutter and this is something I would legit do if I could get away with it...)

By the time he reached outside Tetra had already unleashed the kraken... The horde of monsters from the Red Swamp with the help of Kitsu.

Zeno arrived just in time for the Witchers to do a combined Aard attack at Vesemir's command. He too added his own Aard into the mix, every bit of power helps.

Still this alerted the Witchers present but they threw the thought of stopping him the moment they saw his face.

Currently his face was completely covered with scales and his eyes went full red similar to his dragon form.

While he liked and preferred to act like one, Zeno wasn't stupid enough to ignore the warnings he was given and decided to let his instincts take over, so he can master them in time.

'Let us hope I won't end up kidnapping the bitch and Stockholm Syndrome her.' Zeno prayed but his prayers were unheard.

<HELL YEAH! WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!?> The dragon screamed in jubilation.(AN: He won't be sticking around for long don't worry.)

Zeno was reconsidering his decisions in life...

________

Since the witchers cleared the way for him, Zeno brandished his katana and started to hack and slash his way towards Tetra who was trying to hit him with arrows.

He didn't know why he ended up with a katana but he blamed the dragon. Still he coated the blade with Karmic Virtue for better performance.

Zeno also tried to flash his Karmic Virtue, hoping to scare the monsters away like he scared the Water Hag but it failed.

Zeno didn't know whether it was because the monsters here were stronger or because of Kitsu's illusion.

All of that only served to alert Tetra as she noticed her portals have been becoming unstable. She had never felt such an energy.

It felt orderly, it felt like all the good in the world was contained inside and most importantly it felt incomparably pure.

Just the thought of a filthy Witcher having command of such power made her furious. So she fired arrow after arrow towards Zeno.

They mostly missed, the Witcher parried the rest even biting one of her arrows with his mouth like an animal.

But some found their mark and hit the small body of the Witcher...

Tetra smiled in satisfaction until she realized her arrows failed to penetrate the scales of the monster in front of her and started to put more Chaos into her arrows.

Seeing her frustrated face Zeno felt bad, at that time he felt his defenses weakening and some of the arrows grazed him.(AN: I would like to mention this is the only time such a thing will happen since Zeno will have enough mastery of his instincts.)

'...' Zeno glared at the culprit.

<*Innocent Whistling*>

As he finally reached the mass of people consisting of village peasants and mages under Tetra. Zeno drew a sharp breath before letting out a roar infused with Karmic Virtue.

Zeno didn't know what he was doing as he was following his instincts but he saw the portals flicker before they all shattered.

The mages who were manning the portals fell to the ground letting out ghastly screams like a giant electrified door was forcefully shut on their faces.

Tetra, who was too focused on trying to kill Zeno was not affected due to Zeno's new most hated individual and managed to shoot an arrow that severed his head.

Not even bothering to pretend like it harmed him, Zeno jumped after his head and disappeared from the sights.

Tetra was annoyed as she reopened the portal waiting for Kitsu to come.

"..." Vesemir who was currently flying on top of a monster, trying to find his way back down suddenly felt the urge to facepalm but held it back.

As Kitsu swaggered in through the portal she felt danger like never before and looked towards where Zeno had jumped and trembled slightly.

The two made their way in the keep being guarded by the monsters they had gathered.

Tetra had abandoned all the humans that came with her since they were barely standing.

While the two were at the gate they felt a sensation and looked back, the sight they saw drained the blood from their faces.

"ROAR!" A gigantic yellow dragon was looking at them with burning hatred in his bright red light.

Seeing the creature Tetra and Kitsu ran inside with haste, Kitsu was trembling while Tetra was still in denial and kept looking at the dragon.

On the other hand Zeno stopped glaring at them because one of the villagers decided that a pitchfork was the ultimate dragon slaying weapon and tried to attack.

Soon the rest found courage and joined him on the epic tale of dragon slaying...

Zeno was mostly amused by their attempts until he eventually decided that he could use a meal to replenish his biomass.

Still disoriented, mages watched in horror as he consumed the villagers before he turned to them and gave a sniff before retching.

'They smell like shit!' Zeno exclaimed.

The smell alone made him lose his appetite. Zeno had never realized his senses were different as a dragon since the mages didn't smell like this when he was in human form.

Since he couldn't consume them without puking Zeno killed the mages and took blood samples for later research before he moved to the keep while turning back to human again.

Inside, most of the monsters had been killed by witchers. Some had been impaled by the biomass traps he had laid.

The remaining monsters were still alive. They were eating the remains of the corpses, Zeno killed them without a second glance.

By the time he had reached the basement, the fight was over and Vesemir was gone. Zeno had no doubt that the System found a way to alert him.

Zeno got near Deglan's body and closed his still open eyes before he went to collect samples from the bodies of the sorcerers.

Kitsu was watching him the whole time, still trembling which pissed off Zeno. He gave her a glare hard enough that she finally decided to run away.

'She will be more useful alive than dead.' Zeno shook his head.

Right then he noticed Tetra's body, her eyes were still blinking. It seemed that she was barely clinging to life. Seeing him notice herself she too had started to tremble.

"Oh I thought you would have died by now. How fortuitous that you decided to stick around." Zeno approached her with a smile.

His hands slowly turned into surgical tools and dug into her body, his biomass fueling and protecting her body, Zeno fixed her up right away.

"*Shrill Screaming turning to choked sobs.*" Although it seems that he forgot about anesthesia...

Zeno started patting her head while he explained his reasons for saving her. In his mind he was looking at the representation of his instincts dead in the eye.

"You might be wondering, why did he make sure I survived? Well, the answer is something unrelated to you, I am just sending a message that's all." Zeno spoke softly but even Ouryuu started to tremble.

It was then that Zeno gained initial mastery over his instincts, showing who is the boss.

"If you're not going to kill me... What are you going to do?" Tetra asked with a trembling voice.

She was probably thinking all sorts of things considering her past with witchers but she was about to experience something she would never have expected.

"You're a purist right? It's all about that 'Glory to mankind.' propaganda. Then Tetra, allow me to make you more human like." Zeno said as he flushed her system with karmic virtue.

He felt like he was stretching a cord of some sorts as he did, Tetra let out a howl that definitely didn't belong to a human until Zeno snapped the cord.

Tetra fell unconscious on the spot. Just like that she was a mage no more...